Celebrating New Adventures and Accomplishments

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

So yeah, it's been a few months since I've posted here. This new gig as librarian is overwhelming to say the least. Not in a bad way, just in a way that you realize you're doing something new and have to get used to the learning curve.

But I have a couple things worth celebrating this week so I thought I'd dust off my lonely blog.

Yesterday I found out the exciting news that I was selected to serve on ALAN's Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award committee! I can't wait to get started! I've wanted to serve on this committee ever since I took a Prizing Children's Literature class in grad school and did a project on this award. I'd been an ALAN member for a few years but didn't know that much about this award until I did that project on it so it's really exciting that I finally get to serve on the committee.

My second celebration is that my husband and I finished all of our Couch to 5K workouts! We are officially runners now. And it just so happens that there's a 5K at the University of Michigan next month that we just signed up for. I can't wait!

After finishing our last C25K workout. We're runners now!

One chapter ends and another begins

It's been a while since I've posted to my blog and even longer since I've written a celebration post.

But I have something big worth celebrating today.

At the end of this month I will be leaving my position with NCTE as their social media coordinator due to some reorganization that they have been doing recently.. It was a wonderful 3 years working for an organization that has sustained my teaching career, but it is definitely time to move on.

And move on I have. For the past two years, I have worked part time for NCTE and taught 8th grade English part time at my alma mater. I'm excited to say that next year I will be staying at my school, but as the K-8 librarian! I'm sad to be losing my English classes, but but I'm excited to use my passion and knowledge of children's and YA lit to spread book love all across our school.

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrate Getting Your Nerd On

My husband and I are currently between houses. We're still living in our old house, but we're doing work on the new house and will be completely moved in next weekend.

Gettin' my Nerd on at my new hometown library

Yesterday I changed the address on my driver's license. What's the first thing I did after that? Went and applied for a library card of course! I've been jonesin' to apply for a new library card because I often put stuff on hold that isn't available right away... so because we'll be moving soon, I haven't been putting anything on hold at my current library because I knew we'd be moved by the time it came in. Now that I have a home library again, all is right with the world.

And I am such a book nerd that after my husband and I applied for our library cards, I asked the librarian who was helping us to give us a tour -- because I plan on taking advantage of all that my my new library has to offer. So my husband was especially excited to see that our new library lets you check out "unusual items" like various tools for home improvement, crafting, and music -- even outdoor games like lawn chess, ping pong, and giant Jenga. And given that we're moving to a city that has significantly higher taxes than where we currently live, I definitely plan on taking advantage of all that my tax dollars are paying for. :)

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrate Getting Stuck in the Snow

Here in Michigan, we had been expecting a big snow storm on Wednesday and Thursday. All week I have been dreading this snow storm because I knew we would be closing on our new house and was worried that the inclement weather would prevent it from happening. Not only did we close without incident, but the snowstorm ended up being a blessing in disguise for two reasons. 1) We had a snow day at school today so I could spend the rest of the day at the house helping my husband clean. 2) As we were inside cleaning the house I looked out our front window and noticed that our next door neighbors were shoveling our sidewalk and our neighbor across the street finished clearing the rest of our driveway with his snowblower. So not only did we get to meet our neighbors, but we quickly realized that we have AMAZING neighbors.

First memory in our new house: getting stuck in the snow trying to pull in the driveway. LOL!

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Making Research Relevant

The research paper.

It's the bane of every English teacher's existence.

Why? Because students are either forced to write about a topic that is irrelevant to them, or they are disengaged from the research because they don't understand the point of the assignment.

I have been teaching language arts for almost ten years. And every single year I have gotten it wrong. I fully admit that my students have left my class disengaged from the research process.

Until this year. I am determined to get it right this year.

Thanks to my wonderful adviser at Eastern Michigan University, Cathy Fleischer, and her writing partner Sarah Andrew-Vaughan, I have decided to have my students complete an Unfamiliar Genre Project as their research paper this year.

The Unfamiliar Genre Project takes the research process and turns the focus to writing, asking students to immerse themselves in a genre they're interested in, but not familiar with, and then to eventually write in that genre. 

I just introduced the UGP to my 8th graders this week and already I'm seeing way more engagement and motivation than any research project I've ever assigned. And what I've loved the most this week is hearing the conversation around the room as students talk about what genre they're going to choose and are bouncing ideas off of each other.

So this week I am celebrating making research relevant in my classroom. 
 
What makes the UGP such an engaging research project and something I'd encourage you to try is as follows:

1) It teaches students that writing is not one thing but multiple things, and one must study the conventions of a genre in order to write well in that genre. So when we tell students things like, "avoid passive voice" or "no first person allowed," we're doing them a disservice because different genres call for adherence to different conventions.
2) It puts the research focus on writing rather than some random topic that bears no significance to English class.
3) It empowers students by showing them that if they can develop the tools to write in one genre, then it's possible to do this for many genres. It's essentially taking the mystery out of writing for them.

If this sounds like something you'd love to learn more about, I highly recommend you check out Fleischer and Andrew-Vaughan's book Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone. I can't say enough about how much this project has changed the way I view not only teaching research but how I teach genre as well. It also made me realize the importance of having students study multiple mentor texts rather than just giving them one to emulate.

So if you're like me and you'd rather scratch your nails down a chalkboard than teach another group of disengaged students the tired old research paper, then I highly encourage you to give the Unfamiliar Genre Project a try.


Book info:
Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone: Helping Students Navigate Unfamiliar Genres by Cathy Fleischer and Sarah Andrew-Vaughan
Published: January 9, 2009
Publisher: Heinemann
Pages: 184
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

A post about familial influences and as a result, a very biased book review

"So why do you want to write? For most people, living a good life and writing are not synonymous. In your case, however, they might be. Words call you. You aren't content to merely take note of life swirling around you and rising within you. You want to have a say about it, and talking isn't enough. Talking is evanescent. You want some permanency to your words."

 English teachers know the name Tom Romano as the author of many books about the craft of writing and most significantly as the face of the multigenre writing movement. He has inspired many teachers with his words and his teachings but long before he was inspiring future English teachers, he was inspiring me, a young impressionable child, not even a decade old yet. You see, Tom Romano is my uncle.

But even before I read every single one of his books, he was my writing role model from a very young child. He modeled a writing life for me and I am a writer today because of his influence.

I still remember the summer my family stayed with him and my Aunt Kathy when we moved to northern Kentucky (they live in southern Ohio, not far from Cincinnati). At the time, he was working on his very first book, Clearing the Way. I didn't know what a big deal this was until years later when I became a teacher and actually read the book for myself. But what I do remember from that time is that he would get up very early in the morning, hole himself up in his office, and write for hours.

He explained to me, a rather boisterous and opinionated 6-year-old, his strict rules about noise level and distractions in the house until a certain time of the morning. If I woke up before 11:00, even if it was 10:59, the mandate given by the resident author of the house was as follows: “No TV before 11:00!”

This became such a routine that I found myself, upon awakening every morning, walking down the hall, peeking my head in the doorway of his office and chiding him with an exasperated, “I know! No TV until 11:00!”

Reading with Uncle Tom as a wee one

But even if he weren't my uncle, it would be very hard not to be inspired by his words. Because for him, writing is life. It's not a pedantic set of rules and regulations one must follow in order to be considered talented or proficient. In his mind, in order to be a writer, one must write. Trust the gush. Revel in words and language. Write to elucidate your own thinking. It's as simple as that.

With Uncle Tom and Aunt Kathy at my recent graduation party

And so, as I suspected, Tom Romano's seventh book is just as inspiring as all of his others. Write What Matters has a somewhat different feel to it though. It has more of an imperative tone than his previous books, but it's done in a kindly way that compels one to write, not a condescending and sanctimonious way that will discourage young writers. *coughcoughThe Elements of Stylecoughcough* Romano comes across as the wise but gentle sage, ready to take on his young charge, not unlike say, a lovable and revered Mr. Miyagi or Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I especially appreciated the short chapters in Write What Matters, making them easily transformed into mini-lessons or quickwrites to share with students. I already know of quite a few chapters I will be sharing with my own students.  And as a self-proclaimed foodie, I will no doubt be using the "Make Me Taste It" chapter as a writing prompt in class. After all, one of the reasons I'm a such foodie to begin with is because I take pleasure in not only experiencing the flavors and textures of a perfectly executed dish, but also in describing those flavors and textures with language. I drive my husband a little bit crazy when we try a new restaurant because I spend just as much time describing my food as I do eating it.

So if you're looking for a book that will inspire your students (AND YOURSELF!) to pick up a pen or stare down the blinking cursor of a blank computer screen and say to it, "You don't scare me," you'd be hard pressed not to find inspiration in Write What Matters.


Write What Matters: For Yourself, For Others by Tom Romano
Published: October 20, 2015
Publisher: Zigzag Publishing
Pages: 158
Disclosure: Copy gifted to me by the author

Be the Lobster

I recently read the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and was absolutely gobsmacked. The book is a paradigm shift in how we should approach creativity. Gilbert posits that we need to throw away the trope of the tormented artist in favor of lightness, curiosity and play in our creative work. She has definitely inspired me in how I will approach my writing life from this moment forward. 

To illustrate an important point in this book, Gilbert tells the story of an American artist who goes to Paris to be inspired. One day he finds himself at a cafe and meets some charming aristocrats. In the course of their conversation, they invite the American to a costume party at a castle in the Loire Valley. Being the starving artist that he was, he had to use his creativity and ingenuity to come up with a costume for the party. 

Upon his arrival, he immediately realized that he missed something in translation of the invitation: the costume party was a theme party -- a medieval court. Everyone was dressed in period gowns and were dripping with jewels. The young American came dressed as... a lobster, replete with red tights, a painted red face, and giant foam claws. 

At this moment, the young American had two choices: run away in shame, or stay and risk the torment of being the only one not dressed like everyone else. In that moment, he decided to descend the stairs and join the party. In so doing, he ended up being the life of the party and even danced with the queen of Belgium. 

I read this story to my students this week. They wrote about it in their writer's notebooks and we talked about it as a class. As I discussed this story with all three of my 8th grade classes, there was the inevitable suggestion that, "Hey! Let's all dress as lobsters for Halloween!" Or, "We should all go to homecoming dressed as lobsters next year!" As some students nodded their heads in assent or verbally expressed their enthusiasm, I immediately thought to myself that some of them had missed the point. 

So the next day, I brought in the picture book The Hueys in the New Sweater by Oliver Jeffers. This is a book about a group of people who are all the same. Until one day one of the Hueys decides to knit a sweater and be different than everyone else. At first the Hueys are horrified, but eventually the sweater catches on, and then this happens:

So now the new mantra in our classroom is BE THE LOBSTER. But let's make an important distincton here -- "be THE lobster." Not "be A lobster." When given the choice to be like everyone else dressed in gowns and jewels, walk down those stairs into the ball wearing your red tights and giant foam claws and dance with the queen of Belgium. Put yourself out there. Be vulnerable. Don't be like the Hueys. 

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrate all the things

There are so many things to celebrate this week.

The first of which is that a picture book won the Newbery award! And it wasn't just any picture book. It was Matt de la Pena's picture book. Matt is one of the most amiable, generous, likable writers in the children's literature world so the fact that Last Stop on Market Street is a Newbery-winning book now, just makes my heart happy.  Matt co-hosted our Banned Books Week #nctechat back in September with current ALAN president Jennifer Buehler, so I had the opportunity to work with him on planning that chat and I can attest to what a committed and giving person he is despite his busy schedule. To see such a prestigious award granted to such a deserving person, I tip my hat to the Newbery committee. I love that we are changing and evolving in our understanding of what literacy is, what is literary, and what it means to be distinguished.

This is probably my favorite Tweet from the reactions of the day:

Average length of a Newbery winner is like 200 pages and @mattdelapena's all Nah man, I've got this in 32. BADASS.

— Cristin Stickles (@ThtsWhatSheRead) January 11, 2016

*~*~*~*~*

Back in October, I wrote a post about the need for change. That as much as I love that my husband and I have made a beautiful home in our condo, I am ready to move into a house of our own in a town that we love -- Ann Arbor, Michigan. The deal was that I had to finish grad school first.

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I graduated on December 19th. We were already meeting with a realtor on December 23rd. On January 2nd we went and looked at four houses. We fell in love with the first one we saw. On January 4th we put in an offer. It was accepted. We're closing at the end of February.

I said my One Little Word for 2016 was Do. I wasn't messing around.

*~*~*~*~*

I let my students listen to music when they're writing at the computer because for some it genuinely helps them concentrate (it totally distracts me, but to each his own). One of my students was listening to music Old School style this week. It totally cracked me up. I love when students do things to amuse me.

Celebrate One Little Word

I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions. I get the importance and symbolism of new beginnings and setting goals, but I think resolutions fizzle out more often than not. So I was excited last year when I learned about One Little Word from Ruth Ayres. Rather than make a new year’s resolution I would likely break in a month, I decided to follow in others' footsteps and choose One Little Word to be my focus, motivation, and source of meditation throughout the year. For 2015 my word was Brave. That word served me well and was a nagging reminder to “dare disturb the universe” when it was easier to just stay safely silent.

This year, as I watched many in the public eye hide behind their “thoughts and prayers” while standing idly by, I have decided my One Little Word for 2016 will be Do.

Do what scares you.
Do what inspires you.
Do what you know is right.
Do YOU dare disturb the universe?

It's time to get uncomfortable, America

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; 
Where there is injury, pardon; 
Where there is doubt, faith; 
Where there is despair, hope; 
Where there is darkness, light; 
Where there is sadness, joy. 

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek 
To be consoled as to console, 
To be understood as to understand, 
To be loved as to love; 
For it is in giving that we receive; 
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life."  

- Prayer of St. Francis

These pictures were taken back in 2006 when the Catholic school where I taught visited the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to the largest percentage of Arab Americans in the United States. Almost ten years later and that moment is still vividly imprinted on my soul.

Prior to that visit, I, like so many in this country, had made certain assumptions about the faith of Islam that were purely out of ignorance and fear. But then I had to look my ignorance and fear straight in the eye and force myself to learn and grow. And you know what? It's really difficult to perpetuate that fear when you meet someone, shake their hand, look them in the eye, and see their humanity.

Even in a pluralistic country like the United States, where so many different ethnicities and faith traditions live under one banner, it is very easy for those in the white Christian majority to otherize people. To always refer to "those people" and remain comfortably at a distance.

But we can no longer remain comfortable in our complacency and oblivious bigotry. Because guess what? Our oblivious, quiet bigotry has now entered our public consciousness. And it is SHOUTING AT US.

So today I am celebrating discomfort. I am taking time out of my day to humbly beseech that we as a nation (i.e., those in the majority) stop hiding behind our ignorance and start educating ourselves and recognize that we can no longer afford to talk about a group of people with nothing but hearsay as evidence. As we become more and more of a global society, the notion that we can continue to make (and publicize!) those uneducated assumptions is downright dangerous. It's time to force ourselves out of our own contented bubbles and get uncomfortable, America. The health, vitality, and SAFETY of our nation depend upon it.

Celebrate the need for laughter and human connection

I have been reeling this week from the news out of California (and Paris and Colorado and...). I am having a hard time being productive because I can't stop focusing on the hatred and negativity that seems to be swirling around me, our country, and our world in recent days and months.

So I need to celebrate and focus on the good that is happening in the world and in my classroom. I need to celebrate laughter.

So here's a couple good laughs for you, and especially for me.

Last night while I couldn't stop festering about something that happened earlier in the day, one of my good friends posted this link on Facebook of an interview with Carrie Fisher on Good Morning America and it gave me the good laugh I needed. I have a confession to make, though: I don't even like Star Wars, but I have to say that this was the best celebrity interview EVER.

More laughter came in the form of a wonderful writing conference I had with a student yesterday. Students have been revising their author bios this week that they wrote at the beginning of NaNoWriMo. Many of them, now that they had spent a month donning the identity kit of a writer,  decided to completely overhaul their author bios and start over. I am a proud and beaming teacher right now to see them embrace revision in this way.

I came close to not having writing conferences yesterday because I was feeling particularly negative and questioned if they even make a difference, especially because they are so time consuming. And plus, I always worry if my comments are hurtful rather than helpful to their writing. But I pressed on. And I met with one particular student who completely changed his author bio and in so doing, had deleted one quirky detail that I suggested he put back in. In his first draft, he said that one of his hobbies was "lawn care." I have to admit, for an 8th grader that gave me a good chuckle and I said that I would love to see that incorporated into his final draft somehow. My good chuckle then turned into full on uproarious laughter replete with happy tears when he proceeded to tell me that he loves "lawn care" so much that his most recent birthday present from his parents was a backpack leaf blower. And he was serious. He said his parents haven't had to do any yard work for the past three years.

(But, you know, "kids these days" only care about spending time in front of screens.) <--- It's very hard to perpetuate that negative attitude when you actually force yourself to sit down with each student and talk to them as individuals. 

So had I not taken the time to confer with students yesterday, I would have never heard such an entertaining story that made me see this particular young man in a new light.

And as the world continues to fester in its hatred of those who are "Other," all I can do is hope that the personal connections I make with my own students will make a difference in helping to contribute to creating a more tolerant and accepting world. When it comes right down to it, humans just want to be validated. They want others' words and actions to say, "I see you." I am striving every day to try to make that a reality in my own classroom.  It's not always successful, but I am making a conscious effort.

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrate Student Writers and Generous Authors

This has been a difficult past few days for me. With deadlines looming and NCTE convention fast approaching, I'm starting to feel like I can't get it all done. My to-do list feels like a fast moving Twitter feed that I can't keep up with. Truth be told, I really shouldn't be writing this blog post. I should be tackling my miles-long to-do list instead.

Students writing -- on their lunch period!

But there has been a shining beacon in my overwhelmed state of being right now and I feel like I need to celebrate that: my students. The entire 8th grade is participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Their fear and trepidation was palpable when I told them in October about the writing project we would be immersing ourselves in for the month of November. I mean, a WHOLE NOVEL? In 30 days? How is that even possible?

But now as I help guide them through the process and show them that writing a novel doesn't have to be as intimidating as it first appears, they are embracing their new identities as writers. Nothing was further proof of that than watching students voluntarily coming and giving of their lunch periods to write their novels. On Thursday I had 16 students come work on their novels. On Friday I had 25. I only have 27 computers. If this keeps up I'm going to have to start turning students away. That is a good dilemma to have.

In addition to motivated students, I also have wonderfully generous authors who have given and will be giving of their time to help my students with the writing process during NaNoWriMo. My friend Marquin Parks, author of the Wrinkles Wallace series (Knights of Night School and Fighters of Foreclosure), sent along some words of wisdom for my students via video message:



Not only did I have an author send a video message, but Gae Polisner, author of The Pull of Gravity and The Summer of Letting Go, Skyped with all three of my classes yesterday and offered her writerly words of wisdom along with a quick writing exercise.

Skyping with Gae Polisner

One of the best things about the day was that even though I didn't tell my students they had to take notes on Gae's advice, most of them were totally taking notes. And when Gae asked my first hour class if anyone had any questions, one of my more vocal students said, "Can we write our novels now?" I couldn't help but grin.

My favorite nuggets of wisdom Gae gave my students yesterday were as follows:

• Don't care about sucking. First drafts aren't supposed to be good. Writers call first drafts vomit drafts because they just need to get it out.
• Sucking at writing is hard to do because you're probably so used to writing for a grade that it's hard to write freely, so it's great that you have this opportunity to write and not worry about if it's organized, outlined, well-worded, or even makes any sense. That's what revision is for. 
• She shared her writing process with my students and told them that even though it was contrary to what they probably learn in school and somewhat contrary to the advice Marquin gave my students, she doesn't like to outline. It stifles her creativity and so she showed them a productive way that she gets out all the things she wants to put in her book without outlining.It actually excites me when writers share contrary bits of advice to students because it proves to them that there is no one writing process. Everyone's process is unique to them.
• The thing that drives your story even more than plot is being able to answer these two questions: 1) What does my character want? 2) What's getting in their way?

And with that, dear students, go forth and write!

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrate This Week: Provoking Dialogue and Debate

I've been reeling since I heard (and saw) the news of the student in South Carolina who was thrown from her desk and the classroom by a student resource officer. I've tried to stay on the DL about my feelings regarding race on Facebook, at least with regard to initiating conversations in my own space. I've remained comfortably silent because I didn't want to get into the social media equivalent of a screaming match with friends and family who hold differing viewpoints than mine and might suddenly find myself with contentious feelings both from and about me.

But that's a coward's way of thinking.

And my One Little Word this year is Brave.

So I need to be brave and have these hard conversations and pose difficult questions, otherwise I'm not being a positive agent for change. My blog's title IS Use Your Outside Voice, after all. I'm a hypocrite if I don't speak up for my own beliefs.

So I posted something provocative on Facebook about what happened at Spring Valley High in South Carolina and sure enough, it raised some ire. But it was also done in a mostly respectful and productive way despite the differing and sometimes heated viewpoints.

In the end though, we need to welcome that kind of dialogue and debate. If our social media spaces are just echo chambers of our own views and we unfriend everyone who disagrees with us, then that is going to be a rude awakening for you when you leave the comfort of your electronic devices and have to interact with real people in the real world who believe and behave differently than you.

I want us to talk ABOUT these things. We can't do that if we're talking AT each other or we're afraid to speak up because we fear confrontation so we just unfriend people who don't agree with our way of thinking. So as long as it stays respectful, I'm going to keep talking about tough topics and posing hard questions. And we can all stay friends... even when we disagree sometimes.

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrating the muisc of my heart - one imperfectly attempted song at a time

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

It's been almost a year since I made the decision to buy a new, shiny black baby grand piano. Just like the kind I've always wanted since I was a little girl.

I'd like to say I play it all the time and that I've gone back to the dedication and ability I had when I was younger and took piano lessons from age nine until twenty-two.

But here's the honest truth: Even though I play more than I used to, it's nowhere near as much as I thought I would.

I was hoping I'd revive some of the old classical pieces I used to play with such verve and enthusiasm that my hands would just remember how to play them. Pieces like Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique, Chopin's Waltz in C-Sharp Minor, Mozart's Fantasy in D Minor.

But that didn't happen. I just don't have the time or the stamina anymore.

What I do have, however, is the love of music. The desire to still grace my fingers across those keys, no matter how awkward and clunky it might be. The pleasure to play has come back where it wasn't before. But I have resigned myself to the fact that I will likely never really perfect a difficult piece of  classical music ever again. Very rarely do I have the stamina or attention span to attempt an entire piece from start to finish. I dip in and out of songs, playing a phrase here, a section there. When my hands don't feel like playing a particular piece, I move on to something else. When my hands tell me that they love the way a particular song feels as they move along the keys, I oblige. And while it's never close to perfect or even always pretty, my heart has finally come back to the piano. One imperfectly attempted song at a time. Just like this one (my hands are particularly a fan of playing this song):

Celebrate a Pile of Notebooks

This is my Saturday morning. Reading writers' notebooks and doing laundry. I much prefer reading the notebooks over laundry.

Reading student notebooks over tea and toast while laundry taunts me from the right

Despite this looming pile, I really do love reading my students' notebooks. It helps me get to know them better and also see those treasured nuggets of wisdom that are often revealed when they embrace the mantra that "writing is thinking."

So I'm going to cut today's celebration post short. I have lots of notebooks to read and writers to nurture.

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrating a Grad School Milestone

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

This week I finished writing my master's project proposal and will formally submit it next week. I have one semester of grad school left and then I am DONE. Part of me is celebrating and the other part is mourning a little bit. I have loved being a grad student in the English Studies for Teachers program at Eastern Michigan University. I have appreciated my education more in this program than

What my office floor looked like while I was writing my proposal

I ever have in my entire life. After all, grad school is the reason why I started this blog in the first place.

Part of me wishes I could be a professional student. I have toyed with the idea of applying for a PhD program right after I graduate with my master's degree, but I think I need to give myself a few years. And I also need to give myself a few more pep talks that writing a dissertation REALLY isn't that scary (HA!).

But I need to stop getting so far ahead of myself. Right now I'm just going live in the moment and celebrate this milestone of being that much closer to a master's degree.

Celebrate Past, Present, and Future

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a very special celebration. It was for the 25th anniversary of my former piano teacher's school of music. And I was one of her original students from way back in 1990.

To say that her guidance impacted the course of my life would be an understatement. She is such a kind, passionate musician, but more importantly, she understands her students. She knew that I needed music in my life as an emotional outlet for all of the joy, pain, and frustrations of growing up. She knew I didn't care about scales and proper fingering (though she gently but firmly made me learn those things) and if I didn't love a piece of music she suggested for me, she knew I wouldn't practice it. So for more than ten years, she let me navigate, while she steered me in the right direction.

And because Tracey was such a gracious, giving teacher, students who performed at her recitals and local music competitions never felt like rivals. We had a camaraderie of support for each other. And it was because of that camaraderie that a fellow student introduced me to the man who is now my husband. So not only did Tracey's teachings impact the person I am today, but every day I continue to see how being a part of her music school altered the course of my life. The frequent sentiment that many current and former students expressed yesterday was that Tracey was/is more than a teacher; she also felt like part of your family. I'm so grateful that Tracey was and is a part of mine.

5 Things I'm Celebrating Today

I'm currently writing this post in the car on my way to Traverse City. (Don't worry! I'm not driving!) I thought I'd stretch myself and try writing a blog post on my phone since I've never done that before.

Here are the things that make me happy on this fine Saturday in June:

1) It's summer vacation!

2) My husband and I celebrate our anniversary tomorrow. 12 years! 

3) Hatching plans with friends and colleagues to improve our practice, because even though we have summers off, we are always thinking about our students and classrooms. We don't turn that off in June, July, and August. 

4) Blue hair (See #1)

5) The ability and means to travel and see the world. In July we are going to Costa Rica for the first time and I am so excited! 

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Graduations = Celebration & Reflection

This week we celebrated 8th grade graduation. So naturally this is a good time to reflect on what a wonderful school year it has been. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I announced I would be returning to the classroom as an 8th grade English teacher at my alma mater. This year has been everything I had hoped it would be. I had a wonderful group of students, my schedule was about as low-stress as it could be (I come in late morning, teach three English classes, and am home before 4:00), and I immediately felt at home in the community since this is where I went to school.

Since this was my first 8th grade graduation as a teacher at the school I attended, naturally, it would stand to reason that I would start to think back to my own 8th grade graduation 21 years ago.

This is a picture of me with one of my best friends from middle school and high school. Looking at this picture, it's so funny to see how much we've changed (check out my pouffy hair!) but in the few times we have been able to get together over the past few years where we can catch up over dinner, we quickly go into reminiscing mode.

Middle school and high school was an incredibly turbulent time in my family life, so having the support of such a stable, accepting school community helped bring some normalcy to my otherwise dysfunctional life. So to say I am now teaching in the place that helped give me that normalcy and accept me for who I was despite my struggles is a great privilege. When I look at this picture of me from 21 years ago, I see a naive little girl who doesn't have a clue how lucky she got in life. I could choose to focus on the things that make my life difficult or the things that didn't go right, but when it comes right down to it, I have been blessed more than most, and I recognize that more than you know. So despite my struggles, I'm here to say that life is pretty great. And every day is a celebration.

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Celebrate middle schoolers

Yesterday was our 8th graders' last day of school. Next week they're off to Washington, D.C. and then they graduate on May 26th. The day ended with an 8th grade vs. teachers volleyball game, and boy did they go all out with their outfit selections:

I mean, who ever thought a gecko could play volleyball so well? :) (Incidentally, the teachers won.)

It has been such a wonderful school year. I am so happy that I decided to come back to the classroom and to spend my days with middle schoolers. I know there are many people out there who meet me and tell me what a saint I am for teaching middle school, but I absolutely love it. Yes they are egocentric. Yes they can have attitudes. Yes they can have an extreme sense of what they think is fair and unfair.

But they're also funny, thoughtful, and creative. They ask difficult questions and have the capacity to teach adults how to be present.

So those of you who meet any teacher for the first time ask and ask what grade they teach, rather than telling middle school teachers what saints they are, I challenge you to instead genuinely ask us what they like best about teaching that age group. Because for me, I am in my element when I'm teaching teenagers. Not so much with five year-olds. Oh, who am I kidding? I don't have a clue what to do with five year-olds, and quite frankly, I don't want to find out. But at the same time, I also have mad respect for those who do. It just seems like middle school teachers bear the brunt of the, "Bless you for teaching that age group. I don't know how you do it" spiel from the general public.

We do it because we choose to do it. It's really not that big of a deal to us. Most of the time it's not the kids that make us the most crazy.  But that's a discussion for another blog post. Today I am celebrating my students.

So thank you 8th graders for being you. You have pushed me to think harder and answer some tough questions. We've had some productive, difficult discussions, but in the end, I hope I have taught you to never stop asking the hard questions and to always be curious. Good luck in high school -- I know you'll do great things!

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres