It's always good to end the week on a positive note. Sometimes we concentrate on the negatives. We have a choice. Choose positive. Choose to celebrate. I will be joining Ruth Ayres and her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week. Check out all the other celebrations HERE
Small Saturday Celebrations!
1. Looking forward
Last week I started out my post by saying it was a rough week. This week kind of was too. This upcoming week will be busy with parent/teacher conferences, but then the relaxing 4 day weekend will begin! Something to look forward to :)
2. Saying goodbye to what's done
I have been dreading this weekend. My daughter has a swim meet and she is swimming all 3 days. Plus I had to run 18 miles this weekend. It's a lot to do in just a couple of days time. But 18 miles are done. 2 out of 3 swim days are done, with 4 out of 5 best times so far! I was pondering this today - how it would be nice to fast forward days to get to the fun ones. But really, do you want to miss a day? When I think about it, no, I really don't. I celebrate getting through the hard parts of a day and enjoying the happy ones.
3. ALA
Wasn't it wonderful to watch the ALA YMAwards this week? I wrote about it here. I enjoyed hearing the students excitement as the rest of the week went by. It was a shame we had a Snow Day on the awards day, but I think most of the kids watched the webcast at school at some point over the week. I got to celebrate the Geisel announcements with a kindergarten class. There were so excited to see Waiting Is Not Easy win an Honor. They were a bit puzzled that we hadn't read the winner You Are (Not) Small. I told them it was ok, it just meant we have another book to read! For me, ALA also meant lots of new books. Watching the awards left me needing to read a few books, but I also got to read lots of new books while at ALA and I came home with lots of new ones. Get a spring book preview here.
4. NerdCampMI registration
Did you register for NerdCamp yet? It's an amazing experience. What stuck with me the most last year was the excitement. People were excited to be there and learn. I loved meeting so many people that I had been talking to on Twitter. The authors that came to be part of NerdCamp Jr. were so kind to hang out and talk to the teachers too. Last year it was a new experience for me, now I have many friends that I'll be meeting up with. I hope I'll see you too!
5. Little Readers
We started meeting with our guided reading groups this week in kindergarten. As a reading specialist, I usually get to meet with the students who are having some trouble grasping pre-reading skills. This week we eased into this new meeting time by reading the Caldecott winning Beekle and thinking about the order of Beekle's adventures. The kids were so excited about the book and getting to use markers to draw the beginning, middle and end (markers... it's amazing how kids get so excited to use them vs crayons!). I had one little reader come up to my assistant at the beginning of school on Friday asking if Mrs. Knott would be reading with her today. My assistant asked her if she enjoyed working in my group, and with a shy, but enthusiastic, smile, she said she couldn't wait! I love that excitement!
So, a long week ahead with Parent/Teacher Conferences but a lovely 4-day weekend ahead. Without having to run 18 miles or a swim meet! Oh, what to do with my time?? Wishing everyone a happy week!
Loved your ALA MW Slice of Life. I, too, at first questioned the number of Newbery honors, but at the same time, I also think had there been more, it would have diminished the power of the fact that the titles were from diverse authors. As much as you know I wanted to see A Snicker of Magic get some love, I absolutely think the committee got it right.
ReplyDeleteI know that every year we have favorites that we want to see in the 'winner' circle, but I was happy to see who was there, too. There were a lot of great books out last year, weren't there? So great that you got to go to ALAMidwinter. What a time it must be. I hope the week goes smoothly. Conferences are intense I know, so best wishes! I have several 'swimmers' in my class-they (& their parents) work so hard, & I know it's a time consumer... Good for you for also sneaking in that 18 mile run!
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