Flower number 21: Is there such a thing as secular spiritualism for the classroom?

After a little bit of reflection, it felt like something was missing-- I've updated some parts, with purple text. 

A last resort?

"What do you do with the child who does not respond to tutoring, counseling support, mentor support, has already been retained, and has been placed in special education? When it's a symptom of their home culture, how do you reach them when he or she seemingly refuses to learn what you have to teach?"

Some educators would argue that, that's just not even possible; every child is open to learning; and of course there are child study teams, social workers on campus, and child protective services to help, but this was the question I posed for one of my professors while working on my teaching credential many years ago.

It had been a very challenging week-- a third grade student in one of my mentor classrooms announced to the class that his birthday wish was to be dead.

In all of my glorious, let-me-save-the-world, naivete, I couldn't handle it. I had never heard a child speak about depression, despair, or suffering. I had never heard a child speak of suicide as an option.

What I did know, was that this-- although new to me at the time--was now going be an additional challenge to overcome while faced with the pressure of the state exam. I immediately felt completely helpless. So I brought it to my professor:

"Prayer" she answered, "Pray for them."

Now, a little bit about me, and my views: I am completely one hundred percent against religion in the classroom; I believe in the separation of church and state. In fact, I am "one of those people" who totally support that little girl who refused to say the pledge because of the "one nation under God" line.

Oh, still reading? OK, so, for me, there's a sense of camaraderie with a side of humor between my fellow educators, when the answer to such extreme situations is "pray"; it just seems so often to be a desperate, last resort:

Flower number 19: 30 days (or forever) of happiness

"Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life." 

     --Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius, huh? Well, I looked him up. He was born in 121 A.D. 


I know that Rome was the center of the universe in its time and all, but if we're talking about materialistic living, and our needs and wants-- I'd say, that is a pleasant perspective.


I was inspired by something I came across today while on Oprah's website. Yes, Oprah's. (I don't have cable, so I'm quite behind the times on a few things, mind you.) She has introduced a project that is totally, right up Ferdinand's alley. I like it so much, I'm going to share it with you, too, you know, in case you missed it on Oprah's page. 


It's called 30 Days of Happiness. It's a happiness journal. (Oprah is introducing it as a social media thing with Twitter, but I don't tweet.) I'd like to think that the 30 days would extend to forever, but seeing how it is that we get a little squeamish with commitment, well, let's just go with 30 for now. It was inspired by Eat, Pray, Love author, Elizabeth Gilbert, and there's nothing new here. Oprah's interview with Gilbert was in 2007, after all. And it is not so different from those gratitude journals that everyone is doing. More on that in a minute.


So all you do is look for it. The happiness. And when you have it, you write it down. Done. Smiles. Warmth.

Get inspired by watching Oprah talk about it  here. Or, a little bit more, below:

So now that I've been inspired, I got to thinking again. Uh-oh.

Flower number 17: book making with students

Finding an authentic purpose for your students to practice the skills they've learned in your class is big. In a language arts block, one of most challenging tasks is to get the whole class set on writing with joy and excitement.

But when you've got it, there's nothing like it.

Forget writing skills for a moment-- seeing the entire group focused and writing their passionate little hearts out is what success feels like when you're a teacher.

One way to present an authentic purpose to your students is to have them write a book. There are so many steps in this project, and I've done it a few different ways, but my inspiration has been reignited through the artistry that I have found in so many online communities. I'd like to share them with you here, in hopes that you might want to explore this art from with your class, your children-- or yourself.

My favorite page for making books with children is just that:
Makingbooks.com from Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord

Flower number 13: an armoire story

This is the story of an armoire that became so much more.

Walking through the Mountain View, California Ikea store, a poor student teacher hunted for the perfect solution for holding a television, dvd player, and a small dvd collection. It had to be cheap, tidy, cute, and above all else, petite-- for, this dream furniture fixture had to fit in a tiny studio apartment.

At last, there it was, in the children's furniture area: a baby armoire. She took it home, built it, and disposed of the clothes-hanging-pole which she had to admit would be awfully cute for baby clothes. But not this time around. The armoire felt very happy to be filled with the well loved films and boxes of letters and unfinished crafts.

The student teacher soon became a real, third grade teacher, and the sweet baby armoire continued to serve its purpose, nestled quietly in that tiny studio apartment, until one day, an envelope arrived. The teacher realized within this envelope was her new apartment lease. Her rent was to be raised by an amount exceeding one hundred dollars. The armoire became nervous. Would she have to move?

Alas, the solution was to relocate to another state, where rent was much cheaper than that of the beautiful California Coast. The quaint baby armoire knew it was for the best when the teacher put it in her parents' garage. She went away to become a fourth grade teacher."I'll be back for you some day" she said.

That day came, and for another year, the baby armoire sat in the teacher's new bedroom. It's purpose changed quickly over many days, as teachers don't have much time for television watching.

Better Homes and Gardens Declutter your craft cupboard

Having found inspiration in this beautiful mama-sized-armoire-turned-craft-cupboard, it was decided that an updated appearance was needed.

Flower number 9 :: three little bears

With a nice sheet of redwood, what's a girl to do? A little research on how to transfer images onto wood brought me to a solution using my printer and some clear, acrylic caulking. It's a rough outcome, with plastic-y edges, but when placed on a wall, and viewed from afar, my Three Little Bears are growin' on me.

If you'd like to try the ink-jet transfer, you should. It's really easy.

Here's how:

S t e p 1:
Choose an image and make the necessary edits to it in Photoshop. I posterized this photo of a redwood tree. Print it out using regular paper and an inkjet printer.

S t e p 2:
Using a clear, acrylic caulking medium, spread a thick, even layer of it over your picture. Smooth it out as much as you can. Place it face down onto your wood and wait a few days for it to dry.

S t e p 3:
Spray, or pour a little water onto the dried image. Using your index finger, gently rub the water into the paper. This will start to pull the paper away from the caulking medium, which is adhered to the wood. You will start to see that your image is left behind!

Flower number 8 :: the grand conversation: part three

The reading project is still underway. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's called The Grand Conversation and you can find out about it in Flower number 4, and in Flower number 5. Everyday we all have something to look forward to: our letters! Some kids are really getting a kick out of drawing the characters. Even if some of us have a lot more work ahead of us concerning grammar and punctuation, I couldn't be prouder of my little readers. Take a look:

Flower number 5 :: the grand conversation: part two

So, I actually heard one of my girls start up a conversation today --about a book!

The Grand Conversation Project is the new reading program that I started with my class and it is off to a very successful start! To find out more about it, see Flower number 4. I am very relieved, that of the two sections I teach, only one scholar from each has been disqualified for not participating. As of today, each student has four letters collected and stored in their folders.

When prompted to share, "Who has a letter that when you read it, you thought to yourself, 'That's a great letter!'" my students' hands shot up into the air, and as we shared out, we ran out of time. They love it.

Here are letters from the students with the quickest hands (They all wanted their letters to be shared). Oh, and you'll note that we are all on different levels of reading and writing.Of course, names have been removed.

H a p p y   R e a d i n g !

Flower number 4 :: the grand conversation: part one

Getting my fourth graders motivated to find a good book, commit to reading it, and finish it is hard enough without having them demonstrate their ability to do so on some sort of reading log, calender, or chart. They start out strong and get super bored along the way. But really, can you blame them? We're talking about kids who would rather run around outside or catch up on their Call of Duty. I had to come up with something more engaging, more social, more fun.

I am proud to introduce a new reading project called, The Grand Conversation.

:: P U R P O S E ::

The goal of the Grand Conversation Project is to encourage engagement, support in reading comprehension and fluency, increased reading minutes, as well as increased writing practice. Most of all, I expect there will be a lot of new social interactions being made --friendships, discussions, and maybe even an argument every now and then.
 
Here's how it works: Each day, students are to complete their required reading minutes. When completed, they are to write a letter to one student in class (as assigned, but more about that in a minute) to express his or her thoughts, responses, emotions, and items learned. The next morning, he or she places the letter in the mailbox of the student-recipient. Because the class keeps to a very systematic chart, everyone in the class will receive a letter that morning. They even have the option of writing back, continuing the grand conversation of reading, for as long as they want!

Flower number 3 :: two trees

I love little handmade trees so I made a couple myself. The first one is made from dollhouse shingles. The second one from felt and pins. Found the inspiration over here and here. Adding little flags from scrap paper made them really cheerful, so I leave them up year round!