Monday Day Four

Opening moment by Pat who read Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky

CC shared that she posted a poem on NWP and received responses from all over the country.
There was a problem using the hashtag which was a great introduction to a silly hashtag monologue with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.

We had five powerful and emotional learning autobiographies today starting with Dani.  Here are some highlights of their stories:

• Don't depend on strangers to get you where you want to go.  You'll never reach your destination.
• My entire teaching career was made worthwhile in an instant.
• You are stronger than you know.
• Be careful not to let the business define your values.  Lose the script and improv the rest of the scene.  (Just what teachers do all the time).
• If life is so easy, when do we learn.

The remainder of the morning was spent learning how to present our portfolios on Thursday.  We had time to explore Google Sites if doing an electronic portfolio. 

Our afternoon began with a presentation by Lorrie on the step-by-step process for completing Teacher Action Research.  Teacher Action Research is a good way to answer those burning questions about something that you care about. 

JoAnne led us through a Mindfulness In Schools activity.  This was perfect for our stressed out state with portfolios due on Thursday.  Students will definitely benefit from learning how to be more mindful of their present state, also. 

After a nice, solid chunk of writing time, Rebecca got our creative juices flowing with poetry prompts. She pushed us to break the rules, and to encourage our students to do so as well. We made Sound Lists, Cut Up words and phrases, wrote poems with Paint Chips, and journeyed through an Emotional Landscape. Rebecca has generously shared all these juicy ideas with us in the ISFI shared folder in the drive.

To round out the day, we got to watch Taylor Mali tear a dinner-party lawyer to shreds, while restoring our faith in what we do as teachers. I make a difference...What about you?

Included is a picture of Danie's stunning visual from her LA today!