Celebration Saturdays – Fall Celebrations

I am happy to be joining Ruth Ayres @ ruth ayres writes and others to celebrate and appreciate the goodness of the past week.

Well, school started and I hit the ground running and have not really come up for air for many weeks!  But there are lots of things to celebrate so I am happy to pause for a moment and reflect on the goodness!

1) My class – I celebrate my class and the time we spend together, however brief it is!  It is a bit of an adjustment having younger students (Gr. 2-3) but they are so lovely and enthusiastic!  We begin each “Marvelous Monday” with an APP – which stands for Attendance, Passing Rock and Precept.  The passing rock is a lovely way to build community and get to know each student. We pass around a small rock and share a thought on a topic.  The precept comes from the extraordinary book 365 Days of Wonder by R.J. Palacio.   I love quotes and I like to start our day with words of wisdom to ponder.  Last week the quote we recited and reflected on was:  “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” – Henry James

2) Teaching Partner –  I celebrate my wonderful new teaching partner – Katie (Ms. Pallen).  She is working so hard getting to know the school, staff and students and is really adding such a positive energy to the school.  She has a strong literacy background so I know our students will be surrounded with great books all year!  She also teaches our class yoga – what fun!

3) Todd Parr Poster – I celebrate Todd Parr!   A few weeks ago, I entered a contest on Todd Parr’s website.  He was giving away 5 autographed Reading Posters – and I won one!  (a few hundred of his followers had entered the contest so I felt VERY lucky!) I was thrilled and can’t wait to share the news with my class.  We had made Todd Parr inspired art and I sent him a photo of some of the students’ work.  He wrote back and said my class was VERY talented!  I couldn’t agree more!

4) Workshops – After many cancellations during the teacher’s strike, I celebrate the fact that my workshops are back in full swing.  I feel so fortunate that I am able to teach children for part of the week and then am able to share my experiences with other teachers.  I have enjoyed spending time in many schools and districts including a day of demo lessons at Peachland Elementary school (SD 23), an afternoon session on Literature  Circles, sharing lessons from Nonfiction Reading Power with three schools in Kelowna and the first of a series on Effective Writing Instruction and Assessment with an amazing group of teachers from SD 5 (Southeast Kootenay)

5) Friendships – I celebrate Donna and Lisa!  Just over a year ago, I met two amazing educators in Kelowna – Lisa Wilson and Donna Kozak.  We became fast friends and I love spending time with them when I visit their school district.  We always have great conversations about literacy, learning and life and best of all, we laugh a lot!

6) Thanksgiving – I celebrate family.  The stars aligned for Thanksgiving weekend.  I was in Kelowna working, my in-laws are there and BOTH my boys had sports tournaments there! It was a little hectic racing from hockey rink to baseball field 4 times in one day but great we were all in one place at one time (a rare occurrence when both your children play different sports) and got to share Thanksgiving with extended family.

7)  Sweden – My books have been translated into French and Chinese and this spring they will be released in Swedish! (can hardly believe it!)   Nothing is confirmed yet, but there is a possibility I might be attending a big teacher’s conference in Sweden in April that will coincide with the release of the books!  Stay tuned!

8)  Fall –  I celebrate Fall – my favorite time of year.  Fall is a feast for the senses.

9) Sweet 16 – Saving the best for last – my greatest celebration is for my oldest son, who turns 16 today.  I am so very proud of the young man he is growing into and the abundance of joy he has brought us since 9:48 am on October 18, 1998.    Happy Birthday, Spencer!

Thanks for stopping by!  What are you celebrating this week?