yep a SATURDAY MORNING (5:30 people)
so excited
to head to a PD
BUT
I have been waiting for this PD
since they announced it like 4 weeks ago!!!
I heard that Jeff Anderson was a phenom presenter
and my ears didn't lie to me...or my friends!!!
My friends (Kenoyer and Itty Bitty (yes her nickname is my dog's nickname..i didn't nickname her I can only take credit for my dog... both are cute as the Itty Bitty name indicates))
anywho... my friends and I left early to get a GOOD seat
we got there and to our great surprise
we got a FREE (HOLA) book
not just any ole book
his NEW book
HOLA again!!!
I won his other book at an on campus PD
and read it right away
and it SERIOUSLY
SERIOUSLY
do I need to say it again to get the point across
it SERIOUSLY
changed my life as a teacher...
I carry it with me constantly...
in my purse and read it all the time
I refer to it constantly in class
I tell my hubs about it
even if he is not really listening
it is dog eared, sticky noted, written in, & loved!!!
I have even slept with it :)
HA HA HA
and so back to the PD
Jeff went through his book in the most entertaining way
and talked about teaching
TEACHING writing
focused on Expository
sounds boring?
NO...
it takes a lot to entertain this chica (pretty sure that means hot chick in the Farley Dictionary)
he used songs and hand movements
and jokes and facts and clever sayings like
* you have to catch them on fire
* you can't make anything if you don't throw the clay on the wheel
* if you want the correct answer give a worksheet but if you want them to learn have a discussion (this is not his quote he was quoting someone else but he said it and I wrote it)
It was unreal
I was in LA LA Land
which usually only occurs when I am in the presence of an unbelievable sale...
like take another 50% off
at Nordys...
or when I met John Travolta and his hair was in my mouth
because that is how close he was to my face
and for a second or two I thought I might be able to bite a piece of it off
without him noticing
but decided against it
I was in that kind of LA LA Land
I don't want to give all of the PD details away
because I am pretty sure it is all in his book
which I will start reading TONIGHT and
might have to sleep with it too!!!
He was so sweet at the end of the session
which was only half a day
THO SAD it was only half a day
at the end he signed every single person's book
and I got a picture too!!!!
BOOYAH!!!
you can tell I am in that JT moment...
I mean am I cheesing it up or what!!!
I did want to leave you with this...
at the beginning of his session
Jeff talked about tree rings
and how during a drought or rough conditions they are small
and during favorable conditions they grow thick
he said we all have rings too
and our rings show what we have experienced in life
and your experiences are forever in your rings
he related this to writing
but I took it to heart as a TEACHER
what I do in my class will forever be with my students
am I giving them the right environment to grow?
Jeff told us that 91% of what we teach is prepared or worksheets
91%?
he encouraged us to read and write more
READ AND WRITE MORE!!!!
this comparison and fact led me to come home and of course make a poster...
toodles (my new sign off... my aunt says this when she gets off the phone...cute?...let me know!!!)
