My Life as a First Grader

From the Apple

Back in the day - children were not required to go to Kindergarten, but my mom worked so I was enrolled in a small private Kindergarten where I mostly remember playing in the sandbox. However, going to "real" school was a big deal and I enrolled in Royall Elementary School in Florence, SC on that first day of first grade with a little fear and lots of anticipation. My teacher was Mrs. sharp and she ruled with an iron hand. She was older, stern, and had a ruddy complexion. I don't remember that she ever smiled. I was deathly afraid of her. I vividly remember the day in first grade as we opened our reading books to the "adventures" of Dick, Jane, and Sally. I did not know the word "see" and called the word "look." My teacher was furious, furious, furious (as I remember it!) and pulled me by the ear. I was so afraid that she was going to make me wear the baby cap (which was a baby blue crocheted cap with a satin bow she made the "bad" boys wear to lunch) that I was practically trembling. I was a timid student with no self confidence. My mother had never read to me. I don't think she knew that is what she was suppose to do, so I was not particularly prepared for the academic pursuits of first grade. I was very fortunate the next year to have a second grade teacher, Mrs. Gilmore, who changed my life by believing in me. She was the reason that I later became a teacher. Right before I got married, my mother and I ran into Mrs. Sharp and she was actually delightful. She told my mom that I was such a sweet, well-behaved student. Really? She was actually pleasant and I remember walking away and being so surprised. That lesson has stuck with me all these years. When my students remember me I want it to be with a smile on my face!

Continuing the Challenge

From the Star

So the question this week on the fall-blog-challenge is what I was like in the grade that I teach now. Well I can start by saying that I had my group of girl friends - the same ones that I had had since I was in Kindergarten (two are still my best friends today!) Unfortunately, I feel that we were a little clicky and were exclusive with our group. I am sad to have to say this because I see things differently now. I try really hard to help my own third grade students be open to meeting new people and accepting people for who they are. It's one of the things I really wish I could change. Other than being clicky, we really did have a tight knit group. We did everything together and when I say everything, I mean everything - from before school, in school, after school and on the weekends. I guess some of that had to do with the fact that all of our moms worked together at the same school. They all liked to go in early and leave late and when I say late, I mean dinner time. It was dinner and bed by the time we got home! Let's just say that I pretty much grew up at the school and... I loved it. We had so much fun.

I remember being in 3rd grade because this was one of my favorite years. I had a teacher named Ms. Handler and she was a clown. No, really she was a clown on her off time. I remember so many things about her class. I remember the circus theme day where we actually had a circus outside and she dressed up as a clown and we got to walk on stilts and make paper mache clowns. I also remember getting in trouble a lot for talking in class with my friends, which is not a surprise considering how much I like to talk now! So, I can say that I do have a little more patience and sympathy for those talkers in my class. I can say sorry to my teacher, and mean it, because now I know how she felt. I also remember that I liked to hear read-a-louds in third grade which is the year that we read a lot of the Roald Dahl books - which were my favorite childhood books. It is amazing the influence that a teacher can have on you! I hope that my students will one day look up to me and thank me for being a part of their learning. I hope that I can make half of the impact on my students that my 3rd grade teacher made on me. The other thing that I remember about 3rd grade is all of the hands on activities. I can honestly say that I still believe that this is one of the best methods of teaching, which is why I use it in my class everyday! Thanks, Miss Handler for making my third grade year such a memorable one!

P.S.-In the picture at the top of this post, that's me in the second row, third from the left.

Apple Writing

From the Apple
I guess I've always been a writer, but as a young student I don't ever remember being taught to write or any teacher ever encouraging me to write. I do remember being in middle school and the teacher assigning a creative writing assignment. We had to write about "Red." I don't really remember what I wrote but I do remember the pieces that the teacher read out loud and I remember being blown away because they were so-o-o- good. None of the stuff that they wrote ever popped into MY head! I remember thinking that I could NEVER write like that!

Even as a young child, however, I liked to write. I had a diary. I remember writing long journal entries about everything in my life. I also remember destroying a couple of the diaries because I was afraid my mother would find them! As a young wife I wrote furiously in a journal trying to figure out how to learn to live with another person. I really didn't have a good role model for being a good wife so none of it came naturally for me. My husband used to call it my "hate" journal because I was more likely to be writing when things weren't going well or I was really upset! I still think I do my best writing when I'm fired up about something. It's easy to write with voice - with passion and emotion when I care deeply about an issue.

While I was home on maternity leave with Courtney, my writing took a dramatic turn. I had been leading a mixed group of teachers who had been meeting together once a week for a couple of years to share teaching ideas - I guess I understood collegiality way before it was the newest buzz word - and while I was out with Courtney I decided to finish the document that we had been working on for those two years. It was ideas around teaching a letter of the week to beginning readers. I had been keeping notes on all of our ideas so I decided to complete the research that we never seemed to have time to finish as a gift to the teachers when I returned. It was their idea that I try to have it published after they realized how much additional work I had put into our original ideas. I thought it was lark but decided to send the manuscript off to six publishers. I knew so little about publishing but within two weeks I had a contract for my first book. However, there were many delays and it was not published until five years later in 1991, A is Amazing. I just happened to submit a manuscript that a particular publisher was looking for at that particular time so the contract was immediate, but the publisher was going through some editorial changes that caused many delays and frustrations. Now, of course, the idea of "letter of the week" has fallen out of favor and of course, the book is out of print, but at the time it became a best seller for the company and within 6 months I had a contract for another book and so it went. I published 10 books with that company over the next few years.

In the meantime I had been publishing ideas in The Mailbox and they invited me to a Summer Writing Institute where I joined eight other authors from across the country that were all doing freelance work for the The Education Center which publishes The Mailbox Magazines. I went to Greensboro, NC for two summers to learn to write the "Mailbox" way and it was both intimidating and awesome. At the summer retreat I met three other teacher-writer-moms who lived in different parts of the country. We decided to propose a series of books to The Education Center while we were there and to our surprise, they accepted our proposal. For the next four years the four of us wrote books using e-mail. It was before Google Docs or any of the on-line pieces that make cooperative writing so easy. It was cumbersome but it was the first time The Education Center had a completed manuscript that was done outside of their offices that didn't require major revision. Those three women were funny, creative, and wonderful co-writers and I am richer for having known and worked with each one of them. Just remembering that time in my life puts a smile on my face!

During those ten years I wrote or co-authored 19 books for teachers. When I think about it, I am awed by how prolific I was and I am proud of that accomplishment. I could not have done it if my husband had not been so willing to take up the slack. He learned to wash clothes and dishes during those years as I often wrote through the night to meet a deadline while I taught full time. I tried for my writing not to take time away from my children and so I wrote late at night, very early in the mornings, and while they were away with friends. I loved it, but there came a time when I felt it was taking too much of my time... so before Courtney left home, I decided to put down the pen and spend time with her. It was a good decision.

In the meantime, I joined a new faculty and began a steep learning curve into a new chapter in my life. I haven't really been moved to take on a book project or at least, when I thought maybe I wanted to, things just didn't seem to piece together easily so that I really felt it was what I was suppose to do. I usually get very clear messages about what I am suppose to be doing - nothing like the burning bush, of course, but still pretty clear! Today I write on a more immediate level. I have written about the work I'm doing now in magazines and for some on-line publications, when asked, and I love blogging about my work. I work with incredible teachers. I've written some units for and with the teachers I work with now and then have sent them out to anyone that wanted them. That actually has been very gratifying.

I am not, nor will I ever be, the world's greatest writer. I don't write deep pieces with great thoughts that will change the world. I don't write "funny," because actually I'm not really a very funny person. I just write about the world as I see it and hope that something I say might resonate and make a difference...

I do believe that the varied experiences that I have had have made me a better writing teacher. I think I understand many of the reasons that people write and I realize that children need to learn to write for many different reasons. It is my job to release the inner writer's voice that is in each of my children so that whatever it is that they will need to do, they will be equipped to do it - whether it's texting or therapy or writing the next great novel. Here's to that writer in each of us!

Writing

From the Star
I have found over the years that, much to my surprise, I love to write. I find peace when I write and find that it is often easier to share my thoughts and feelings through my pen. If you know me you may be saying that all I do is talk, and that would be a fact, but the thing that a lot of people don't know about me is I don't like to talk about my deepest feelings. While I can talk to you for hours about random things and I can mope and groan and complain for hours on end, but when it comes to sharing my true feelings, I hit a block. I find that writing helps me to open up and also relieves stress. Over the years I have written many poems and letters to friends and loved ones and now recently I have started enjoying writing this blog with my mother. I feel that writing gives me a chance to show my true colors while sharing my feelings and thoughts with others. I also find that writing gives me a chance to be creative and imaginative. I can loose myself for a while and get lost in a story in my mind. I love sharing stories and talking with friends, but I find a true passion when it comes to writing.

I hope that being a writer will make me a better writing teacher...

Small Moments from the Apple

From the Apple

As we wrap up the day. I sometimes play the "Skittles quiz" with the class. The quiz is simply me asking questions that review the day and kids get a single Skittle if they answer correctly. As I was reviewing the afternoon before our Mem Fox Celebration, I asked the kids what we would be doing first thing in the morning. To open our Mem Fox Celebration, we were going to be Skyping a first grade teacher in Australia. It would be the middle of the night for her! We were very excited in anticipation, but the students were not really familiar with Skype so most of them didn't really know what to expect. When I asked them, "Who remembers what we will be doing in the morning?" one of the kiddos piped up, "We're gonna be skyping the fox!" I would love to see the picture in his mind! It made me smile.

Last week we were stamping on fake "tatoos" of pumpkins and bats. We were using wooden stamps and acrylic paint and asking the children if they wanted the stamps on their face or on their arms. As one of the little girls sat down, she pulled the collar of her dress down to show the space right over her breast and said, "Can I have mine right here?" We said, "Absolutely not!" but it still made me smile! My day is full of those small moments that make me smile for I know from experience that I’ll look back and realize all of these funny little moments add up to something special, something important, something irreplaceable.

Small Moments

From the Star
Every day as a teacher we face challenges that either make us or break us. When I teach I can say that some days I feel like I could just give up, but then I remember why I choose to teach. It's those small moments that make it so worthwhile. I can not choose just one moment because I feel that every day offers so many - new learning experiences. Every day my children bring joy to my life. Every difficult challenge is matched by two or more good small moments - chances to grow as a person and an educator.

Over this last year I have learned that every child is different and that each child learns at his own pace. I have learned a lot of patience. I have learned how to deal with those students that are called "difficult." I like to look at those students as my chance to learn. I think the bond that I make with the child that might not be the easiest will be remembered and cherished. I know that if I can find that bond with them that we will be able to work and learn together. It's about relationships. At least I have found this to be true this year with one student in particular. While my days with him are very challenging, he has taught me that there is much more to life then just teaching. It is finding the connection with a child and building off of his strengths that makes the difference. It is understanding where he is coming from and why he sometimes acts the way he does. It is about never giving up and pushing that child. It is opening your heart to a child. Those are the moments that stay in my memory.

The book that made the Biggest Impact

From the Apple

Wow - this was really a difficult post to write. There are so many books that I have loved - so many that I have read that have left an impression or that have taught me about life. I really struggled with which book had the greatest impact.

I finally settled on a series of books. When I was in the 3rd-4th grade I was introduced to a series of books called The Dana Sisters written by Carolyn Keene. She was probably more famous for the Nancy Drew series. Of course now I know Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym for several different writers who wrote under the Carolyn Keene name. The Dana Sisters were a cross between the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew but those books really hooked me. Each story was a

mystery that was solved by the two sisters. It was the first series of books that I ever read - books with strong independent young women - the first time I got so hooked on books. At the time I got an allowance - my lunch money plus a dollar a week. The books cost a dollar and I spent my allowance on the books for many weeks. The books were actually being written during that time and I remember I would go to the bookstore every single week to see if a new book had been published. A new book was like a golden prize.

I guess the reason I think those books made the biggest impact is because they opened up a whole new world - the world of being entertained by a book - a habit that would become such an enjoyable part of my life. If I could do one thing for each child in my class it would be to give them that gift of a love for reading. Not only is reading for information a critical skill, the ability to lose yourself in the story of a good book or the ability to cry at a true story that touches your heart or the ability to search the Bible for answers in times of great struggle or the simple ability to enjoy a picture book with your child, add such depth and dimension to your life. May that seed be planted in every child that walks through the door...

reposted from http://timmonstimes.blogspot.com