It has been a great start to the year. Things are slowly coming along as students begin to understand the reasons to reflect on their reading. Why it is important to think about how a text makes them think and just gain an appreciation for great books.
That said some days just do not go as planned. My well planned week has been interrupted by meetings and begin of the year testing that I am not in control of. I will be happy to see the data but trying to make up time has made some lessons far more surface than I had hoped. Jumping off with Outsiders did not see as many big moments in realization as I had hoped (there were some great observations though).
Some days things seem like they are getting away from us and I had one of those days today. So did some of my friends from the messages I received and the people I talked to. So as I took a second to sit in disappointment I started to consider the next couple days and where we are going as a class and had a few observations.
- Teaching is like everything else in the world, there are good days and bad days. If we focus on the not so great days we lose sight of the possibility of better ones ahead. I say it all the time failure is the first step in learning and today I learned a bit.
- Student choice is such a motivator. I love journals but my kids don’t always. Adjustments need to be made that helps me meet my requirements and help them meet theirs.
- The possibilities of tomorrow are always greater than the stumbling blocks of yesterday. Focus on forward.
Tomorrow I am planning to use a great picture book as a mentor text. We reflect on kindness and review books.
Forward.
Things Mr.G says 
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson is a great book to use. I teach sixth grade and my students proved to be very empathetic.
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