I Breathe for Change

Update!

I am super excited to share that this week I was accepted into this summer's yoga teacher training with Breathe for Change!  I am thrilled to have been selected to participate in this program and looking forward to being a part of the amazing B4C community.  

Here is a little bit about the training...

I will be participating in a 200 hour certification training that will take place in Madison from mid-June - early July.  Our work will focus on transformation of self, teaching, and community as well as refreshing the self to prepare for new beginnings.  In addition to learning about anatomy, social-emotional development, connecting yoga and mindfulness practices to curriculum and classroom community building we will practice teaching yoga to children and families every day.  The training will be intense, but I really enjoy immersive learning experiences and am looking forward to being in the flow and learning a lot.

This week while in class at my local yoga studio I realized that after the summer, I will be able to teach classes!  It was an exciting and scary realization.  I worry that my practice isn't as advanced as it should be, but I also remind myself that it is a journey and you can only be where you are.  While I have some anxiousness about the training, I am trying to focus on it as an opportunity to go deeper into my own practice of yoga and extend that into my practice of teaching.  

I thought I would share a little bit from my application to B4C as I really enjoyed writing it:

Why are you inspired to participate in Breathe For Change’s 200-hour yoga teacher training for educators?

I believe that I can change the world.  I believe that I change the world every day through the interactions I have with each student, teacher, and community member that I come into contact with.  I believe that my school - designed to create empowered learning experiences for all students - is changing the world.  I am inspired to participate in Breathe For Change because we share in this belief that we can change the world and understand the possibility and responsibility of changing the world through education.  I believe that practices that allow individuals to listen to themselves and others and understand their connectivity to one another and their planet are the only way to bring about change on an individual or community level.  As a life-long learner, I am inspired by the prospect of new skills and knowledge and an ongoing community focused on growth and transformation.

How would you describe yourself as an educator? What makes you special?

I am an educational leader and a positive deviant.*  I focus first on relationships: being myself and making positive connections with all learners.  I invest in and care deeply about the success of my students and my school community.  I set high expectations and empower learners to meet and exceed them.  I strive to cultivate a safe space that honors and supports each individual.   I take risks and trust the process.  I am comfortable with being uncomfortable.   I can see the big picture and the tiny details; I can see the right now needs and challenges while keeping my intention in line with our mission and vision.   I know that teaching students to live a good life is more important than any other content in my classroom.  I bring passion, kindness, gratitude, humor, intelligence and creativity to any learning experience.  As an educator, I am forever a learner.

*Note - I want to credit my Greater Madison Writing Project friends and colleagues for coining this fantastic term.

From your perspective, how does teaching wellness connect to social justice?

For students, having the skills, knowledge and abilities to cultivate and maintain a healthy and well lifestyle is not only a human right, but is key to a healthy society wherein all people can thrive.  Teaching wellness practices in public schools provides access to information and exercises that are often only available to those with the privilege, time and resources.  Additionally, in our school we work not only to educate our students, but to serve as a resource to other educational innovators and to use our work as a model for education reform.  In this regard, our mission is one of social justice.  Teaching wellness practices to educators supports them in being their healthiest and best selves thereby allowing them to better execute the important work of local teaching and regional/national/global educational change.

Breathe For Change is still accepting applications for the summer teacher training programs. If you or anyone you know is interested, more information and applications can be found here.

I am still - and probably will be for a while - waiting to hear about my application to the Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar. So, don't hold your breath, but do keep those fingers crossed. Hopefully this is positive momentum that will just keep rollin'.

Thanks for reading!

Hello 2016!

It has been a while since I have been on the blog and figured I should attempt to start the new year off right.  So here is a series of updates and thoughts that have been rolling around my head presented for you in no particular order.  

School... 

As I write I am enjoying the tail end of a luxurious two week winter break.  I have had a fantastic break filled with reading, yoga, running, couch/dog time, friends, family, and lots of time in front of our Christmas tree which I won't take down until the very last minute.  At my school the start of winter break ends term one and the end brings the beginning of term two.  I had a nasty cold (I think everyone did) in the very last few days of school, but otherwise had a truly delightful end to all of my seminars.  I am excited to be starting a new seminar: Out in the Cold, which will focus on Wisconsin winter sports and recreation starting on Monday (tomorrow! yikes!).  This is a co-taught and intensive class that will last for the next three weeks.  Thank you, mother nature, for sending some snow in time for our seminar!

Some reflections on writing... 

I started out the school year hoping to write about once a week.  While I knew this was a bit ambitious for me, I thought it was also a good "stretch" goal.  Initially I was able to post almost every other week, and would like to recalibrate to this goal for 2016.  One of the really nice things that I noticed is that even though I haven't been able to write as much as I would have liked to, I think about writing a lot.  I really think that just having a blog has made me more mindful and reflective - which is a great gift.   One other small but cool writing challenge I have taken on with my friend Leah is a five year one line journal.  We both started on January 1 and will write one line about each day every day for the next five years.  I love looking back on my writing and think this is a great way to capture the day-to-day thoughts and events that make up our lives.  Please join us if you are interested - here is a link to the journals that Leah and I have.   

So... if you haven't been writing, what have you been doing?

Well... one of the major slowdowns in my blog writing came from some application writing that I spent a lot of time on in November and December.  I am a notorious summer-over-booker, and while I thought I had learned my lesson, two opportunities presented themselves and I could not pass up their applications.  

One of the applications I wrote went out to Breathe for Change.  I was introduced to this program last year and - at the time of learning of it - had already filled my summer with other personal and professional commitments.  Breathe for Change is an organization that improves the health of our schools and communities through yoga, mindfulness and wellness practices.  The training I applied for is scheduled for June in Madison and trains educators to become certified yoga teachers.  I am thrilled to have the opportunity to apply for this experience and am hopeful that I will be able to participate.  Becoming a certified yoga teacher is always something I thought I would do at some time and it would be extremely exciting if that time is this summer!  I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think this training and the Breathe for Change community could have a tremendously positive impact on my teaching and in my life.  I should find out if I am accepted sometime this month and will be sure to keep you posted. 

The second application that I wrote went out to the U.S. Department of Education's Fulbright-Hays 2016 Summer Seminar.  This is a big one.  The program I applied for is a five week trip to India and focuses on development, sustainability and democracy.  I know several teachers who have participated in Fulbright programs of varying lengths and in a variety of locations.  While I think I am a good candidate and am proud of my application, this is a very competitive program and would appreciate you keeping your fingers crossed, just for good measure. I am so excited about the prospect of this opportunity, but as someone who is quite good at getting her hopes up, I am trying not to get too carried away.  Unfortunately, it is going to be a while until I find out about my application, but will post an update when I hear.

Books!  

I love to read and have enjoyed some solid reading time during winter break.  A student encouraged me to read Wonder by R.J. Palacio which I am going to finish today - what took me so long to read this?!  High recommendations for this beautiful read.  I also read Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en, a traditional Chinese folk novel and the selection for UW-Madison's Great World Text program that I will be teaching in term 3.  I also read American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (again... not sure what took me so long to get around to this one...) which I will use as a companion text to Monkey.  Finally - and not specifically school/kid related, I read Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson and The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard which lead me to my new year's resolution...

In 2016 I resolve to...

Before I get to that, a bit about where this resolution came from.  I am a huge fan of setting personal goals and also a huge fan of podcasts.  I have been listening to the podcast Happier by Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft.  In podcast #26 they talk about choosing a word or a mantra for your year instead of a specific resolution.  I loved this idea and have spent a lot of time thinking and journaling about what word or mantra I would choose.  Inspired by my Happiness Seminar class, I have become a critical observer of any area of my life where I sense I can bring about more happiness and the one that has been blatantly obvious is my spending and consumption.  This awareness, in combination with what I have learned from The Story of Stuff and Zero Waste Home, helped me focus on my word / mantra for 2016: less.  In 2016 I resolve to live with less, purchase less, consume less so that I might have more time, happiness and a life more in line with what I really want.  That sounds a little hippy-dippy, but wait until you see me with all of my reusable jars at the co-op :)  For me, "less" is also about "more", just a more mindful "more" than I am in the habit of.  More to come on this as I am sure it will continue to challenge me.

Thanks for reading and the happiest of new years to all of you.  

Get Outta Town & Teacher Friends

Last weekend I visited my college roommate/best bud, Leah, in New York.
 The weekend was literally perfect and represented two things I think all educators need: one, opportunities to get away, relax, and refresh and two, friends who are also educators.

If the calendar gives us a day off of school next to a weekend, you can bet your buns that I am getting out of town.  I am lucky to have friends in New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. - all great places to visit with free lodging making these weekends away much more doable.  Last weekend in New York entailed meeting Leah's twin sons for the first time (too much cuteness for one house), seeing Hamilton on Broadway (Thanks, Anne for the ticket hookup!), going to TED Talks: The Education Revolution (Thanks Zac for giving me your spot!), a walk on the Highline, a new dress, and an impromptu beer festival.  In short: pure bliss for Bryn.

Going to New York is always a joy for me and this trip was no exception. I left the weekend feeling refreshed and renewed; having the opportunity to get away from school, have time with friends and time by myself allows me to come back fresh and reseted.  I know that travel isn't as possible or as enjoyable for everyone as it is for me.  Whether or not you leave your house, I have learned that "getting away" from school for a weekend or over a school break is essential.  When I started teaching I had much less control over my ability to separate from school.  I had a lot of anxiety about teaching and would think and re-think about what had happened, what was going to happen, what I was doing, what my students were doing, all the time.  It was exhausting and it made me really unhappy.  As time has gone by, a combination of time/experience, reminders from caring co-workers and practicing mindfulness has made it easier for me to shut off my school-brain when I am not at school.  Whatever your mode of "getting out of town" is, having a release valve is essential to being happy and healthy as an educator.  

My second point about my weekend away might seem to contradict my first point... but stick with me here.  In addition to getting away from school, I think it is really important for teachers to have friends who are teachers.  I work with really great people who I wouldn't trade for the world.  I am additionally blessed with many friends who are also teachers in different schools and at different grade levels.  I find these teacher friends invaluable.  Leah and her husband Zac are both educators.  It was delightful to spend the weekend talking with them about teaching: hearing their funny stories, asking for advice on curriculum, and discussing the many challenges we face in our field and how to approach them with thoughtful strength.  I know I just wrote about not thinking about school, but for me, having conversations with teacher friends who are not my co-workers, gives me new perspectives and insights that help me see the world outside of the bubble of my classroom.  As a teacher, I have found that it is easy to feel like you are the only one who has the struggles that you are having or that no one can see the successes your students are experiencing.  This is where conversations with teacher friends really help me re-frame my thinking.  I am deeply appreciative to the many teacher friends who have spent time talking with me about the many joys and challenges of our work.  

My last post was about the end of the honeymoon and so, for me, my weekend away was a timely reminder of how to stay happy and healthy throughout the school year.  We are all going to have our down moments, so next time I am in a slump, can someone remind me to book a plane ticket, or phone a friend?  I would love to hear how you take care of yourself during the school year.  Feel free to share ideas by commenting on this post. 

Thanks, y'all.  Happy weekend. 

The Honeymoon Is Over...

This week my family friend and NPR Education writer, Meg Anderson, wrote this important article about the challenges of being a new teacher at this time of the school year.  In it, she identifies October and November as times where many new teachers hit a point of despair upon realizing how hard it is to be a good at the job.  This article really resonated with me and even though I am in my tenth (!!) year of teaching, I found many of the new teacher fears still ring true for me.  

In the article, Anderson interviews Roxanna Elden, author of See Me After Class, who states, 

"Lots of jobs are hard," says Elden, "but with teachers, it's like, 'Wow, I'm hurting kids because I'm as bad as I am.' You have these exaggerated thoughts like, 'Well, what if I break my leg? I'd get three weeks off.' "

I can't tell you how much I identify with these sentiments.  I look back on my first year of teaching with gratitude that I (and everyone around me) survived it.  I am sure that I cried every week if not multiple times a week.  I commuted an hour to and from my first job and would regularly entertain the crazy thought of how maybe just a little car accident could net me a lot of time off of work.  I had so much anxiety about school that I instituted a policy that my husband (then boyfriend) and I would go to a movie every Sunday night just so that I could take my mind off of going back to school on Monday morning.  It was bad, guys.  

This week my husband was talking about some of the people he works with (Jon has been a project manager for a department called Educational Innovation at UW-Madison for almost a year).  He kept describing all of these "education people" as "just like you, Bryn...so emotional".  After hearing this a few times, I asked for clarification to ensure that "so emotional" was not intended to be disparaging.  He replied that what he meant to say is that he has never worked with people who genuinely care so much about the work they are doing.  Most people don't care about their work like you guys do, he said.  

So... when you care a lot, I guess you end up crying a lot.  At least this has been true for me.  

This week I was reading the book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.  In his discussion of running and writing he states, "If something's worth doing ,it's worth giving your best - or in some cases beyond your best."  At my school, it feels like the honeymoon is over and the disillusion phase has set in.  I ran out of the curriculum that I created this summer, meetings are piling up on top of one another, and there is never going to be enough time to get caught up.  The combination of caring a lot and giving beyond your best is what I think is so hard about teaching.  

Considering all of this, and despite the many ups and downs that I have been through, I am glad to be teaching.  If I could go back and talk to myself as a new teacher, I would share a lot of the reassurances posted in the response to Meg's article.  There is solidarity in knowing that it is a challenge for everyone.  There is comfort in knowing that it gets better.  

So that is what I want to remind myself in this October/November/Post-honeymoon/Disillusionment Phase of the school year: You care about this a lot.  It is worth giving beyond your best.  It will get better, but in the meantime, it is ok to cry.

Thanks, Meg Anderson, for inspiring this important discussion and congrats on a well-written and powerful article!  

The Happiness Seminar

When I was working on my masters degree I had the opportunity to take a summer school class with Carl Grant who invited me to work on an article with him.  At the time, he was thinking and writing about education through his lens as a grandfather and was interested in what school was teaching his grandchildren about living a good life.    In the years since my class with him, I have circled back to Grant's question many times and wondered what the students in my classes are learning about living a good life.  This was one of the questions that inspired me to create The Happiness Seminar.  

Another inspiration was Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project which I have probably talked with all of you about at some point.  The Happiness Project is Rubin's memoir of a year's worth of implementing research-based resolutions designed to make herself happier. In the beginning of her book, she makes it clear that she isn't an unhappy person, but, like many of us, she knew that she was not savoring and enjoying the great moments in her life to the best of her ability.  This is something that really resonated with me and I loved following Rubin through her journey to find bits and pieces that would fit for me.  

At some point last year, I started thinking about what a happiness project would look like for a young person.  How powerful could it be to learn - as a teenager - that through intentional activities you can increase the amount of happiness you experience?  What resolutions would a high school student make to help them become happier?  

Thus... in the beautiful combination that is big questions about our students and big questions about ourselves... The Happiness seminar was born.


I have two sections of The Happiness Seminar this term and we started out the year learning about work in the field of Positive Psychology which studies how people can cultivate the best within themselves in order to live their best life.  We began by watching Happy and reading from The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky.  While students loved the movie - it is a great intro to the concepts   and areas of study within Positive Psychology - the book was not as big of a hit.  While The How of Happiness was successful in getting students comfortable with the research, it isn't written for young people and several students complained about the format.  I hope to teach this seminar again in the future, and between now and then, I will be in search of additional resources.  

(A slight digression: while it is amazing to be able to teach classes with such out-of-the-box topics like Happiness or Haiti, it is often really challenging to find texts and other resources that are appropriate for high school students.  I will circle back to this point in a moment.)

After familiarizing themselves with research and reading about experiments and results, my students began their own action research projects in which they designed happiness activities they will engage in over the course of five weeks.  They are two weeks in and gathering data through multiple means on their experience of activities that include regular exercise, practicing meditation, writing letters of gratitude, monitoring flow experiences, and savoring joyful memories through painting.  At the end of the five weeks, they will review the data, determine what activities - if any - made them happier, and communicate their findings as a research paper, public speaking presentation or mathematical model.  I am excited and curious to see what they find.

In the second half of our term, we will move from what makes individuals happy, to what makes communities happy.  Students will be studying communities around the world that rank highly in terms of overall happiness.  We will also study our local community - CSCS, Middleton, and Cross Plains - to see what we can learn about how happy our communities are and what could be done to make them happier.  

Over the summer I listened to the audiobook of Gretchen Rubin's newest book Better Than Before.  In it, she talked about correspondences with readers and it occurred to me that I could write to her and tell her about my class.  I sent her an email telling her about the curriculum I was creating and my hopes for my students.  I also shared the challenge of finding materials on this subject that are written for young people.  I was thrilled to receive a reply from Rubin with some resources and a request to keep her posted about our progress.  Maybe our work will inspire her next book... Happiness in High School?  I will keep working on title ideas.  

What I like the best about this seminar is that it represents one of the things I think is most important about the design of our school: students are able to engage in reading, writing, research, math, and challenging content while learning about a topic that improves their lives and their communities and - hopefully - teaches them something about living a good life.

First World, Third World, Our World

Hello All.  Last weekend was super busy and I didn't make my goal of posting, but I am excited to be here today and - as promised - I am writing about the two seminars I am teaching this term. I have decided to write about each of them one at a time, so today you get to read about First World, Third World, Our World (also known as "Our World" or "The Haiti Class").  

At Clark Street Community School one of our "educational pillars" is Place-Based Education; this pedagogy allows us to use our community as a resource and a context for learning. Place-Based learning connects what students learn in the classroom to the world making what they learn more relevant and meaningful.  Additionally, Place-Based learning allows students work to benefit a individual, organization, or business.  When we started Clark Street Community School, we wanted to have opportunities for community members to come to the school to work with students.  Teenagers are a widely underutilized resource in communities and have a lot of talents, skills and abilities to offer.  

Last winter I was fortunate to cross paths with Tia Bunz, the Executive Director of the Found Blanc Foundation. The Fond Blanc Foundation supports an orphanage in Haiti.  Currently, 54 young people live at the orphanage which also houses a school that is open to anyone.  There is very little public education in Haiti and private schools are prohibitively expensive for many families.  When we first met, Tia talked to me about her work and the work of the foundation.  Tia's passion for Fond Blanc is contagious and I knew I wanted to work with her from the moment I met her.  After several conversations, a round of seminar selection, and - for me - a summer of reading about Haiti, the First World, Third World, Our World seminar was born.

As I prepared for the seminar, I bounced back and forth between being really excited for this opportunity and wondering what the hell I thought I was doing.  By the time I met with Tia mid-way through the summer, I had read and discarded 15 books, watched many disappointing documentaries, and was not feeling completely sure of my ability to take on this challenge with the expertise it deserves.  At our meeting, I told Tia that I planned to go into this knowing that I don't know everything about Haiti, but that if I am successful, students leave the seminar with an understanding that there is much more grey than black and white when it comes to knowing Haiti and it's people; while the country faces many seemingly insurmountable challenges, it is also a place of strength, beauty, and hope.  I want students to understand how "helping" others causes harm when we don't listen to the people we are trying to help.  True giving honors the recipient and seeks empowerment not dependence.  In the end, if they have a deeper understanding they also have more questions than answers.  Tia kindly told me she thought this made me the perfect teacher for the topic - which was just the confidence boost I needed to start the year.

First World, Third World, Our World is divided into two parts: first, we are working to learn more about Haiti through through text, film, and discussion.  We started by watching the documentary film, Haiti: A Road Trip.  When teaching about a place very different than our own, I like to start with a film that provides students with some visual representations.  This film is well made and balances the richness of the Haitian culture with the many challenges the country faces.  For our reading, I choose the challenging but engaging text The Big Truck That Went By by Jonathan M. Katz as our anchor for the seminar.  Katz is an American AP reporter who was stationed in Haiti before the earthquake.  He experienced the event and stayed for a year following the disaster to report on the recovery - which turned out in many ways to be an even bigger disaster than the earthquake.  Once we complete the reading, we will more on to part two of the seminar where we will work with Tia on a service project to benefit Fond Blanc.  Tia and Fond Blanc are very sensitive to sustainable giving that involves Haitians in decision-making.  While we don't know what the service project will be yet, I am excited for my students to have the opportunity to connect with Fond Blanc and use their learning to support the students at the orphanage.

So far, I have been astounded and inspired by the level of participation and interest I have gotten from my students.  When planning, I imagined that students wouldn't be super excited to learn about Haiti or they would think the book was too hard or too boring.  I thought I would have to do a lot of convincing that this was worth their time; but wow was I wrong. I have been incredibly impressed by the discussions we have had and the interest students have in learning more about Haiti and working with Fond Blanc.  A few days into the seminar, one of my co-workers who supports the class said about our students, "They are all paying attention... all of the time!"  If you don't frequent many a high school classroom, I will be the first to tell you that students don't always pay attention and rarely are able to do so for an entire class period.  One way or another, teenagers are always teaching me not to underestimate them...

This week we were fortunate to have a team from Fond Blanc visit our class: Swenson, Alison, Molly, and Tia brought photos and shared with us more about life at the orphanage and the joys and challenges of living in Haiti.  One student said that while we have read a lot and seen things in the documentary, it is so meaningful to talk to people who are from or have lived in Haiti.  I quite agree.  I am looking to connect with more guest speakers or Haitian cultural events in the area - so if you know of anyone - please send them my way.  

Also, if any of you readers out there are interested in reading along with us, you are always welcome to join our classroom community to discuss the text; students really like discussing with  community members - just let me know if you are interested.  

Stay tuned for more updates from First World, Third World, Our World as we get going on our service project!  Thanks for reading :)

Being a Teacher & My Morning at Clark Street Community School

On the first day, the staff at Clark Street Community School introduce themselves to the student body and answer a question.  This year the question was: What are you most excited about doing at school this year?  My answer: Being a teacher.  

Many of you know that for the last four years I have spent most of my time at CSCS in the role of Program Coordinator (which is a title that I made up for myself).  As Program Coordinator I worked as member of our school leadership team, planned meetings and inservice days, collaborated on the design of various learning processes and our graduation plan, recruited students, conducted outreach to the community, etc.  The list goes on, but this is starting to feel like a resume and I am sure you get the idea.  

This year, for the first time in many years, I am a full time teacher.  While I have said that this was what I wanted for a long time, I was secretly worried that I was having a "grass is greener" moment and that I might regret my choice.  If I am being honest, I also struggled with the idea of "going back" to the classroom.  For a while I thought I would move on from being Program Coordinator and go to grad school (again) or start consulting or something.  While I really tried to listen to my heart to make this decision, I was scared that it might somehow feel like I was going backwards.  

I know we are in the honeymoon phase of the school year, but this week I left school smiling and thinking to myself: I love teaching.  It feels great to be back in a classroom and to be connecting with students.  It is hard and hectic and way to much to do in a day... but I am happy and that tells me that I made the right decision.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

As we are still at the start of the school year, I thought I would spend some time telling you all a little bit about what I am teaching this year.  Today I am going to write about my mornings at CSCS which consist of Advisory, Reading Workshop and Math Workshop.

Advisory: Every day at CSCS starts with advisory.  I have twelve little angels assigned to my team; they are of various grades, backgrounds, ages, talents, and interests.  I do have a high population of redheads, which I consider a major bonus.  My students are truly a crew of amazing individuals.  A few anecdotes:

• One student is working on drafting her own spirit animal quiz for our advisory as she was dissatisfied with all of the online versions she researched.  After all of the members of our advisory take the quiz (of her own creation), she is going to draw animal likenesses of each of us.  I WILL post mine on this blog - stay tuned.
• One student who hopes to be an elementary school teacher in the future, has designed a hybrid schedule this year and is participating in internships at several progressive elementary schools in the area.  I am excited to talk with her about what she observes and learns throughout the year.
• One student has a sound effects app on his phone.  When I am talking to long, I hear the music come on... kind of like at an award show. 

Every day my advisory starts with the same circle question: How do you feel today?  I like this question because it offers up a moment to pause and check in with yourself. I often find that I haven't really thought about how I feel until I ask the question.  In addition to a personal check in, it allows us all to give each other important information about where we are on any particular day.  Students can say that they are happy because their favorite team won last night or that they are hungry because they missed breakfast.  The circle allows me know what is going on and to follow up on anything of importance, but just listening to how they feel seems to start the day acknowledging that we care about each other.

The start of the school year in advisory is a lot of business and set up.  At the end of the first two weeks students have established  tools to use to manage, personalize, and archive their work; they have measured their progress to date in math and reading; they have reviewed the community agreements (be independent, be an active community member, be responsible, create a safe learning environment); they have practiced mindfulness; they have learned all of the various protocols for moving through their school day; they have learned each other's names.  As we get into our regular schedule, advisory time will be a place to start each day together, check in, get organized, and hopefully move on to the rest of the day with a positive attitude.

Reading Workshop:  Reading workshop is my jam.  It is probably the simplest, but also the most joyful part of my schedule.  Students in reading workshop are working to become better readers and create reading artifacts for their portfolio.  They spend time in workshop reading independently or in a small group discussing a recent article.  I love talking to kids about reading.  I love reading with kids.  I love when kids who believed they couldn't read become readers.  I LOVE it. (*Note: If you didn't read about my amazing Little Free Library - please do!  Donations of books or funds to purchase books are always welcome.)

Math Workshop:  One of the ideas we most embrace at CSCS is the Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset.  Embracing a growth mindset means that you understand that intelligence and skills can be developed and you focus on improvement.  We have been talking about this idea for a long time, but I am excited to have the opportunity to practice it for myself in my first ever math workshop.  In the first two weeks, we have been working with growth mindset ideas and playing with different math challenges to identify important characteristics that help us learn math: growth mindset, emphasis on thoughtfulness over speed, creativity, and multiple routes to a solution.  I often wonder how I would feel differently about myself if I would have learned math the way students do at CSCS.  Can I rebuild the way I think about myself as a math learner by teaching math?  This week we are moving on to constant ratios in right triangles and contemplating the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  This is all new for me, but I have a lot of support, and am excited to learn. 

And that's my morning.  I don't think you missed much else except a cup of coffee, my sassy comments to kiddos in the hallway, and a snack scarfed down somewhere between sections if I am lucky.

Next week I will write about the two new seminars I have created and am teaching in the afternoons.  I am very proud of them and excited to share them with you.  As always, thanks for reading.