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Rainy Days and Mondays: SOL22 Day 28

Some days are the perfect convergence of conditions–that can either make or break your day.

Mondays can be challenging. Coming off the weekend students are unsettled–some tired, some amped, some seemingly have forgotten what this whole school thing is all about. And somehow, I always start parent conference week with an early morning conference. Today was no different.

I like morning parent conferences. They feel almost leisurely in the quiet of the morning before the stresses of the day emerge. But…today I had to rearrange my lesson plans since someone would come in to teach my class while I attended an IEP meeting. And…I didn’t know who it would be until I was already teaching this morning.

Then there’s the forecast. Last week we had summer mid-week, with coastal temperatures in the 80s. Today’s weather called for wind and rain…maybe even thunder and lightening. Any weather in these parts is an event–and my rain boot, umbrella toting students came to school ready for it! (What is it about wind and the prospect of rain that causes students to lose their minds? They were definitely stirred up today!)

No breaks later, it hadn’t rained. I wrangled the students back into learning mode as we explored some poetry (reading and writing) and did some drawing (tulips) that we will paint tomorrow. A minimum day dismissal arrived before the rain–so all those boots and umbrellas were not needed at school today.

But the rain did come, wafting in sheets during one of my conferences. We could hear the wind and see the sheets of water through the windows as we chatted about progress and appreciated the child’s unique qualities. And I was thankful for a rain-free teaching day since cooped-up kids are not my favorite start to the week.

You can see the rain pouring out the drains after the downpour.

Once my conferences were done for the day, the sun came out and I couldn’t resist a bit of photography outside the classroom, trying to catch the sunlight on the damp flowers that were clearly enjoying some rainfall in this usually dry climate.

While there is still some more rain in the forecast for the evening, it held off long enough for a neighborhood walk once I got home this afternoon. The snails were out everywhere creating their own kind of obstacle course (how I hate that crunch when I accidentally step on one!) as I made my way up and down the sidewalks.

End result? This rainy day and Monday converged in a way I can claim as a good day. It was busy and hectic as all parent conference week days are, but the rain made its appearances at times when I could appreciate it rather than curse it. All in all, a pretty darn good rainy day and Monday!

Purple Beans: SOLC #15

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With rain in the forecast (again!), I was thankful to be able to get my morning group of students out into the garden with their iPads. (No such luck with my PM group–but that is another blog post.)

In the fall, we had spent time in the garden clearing out overgrown beds, pulling weeds and enormous carrots that hadn’t been harvested because of our pandemic shutdown. We groomed the soil, sowed some seeds, made sure the irrigation was working–and then my attention turned to other instructional priorities, neglecting the garden.

This is the time of the year when I like to use photography as a tool to teach my students about perspective, about “seeing” the world in different ways, and about the role photos have played as advocacy. We’ve learned a bit about Dorothea Lange and her photographs during the depression and World War II and also about Ansel Adams and his photos of National Parks and Japanese internment camps.

So we headed into the garden to try on a few photography techniques: a bug’s eye view, leading lines, natural frames, and the rule of thirds. A lot had changed since our last visit to the garden before the winter holidays! We were greeted by 4 foot tall dandelions, beets bigger than a your head, and plenty of other surprises.

My students happily explored with their iPads in search of photographs. They laid on the ground seeking that bug’s eye view, looking up and under the masses of plants. They sought frames and lines, hopefully holding their devices still enough to prevent the inevitable blur that so many experience. They used those helpful grid lines to define the focus of their subject and carefully place it for their rule of thirds photos.

And they pointed out all the wonders they found. There was the little girl who worked diligently to photograph the roly poly that was trying to make a quick get away and the one who dug around in the garden bed and discovered that giant beet (above). They photographed flowers and beans, pinecones and weeds…and who knows what all else.

I found myself captivated by the purple beans. Lots and lots of purple beans and the mass of curlicues reaching up and around.

Tomorrow we will examine our photos, evaluating how well the photography techniques work in helping us look carefully. We’ll also do some writing, using the photos as inspiration and subject matter. And maybe we’ll also get back to some gardening. Weed those beds again, harvest our overgrown bounty, and start again with seeds. Seeds that will also help us grow–as photographers, writers, and advocates too!

What to do on a Rainy Day?: SOLC 2019 Day 2

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What to do on a rainy day? If I’d had my druthers, as I woke I would have snuggled back down into my covers and listened to the melodic drip drop pattering of raindrops on the roof until I was lulled back into a decadent lazy rainy day sleep.

Instead, when my alarm went off at 5:30 am, I got out of bed, heard the rain–with a bit of dread–and got myself ready to head out. This is the day of the San Diego Area Writing Project annual Spring Conference! We don’t do rain well in San Diego, so when my husband said my phone was buzzing as I emerged from the shower, I worried that people were contacted me to let me know that they wouldn’t be attending. (That wasn’t the case.) I made my way through the raindrops and occasional imprudent rainy day drivers to the university.

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And as is always the case…there is amazing energy in teachers coming together to learn on a Saturday morning! Close to 150 educators dodged the raindrops for continental breakfast, coffee, and comradery…along with opportunities to learn together. And we were in for a treat! The hardest part of the morning was choosing which sessions to sit in, there were so many good choices!

Storytelling strategies, using mentor text to improve student writing, inserting craft in non fiction writing, amplifying student voice (with students sharing their process and outcomes), harnessing the power of technology to support young writers, and employing thinking routines for social justice in the classroom were all options this morning. And thirty years into my teaching career and with almost as many years with the writing project I continue to learn and be inspired in this community of educators.

As always, Christine inspired the audience in her opening, reminding us that it is wholehearted connections that make the biggest difference in learning. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend a rainy Saturday morning in the company of dedicated professionals.

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