Malala – pamelascanepa

Jan. 26th. Welcome to Day 25 of #ADayinMyLife. and Day 4 of Literacy Week. I was so tired last night, I fell asleep before posting yesterday’s post. I sent it just this afternoon when I finally realized. I certainly did get my sleep last night!

So, today in Literacy Week, we celebrated the strategy of visualizing while reading a book. A few students made some art and drawings. A few others wrote entries today for our really-short story contest.

Mala’s story has my students intrigued, girls and boys alike! (The girl who stood up to the Taliban for the right of girls to get an education)

After announcing the other day that students could no longer borrow books from me probably for the rest of the school year, I asked if any of them would like to get the book checked out that we are reading excerpts from for my lessons. (Which is approved in the curriculum). I had about 8 students out of two different classes raise their hands. They were able to get them from the school library to take home today. That warms my heart, and I needed that for the following reason: Our library books are all covered up now. 😦

Three to five years ago, they sent off all of our biography and nonfiction books in the library somewhere, got rid of those particular bookshelves, and made a dedicated testing area. I was so hoping it wasn’t an indicator of changes to come, but it does seem that it has been an indicator of our state’s priorities. *Keep in mind, that this is my opinion and not necessarily that of my employer or of any state leadership.

Here I am, exercising my first amendment right. At any rate, my yearbook / Journalism class came in all boisterous as usual, but we got a lot done. There were photos to be downloaded from our cameras, photos to be tagged, students I needed to meet with about some changes to be made to their pages. It was quite productive!

Some of my energetic students, the type always finishing work early, helped decorate a bulletin board outside my room this week. They had the ideas, I supplied the materials, all of which I had in my cabinet. I love their creativity!

Wow! There is still some hope. I love many things about my job. I guess today has been a day for receiving appreciation and sending out gratitude! Have a great evening, everyone!

Day 12, January 13th

Happy Friday the 13th! I was running on empty this morning, even though I had my once in- a- blue -moon coffee . It had been a weird night, as I woke at 3:45 with the sound of the rain. I tossed and turned for 1-2 hours, then kept hitting snooze in the alarm and finally dragged my butt out of bed… But I woke up with the energy of those middle schoolers around me.

We were reading about Malala, who stood up to the Taliban and got shot. The students were in awe of her bravery and the fear under which she had to live. I just loved hearing their questions and seeing them so interested!

During planning time, I met with other teachers and we talked about our plans for Literacy week at the end of the month, a fun part of the job. I also had time to work a little on an upcoming lesson. By the end of the day, I had gotten my momentum back.

I came home to find out that my mom had someone come out, they changed the air filter, and the heat is working fine! Five minutes later, Amazon delivered my heaters that were scheduled to arrive Sunday. Wouldn’t you know! I got online and arranged to return one of them, giving my son the other. He was so grateful, it warmed my heart. ♥️

Just another day in my life. Have a good night everyone!