#SOL16 Day 3
I’m a dancer. I am a dancer strictly by definition, “a person who dances.” I am a dancer the way I am a cook. I do it, but no one is raving over my talent! I am a dancer because of my daughter. SHE is a dancer beyond the dictionary definition. She has talent.
My husband and I are sometimes baffled by this. We were both jocks. When I was young we didn’t have a girls’ basketball team at my school so I played on the boys’ team. (I’d like to tell you they welcomed me with open arms-but perhaps that’s another “slice” to share). My recesses were spent playing kickball and softball with boys. I wanted to be the first female outfielder for the Cubs. I loved all-things-sports.
Then we had our beautiful daughter, Bailey, and I thought, she’ll love sports.
She hates sports.
Oh, she tried them. She’d cartwheel down the basketball court, twirl around in the outfield, and sashay down the soccer pitch. And then she would go to her tap/ballet class and be in her element. Over the years I’d watch (through teary eyes) and wonder How does she DO that?
Her dance studio offers adult classes as well, and a few years ago I decided I wanted to experience what my daughter loves. I signed up for Bollywood because no prior dance experience was necessary. I felt incredibly uncoordinated and inept. I had to think about how to move my body -something I hadn’t given a smidge of attention to for years. I was hooked. A year later Bailey joined the class and it took on a whole new meaning for me. I was a part of something my daughter loved.
Last night as we were bhangra bopping across the studio floor, I was reminded that these nights are numbered. Bailey is a senior in high school, and I each month, week, and day with her becomes more and more precious. I watch her glide and leap and try to soak up every move and tuck it away for those lonely nights ahead. I smile in my heart when I watch her giggle and joke with her friends. This is joy. This is precious. This is fleeting. I couldn’t stop myself from randomly hugging her several times during class. I’m sure she wondered, What’s up with that? But she didn’t say much. Perhaps he’s just used to it. Perhaps she understands.
I’m glad this Slice of Life Challenge has me examining the small moments in my life this month. They are so often taken for granted, until you know that they are numbered. My Bollywood nights will be slices I want to always remember.
Walking down the hallways of any school we will often encounter student work hanging on the walls. Most often it is either artwork or some type of writing project. Rarely do we have time to stop and read or appreciate each one as we pass by so we tend to look at them through our own lens of expectations. We often do not know the context of the work and can only surmise what the unit of study may have been by any titles given to the pieces. Those pieces were placed in the hallways so that students could have an audience for their work beyond their classmates and teacher.
I began working with teachers on creating Look-Fors to shine a spotlight on the ‘behind the scenes’ work that went into the published pieces. Many teachers had already been using learning targets to teach for the expected learning so this was a great place to start. Teachers could post the learning targets along side the student work. These pairings show the audience “Here is what was taught. Here is how it was learned.” We could then look for these specific targets within each students’ work and perhaps spend less time noticing a few misspellings!
After our January nErDcampNNE, I was so fortunate to receive two ARCs from Maine authors I love. The first was Tamra Wight’s 3rd book in the Cooper and Packrat mystery series. These are all set in a campground in Maine (something she knows a great deal about) and weaves fascinating facts about wildlife into the mysteries. The first book was about loons, the second about eagles, and this third is about foxes. The children in the books try to solve mysteries that protect the animals we are learning about. Each chapter starts with fun facts that help young readers appreciate these animals, and hopefully encourage them to safeguard these animals as well. I think this series is a MUST HAVE for 2nd-5th grade classrooms. So well written and really encourage readers to think and wonder as they try to figure out whodunnit! Expected release date: April 26.
This similar event, last year, was where I linked up with many authors who helped me with my book 
litcoachlady 