A Peek at My Week {8-03-14}

I hope this Sunday finds you well and ready for the first whole week of August!  I'm glad you are here.  It's time for us to all share what we've got planned for the week with A Peek at My Week.

I know many of you are getting ready to go back to school.  If you are one of those people, I wish you your best year ever!  I go back on August 26th, with students starting September 2nd.

On Monday, I am teaching a class about writing for my district.  I am very excited, but also a lot nervous. Last week I wrote about posting class information using LiveBinder and it generated a lot of questions and comments.  If you'd like to take a look at the LiveBinder I created, you can find it here.  It was pretty easy to put together and I like that it can be a resource that I can keep adding to.  Let me know what you think if you take a look.

On Tuesday, I am so excited to be attending EdCamp Lake Country.  This will be my second EdCamp and I am taking along a few teachers from school and our principal.  If you've never been to an EdCamp, you really MUST find one in your area. (You can find a directory of EdCamps here.)  They are amazing PD opportunities!

Also, this Monday and Tuesday, I will be doing a lot of shopping at the Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School SALE!  Many stores (including mine) are going to be up to 28% off with the code BTS14.  My cart is loaded and ready for check out.  I'm really glad I finished my Writer's Notebook Reference product in time for the sale.

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a wonderful week!

Let's Talk About Writing

Last week, Chris Lehman launched a new online forum for teachers to collaborate on topics they are passionate about.  The Educator Collaborative is a great place to participate in discussions, ask questions, and grow your personal learning network (PLN).  There are lots of groups with topics to please everyone!

I began a group called "Writing in Grades 3-5" with the purpose of sharing ideas and inspiration for growing our students as writers.  I would love it if you would join the conversation!  Click here for more information.

If you join, drop me a note in the comments to let me know.  I'm looking forward to learning from you!

Star Struck at All Write 14

What an amazing two days I spent in Warsaw, IN for the All Write 14 Conference.  If you live anywhere in the midwest (or don't mind travelling), you should definitely put this conference on your schedule for next year.

I met some wonderful new friends and the line up of speakers was a "who's who" of educational bloggers and the literacy world.

Wednesday evening began with a dinner that Ruth Ayres arranged at the hotel restaurant.  Imagine a small group of 60 teachers & presenters together in the back of a Benigan's Restaurant, moving around and chatting constantly!  I don't even know how our two waitresses kept it all straight.  I met some wonderful new friends who adopted me as their dinner company (I was travelling alone and many people already knew others) and had a great time.

Thursday began with a wonderful keynote by Ruth Ayres about how important it is to find celebration even in tough times. 

I learned so much from Franki Sibberson about digital literacy and have lots of new tools to try out when we go back to school in the fall.

In the afternoon, Colby Sharp of the Nerdy Book Club talked to us about why it is important that we tell our own stories. It was a great way to end the day!!

On Thursday night, we had dinner with Barry Lane and he entertained the crowd with songs about education. So funny!

 Friday was spent with the Book Whisperer herself - Donalyn Miller.

Donalyn shared an hour's worth of book recommendations with the crowd.  Listening to her speak was like having a conversation with an old friend.  She has such a wonderful presentation style. I could listen to her for hours!

I also saw Donalyn's presentation about reading conferences and came away with more great ideas.

Kristin Ziemke had some great ideas about how to use technology to enhance learning.

Whew!  That's a lot of learning.  There were so many sessions that I wanted to attend that I wished I could have cloned myself.  I heard Cris Tovani, Stephanie Harvey and Kelly Gallagher were amazing as well!  If you want to hear more of the conversation, check out the Twitter feed at #allwrite14.  (I took so many pictures and tweeted so much that my phone's battery ran down to 15% both days.) 

I already have All Write 15 on my calendar for next year so I can go back and meet up with my new friends. For being a smaller literacy conference, the organizers of All Write 14 did an amazing job bringing in some big name presenters and other literacy experts that were so inspiring!  Can't wait for next year! 

A Peek at My Week -- Summer Edition! {6/15/14}

Ahhh....summer vacation.  I didn't think it would ever arrive, but it did!  Welcome to this week's edition of A Peek at My Week, my weekly linky party where we can link up and share what we've got going on for the upcoming week. I hope you will link up with me.

Like many of you, I am one of those teachers who uses her summer break to get ready for next year.  Sure, there is lots of rest (naps!), relaxation and FUN, but I also use these weeks to learn new things for next year. I love to read and I have a stack of professional books I hope to get through.  Here are just a few:

I have actually read about half of this book by Jeff Anderson already and it is so amazing that I am going to start over and take notes.  Seriously, if you are looking for some great ways to take your writing instruction to the next level, this is a must read!

When I saw this book on Amazon, I looked at the preview.  After the first five pages of the preview, I had already written down two ideas I wanted to use.  Can't wait to read the rest!

Since we are moving towards standards based grading next year, I want to do more with learning targets.  This book will help.

On Wednesday, I will be heading to Indiana for the All Write Summer Institute "Daring Greatly."  While this is a smaller literacy conference, the line up of presenters isn't.  Here is who I will see:

Donalyn Miller

Kelly Gallagher

Stephanie Harvey

Barry Lane

I will post about my experiences at the conference, but if you want to know what happens when it happens, follow me on Twitter @laffinteach.  

Not bad for my first week of break!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by!

EdCamp - PD By Teachers, For Teachers

I've been looking forward to sharing this "tried it" for Tried it Tuesday with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for a long time!

Maybe you've heard of EdCamps and maybe you haven't yet.  One thing is for sure, EdCamps are an up and coming professional development experience for educators that are sweeping the world.

This past Saturday, I had the lucky opportunity to attend EdCamp Milwaukee (EdCampMKE) and my experience was unforgettable.

Source

I think I first found out about EdCamps from Krissy Venosdale @Venspired from this blog post.  If you want to know more about them, I seriously suggest you take a few minutes to visit her site. She is amazing!

So what is an EdCamp?

• EdCamps are usually held on Saturdays during the school year. During the summer, it's all over the place.
• They are FREE!  (But they usually limit the number of participants so be sure to get a ticket.)
• EdCamps are considered an "unconference" because you don't know the schedule of "classes" until that morning.
• To set the "class" schedule, EdCamp organizers call on participants to offer to "host" a session on a topic of their interest.  There are no "sages on the stage" or lecturing allowed.  It is truly collaborative.
• Session topics can seriously be about anything educational.  On Saturday, there were sessions that ranged from standards based grading to instituting a 1:1 program to how to organize your classroom for optimal learning.  To see our schedule topics click here.  There is surely something for everyone!
• When the session begins, anyone interested in that topic meets in the designated room and conversations begin.  One person may serve as leader, but usually it's just everyone contributing ideas and insights.
• If you don't like the topic or it's no longer meeting your needs, you can just leave the session and find a different one.  No one is offended or hurt.

Here are some of my pictures from my day at EdCamp:

Here I am with my friend Heather, who I brought along for the day.

Technology is everywhere!  

Getting ready to fill the board with sessions.

When someone wants to offer a session, the write it on a post-it, briefly share their idea with the crowd, then it gets put up on this grid. 

 (Thankfully, someone was sitting right there to put this all into an online document so we could read it.)

Here's Heather pitching our session on Teacherpreneurs.  It was a hit!! About 25 people attended.

We took a break to go outside at lunch.  It was a beautiful day.

Interested in attending an EdCamp?  You can check out this wiki to see when there is one near you.

If you'd like to see the Twitter feed from the day, you can check out #EdCampMKE.

Even though I gave up a Saturday to sit inside for EdCamp, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I met so many wonderful educators, learned so much, and grew as a teacher in ways I had not expected!

What about you?  Have you tried out an EdCamp yet?  If not, don't wait!  Find one near you today.

Tried It Tuesday: Podcasts for PD

I'm excited to link up with my friend Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper today to share something new that I just love!

Like many of you, I do A LOT of self-directed professional development.  I am always reading blogs, reading books, reading journals, reading just-about-anything-I-can-get-my-hands-on to learn more about improving myself as a teacher and lifelong learner.  

Then last week while I perusing blog land, I came across a link to the BAM Radio Network.

If you've never visited this website, I strongly encourage you to check it out.  It is here that I discovered hundreds (if not more) of podcasts that I could download to my iPhone to listen to in the car.  Ahhh..taking my PD and making it mobile!

From this website, I found a link to the K-12 Greatest Hits podcast list.  

These podcasts are cutting-edge conversations about anything and everything that is important in education today.  Some of the speakers are well-known, and some are classroom educators.  Either way, the conversations are always engaging and teach me something.  I kind of think of it as talk radio -- but I get to choose the subject!

Speaking of choosing the subject, start looking for your positive thought of the week for this Thursday's linky party, Positive Thinking Thursday. (Click here for more info about this linky party and how to get involved.) I hope to see you back then!!

A Peek at My Week {2-2-14}

Happy Groundhog Day!  I hope that furry little fella brings us a quick spring.  After the last week we had (two school snow days for the Polar Vortex Part II and more snow, snow, snow to shovel, shovel, shovel), I have quite had it with Old Man Winter. Anybody with me???

I was just looking over the very sad list of my recent blog posts.  It seems like all I can do these days is manage to post for this weekly linky party.  (Good thing I started it then, right?)  I am right in the middle of an online course I'm taking to get my Reading Teacher license and it is so much work!  At the end of the day, all I can do is fall asleep (usually reading something for class).

So, what else is up this week?

I will have another three day work week this week, but this time it won't be for bad weather (hopefully!).  I am very excited to attend the Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA) conference in Milwaukee this Thursday and Friday.  I love this conference, and am hoping to run into some of my friends from the Writing Project from this past summer.

At the WSRA, I will be attending some professional development sessions with these fabulous people:

Carl Anderson:  I will see two of Carl's presentations -- Assessing Student Writers and Conferring with Student Writers.

       

Aimee Buckner:  Take Note!  Strategies for Helping Students Recompose What they Read to Their Own Words

Lester Laminak:  When Writers Read

I'm sure that after these two days packed full of professional development, I will have lots to share with you here.  Be sure to check back!

Also this week, we will continue to explore Text Structure.  I plan on using select Wonders from the Wonderopolis website to demonstrate the different text structures.  

Have you ever used Wonderopolis in your classroom?  My students love it! (And it's FREE!) 

I have read through the titles of the Wonders and have chosen two for each of the five text structures I will teach.  Each day, we will read through one of them, identify the text structure, and give evidence for our thinking.  

What I also love is that students will learn something along the way to add to their background knowledge.  Like this Wonder we read about Earworms.  You can read about it here.  (You know that you want to know what an earworm is!  Really....it's not gross and you can impress your students with your new knowledge.)

So that's it for me this week!  How about you?  Grab my button and link up to your post.

Wishing you a fantastic week!  (Think spring!!)