A Nature Walk

The sun is out and we've had some melting here over the past couple of days which makes me hopeful there might be some snowdrops covering the ground in our backyard. Take a look at my nature walk!


I still put on my snow boots in case I ran into soft spots or mud. Shawn came along too, and we decided to take a look at what was left after winter.


One of our old fruit trees that was barely hanging on took a final rest.

 
We saw deer tracks in the last sprawls of snow.

Moss found mounds to grow over like little fairy mountains.


The sky and light were bright and beautiful.

But sadly, I found no snowdrops. I'm either too late or too early.

34 Degrees

It's March. 

I know this for many reasons aside from "the calendar says so."

One reason became very clear this morning. 

rush rush rush

get your purse

grab your lunch

"kids? ready?"

shoes...

no not those

yes, there they are

where's my coat

no

no

OH, I forgot it at school

[opens door, shoves hand outside]

I'll be fine

[walks out the door, gets in car]

It's 34 degrees outside.

It feels warm, balmy, it's misty.

2 degrees lower and it would be snowing or freezing rain

UGH, we need gas

[drives less than a mile to the nearest gas station, steps outside, still no coat, in the rain]

Hmmm, not too bad out here today.

It amazes me how 34 degrees in fall and 34 degrees in late winter feel so different from each other. It felt so good outside this morning. It was TWO DEGREES AWAY FROM FREEZING! 

Knotted Up

Today was an interesting flop of a day. I was quite ready. I stayed up later than usual and got lots done. I had some quiet time to focus and was feeling really prepared for a good day.

My students have been really struggling to distinguish between area and perimeter. Now, they know what each is. They can tell you what they both mean. They can do a whole lot! I was feeling confident that I could really stretch them today and build the connections we were missing. So I did, and instead of stretching them, I'm pretty sure I tied up all their understanding into knots.

I sat there, watching it happen. Wondering what happened. Where did the clarity go? 

I switched gears as soon as I could to a related skill. 

Not much better. 

I pulled my small groups over, tried to prep them more, really get them thinking first, then attempting independence. 

It was no use. 

It was back to the drawing board. I exhaled, grabbed the 1-inch tiles, and gave out sets for kids to build rectangles.

I'm hoping tomorrow is a bit more successful. It amazed me how, when I thought we were ready to go a step further, we actually went further away from our destination. Time to slow down. 

Smarter than the Average Deer

Where I live, very frequently, you can look outside this time of year and either see deer tracks or the real thing standing nearby. Deer are something I look for nearly every day. I often see them in our backyard late at night munching on tree limbs.

There isn't much snow left on the ground these past two days. Everything is a grayish brown color--the color of deer. This makes them almost impossible to see at times requiring me to be hyper-vigilant as a driver.

At this point in the year, we leave for school right as the light is shifting. Each day is getting just a nudge longer and we can tell because there is just a bit more light on our drive each morning.

Yesterday, we had made the near 30-minute drive to school and I dropped the kids across town from where I work. I don't see deer as frequently in town, but there are a few spots they tend to show up. I was heading up the hill when I saw movement ahead. As I began to slow down I realized it was a deer on the side of the road. It appeared to be waiting...looking. Then it was joined by several other deer who were screeching to a pause in their prance.

Are these deer looking both ways?

It appeared they were. I was almost to a stop when they all revved their legs back up, all seven of them, jumped across the road and down the hill toward the baseball field. I began to slowly accelerate as I watched them all follow each other into the wooded area that borders the field.

Where I live, not all deer are this vigilant and patient. Nor do they all stop at roadways to check for traffic. I'm pretty grateful this crew did.

Play Practice

3:47 Briskly walking out the door. My son carrying half of my things 50 steps ahead of me. 

3:49 I'm pulling in, just in time to wait in the line of cars.

Kids start wandering out. Only around 10-12 kids. There she is, orange coat, bouncing down the sidewalk. 

I wondered how her day had been. She was smiling so I was a bit relieved. Not every day is easy in middle school and I was pretty sure today wasn't going to be easy--because--middle school. 

She shoved herself into the front seat, backpack and all struggling to get her seat belt on before starting to tell me--all the things. 

"How was rehearsal?"

"It was good. Oh my gosh, like five people have dropped out, but Mrs. McLane said we are doing great. And when she said that, the boy who plays *Joel, he gave me a thumbs up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, how is someone that cute?" Her eyes drifted to the ceiling. We had barely left the lot and I was unable to look away from her dreamlike gaze.

"Jane...what makes him so cute?"

"Oh my gosh, I don't know. It's...he's just...his fluffy noir hair...it bounces like a cloud. No one should be allowed to be that cute. I mean I just like him like a friend. He's so nice. I mean, I might have a little crush," wiggles in her seat to get comfortable as she grins uncontrollably. 

"Oh my, you might?"

"Well..."

Starting Strong and Setting Goals: March is Reading Month

Today was the first day in March I was spending with my students, which meant a kick-off to reading month. I absolutely love the month of March when it comes to all the ways I get to focus on reading with my kids.
The joy.
The love.
The perseverance.
The will to read, read, read, and read some more.

It is always important, but there is something special about celebrating something so crucial for a whole month that makes it that much more special.
We started with a "read-in-the-dark" as a whole school! Kids had little flashlights and eagerly read. My students are third graders, so they are familiar with us reading the first day altogether, but the dark/flashlight reading was new and exciting.
  

A little later this morning, I put out lots of blank paper, one template, a stack of lined paper, staplers, tape, and scissors.
"Make a book to keep all your goals, jots, notes, and thinking from all the reading you do this month!"
Chaos commenced, but the good kind and I watched kids staple too much paper together, and tape it, and take it apart, and put it back together again. I enjoy this kind of magic. I snapped a few pictures of goals students decided to set for themselves. The template I gave them was just a place to store titles, or book cover sketches, goals, or whatever they want. It felt like a good start, and I hope the enthusiasm continues to grow, and these homemade books become something they can look back on as a celebration of their little eight and nine-year-old selves.

 

Beautiful Day

Waking up this morning, I was caught by rays of sunshine in the corner of my eye. I wondered how warm it was going to be today. Was this a tease?

Snow still settled on the ground outside, no melting that I could see. (Not yet, anyway). I opened the sliding glass door and was met with the freezing air. Simultaneously, the sun forced my eyes closed, and a gentle yet inevitable grin spread across my face.

That cold fresh air mixed with the warm sun made me flip into spring mode. I immediately began cleaning and dusting. I put out my new spring placemats and put up our Easter Egg tree. A new lemon themed swag is now above the sliding glass door replacing the pomegranate winter-themed swag that used to be there. It's crooked, but up! I'll eventually adjust it to the perfect fit.

See that bit of sunlight?

It is feeling like a nice way to start off a month of slicing. It feels fresh, new, and ready.