Ten Minutes

I started back to school yesterday. My lesson plans were pretty loose. I had some general things I wanted to accomplish and my expectations were pretty low as far as achieving "normal day" status. We started off slow, and by mid-morning kids had fresh books to read and were choosing reading spots for the month of January.

Since the beginning of the year, I've been giving students almost daily sacred writing time. I've done this in the past but this year I made a real commitment to doing it daily. Sacred writing allows students to write about whatever they'd like in any genre. They can work on collaborative projects, blog, or just write in their notebooks if that's what they prefer. It is separate from our writing workshop time. I dedicate about ten minutes a day give or take. I have a lot of kids working on books together and making publications for our Student Authors Reading Box in our classroom library. I have had more students writing at home than any other year before and had a parent scan and send me a 13-page book their child made AT HOME! It is fully illustrated about a character he has created.

I sat in my classroom yesterday during sacred writing time and watched students QUICKLY get their materials and get right back to their independent projects. I just sat and watched. One interaction that I found particularly interesting and exciting was a table of three boys, papers spread out all over the table and a heated debate on the direction they were taking the book next. They were quietly arguing, lots of "No, I think we should..." or "I don't think that should go there." They were completely civil, getting their point across and never needed my input, they had it figured out eventually.

We ended up accomplishing a whole lot more than I would have ever anticipated for the first day back after a break. It was a refreshing surprise and I was feeling pretty proud of my class.
Not everything I do every day has a tremendous impact on students. I do my best. Not every part of our day is perfect but I have to say, those ten minutes were pretty outstanding.