1200 Some Miles
Enjoy the Journey!
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Bike Ride from London, Ohio to Columbus
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Cricut Creations
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Card Making Shortcut & Shop Hop
Cut and scored white card bases are my favorite card making shortcut! This really does save me time and energy when I am crafting. I try to keep the A2 size on hand, but I am running low on my pack from Catherine Pooler Designs. Unfortunately, I can no longer find the 8.5 x 5.5 size from Catherine Pooler. My local paper store came to the rescue, and I am ready for the Shop Hop in July. I plan to make it to 5 of the stores included this year since we have a variety of family plans in July.
My daughter is at a morning day camp this week, so I had some uninterrupted shopping time at one of my local stores. I found a good deal on a couple of dies! The Bee Happy set came with my Shop Hop Passport.
I have birthday and thank you cards to make, so I can put these new supplies to good use.
2 New Cards
I bought some craft supplies this year, and now summer allows me more time for crafting. I made two cards with some new and older supplies. A couple of months ago I added large rainbow stripes to some watercolor paper with my set of paints, so this became the starting point for my cards.
Supplies used:
from Stampin' Up! (many are retired)
Amazing Silhouettes stamp set
Amazing Thanks Dies
Butterfly embossing folder
Stitched dies
Ink pads
Night of Navy ink and card stock
Glitter and gold papers
Pearls and sequins
General Supplies
Watercolors & Watercolor paper
Catherine Pooler white card stock
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Baby Shower Card
It's fun to see your craft supplies with fresh eyes. My friend and neighbor looked through my supplies as we planned for another neighbor's baby shower during our annual block party, and we found this stamp set.
I stamped simple advice cards on colored card stock and made a card. It was fun to add layers and details after taking a break from card making.
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
So Much Can Change in 2 Years...
Daily bike rides kept my family active, and the kids could play in our backyard. Schools transitioned to remote learning. One of my former students wrote a short story about this phase of the pandemic, which was published on author Kelly Yang's website.
The parent email sharing the link to this story made my day! I am glad that a student remembers my smiling face from that time. It was a challenging time. I ran morning meetings from my entry way because good wi-fi spots in our house were limited. My young daughter watched cartoons during morning meetings and napped during my afternoon small groups and staff meetings.
I started this post in March 2022 without posting it, but realized that I don't want to lose this story.
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Jacqueline Woodson
Introduction
For EDT 603: Foundation of Literacy through Children's and Young Adult Literature at the University of Dayton, I am studying Jacqueline Woodson for my Mentor Author Project. I first became familiar with her picture books through my teaching positions and books discussed in the class, so I read two of her novels to expand my knowledge. I read her memoir in verse, Brown Girl Dreaming, and a recent novel, Harbor Me. (Links at each section of this post will take you to her official website.)
Quotes
"I used to say I'd be teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing."
Awards (selected)
A variety of awards from 1995 to the present recognize Woodson's contributions as an author and her amazing books.
Newberry Honor 2015, 2009, 2008, & 2006
MacArthur Genius Award 2020
Hans Christian Anderson Award 2020
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2018
Young People's Poet Laureate 2015 - 2017
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature 2018 - 2019
Coretta Scott King Award 2021, 2015, & 2001
Coretta Scott King Author Honor 2013, 2004, 1996, & 1995
Picture Books (selected)
Novels (selected)
Common Threads
The power of friendship is a theme in both Brown Girl Dreaming and Harbor Me. In her memoir, Woodson writes about her growing friendship with Maria even though their families have different backgrounds. Jackie and Maria are still friends as Woodson notes at the end of Brown Girl Dreaming. Woodson brings together six kids of different backgrounds in Harbor Me and uses their weekly time to talk and share stories to examine their growing friendships.
Woodson uses her home of Brooklyn, New York as a setting for multiple stories including Harbor
Me. Woodson uses places she knows well, including New York and the South as the setting for many of her stories.
Woodson used one of the poems in Brown Girl Dreaming as the inspiration for her picture book, The Day You Begin. Her mother's story of Jacqueline's great-grandfather, William Woodson, was the basis for her poem.
Her own story is part of The Great Migration from the South to the North for many black families. She writes about her family's experience in Brown Girl Dreaming and examines another story if migration in her picture book This is the Rope.
Woodson tackles many challenging, thought-provoking topics in her books including race relations, religion, poverty, loss, divorce, and incarceration. In Brown Girl Dreaming, she shares stories of her Uncle Robert, who was in prison in New York. Her main character in Harbor Me, only remembers her father in prison, but it takes time for Haley to share this significant part of her life with her new friends. Once others share their stories, Haley begins to share her family's story.
Reading Strategies (Pre-K to Grade 5 licensure)
Woodson writes stories for young children to adults, so there are a variety of reading strategies to use with her books in classrooms.
1. Semantic Map of the Civil Rights Movement (grade 5)
After students read This is the Rope, excerpts from Brown Girl Dreaming, and two to four informational books about the Civil Rights Movement, they create semantic maps in small groups. The Civil Rights Movement is in the center and other areas may include details about the time period, leaders, events, issues, and laws. Each group shares their semantic map with the class.
2. Read with a Writer's Eye (grade 4)
Discuss how we can "read with a writer's eye" as a whole class and create an anchor chart. After the second read aloud of The Day You Begin, small groups look for evidence of good writing supported by text examples. Each group is given a copy of the text and writes 1-3 examples on 3x5 cards to be shared with the entire class. The 3x5 cards be made into a class anchor chart. (The book can also be connected to motivation for writing personal narratives.)
3. Book Cover Predictions and a One Pager (grade 5)
Books clubs are formed based on interests and reading levels. (The teacher has given choices around the theme of friendship, which is not revealed to the class until later.) Each book club is given their novel to make predictions based on the cover, and one or more groups is reading Harbor Me. The groups begin posters with their predictions about the books in the left column, and then the groups fill in actual details for the books after the reading to compare and contrast with their predictions. Individuals complete a One Pager for their book. After all books clubs are finished, the class has a gallery walk to view the posters and One Pagers to spark additional reading interest in these books.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Back to School
In January 2019, I earned my California Preliminary K-8 Teaching Credential. I chose to pursue my second career in elementary education through the CalState TEACH program. This is a university-based, alternative teaching program. I was drawn to the program because we had to spend time in schools each semester of the program. I worked on college campuses from 2002 - 2014, so I needed to broaden my experiences instead of going back to traditional college classes.
I attended the CalState TEACH program from 2016 - 2018 because I took maternity leave from the program when my daughter was born. My teaching journey has been the circuitous route, but each experience contributes to who I am today. I landed my ideal job and started teaching fourth grade in August 2019 in our school district. And then a global pandemic began, so I did not pursue another teaching contract in California.
We moved to Ohio in the summer of 2020 to be closer to our families. I stayed home with my own two children while they settled into their new schools. I knew that there were discrepancies between my teacher preparation in California and the Ohio requirements for a teaching license, but the differences were larger than I expected.
As with many aspects of life, it's beneficial to take things step-by-step. I am slowly completing 12 credit hours of reading instruction coursework and studying for two state tests. I am a graduate student again at the University of Dayton (Go Flyers!). I completed a master's degree in College Student Personnel (higher education administration) in 2004, and many things have changed on campus in 17 years. I try to stay grateful for the slow path as it allows me to learn more and spend more time with my own children, who are growing quickly. I may be able to line up a full-time teaching position with the time my youngest begins kindergarten.
My craft desk has been taken over by stacks of books as I take a children's literature class and study for exams. My next post will be sharing about one of the outstanding authors that I have read this semester. I am using Goodreads to track my reading, and I am on track to read over 50 books this year (which includes picture books). I want my children and students to be life-long readers, so it's important for me to also stay on this path.