"Words are our most
inexhaustible source of magic."
-J.K. Rowling
Blue sky. That shouldn’t be such a novel thing, but I’m not sure I have ever been so grateful to see it. I’ve spent nearly every free second outside in the fresh air this weekend. I’m hoping we all had a chance for that.
Now that the smoke has literally cleared, it’s becoming apparent that the end of our first quarter of distance learning is rapidly approaching. Q1 ends October 15. I close my grades one week prior, which means all work needs to be turned in by October 8th. There are two quarter-long assignments that will soon be submitted: Writer’s Notebooks (October 1st) and Independent Reading (October 7th.) Both represent effort throughout the quarter and, as such, are worth more points than daily work. It would be a good idea to talk together about these assignments, to make sure they are getting the effort and attention needed to do well. This week we will have our second station rotation on Monday & Tuesday and I’m really looking forward to it. Three of the stations call for individual work, clearing the way for me to have time with small groups to discuss our pre-writing effort. The biggest shortcoming of online learning is the time together with students. Small group meetings over Zoom are as close as we come this quarter. I can’t wait! I continue to realize that I don’t really know what to expect from this strange school year. On Friday last week, I had 100% attendance in all classes. On Thursday, only one student was out. It’s extraordinary to me; I am utterly surprised. I thought learning from home would prompt more absences, not less. You know, I thought inertia would kick in. I’m pretty sure it boils down to the kids themselves. I think we can all be inspired by these not-quite-young-adults who are showing us what resilience and tenacity look like.
For the next few weeks, we’ll be gathering story ideas from our lives and jotting them down in our Writer’s Notebooks. I’m an over-thinker and when my teachers used to tell me to write, my brain went totally blank. To remedy this, I find having an abundance of ideas, organized and documented, is the perfect cure for writer’s block. Make time to talk together to share those “family classics” that we sometimes forget. I’m guessing there are more than a few gems that could inspire a great autobiographical piece or even get twisted into a work of fiction. Enjoy reminiscing! Can we all agree? Friday holidays are nice, but an official, everybody-gets-the-day-off Monday holiday is a beautiful thing.
This short week we will begin our class novel, The Benefits of Being an Octopus, by Ann Braden. However tempting, don’t read ahead on this one. I find that nothing brings a classroom together like a shared experience. Novels are the perfect way to accomplish this. In addition to being a great read, we’ll use it as a mentor text to uncover professional writing moves we can practice and then use in our own realistic fiction narratives. Win-win. Plus, after seeing the results from an initial assessment, reading comprehension scores are lower this year. I suspect it is harder for all of us to focus with so much change and uncertainty. Extra reading in the classroom will be just what we all need. Students: Octopus classroom reading will not count toward your Independent Reading page total. Keep reading the novels you have chosen on your own time. We have some catching up to do. Grades are looking good - maybe a little crazy good. I always like to kick-off the year with the opportunity for students to earn high marks to make sure we all realize it is possible. This year - since we’re up to our eyeballs in uncertainty - I laid it on thick. I’m glad I did. At this point, if you don’t have the grade you want, you may be missing assignments. Time to book an appointment with me for Distance Learning Support - I’d love to help. Those of you with great grades, congratulations! Also, be aware that the assignments will be ramping up in challenge and expectation; you will have to work harder to keep those marks. I know you all can do it.
Last week we got two of our most important practices up and running: Writer’s Notebooks and Independent Reading. We’ll be reading five days a week for at least 20 minutes each time, and writing as often as possible. Parents, ask your kids about both. Together those routines will strengthen our writing and reading skills and get our brains up and running again. To aid these ventures, this week we kick-off our vocabulary work. It’s all coming together. The start of any school year is a lot of work for everyone. This year, I’m guessing we can agree, has been harder than most. We’re all a little tuckered out! Luckily, we have a long weekend in our sights. We’ve got this! Our first full week was just that - very full.
I do feel as though I’m beginning to see real students emerging from those screens, and I so like what I see. You Dragons are eager and positive and full of personality. Best of all is your potential - it’s impossible to miss! So… Back to School Night happened. I have to be honest, it was surreal. I missed seeing all of my Dragon parents personally. That being said, I loved our team’s presentation. We have so many teachers on Team Dragon this year, with many interesting stories. I kind of loved hearing first hand about my peers’ classrooms - I never get that chance. I feel very lucky to work with the people I do. Your kids are in very capable hands. Monday and Tuesday will be important this week in class. My teaching partner and I created an assignment which allows us to get a great snapshot of our students' capabilities and learn exactly what we need to guide our teaching moving forward. We’ll be able to accomplish this with engaging material and little stress. Win-win. The best part of this week will be the beginning of QuickWrites in our Writer’s Notebooks. I honestly love this with all my heart! And my past students have loved it too. Really! Even if you didn’t like writing before, this is going to be the year you learn to love writing. Parents, ask your kids about their “Apparently” story on Friday. I’d be lying if I said our first week went exactly as planned. There were, in fact, more than a few hiccups. Time to put flexibility in overdrive!
That being said, my students are rockstars! You all figured out how to find multiple virtual classes and adjust to having six teachers instead of just a few and you even made it look like it was no big deal. I was impressed. For me, last week was a huge relief. My biggest worry (and I am a professional worrier!) was that my students would feel very far away. And while it was different, we really started connecting, even on the first day. The best part was I got to see most of you through the heatwaves at our materials drive-through. At 105°, it was a sweaty party! I’m looking forward to meeting my new Dragon parents at Back to School Night, Thursday, August 20th. As I write this, I have no idea how that’s going to work. Watch for an email with the specifics; I’ll do the same. We’ll need to partner together to get through this crazy year! This week we will establish our classroom expectations, protocols, and vibe. We will do another “get to know you” project that will allow me to meet with every student in small breakout groups. We’ll close the week with our first writing assignment to kick things off and help me fine-tune my to-do list. Oh, and there may be a few more hiccups… Full disclosure: I've never written a blog before. Some I read can frustrate me. Have you ever Googled a recipe and had to scroll through miles of images and text, in search of a list of ingredients? Me too! I don't have the time.
However, I find something freeing in the craziness of this school year. I want to keep both students and parents updated. I also want us to all feel connected, even under the tagline, "Distance Learning." Blogging it is! I promise to keep things honest, pertinent, and brief. Please email me with comments and questions. Welcome to what is certain to be a year like no other. Together let's make it a good one! |
AuthorBeth Fabiano - Busy 7th Grade ELA teacher, wife, mother Archives
May 2021
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