Celebrate Good Times, Come On! - 2/1

Each Saturday  Ruth Ayres invites us to share and celebrate events from our week. Looking for small celebrations has certainly improved my outlook on my week. For that, I am certainly grateful to Ruth and to all of you who choose to celebrate with us.

Wow, it is hard to believe that February is here!  That itself is a celebration because we are one month closer to spring!

Another week of starts and stops with snow/cold days, but still much to celebrate!

One - Of course it is the week to celebrate books.  I watched the ALA Youth Media Awards for the first time and it was so much fun sharing this experience with my "inaugural" Mock Newbery Club. We had been coming in on Monday mornings for books and breakfast and celebrated Monday by watching the awards together.  I have learned many things about how to improve this for 2014.  The best part - my kids from this year want to continue.  I hope this is the start of something big!

My small but mighty Newbery Club members
eating scrambled eggs and sausage
while waiting for the awards.

Two - Here is a stack books I received from Scholastic this week.  No need to say more!

Three - We started a persuasive unit this week and I love how it is flowing.   I have included many new lessons to the unit which has added much conversation and collaboration.  We start writing next week so hopefully I will have even more to celebrate!

Have a great week and may you be blessed with many celebrations!

Celebrate Good Times, Come On! 10/19

Each Saturday join Ruth Ayres to share and celebrate events from your week.  I have several things to celebrate this week, but I have chosen two to share today!

Celebration One - Monday morning I started my Mock Newbery Breakfast Club with my high ability 4th graders.  It is a small group, but they seem to be willing to accept the challenge of reading books which are out of their comfort zones.  I can't wait to start reading and talking about the books I have bought for this group...all recommended from many of you!  I hope this becomes a great way for me to celebrate books and talk with my students.

Celebration Two - Last week we held our parent - teacher conferences.  This year I decided to try student-led conferences.  What a success!

Yes, it was a little more work with the preparations and practicing with the students, but well worth it.  The kids were both excited and nervous about showing their assessment results and progress for the first nine weeks of school to their parents.  But I could see the pride on their sweet, little faces...students and parents!

Accountability has been the buzz word for teachers, but this year I have made it a part of my classroom.  I think students (and parents!) need to be held accountable for their learning.  Because of the conferences, the students have a deeper understanding of the assessments they are given, the way their grades are determined, and the expectations set for them.  I anticipate great things happening and many celebrations as we go forward.

For those of you who already use student-led conferences, is there anything you would do differently?  If you don't use them, you might want to consider this.  I think it will give you a reason to celebrate!

Have a great week and may you blessed with many celebrations!