Saturday, November 30, 2013

Celebrate This Week~ A Primary Perspective!

Thank you again Ruth for the opportunity to gather and share our weekly celebrations! If you'd like to read more celebrations or add your link visit Ruth Ayers Writes. 


This weeks celebration could again be about #NCTE13. I think it will take me months to sort through all the fabulous experiences on my first national conference, being surrounded by people who share my passion to an extreme level. But today I choose to celebrate what #NCTE13 meant to my class.

THE BAD NEWS and the GOOD NEWS
The excitement in my class began the morning before I left for NCTE. During our morning meeting I shared with the kids that I would be out for the next 2 days. This news was met with a chorus of groans and questions.  I quickly told them I would be out for a GREAT reason! I told them about all the authors, twitter friends and teachers I would be seeing and the groans instantly turned into calls of can you, will you? Will you take pictures? Will you tell them about our work? Can you get new books? And my favorite, Can we go too?
The excitement lasted all day, as the kids worked they shared new ideas that I could (should) share at the conference. I love that my students see our class as bigger than our classroom, our building and our neighborhood community. I love that they see the value in their work and see the value of sharing it with others. I love that they know I am working to better myself for them.

ANTICIPATION and EXCITMENT
The Monday after the conference was full of the same excitement and anticipation! I stood at the door as the kids entered the room greeting me with hugs, drawings, a few new rainbow loom bracelets and QUESTIONS! We were excited to see each other and I am pretty sure we were both feeling RENEWED! As the kids settled in I posted a few pictures to share my experience (I didn't take nearly enough, I had to borrow a few).




#NCTE13 FROM the PRIMARY PERSPECTIVE


The kids quickly gathered for our morning meeting full of questions and eager to hear more! Did you really meet all those authors? Did they remember tweeting us? Did you get new books? Did you order the new monster book yet? (I love the yet.) Can we order more Peter Brown books? Peter Brown looks different with the hair on his face. He didn't wear that  hair in his You Will Be My Friend trailer.  Can we watch the Creepy Carrots book trailer again? Can you put it on our web page? Can we read all those new books at workshop? Can we take them home for book selection? Mrs. Frazier that is so cool! And with this excitement at it's height I showed them the ARC's the publishers so graciously put in my hands. The kids eagerly offered ways we could staple and tape the ARC's making them easier to read. They were honored to have an advanced copy of a book! When I explained that the author and publisher might want to know what we think of the book they were ready to dig in! (Look for more on this in the weeks to come.)



GIVING THEM JUST ENOUGH…
In the session Literacy in the Digital Age @frankisibberson talks about giving kids just enough to make them want to play. Stretching this idea just a bit here, but here's where the kids took the excitement of the conference in the short two day week. Looking forward to the weeks to come!

Ryan has a question for Jarrett Krosoczka~




Kids start a digital book talk on Creepy Carrots~



We would love to hear where your kids are taking all you brought back to share with them! Please share links and comments below.

10 comments:

  1. Deb,
    It was great to meet you in person at NCTE. Your sessions with Cathy and the gang was awesome. I am loving how you put your links within the smore and made it easy to reference for future sharing with colleagues. I have read Creepy Carrots to some classes and they loved it. Did you get Battle Bunny? Enjoyed seeing your slide show too! I felt sad that I didn't take more pictures this year...oh well. Next year right?
    Glad to read of the enthusiasm your kiddos had for learning of your discoveries from the conference.

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    1. Amy,
      It was so nice to meet you too! I wish I had had more time to talk with you (and snap a photo, lol) I am glad you enjoyed the session, honestly I was so nervous all the faces were a blur! I am not sure what I said to who, I just hope it was clear!
      I did get Battle Bunny and one little guy asked to borrow it for the holiday weekend!
      Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

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  2. I really enjoyed your NCTE session.

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    1. Thanks Colby! I left your session wanting to jump on a few tables! Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm it's contagious!

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  3. Sounds terrific, Deb, so glad you loved being there. It was quite an experience! And love hearing all about your class and their reaction-how great! That's what I miss about being 'out' of the classroom-while my colleagues asked many questions, no one whooped and hollered! Thanks for sharing so much!

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  4. Linda~
    You are more than welcome to spend time in my room any day! The kids would love to fill your bucket!
    I wasn't sure what to write today so i sat down and as I typed my kids came to mind and what fun it was to type for them!

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  5. Wow! Sounds like the kids got as much out of NCTE as you did! I love their energy and enthusiasm! And you captured all that energy so perfectly!

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    1. Thanks Carol! When all else fails write like a first grader~ NEVER FAILS!

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  6. Love this celebration -- I felt like I could hear your students. Really fun to share your story of coming home to your students. Thanks for sharing!
    Clare and Tammy

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    1. Awe, your comment made me smile and miss my kiddos all over again. Thanks!

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