Celebration Saturday

Last week I wrote a post inspired by Colby Sharp and Alaina Sharp in which I celebrated 5-10 things that went right the week before.  My goal is to write one every Saturday.  When Stephanie Shouldis saw my blog post last Saturday on Facebook, she coined the title "Celebration Saturday," which I loved, so I asked her permission to use it as my title.  It will be the title I use every Saturday.  Maybe we can make this a blog idea for lots of bloggers out there!  If I knew how to do a linky tool, we could make it a meme and a link up.  Maybe I'll try to figure that out for next week. For now, I'll make my list!

Here is my happiness journey this week:

1.  I finished  The Real Boy by Anne Ursu, which has been getting tons of buzz, and I was not disappointed.  The writing and message stayed with me all week. 

 

2.  My first Mock Newbery Club met this week after school on Tuesday.  It was a good-sized group, and they were so excited about books!  I look forward to hearing what they think about the books I passed out to them.  More titles to talk about next week!

 

 

3.  We finished A Long Walk to Water, and the sixth graders found out Salva Dut is a real person!  They were so inspired and are excited about our #ReadWalkWater initiative.  I passed out letters to parents and pledge sheets.  One student came back the next day with a $100 check for Water for South Sudan, Inc.  All our plans are in place for next week.  We'll be Skyping with the Water for South Sudan, Inc. organizations, selling bracelets in the cafeteria, collecting pledges, and walking on Friday.

 

4.  It was a productive week learning how to write claim paragraphs.  My fifth graders wrote paragraphs about journeys, and my sixth graders wrote paragraphs about what a crusader is. 

 

 

 

5.  The first student met the 50 Book Challenge already and put her name up on the Wall of Awesome!  And yes, she really did read 50 real books!  She reads at least a book a day.

 

 

6.  My small, historic town makes me happy!  Applefest was last weekend and this week we are a movie location set because of its quaintness!

 

APPLEFEST

 

 





 Watch the video and read the story about the Christmas film set here!  I drove through town the other day and saw all the Christmas decorations:  http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2013/10/03/hollywood-arrives-to-lebanon-today/

7.  My dog makes me happy.  While I was reading this week on the couch, my dog, Ben, always curls up by me.  I caught him on video snoring.  It was so cute! 

8.  My writing partner and friend/colleague, Megan Ginther, got together at our favorite bookstore restaurant spot to work on writing, but honestly, we ended up talking for 3 hours!  Next time we'll work!

9.  I took some time one day after school this week to make positive calls and send "Good News" e-mails.  The parents loved it, and I got lots of positives back.  It makes you realize you get back what you put out!  Here's a sample:

Hi Mrs. Mueller,

 

Thank you for your voicemail yesterday.  That really meant a lot to us.  While ___________ had been in public school before, Kings was completely new to her. 

 

I can see _________ blossoming in your class.  She is exploring different authors that she’s not previously considered.  She’s branching out from the Wimpy Kid series J.

10.  Time to decorate my house for fall and tidy up - my daughter's last high school Homecoming dance is tonight, and we're hosting a group for pictures!

Tell me what celebrations YOU have this week!!!