Waiting is so hard.I don’t like waiting.I get impatient.I want answers now. Waiting is so hard.Patience is not a strength of mine.Yet, I’ve had to be patient before.Waiting, watching and teaching at just the right moment.Waiting until a student understands a concept.I try everything I know until I seethe light of recognition in a child’s… Read more

Slicing every day in March!! I don’t remember who used this pattern for writing a slice last week, but it was so inspiring that I decided to try it for today’s SOL. Here it goes! I am very impatient. I have a hard time dealing with change and uncertainty.  I keep repeating the same scenarios over… Read more

Slicing every day in March!! This is a short post. The day just got away from me. In fact, I almost forgot to write a slice. We had company for lunch, but that was 8 hours ago. Our company just left. We ate. We talked. We laughed. And, then we ate some more. Now, it’s… Read more

Slicing every day in March!! Today was a long day. The last day of our annual 3-day Fine Arts Festival. The kids were not at their best. They were fidgety. They were silly.  It’s 5th grade and it’s March. We suspended our regular schedule to participate in some of the Fine Arts Festival activities. The… Read more

Slicing every day in March!! In a recent blog post, The Teacher Next Door described how to play 8 different math games using dice. Today I taught my students the simplest of the 8 games. Most of the games have one or two variations that make them more challenging. Once the kids have the basic game down,… Read more

Slicing every day in March!! Today, I am stuck.I have writer’s block.I don’t know what to write.The blank page is a sea of white.I am sleepy.I feel defeated. It’s only Day #8 of the #SOL17. I look around and it’s just me and my husband in the living room.The TV is tuned to a regional… Read more

Slicing every day in March! Here’s a snapshot of my day today: 7:30 Arrived at school. Prepared the first two hours of the day for a sub. Lots of reading, exploring in Bookopolis, and a math problem. 8:00 – 10:15 Second day of PD with Kathy Collins. We had a meeting prior to the classroom demo… Read more

Slicing every day in March!! Goooooooal!!!!Argh! It was a goal for the wrong team. “Are we going to see La La Land?”“No, not today.”Searching for titles to match the Scholastic 2017 Reading Bingo Challenge categories.New children’s and YA literature titles to discover!In 49 categories.“Do you want to play tennis?” “Sure! Let’s go before it rains.”(That didn’t… Read more

Slicing every day in March! I went for a walk around my neighborhood. I walked for about 35 minutes. For most of that time, I didn’t see anyone. It was sunny and hot. Peaceful and quiet. The only sounds were those of birds and butterflies flying nearby. And, then I saw this through a clearing. And a little later on,… Read more