Have you checked in on your OLW? 
new posts in all blogs
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 5/30/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 1/9/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 1/6/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: One Little Word (OLW), gratitude, olw, One Little Word, Add a tag
By: Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski,
on 1/6/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: inspiration, writing workshop, Responsive Classroom, olw, Thinglink, christopher lehman, growth mindset, One Little Word (OLW), Go Noodle, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 1/5/2016
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: OLW, Add a tag
I couldn't put it off any longer. My students chose their One Little Words yesterday, and I was still procrastinating.
I almost settled on BALANCE, but this word is one I am constantly working towards already. (Constantly, in fact.)
Then I went on a brainstorming spree: bellicose (too negative), cheer (hmm...possibility), levitate, float, informed. Then I got grumpy: hibernate, eschew, shirk. I tried chickadee, puzzle, curious, inquire, ask, design (hmm...possibility), stretch, change, barter.
Suddenly, my word found me:
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 10/15/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski,
on 9/3/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: family, writing workshop, back to school, olw, Add a tag
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 5/24/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 2/6/2015
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, OLW, noticing, Add a tag
In a recent Brain Pickings article about Mark Strand, this quote stood up in front of me, shot its sleeves, straightened its tie, and announced, "I'm here. I understand that your OLW for 2015 is notice? Well, I've arrived to wallop your brain with a new take on attentiveness."
We’re only here
for a short while.
And I think it’s such a lucky accident,
having been born,
that we’re almost obliged to pay attention.
In some ways,
this is getting far afield.
I mean, we are –
as far as we know –
the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious.
We could even
be the universe’s
form of consciousness.
We might have come along
so that the universe could
look at itself.
I don’t know that,
but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of,
or that floats around in space.
But we’re combined in such a way
that we can describe
what it’s like to be alive,
to be witnesses.
Most of our experience is that of being a witness.
We see and hear and smell other things.
I think being alive is responding.
--Mark Strand, quoted in CREATIVITY: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DISCOVERY AND INVENTION
(line breaks are mine)
Wow. Just...wow, right?
When you click over to the article, there is a for-real Mark Strand poem at the end, and as you read or scroll through to get to it, don't you admire how Maria Popova uses art from children's books to illustrate her post?
Liz has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Elizabeth Steinglass. I hope to be able to make the rounds this week. Life has expanded my one square inch to give me a smidge more breathing room than last week!
By: Dana Murphy,
on 1/19/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Tara Smith,
on 1/9/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing workshop, olw, Add a tag
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 1/8/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 1/8/2015
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: OLW, words to live by, words glorious words, Add a tag
This year, I have invited my students to choose their own One Little Word. The above is a list of some of the words my students and the other adults who work in or visit my classroom have chosen.
I am impressed with the perceptiveness of some of my students. They didn't take this choosing lightly, and their words are ones they will be able to live into and grow with throughout the year.
Today, we spent some time with dictionaries and thesauruses looking up and brainstorming synonyms, antonyms and related words.
Perfect timing for this book to show up:
The Right Word
by Jen Bryant
illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2014
I can't wait to introduce my students to Peter Mark Roget, a man whose passion for list-making and words began at the age of 8 and resulted in the most amazing resource book of language -- a book that has remained in print from 1852 until today.
The thesauruses we have in our classroom are alphabetical. I'd love to be able to get ahold of some that are topical, the way Roget originally organized his.
At any rate, this will be the perfect book at the perfect time as my students consider the meanings and nuances of their OLWs for the year.
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 1/7/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, One Little Word, growth mindset, Anne Lammott, Add a tag
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 1/7/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, One Little Word, growth mindset, Anne Lammott, Add a tag
By: Elizabeth Moore (@BethMooreTCRWP),
on 1/6/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing workshop, olw, Add a tag
By: Elizabeth Moore (@BethMooreTCRWP),
on 1/6/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing workshop, olw, Add a tag
By: Dana Murphy,
on 1/5/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Dana Murphy,
on 1/5/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Anna Gratz Cockerille,
on 1/4/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 1/2/2015
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, origin, OLW, acrostic, Add a tag
EXPECTANTLY
Next to the lamp, an
Open book and a steaming cup of
Tea.
In the chair, she sits with
Closed eyes, listening
Expectantly.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
My One Little Word for 2015 is NOTICE. In this poem, I prepare myself for whatever 2015 will bring!
Tricia has the first Poetry Friday roundup of the year at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
By: Mary Lee,
on 12/26/2014
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, OLW, Add a tag
Leisureby William Henry Davies
What is this life is, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 12/21/2014
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: blogging, vacation, olw, Aim Higher Blog Series, Add a tag
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 10/30/2014
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 10/23/2014
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: OLW, breathe, Add a tag
View Next 19 Posts
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: OLW, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 45
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 5/30/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 1/9/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
All week the TWT team has been sharing our One Little Word for 2016! If you missed any be sure to take a look at the inspirational words for the new year.
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 1/6/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: One Little Word (OLW), gratitude, olw, One Little Word, Add a tag
2015 was not my best year ever. In April, my world felt like it was turned upside-down in a matter of 12 hours. Three months later, just as a new normal set in,… Continue reading 
By: Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski,
on 1/6/2016
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: inspiration, writing workshop, Responsive Classroom, olw, Thinglink, christopher lehman, growth mindset, One Little Word (OLW), Go Noodle, Add a tag
My fourth grade self's advice, my grandmother's influence, participating in the Literacy Leaders' Forum, and even a Facebook quiz and a fortune cookie have all pointed me in the direction of my One Little Word for 2016...HAPPY. 
By: Mary Lee,
on 1/5/2016
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: OLW, Add a tag
 |
| image from Unsplash |
I couldn't put it off any longer. My students chose their One Little Words yesterday, and I was still procrastinating.
I almost settled on BALANCE, but this word is one I am constantly working towards already. (Constantly, in fact.)
Then I went on a brainstorming spree: bellicose (too negative), cheer (hmm...possibility), levitate, float, informed. Then I got grumpy: hibernate, eschew, shirk. I tried chickadee, puzzle, curious, inquire, ask, design (hmm...possibility), stretch, change, barter.
Suddenly, my word found me:
BEND
Bend. It tells me to be flexible, reminds me not to break. It shows me a curving road with an unknowable ending, a journey, and it beckons me forward. If it is my teaching, I think of it as to mold or shape. If it is my poetry, photography, and art, I bend my efforts toward the creative. A bend is a kind of knot that connects two ropes, so I can feel a tightening of connections with this word. Last of all, it's a warning to me not to go in too deep -- divers get the bends, you know!
0 Comments on One Little Word 2016 as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 10/15/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski,
on 9/3/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: family, writing workshop, back to school, olw, Add a tag
Back to School Night is around the corner! When it comes to writing workshop, what do we need families to know? 
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 5/24/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 2/6/2015
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, OLW, noticing, Add a tag
In a recent Brain Pickings article about Mark Strand, this quote stood up in front of me, shot its sleeves, straightened its tie, and announced, "I'm here. I understand that your OLW for 2015 is notice? Well, I've arrived to wallop your brain with a new take on attentiveness."
We’re only here
for a short while.
And I think it’s such a lucky accident,
having been born,
that we’re almost obliged to pay attention.
In some ways,
this is getting far afield.
I mean, we are –
as far as we know –
the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious.
We could even
be the universe’s
form of consciousness.
We might have come along
so that the universe could
look at itself.
I don’t know that,
but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of,
or that floats around in space.
But we’re combined in such a way
that we can describe
what it’s like to be alive,
to be witnesses.
Most of our experience is that of being a witness.
We see and hear and smell other things.
I think being alive is responding.
--Mark Strand, quoted in CREATIVITY: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DISCOVERY AND INVENTION
(line breaks are mine)
Wow. Just...wow, right?
When you click over to the article, there is a for-real Mark Strand poem at the end, and as you read or scroll through to get to it, don't you admire how Maria Popova uses art from children's books to illustrate her post?
Liz has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Elizabeth Steinglass. I hope to be able to make the rounds this week. Life has expanded my one square inch to give me a smidge more breathing room than last week!
0 Comments on Poetry Friday -- Found Poem as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Dana Murphy,
on 1/19/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Tara Smith,
on 1/9/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing workshop, olw, Add a tag
When I was twelve, my father came home from a long business trip abroad with a magical gift just for me: a Polaroid camera with half a dozen boxes of film. This was,… Continue reading 
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 1/8/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
I thought a lot about my word for 2015. Anyone who is choosing a word to define their year typically does put some weight on the idea. It can mean as much as… Continue reading 
By: Mary Lee,
on 1/8/2015
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: OLW, words to live by, words glorious words, Add a tag
Do
Live
Try
Brave
Exercise
Respect
Friendly
Family
Decide
Moderation
Hope
Balance
This year, I have invited my students to choose their own One Little Word. The above is a list of some of the words my students and the other adults who work in or visit my classroom have chosen.
I am impressed with the perceptiveness of some of my students. They didn't take this choosing lightly, and their words are ones they will be able to live into and grow with throughout the year.
Today, we spent some time with dictionaries and thesauruses looking up and brainstorming synonyms, antonyms and related words.
Perfect timing for this book to show up:
The Right Word
by Jen Bryant
illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2014
I can't wait to introduce my students to Peter Mark Roget, a man whose passion for list-making and words began at the age of 8 and resulted in the most amazing resource book of language -- a book that has remained in print from 1852 until today.
The thesauruses we have in our classroom are alphabetical. I'd love to be able to get ahold of some that are topical, the way Roget originally organized his.
At any rate, this will be the perfect book at the perfect time as my students consider the meanings and nuances of their OLWs for the year.
0 Comments on OLW Goes to School as of 1/9/2015 2:58:00 PM
Add a Comment
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 1/7/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, One Little Word, growth mindset, Anne Lammott, Add a tag
Sometimes I'm tempted to say, "I can't..." or "I haven't..." This year, I'm going to add one little word to those statements to keep myself on-track with a very important long-term goal I have.
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 1/7/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, One Little Word, growth mindset, Anne Lammott, Add a tag
Sometimes I'm tempted to say, "I can't..." or "I haven't..." This year, I'm going to add one little word to those statements to keep myself on-track with a very important long-term goal I have.
By: Elizabeth Moore (@BethMooreTCRWP),
on 1/6/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing workshop, olw, Add a tag
This morning, as usual, we were running a little behind schedule. “Lily, put on your coat,” I said t0 my daughter, who is five, as I zipped up my son Jackson’s snowsuit. Lily… Continue reading 
By: Elizabeth Moore (@BethMooreTCRWP),
on 1/6/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing workshop, olw, Add a tag
This morning, as usual, we were running a little behind schedule. “Lily, put on your coat,” I said t0 my daughter, who is five, as I zipped up my son Jackson’s snowsuit. Lily… Continue reading 
By: Dana Murphy,
on 1/5/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Dana Murphy,
on 1/5/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Anna Gratz Cockerille,
on 1/4/2015
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
This year, I vow to make each of my daily 1,440 minutes count. Here is the One Little Word I'll live by this year. 
By: Mary Lee,
on 1/2/2015
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, origin, OLW, acrostic, Add a tag
EXPECTANTLY
Next to the lamp, an
Open book and a steaming cup of
Tea.
In the chair, she sits with
Closed eyes, listening
Expectantly.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
My One Little Word for 2015 is NOTICE. In this poem, I prepare myself for whatever 2015 will bring!
Tricia has the first Poetry Friday roundup of the year at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
0 Comments on Poetry Friday -- Expectantly as of 1/6/2015 5:23:00 AM
Add a Comment
By: Mary Lee,
on 12/26/2014
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, OLW, Add a tag
Leisureby William Henry Davies
What is this life is, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
If measured in "time to stand and stare," then William C. Morris has a very rich life. One night earlier this week, Mr. Mary Lee noticed him staring out the bedroom window into the dark. Following the cat's gaze, the man focused on...a barred owl sitting on the wires that run through the easement behind the house!
Just imagine all we would see if we took time to really look.
It's a little early to declare my One Little Word for 2015, and I haven't spent hours or made lists deliberating on the pros and cons of this word vs. that word. I just decided. Just now. BREATHE has been a great word for 2014, and I'm sure I'll go back to it over and over again, but in 2015, I'd like to
NOTICE
I want to slow down. I want to notice. I want to savor small moments.
Be sure to wish Holly a Happy Birthday today -- she's spending her special day with us rounding up the Poetry Friday links at Reading, Teaching, Learning.
I have the new list of roundup hosts in the sidebar here at A Year of Reading. The file with the code has been uploaded on the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group, and you can always find the current (and past) roundups on the Kidlitosphere Central website. If you want me to send you the code for your very own sidebar, just send an email (new address: marylee dot hahn at gmail dot com).
0 Comments on Poetry Friday -- To Stand and Stare as of 12/30/2014 1:50:00 AM
Add a Comment
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 12/21/2014
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: blogging, vacation, olw, Aim Higher Blog Series, Add a tag
The six of us will be celebrating holidays, recharging our batteries, and coming up with more posts to share with this incredible community of teachers and writers for the next two weeks. In the meantime, we have lots to keep you going over winter break.
By: Betsy Hubbard,
on 10/30/2014
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: olw, Add a tag
By: Mary Lee,
on 10/23/2014
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: OLW, breathe, Add a tag
I shouldn't be blogging.
I should be grading papers.
I should be reading students' blog posts.
I should be sending post-conference follow-up emails to parents.
I should be watching training videos for my new school laptop.
I should be deconstructing standards and digging into resources.
I should be reading so I have something to blog about.
I should be doing amazing things in my classroom so I have something to blog about.
I should be reading the blogs of our faithful blog readers.I should be cleaning the house.
Okay. That helped. It always does. Best One Little Word ever.
Remember at the end of last summer, when we went to Vermont on a fly fishing trip...and didn't catch any fish? And how I vowed to "catch" a "trout" every day of the school year so that no matter what kind of picture the high stakes testing paints of my students, I will be able to look back on a year full of great moments of learning and joy?
I've got a "creel" full of fish.
We're 40+ days into the school year, and in my special little purple Moleskine I have 40+ "trout." Some days when I look back, they make me laugh, or swell up with pride. Some days I get a little teary.
At the exhaustion end of Parent Conference Night, a dad told about organizing his 30th high school class reunion, and how much it meant to him and the others who attended that some of their elementary school teachers attended. Even their first grade teacher was there. "You are making a difference in these students' lives, you know," he said. "You have no idea right now how the seeds you plant will turn out, but you are planting seeds for the future."
The next day, I got an email from a student who was in one of my looping classes 10 years ago. I helped to get her on an IEP back then. She's a junior in college now and she wanted to come interview me for one of her classes. She just switched her major. To education.
All the "I shoulds" will have to wait. I have some seeds to plant. I have some fish to catch.
0 Comments on I Shouldn't Be Blogging as of 10/23/2014 7:41:00 AM
Add a Comment
View Next 19 Posts