SOLSC #8: Small Moments


Here I am.  Day 8.  Ralph Fletcher in What a Writer Needs says, "I seek a subject to write about with two distinguishing characteristics:  it must interest me and it must be something I think I can write well about."  It's the second part that always gets me.


Typically it's the little things that make my day; a cup of coffee in the morning, coming home to find dinner already ready, or finding a piece of chocolate in my cupboard when I thought it was all gone.  It was one of those little moments that caught me today, making me pause and smile.

My class began blogging back in September when writing a sentence was still a challenge.  Since then we've written about a variety of topics.  We introduced ourselves to our student teacher on our blog.  Each student shared a story about our walk-a-thon.  On our blogs we have written about things that are important to us.  I have a few kids who regularly blog beyond the classroom sharing their hobbies, family events, and other personal interest stories.  

In all of these months I've been waiting for someone to discover the ability to take a picture and post it on the blog.  I waited and waited and waited, but nobody even seemed to notice.  Finally today I decided we needed to learn how to put a picture on the blog.  As a community we talked about the reasons bloggers might use a camera to take a picture for a post.  I took them to my other blog, Reflect and Refine:  Building a Learning Community, and showed them a post I had written about a new book just being released by one of their favorite authors.  They loved hearing that Kevin Henkes had a new book coming out.  They, of course, were beside themselves to hear it was a chapter book.  

Students seemed eager to share books with their friends and were quickly ready to begin.  Each chose a favorite book, took a picture for the post, and then wrote about the book choice.  The kids enjoyed the lesson and enthusiastically wrote about favorites.  The class was humming with students working to get pictures taken and placed on their blogs.  It wasn't long until everyone had completed the post.   

After the computers had been packed away and the children had gone home for the evening, I sat down at my computer to approve posts.  School had been out for less than 30 minutes when I started reading and approving.  It wasn't long until I pulled up a post that surprised me.  I clicked this post and was soon staring at a picture of a dog.  What?  I asked myself in confusion.  Then it hit me.  One of my students had gone home after school and posted about her dog.  Incredibly she had to have posted within 20 minutes of the end of the school day.  


I'm continually amazed by my first graders.  I love their enthusiasm for learning and their genuine love of learning.  I can't wait to talk to my blogger and share in her excitement.  This little post just made my day.   Sometimes it's the little things that matter most.  

Comments

  1. Wow Cathy! You have sparked something for this little girl. I can imagine her excitement, what she might have said to her mom or dad when she got home about wanting to get on the computer and write. And the post itself? Fantastic! I know what you mean about the small moments. This one may not be so small, though. It could be one that she remembers for a lifetime.

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  2. How cool! I love when you teach lessons in class, they go well, and then someone goes and extends it. Amazing! And how sweet in first grade. :)

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  3. I love that you're blogging with your first graders! You've inspired me to try this with my second graders!

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  4. I love this! First graders are the coolest! I want to coax a teacher to start blogs with their students. I'll keep trying because it is so very worth it. Thanks for the inspiration. :)

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  5. What fun! I LOVE the picture she captured of her dog. I love having the opportunity to blog with my students and the little surprises like this make it all worthwhile! Thanks for sharing! I'm wondering ... do you do anything at the end of the year with the blog posts? I've thought about publishing ... thanks for your thoughts!

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  6. You are so brave...blogging with first graders! We started a classroom blog a few months ago (I teach 2nd grade). After reading this I think we will start student blogs after spring break. Isn't it amazing how tech savvy little ones can be??? Great thinking sharing your blog with them.

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  7. We will be moving to your school in about two years... : ) You make the kids love to learn. What a great gift you have! Great story and I love the dog pic....

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