Lucky!

Two Writing Teachers

This morning I crawled out of bed at an early 5:45 due to the Get Your Blog On class that I was participating with in Ashburn.  The word lucky popped into my head- fortunate, blessed, and charmed.  Yes, I was feeling very blessed as I observed the crisp dew of our lawn that was being protected like a fortress of thick fog. It was one of those reflective mornings that I walked around the porch with a smile.  I really didn't have a reason for the unknown joy.  I guess I was just content with myself and life even for a brief moment.  I had lived several lovely days and I was just happy.  On Sunday I had taken my mom to the Kennedy Center to see the musical "Once", Monday I had spent the day learning about blogging, and then the day ended with a relaxing dinner of great food and conversation with a friend. So, this morning as I was getting ready for the second day of class a feeling of being charmed wrapped around me like a warm blanket.  It felt glorious even if it was only for a short time because at 6:00 my home was a hectic mess as my family awoke!

Pencils with a Smile

I celebrate pencils too!  Today I am at my first class ever that deals with blogging.  We began by previewing various blogs.  I found A Day in the Life blog informative.  Leigh Ann Eck celebrated pencils and shared a story from a presentation from Ruth Ayres in her blog. This blog touched my soul because I strive to build relationships and safe communities with my students in my classes.  I am definitely from the "give them a pencil camp"! Many feel that the students need to be responsible by bringing their personal materials to class, but I want to assist my students by helping them deconstruct the barriers that keep them from writing, and sometimes the deconstructing can be as simple as sharing a pencil and a smile.  I am anxious to try the colored pencil in a jar behavior activity.  I found the statement below meaningful and applicable to building relationships and communities.
        "If we can recognize these behaviors, we can change our reactions.
                 When we change our reactions, we give them hope."