Special notes from summer school

I realize summer school has long past (and in fact, the regular school year is about to begin!), but I was just getting rid of the last of my goodbye letters and had to keep some very special quotes. I think they'll help me start out my year remembering from the get-go that I'm not just here to impact minds, but I'm also here to impact hearts. Enjoy!

"The teachers in this school are cool except for you, you are Awesome." -Ismael

"You help me with reading and writing. And especilly not being shy in front of the classroom. I improved in summer school because I can do stuff by myself. I though that I can do anything When I got here in your classroom." -Wendy

"People in the school is really nice. mostly Mrs. Steele. You helped me improve my reading levil...I started to a K and ended with O :). For myself I improved talking a little more." -Jemina

"The teacher I like is Mrs. Steele she is funny cool and alsome I so like her. We Like to write to echother and We do reading, and word work in the libray I like her she is nice."  -Madisyn

"I think Daniel was funny when he was the alien in the readers theater play called The Alien, cause it sound funny and it gave me a cool picture in my head." -Jewel

Pretty much the best surprise EVER!

I received an email last night. From YouTube. Saying that there was a comment "pending approval" on the "Playground Plea" video my students created at the end of last year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48MblmUkPvA). This is how it started: "Wow! I was *delighted* to see this amazing video you have made about my poem..." Wait. Stop. WHAT?! "MY poem"???

Yes, folks, the actual author of the poem we interpreted through video commented on said video...and loved it! I can't wait to tell my students; they're going to FREAK!

I was sharing my joy with Katie Brooks, and she took it to a whole new level for me--why not set up a video chat with Ms. Huggins-Cooper so that my students can interview her live? Well, why not?! I've sent the message, so...we'll see if she has time for us. Sooooo exciting!

Practice in Creativity

I wanted to do something crafty for my summer school students. A friend (thanks, Jess Manduka!) gave me a repurposing book, and I found my project--bookmarks made from place mats, napkins, and other fabrics.

cutting the place mats

and napkins

James' photographic perspective ;)

after the kids designed them (drew on their pieces with pencil), 

I began the embroidery process.

it took...

...a while

sewed 'em up. did it with an unfinished edge instead of 

placing them inside out--thinner that way

applying fray guard

THE FINISHED PRODUCTS

(notice the difference between the boys' and girls' ones!)

So much fun! Couldn't do this for ALL my ELLs (160+ kids!), but summer school numbers are much more doable. Great creative outlet, and the kids were shocked at how cool a bookmark (something to do with reading??) could be! :)

"Oh, I know. Dumb."

WORKSHEET: "The opposite of foolish is _ _ _ _." (Hint: Change one letter from the word: wide.)

Well, this group of four boys didn't know what foolish itself meant. So I was trying to give them lots of examples...to no avail. Their classroom teacher (we split the whole group of 50 kids into 3 classes but come together occasionally) came up and said, "Oh, this group of boys should really know what foolish means." *red flag in my head* He continued, "'Joe is foolish.' So what does 'foolish' mean?" Joe looked down, utterly dejected. "Oh, I know. Dumb."

I attempted to repair the damage.

Then I cried.

Letters in Summer School

The kids and I have been writing to each other this summer school (highly recommended, by the way). I've been reading them one poem a day (from My Name is Jorge by Jane Medina) and having them quick-write a response. Then we have a written conversation about what they wrote. The responses below are from the poem "Invisible," which talks about how Jorge likes to be unseen by those around him because at least then he doesn't get things wrong, etc. These. Are. Incredible.

Goodbye, Reading Buddies!

What a great relationship we had between Lakeview's 8th grade Reading Buddies this year and our 4th grade ELLs! Here are two final letters from our 8th graders to our 4th graders.

A little gem I found while digging...

We received a crisis e-mail last year about a potential mega drop in funding for ESL programs across the state of Indiana. Our ESL director, Wendy Long, invited us to write letters to the senator, telling him why this was a terrible idea. Well, senators tend to ignore teachers. But...who can resist kids?! We all wrote letters to Senator Kenley (below is one gem of an example), and he actually did not sign that awful bill. We still have ESL; it worked! (At least, we'd like to think that we're that influential.) Side note: He responded to all our letters, and we all wrote him thank you notes!