Saturday, January 24, 2015

Celebrate This Week! 1.24.15


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

Happy Small Celebrations Saturday!

1.  My weekend can begin!
I had to run 12.5 miles today, after running 4 miles yesterday.  It was one of those tasks that was hanging over my head going into the weekend.  It's done and I can enjoy the rest of my weekend!

2.  School Visit
We had the opportunity to visit Dr. Maria Walther's 1st grade classroom this week.  It was a great visit that sparked a lot of great conversation.  We've been piecing together so many different parts of the puzzle - curriculum and best practices - but we haven't quite fit everything together yet.  After this visit, a few more pieces fell into place.  She has some great professional literature books for K-2 classrooms.  I highly recommend them!

3.  Fantastic News
We got great news about my young niece this week.  My niece is deaf, but we found out this week she has cochlear nerves which makes her a candidate for cochlear implants.  

4.  IRA
I've been trying out Jennifer Serravalle's Independent Reading Assessment the past two weeks.  The results have actually been really interesting.  We've used running records to assess students for so long, and while they give you great information, it assesses students reading a short passage.  But can students hold the same understanding over a longer piece of work?  I found out that my reading students cannot, and this helped me pinpoint areas of need.  I'm looking forward to seeing their growth over time.

5.  Brilliant Books
I love when I read books that when I put them down, I'm unable to think about even starting another book.  I'm always sad when those books are over but the journey was always amazing.  This time it was Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places that left me with this amazing feeling.  If you haven't checked it out yet, run to your closest bookstore!

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful news about your niece! So exciting! Great to hear this rave review of All the Bright places.

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  2. As Carrie said, wonderful to hear the news about your niece, Michele. Congrats on the running, & the new reading ideas, too. I have All The Bright Places but it's "running" from student to student now so I may not get it back for a while. Have a lovely Sunday!

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