Remembering Ally......

When my phone rang at 1:30 the other morning I knew something had to be wrong. It was my friend Susan from Florida letting me know that another friend of ours had passed away that evening. My heart sank to the floor as I thought of her recent wedding just 3 weeks ago and how happy she was celebrating with her new husband, family, and friends. Allison was a 2nd grade teacher in Florida where we met at Poinciana Elementary School in 2004. Her compassion for children, smiling face, and huge heart made it easy for anyone to work with her and be her friend. She lovingly touched the lives of many children and made a difference to those kids who desperately needed someone to care about them. This blog is in memory of a Allison: a wonderful friend, inspiring teacher, loving wife, and kind daughter. We are reminded just how precious life is and to live each day to its fullest.

The Golden Apple Preschool & Learning Center

Thought I would share the cover of my brochure for the new preschool I am opening up. I will also post additional info. as I work on it to get feedback and suggestions. Thanks for your help!!!!

~-~-~ME~-~-~

Empathetic

Medium-tempered

Intelligent

Loves the beach

Youthful

Just bought house

Oldest of 4

Honest

Neat freak

Smiles alot

Open-minded

Never stops moving!

~Quiet Creative Writing~ in 1st grade

This is a picture of 1st grade students working independently during our 10 minute "Quiet Creative Writing" time. After lunch/recess my students were always excited with lots of energy and needed a way to calm down and transition into the afternoon routine. To encourage the learning environment I was looking for during this active period of the day, I combined a variety of strategies: I played classical music Cd's. dimmed the lights, and attached lined post-it-notes to random calendar pictures on each student's desk. These calendar pictures included: animals, sports, cars, landscapes, cartoons, abstract art, etc.

Students had been trained to enter the quiet classroom and get right to writing at their desks. Students were at different levels in their writing so this activity could be modified in many ways with: words to describe the picture, sentences about the picture, or a creative story. After 10 minutes the timer would ring and students would raise their hands to share what they had written. Three children shared their work and invited questions or comments. These discussions turned out to be some of the best and most insightful into supporting my students needs as 6/7 year old writers!!!! At the end our class helper would collect the pictures, which I could then hang on our "writing wire", or as a writing informal assessment.