The First Post!

Hi Ladies,
I hope this becomes a great way for us to communicate about our writing workshop adventure. I'm new to blogging, but I think it might be more convenient and less stressful.

Here's what I'm thinking about:
1. You need materials ASAP! Can you buy now and get reimbursed later? I'm giving Beth the DVDs today after school.
2. A picture's worth a thousand words: Ron and I are going to play with our quick video camera and see it it's easy to make CDs/DVDs so you can watch the lessons I teach...or I can use them for reference when I try to demonstrate a great OR LOUSY teaching move. I find that I learn most from my mistakes!
3. I'm going to confer with P. (I figure we should just use first initials of kids?) first on Friday. I've really been thinking about the issue of having a conference that I think is great...but really missing the boat. Maybe we should have a mini lesson that teaches kids to use their words to speak up if a teacher/TP is getting it all wrong. That's a great life lesson.
4. I was totally pumped about the way our workshop went on Monday. I really liked trying to only get to ten kids "officially" during one session. The energy was better and we were freed up to watch the workshop happening...and then make teaching decisions from there...and we actually got to more kids than other days. We'll see how Friday goes.
5. I'm wondering if we should make more paper options available.
6. S. (kid) and D. (mom) C. (last name) brought in a book to share...they noticed it from their library after our mini lesson with NO DAVID. They brought it because the pictures tell most of the story and the words are minimal. I'm going to highlight that in a mini lesson on Friday. I can use it to help me draw pictures of something tricky (it's about a dog)...which is a good lesson for all writers. Also, I can tell kids that S. and D. are reading like writers. They're looking at books in a new way. That's HUGE! What I love about this is that the class created the curriculum. They have ownership and we can take a moment to honor that. Very powerful.
7. If I can figure it out...I want to include a list of all our mini lessons and topics covered during share meetings.
8. Anything else that would be helpful?

Love and kisses, Lorrie (who should be cleaning the house, but is much more interested in this!)