My One Thing...So Far... #GafeSummit

  (Glances around furtively to see who is watching...)

I wasn't excited about jumping in the car.
Don't get me wrong.  I love learning.
We just returned from Grand Rapids after attending the Lutheran Education Association Convocation.
We squeezed in a birthday celebration for my 12 year old.  (Bless it.  My 8 year old is still waiting.)
Conferences are coming.  A Fall Concert with my Rusty Piano Playing is coming.
And now I'm going to leave town again for the weekend for some more PD?
(Are you sensing the weight yet?)
I pack the bag and jump in the minivan with a super colleague.


Saturday

A day of completely amazing learning!  All those thoughts before?  Go ahead and forget I had them.

I'm still processing Maker Space.  (A blog post is brewing...)  It was excited to have play time and try some tools out.

I loved spending time looking at Matific's resources and what they had to offer in the area of math.

I spent some time listening and watching and learning about extensions that support primary readers and writers.

The One Thing

But you guys.  Here is The One Thing that rocked my world.  You may be already fluent at this.  Go ahead and skip out if you have mastered this already.

I've been struggling with Blogging in First Grade.  You guys.   I just felt like it was taking up so much time.  I wanted to give my students an authentic voice.  But I also wanted them in the writing process, not the "Hunting and Pecking" process as they pecked out a tiny blog post.  I felt like writing was suffering because they simply weren't ready to type!

Here's the One Thing:

1  Open up a Google Doc.
2. Use the Voice Typing tool under the Tools section of the document.
3.  Allow the students to record the story they wish to tell.  (A response, an answer to a question, a story they need to share.)
4.  Install Read&Write for Google Chrome in your extensions.
5.  The students can have their writing read back to them to make sure it is correct.
6.  Publish and connect with the world!

A huge thank you to Stacy Behmer for showing us extensions that can impact our classroom instruction.  The time to use and experiment with this extension was my One Thing that is coming back with me.

What are you learning at #GAFESummit?

Joy!
Kendra

Loyalty and Faithfulness.

Link up at www.twowritingteachers.wordpress.com.  We are so grateful for this community. 

What’s funny is I’m reminded of annoyances as I start to write this.  

“We’ll come see you when he’s out of town…”  (Please don’t do that…)

“The soccer game is cancelled.”  (But I was going to have the house to myself...)

I’m reading about Ruth right now.  A lot of you know passages from Ruth.  They are usually read at weddings.  

For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  (1:16-17).

You know what?  Ruth is talking to her mother-in-law.  Who has lost her husband.  And two sons.  

Ruth is declaring loyalty and faithfulness when she could have turned and ran.  

What struck me here is how this declaration happened in the middle of a mess.  Ruth isn’t dancing through a bed of roses when she’s making this declaration. There are tears, there have to be.  Orpah did take the blessing to leave, so a family member has taken off.  She’s declaring her loyalty and faithfulness at some of the hardest times they have experienced together.  (I won’t even get started on the judges and the famine….)

So what’s up?  Where’s the connection?

When my family shows up unannounced (which always makes me nervous), I can declare loyalty and faithfulness.  

When my “me time” is interrupted by a not empty house, I can declare my loyalty and faithfulness.  

Maybe it needs to be to my spouse.  Maybe to my parents.  Maybe to my in-laws.  Maybe it is simply to coworkers and friends.  

I love the conviction that loyalty and faithfulness are resounding themes with Ruth.  We can be loyal and faithful to each other in the mess of life.  

Who do you look at today with loyalty and faithfulness?  

Joy!
Kendra

A Few Thoughts on Status Quo and Spiritual Journeys from Kendra. :)

Before I begin, I realize this is a chance for me to tell my story.  

It might not be your story.

Our collective story is what makes us better.

My story swirls around me, especially in these past two years.  

I often wonder how that story can encourage and inspire others to journey.  

So I'm going to give it a full shot.

The story began to come out with a tweet:  

Look at the tweet from Mary Ann Reilly:  “Status quo is often a resting place.  Before I interfered, I’d want to honor resting.”  (Also, follow her if you don’t.  She is quietly brilliant and unassuming. Sometimes I think social media is a weird place to be.  But I always feel Something when I read and look at her work.)  It was this tweet that stopped me in my tracks and caused me to pause and reflect on everything I’ve been considering over the past 2-3 years.  

Where in education are we?  Are we constantly looking to stay a step ahead and be considered innovative, that we’ve lost sight of rest and reflection?  

In a culture of compliance and the trend to be innovative, I fear we are losing our best educators.   

Test more.  Organize your data.  Be brilliant with the spreadsheet.  Innovate and create amazing lessons that make kids want to come to school.  Really, who can be all these things all the time?  And do them well.  

The culture reminds me of a roller coaster we went on this summer as a family.  You would be riding along peacefully, and then you would be jerked to the left or right.  You’d get to the top of the hill and then fly to the bottom, only to start the climb again.  My youngest and I, not being crazy about roller coasters, left that ride feeling a little tired, bewildered and ready for a good cold drink.  I think this analogy fits for how I felt at the end of my tenure as a public educator.  

At my worst, I would sit at our kitchen table and cry.  I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t writing enough lessons, my newsletter wasn’t like the kindergarten teacher's (words said to me), I wasn’t teaching what I knew what was best practice.  And then I’d pick myself up (or my husband would push me up) and I’d get back at it.  But I only held that frantic pace for about 3 years.  

And by the end I was burnt out.  And wounded.  All I could do was look at the pacing guide and go through the requirements.  Status quo.  But even in those moments I was rebuilding my spirit as an educator.   I just didn’t know it yet.   

Colleague support?  Yes!  But they were (and still are) working at the same frantic pace.  With meetings, and requirements, and the push to continue to innovate.  And I worry about them.  How long can they continue to push at this pace?

What I can only describe as a spiritual journey, I crashed-landed at a Lutheran Day School.  I went searching for this position almost out of spite based on what I had experienced.  (Because I love these people, I want to tell you it is definitely ministry based, not private minded.)  

And it was here that I began to rebuild a spirit inside me that I didn’t even know was there anymore.  I use music daily.  I dance in the classroom.  Today we laughed because I prayed for my 7 year old Birthday Girl to be an old, old, Granny someday.  :)  Kids were eager to show me their writing, they are tackling books, and they love science.  I have time to consider books written by experts and what they mean for my students and my teaching.

When I consider the journey I’m on, yet, I reflect on Mark 6:31.  And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”  Even Jesus, you know, Jesus, instructed his people to rest.  

So, back to status quo and rest.  I’ve learned to observe.  Step back.  Learn the story.  Everyone has one.  Everyone.  

I’m reminded that God wants his people to rest.  He’s equipped Teachers to be who they are.  He tells them to rest.  

I’m not left with many answers.  I know that Public educators are not really being invited to do that at this time.  How do we honor the resting that takes place in some status quo, or in good frameworks in teaching?  

I’m learning Lutheran educators are better, but still not great at rest.  The ministry has to be done people.  Giddy up.  Let’s go!  Where is the rest?  It is almost a badge of honor to not to.  How do we change this mindset as Christians, who have been commanded by, you know, Jesus, to rest?  I don’t know.  

Meanwhile, if you see a teacher who seems to be caught in status quo, I would now encourage you to be gentle with them first.  Step back and see them.  See their story.  Find the rest that they need, and honor it.  Be careful about pushing them too quickly.  

Let them rest awhile.    

Joy! (And Rest!)

Kendra

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.

Back to school time is here.  As we traveled to the library last week, I took the opportunity to stock up on some read alouds for the first 3 days.  

I've been taking this book on home visits with me.  It is such a gentle read on the power of reading and the fun that comes with it!  

This is a beautiful book.  As the child wanders through the book and interacts with each animal, he's having so many experiences.  But there was no tribe of kids.  When he finds the tribe of kids, you have to wonder if he was really lost, or if he was simply on a journey.  I think this is a beautiful read about community.  

What a relaxing read aloud.  Simply calming, as children relate to bedtime routines, and the adventures one can have at bedtime.  

When all the little friends go to music class, everyone is having a blast!  One small friend is watching from the side at first.  A joyful read about joining in when you are ready.  

A read aloud for fun!  I adore Snappsy and his voice in this story.  

Finally, I keep marveling at my own kids and their reading.  Big A pulled this book off the shelf for me and said, "Mom, if you recommend books to me, I'll do the same for you."  I have a couple other books I'm trying to finish as well, so I'll need to get busy!  

Joy!
Kendra

#pb10for10: Books to Promote Dreaming and Creating.

Thank you to Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek for this yearly celebration of picture books.  Join in to share and learn here.

So this past school year, everything was a possibility. 

It opened up a part of me to dream again.  

The best part was getting to share that feeling with my students.  

Here are 10 books we used to promote Dreaming and Creating.  (And a little bit about how that went.)

Often, I would read and simply pose a question about the ideas in the book and off we went creating and dreaming!

I love this book, because part way in, what she is dreaming about isn't coming out!  How frustrating!  That was such a beautiful conversation to have with my kiddos this year.  And of course each time we read it, we had to stop and fiddle, adjust, and tweak.



This is my favorite way to start out the school year.  After we read, we stop and consider what our unimaginary friends look like!



A simple paper boat and the possibility of a rainy day was all we needed to create our own boats and adventures.  This wordless picture book was a favorite of my students last year.



What if your next friend was a ghost?  A friendly one of course.  A lovely story to dream about friendship.



So, the truth is my kids didn't really enjoy this book as a read aloud.  However, They Loved looking at it together and talking to each other in robot voices.



A perfect book for dreaming about what you might be when you grow up.  Paired with a spirit of thankfulness, this book is simply lovely.



This book has more of a biblical spin on dreaming about the future.  (See Jeremiah 29:11.)  It encourages readers to dream about the future and believe those dreams can come true.  I loved how the voice in the book lead children to believe there is a path just for them to travel on.   After reading this book, it was great to do some writing on what we were dreaming of being when we grow up.



While this book seems to be about a bus ride and the greatness of the neighborhood, it really opens up the opportunity for kids to dream and see the greatness in their own neighborhood.



What happens when you dream of a friend and one appears?  What if your imaginary friend isn't needed anymore?  A lovely story about dreaming of friendship and what to do when that dream comes true!

And I couldn't let today go by without:



Whether it's a dream, or an idea that needs to be tinkered with, I love that kiddos are so eager to share.  After this book, I've seen stories, artwork, block cities...the list could go on.

What do you dream about?  Has it lead to any creations you are excited about?  Want to share?

Joy!
Kendra

Celebrate: Running

Friends, You can celebrate too!  Link up at www.ruthayres.com.  I thank Ruth for sharing her space with us. 

I sit out here on the patio in the shade.  

It's cool.  

My coffee is gone.  So are my pancakes.  

I remark to my husband how cool technology is.  I essentially have set up a mobile office in a matter of seconds.  Music on the bluetooth, a phone to communicate, and my trusty laptop for celebrating!

I'm feeling strong as I sit here.  

7 miles later.  

A minute faster per mile than last week.  (Before that sounds too cool, I'm moving at a turtle stampede's pace. I might have broken out of the turtle stampede this morning.  But it reminds me I can get stronger.  And I celebrate that.)

I'm 38 years old, and 10 months.  I'm celebrating that I haven't had injuries to stop me from running.  I've stayed healthy since I've taken up running in my 30s.  When I'm not running, it's my own fault.  

I celebrate the strength that comes with running.  

I celebrated a few other times this week.  In my Slice, and on a day when I realized I was transitioning back to school.  

In the spirit of celebrating, Joy!
Kendra

Julia Cook is Here!

This afternoon, our second keynote speaker is Julia Cook!

Let's just look at some of my favorites:







First of all, she is hilarious!
I adored her research, heart, and passion for teaching 'people skills' to others.



Here is her book that addresses dreaming about the future.  It addresses leadership.  It also gently encourages kids to consider "soft skills" that kids will need as they move through life, no matter what they are interested in.



This book comes out on the 28th.  When I think about all that's been going on in our beautiful world, I just think that we could all benefit from time to read this book.  It's really a beautiful book about seeing the beauty in others.

Joy!
Kendra