09.05.09
Time flies when you’re having fun…
As the school busses warm up their engines and the office supply stores prepare for the big upcoming rush, I hear so many people say the same thing…”Where did the summer go?” Well, I am happy to report that I know exactly where my summer went this year…to the fabulous Jersey shore and then to beautiful Tuscany in Italy and then all around the Mediterranean Sea. I have no complaints whatsoever!
That being said…it is time for back to school and a “regular” routine once again. I’ve started to pull out all of my beginning of the school year materials including the blog I kept with my students. I also looked briefly back at some of my posts on this blog from last September when I was diligently writing 1,000 words a day and I am going to try to do so again. This time around it should be a lot easier (and much more fun) since I no longer have to worry about the graduate school requirements that bogged me down last year. (I’ve decided to take a break, at least for this semester, from taking any classes.)
I’d also like to give myself a goal of completing the middle school novel by December. The majority of the story is already written, so I think I can do it. I never liked the idea of deadlines when it comes to creative writing, but I did well last year with the deadlines for my thesis, much better than I thought I would actually, so perhaps approaching this project in a similar manner will work. We’ll see!
It’s a good idea to refocus and revamp your writing goals every once in a while… What are you all working on???
~Melissa 
08.25.08
Recent reading – August
Even though much of what I tried to read this month was reading-for-fun, August always means that school is not too far away, and so there were several must-read-before-September-gets-here additions to this recent reading list. (Any teachers, middle schoolers, or parents of middle schoolers reading the list may particularly appreciate these titles and recognize them right away!)
I have to say, yet again, that I “got something” out of everything that I read. Maybe I really am a pushover for a couple hundred bound pages I’ve never read before, or I’m just an eternal optimist and a believer that there is always something to learn and something to be gained from any situation – including, and especially, reading a book.
As September begins and it is time for school again, my reading will now primarily consist of my students’ papers (which I honestly can’t wait to read!) and scholarly articles for my thesis. As much as I do not want to see the summer end, at least the leaves will be changing soon, there will be plenty of pumpkin pie and apple cider, the Rutgers football season will begin, and we can start wearing comfy sweaters again.
That all being said, I present to you my August reading list. Some of these were actually recommended to me, so thank you to Anne and Marie!
Please post a comment if you have read any of these titles, would like to read them, or have some other great titles of your own to share!
~Melissa
August 2008 Reading
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (Haunting at first, but by the end of the book you don’t want it to end.)
A Cup of Tea, Amy Ephron (Good period piece…great idea of what life was like in the early 1900s.)
Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger (Hysterical! I hope there is a sequel and/or they make this a movie.)
Absolutely Normal Chaos, Sharon Creech (If you read Walk Two Moons, you should read this!)
Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles, Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke (So many great ideas!)
He’s Just Not That Into You, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (I can’t wait for the movie this fall.)
The Essential 55, Ron Clark (Great tips for new teachers or any teacher facing obstacles in the classroom.)
Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli (I love this book! – will have a separate review soon.)
Swallowing Stones, Joyce McDonald (Good, but it was very sad. The characters were well developed and very realistic.)
Still In Progress:
On Writing Well, William Zinsser
Category 7, Bill Evans with Marianna Jameson
08.24.08
New Category – “Education and School Related Things”
Well, there are just a few days before it is officially back to school. I will be going back both as a teacher and a student this fall…and this is the first fall that I have ever done so! When I went back to school for teaching, I went full time and did not work. Then, when I started working, I didn’t take any classes for the first year and didn’t take any the second year until the spring semester. Wow! I am feeling the excitement and anxiousness from both sides of classroom this fall! (I do have my first day of school outfits – one for teaching and one for graduate school – already picked out just like I did when I was a little girl!)
I am particularly excited to begin teaching in a new district this year and can’t wait to meet my students (as well as all of my new colleagues)! I am also pretty happy to know that I am (finally!) on the last phase of my MA and having the end in site is a great motivating factor. It has been a long and challenging process for me to work on this degree, so it will be especially rewarding when it is complete.
I will use this new category to post education related thoughts and updates on all of my new adventures. (Also, there may be some duplicate posts here from things happening over at my classroom blog, www.missmorrisblog.wordpress.com. Teachers especially may want to check that out after the first few weeks of school and see what we are up to over there.)
I hope that all of the teachers who read this blog will add some of their own educational insight and wisdom to these posts as well.
Happy learning!
~Melissa
08.23.08
“THE WAY IT IS”
THE WAY IT IS
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the the thread.
-William Stafford
These lines came to me today in a back to school letter. Now, I am sure that the intention was for the “thread” to symbolize our reasons for teaching and dedication to the profession. I can certainly perceive that in the poem and can of course apply it to my interpretation because there are many obstacles and challenges that teachers face all the time. One must be dedicated to teach; it is a given.
However, I can’t help but also think that a more appropriate explanation for what the “thread” in the poem is, is really love – true love, unconditional love, unwavering love. I believe that love can carry you through any tragedy or difficult situation. It isn’t easy for others to always recognize it or understand it if they aren’t a part of it, and I feel those people are the ones to whom you might have to “explain about the thread.” People who have never experienced this kind of love may not know how to handle the explanation, but I think that anyone who has ever known true love will understand.
The thread is what gives you hope when to everyone else there appears to be none.
The thread is what makes the pain hurt a little less and the joy heal a little more.
But, then what about the people who don’t have a “thread” (whether the thread is a dedication to their career or true love or both)? What happens then, with each tragedy and difficult situation when there is no thread? How can those people get back on track when they don’t know where the track is? What if you are still holding on to the thread, but it breaks? Is it ever too late to spin a new thread?
What do you all think? What is the “thread” in the poem to you? Please share your thoughts.
~Melissa
