Snow day and I’m published!!

Our first snow day is today! It’s so exciting hearing the newscaster say, “Loudoun County schools are closed today”. It’s the gift of time…a whole day that is now unexpectedly free!

In addition to that good news, today my blog post for the Nerdy Book Club has been published. Seeing my name as the author really makes me happy. I hope that you wander over there and read my blog post…maybe you’ll even leave a comment. It reminds me how important audience is to all writers.

Here’s the link to my post…hope to see you there!

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/reading-and-where-it-all-began-by-michelle-haseltine/

Category: My writing | 1 Comment

December 20 2012

Audience for writing

Last night I submitted a blog post (for another blog) that I authored for consideration. It’s a blog about reading. Inspired by my students and our recent poetry writing, I allowed my post to take the form of a poem. I’m pleased, really pleased with hos it came out. I submitted it and waited. I haven’t seen another post on there written as a poem. Sharing poetry can be scary as it’s incredibly personal. Minutes (although it felt like hours) later, I received a response from the creator of the blog. He said, “so cool”. Two words. That’s it. My stomach flipped and I smiled for the rest of the night. Now, I can’t wait for it to be published. Does publishing on a blog count as publishing? Yes. I remembered my passion for writing and deep desire to be published…a published author. I need to find my story.

I will share the blog when my post is published. Thank you for my audience here on this blog! I appreciate every one of you reading. 🙂

P.S. I wrote that last night. This morning I got more feedback…this time three words: This is brilliant. I’m in heaven! 🙂

Category: My writing, publishing | LEAVE A COMMENT

December 4 2012

Disappeared…AKA…Blogging is hard!

Where have my posts gone? I had such high hopes this year to blog everyday. Then it changed to a few days a week. And finally to once a week. Now, I’ve been MIA for too long. I’m sad that I haven’t been able to keep up this blog like I wanted to. The beginning of the year started off so STRONG and then just… nothing. How do I change this and keep up? After attending NCTE and learning about so many teachers who are successfully integrating technology with their students, I thought I’d come back stronger than ever, but alas, nope.

So…to my students….here’s my lesson. I’ve chosen a goal that’s really hard for me to achieve. I don’t always do a great job, but I’m sticking with it. My hope is that you do the same with your goals.

Speaking of goals, the past few days we’ve been meeting in reading conferences and you have inspired me with your hard work and your reflection. Getting an opportunity to chat with each student is a treasured time in a teacher’s busy day.

FInally, book trailers…we’ve watched a few. I’m going to post some of the trailers we’ve watched here. Please let me know if you have created your own! I’d love to post those too!

Category: book trailers, goals, My writing, NCTE | 1 Comment

September 5 2012

The Case of the Classroom Clock

During first block today, I noticed a strange occurrence. There was a clock hanging on the back wall.

When did this clock appear?

As I sat up front and monitored the class working on finishing up some assignments, I gasped, “Where did that clock come from?” Abigayle looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, “What do you mean?” I explained how that clock hasn’t worked for the past two years. Earlier this year, I tried unsuccessfully to get it repaired again. Instead of fixing it, someone decides to put new batteries in and within two hours it’s stopped again. So I did what I did last year, I took it off the wall and hid it. This year, I hid it on top of the wardrobe under a beach ball and papers. “Oh, I know! I bet someone replaced it. The broken one is probably still back there.” I stepped to the wardrobe and…the clock was GONE! What happened? I couldn’t figure it out. It’s the case of the classroom clock.

In other news, we are getting into Out of My Mind. This is our read aloud by Sharon Draper. It’s the third year in a row I’ve read this book aloud. Melody is the main character and narrator of the story. She’s one of my all time favorite characters because of her strength and sense of humor and her perseverance. I can’t wait for the students to meet other characters like Mrs. V and Dr. Hugely!

Thank you for continuing to read the blog!

P.S. I spoke to Mrs. O’Brien after school (She teaches Language Arts in Room C8.) and I was telling her about the clock. I noticed her clock was not working. She said it was working yesterday. Hmmm, do you think someone switched our clocks? Can you solve the case of the classroom clock?

Category: My writing, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

June 9 2012

My afternoon at the library…finding time to write

My afternoon at the library

In keeping with the first mini-lesson of the summer, today I found time to write at my favorite place, the local public library. I left ALL electronics at home, I even turned OFF my cell phone and thoroughly enjoyed one uninterrupted hour of writing and reading. Indulgent, inspiring, and I can’t wait to do it again.

One of the things I wrote was the quick write prompt from Thursday, so here it is…

I walk by the door three times before I finally go into the library. Holding my breath, I keep my head down and hope no one will notice me. This is the first time I’ve come here without my class. I’m here alone, all by myself. As I approach the shelves, I finally blow out the breath I’d been holding. Why am I so nervous? I wonder. The minutes tick and I find that soon, I am actually smiling.

Needing to escape to somewhere, I came here. Here? Hmmm, well, anywhere is better than lunch. Lunch is…lunch. Finding a place to sit, not knowing anyone, it’s too much. I can’t face it yet. Suddenly, I realize that my friends are here…on and off the shelves. For the first time I look around and see a few friendly faces. The librarian, Miss Miller, catches my eye. Unexpectedly, she smiles. It’s then I realize, I’m home.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this? Fiction is not anything that I feel comfortable writing, but I enjoyed this prompt. My piece of writing is in the voice of a sixth grader who doesn’t know anyone. I like the fact that it could be a girl or a boy. I know what I was thinking. Who did you picture? At the library, I found a picture book titled, Book, by George Ella Lyon. It’s a beautiful poem about books and reading. There’s one stanza that spoke to me and I wanted to share it here.

A BOOK is a FARM,

its fields sown with words.

Reader, you are its weather;

your tears, your eyes shining.

The writer, working these words,

cried and laughed, too.

Now you meet

as the gate of the book

swings wide.

~George Ella Lyon

Category: My writing | 4 Comments

June 5 2012

A place I remember…

As the car pulls up by the green house, I leap out and sprint up the driveway, through the screen door to my favorite place in the world. The wooden table holds a bowl of plastic fruit in the middle of the placemats carefully arranged. I run past the table and stop for a moment by the shelves for my very own special slice of Parmesan cheese. I turn around and the giant roosters hanging on the wall watch me enjoy my treat. I walk over to the table and plop down on the green vinyl seat anxiously awaiting my instructions. Coming to Grammy’s house on Sunday was my favorite part of the week. Grammy always had me help and I couldn’t wait to see what my job was today.

“Michelle, would you help me clear the table so we can set it?” Grammy called to me. I gathered the placemats into a pile and moved the bowl of plastic fruit. Grammy brought over the pile of plates and forks and knives. I arranged them carefully on the table. The whole family gathered around this table every Sunday. As I placed plates, I decided where everyone would sit. (Of course, we always sat in the same places.) The aroma of garlic filled every molecule in this space. Macaroni, meatballs, eggplant, sometimes braciole or artichokes would join the party. One thing was for sure, everyone got their favorites: mine was cucumber salad, just for me. Papa always had his hot peppers, Auntie Jo got a piece of steak, Mom had her black olives, and Auntie Ann got her artichoke.

Funny, Grammy didn’t even get a seat at the table. She served the meal and fussed and cleaned as we ate. Once people finished and got up from the table, this was the best time, she would join those of us left. We’d sit around the table and talk and laugh and tell stories. The tastes unparalleled, the smells delicious, but nothing compared to the feelings, comfort, acceptance, joy, love, family.

Category: My writing | 20 Comments

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