“I’m functioning at 10%… I’m going to go find myself a comfy spot to see if I can get some work done,” I tell Caro before walking out of her office.
My body knows exactly where I should go.
I head down to the third floor, walk toward one of the Kindergarten classrooms, and look through the windows, noticing the gray chair. Available. The class is still at recess, but I’m sure they won’t mind if I stay working in this corner while they go about their afternoon.
AirPods in, I start a playlist and work on some PD documents.
Twenty minutes later, the class walks in and settles in for Quiet Time. The lights are out, and energy is decreasing. I stay on task, briefly complimenting their calm transition.
Students begin to gather on the rug once the lights come back on. I notice the doc cam placed at the center, ready to display something. That’s when I hear one student reading what’s on their schedule: “What’s Writing Workshop?”
I look up. Did I just happen to find myself in this room on the day these kindergarteners launch Writing Workshop? No way!
I’ve been working with this team of teachers on plans to wrap up Story Workshop, administer baseline On-Demands, and finally launch Writing Workshop. We talked about fun ways to introduce the magic pen, plus routines and systems that are now well established to set writers up for success. And today, it’s finally happening.
Then, Angie, our Lower Elementary Director, walks in with a gift bag and, in her most spontaneous and fun manner, presents 16 new flair pens and talks about the magic they’re about to create with them.
I close my laptop and enjoy Darlyn’s minilesson. How unexpected is this? Not only the moment I’m witnessing, but also that she’s the one teaching. She was the first teacher at this school to fall in love with this powerful way of growing writers.
I’ll share more about this different, intentional launch in my next Two Writing Teachers post, but for now, I just felt like this moment was worth slicing.
