Every Day In Every Way I Get Better And Better

 A Year in Review 1. Cubeland: Ikea has helped me organize my tiny space. I have Kallax cubes everywhere. I am really looking forward to seeing how they change over the years.  I will paint them eventually. For now, they are only customized with knobs. I found these hand-painted Pog-sized discs in my art box that my daughter painted. I glued them to the Ikea knobs. Perfect! 2. Teaching and Learning: This is my second year as a teacher. I am now officially enrolled in a credentialing program as well. This year I have an intern credential, and will earn my preliminary credential in June 2024. I will also take the RICA (Reading Instruction Competence Assessment) before the school year is through.  3. Fun: Every day I wake up back in CA. I am so glad to be back home. I can hear the ocean when I fall asleep and wish it good morning on my way to work. I have been roller skating since July, and I had a wonderful summer full of visits and visitors.  4. New Year, Old Me: Tomorrow is the first d

What I learned from Joan Didion in The Year of Magical Thinking : 1. Learn as much as you can about what is happening in your life. 2. Take advantage of opportunities to love. 3. Pay attention to the ways in which your family shows their love. 4. It is ok to be wrong. Sometimes, maybe it is better.

recently I was asked why I, as a reading interventionist, had selected punctuation as a learning focus for my students in the upcoming semester. The questioner wondered how punctuation was important to reading. This was mind-boggling to me because I think it is a necessary ingredient to reading comprehension. It is what signals us to understand a sentence. Punctuation indicates the end, or continuation of, a sentence; semi-colons can do both. Punctuation tells me if a character is yelling or excited! It tells me whether a story is narrated or includes dialog: "You should check out this short podcast episode about origin of punctuation." recommended a colleague. "Awesome!" I responded That was the  exchange that led to my learning about Isadore of Seville. She recommended a podcast titled, "Cabinet of Curiosities" by Aaron Mahnke. Episode 294 is titled, "Point Made" and is about Isadore's desire to add marks to text so it could convey a broad

 Today is the first day of the rest of this blog.