Celebrate with Birdsong

Visit Two Writing Teachers for details on how to serve up your own slice. 

Because life is worth celebrating, join in the fun at Ruth Ayres Writes.

Sometimes a sweet slice is a celebration in and of itself.  My moment came this morning as I was working on the couch to finish up a proposal review. I had to capture the moment on camera so you can share in the sunshine. 

{Singing is like a celebration of oxygen.-Bjork}

Listening to the birds sing, I smiled. I paused as I worked. It was a count-my -blessings -glad-to-be-alive-and-healthy moment,  a breath of gratitude. I have good, meaningful work to do and friends and family who value and share in it. Today I'm celebrating:

1. Keynoting at the South Carolina State Council of the International Reading Association last Saturday. I didn't hyperventilate, nor pass out, nor experience any embarrassing bodily function on stage--all worth celebrating. Plus, the keynote went well. I made new friends and met great teachers and educators. I even met someone who's  family lived near and  knew Mickey Spillane. I love South Carolina.

2. Learning with Chris Lehman and finally meeting him in person. I love that I get to work and learn from smart people who write well and work to inspire others. I thoroughly enjoyed his "Inspiration and Perspiration" keynote and the strategies he shared for research and note-taking during his workshop.

3. Learning with educators this morning on #satchat discussing technology integration and purposeful use of digital tools to amplify and maximize instruction. Twitter is a twenty-four-seven, one-stop station for professional development. I can tune it, connect,  link up and be off and reading or  talking/tweeting with others over topics I care about in no time. If you haven't tried it, scan this amazing list of opportunities and dip into the learning pool. 

4. Writing with my students who volunteered to blog as part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Most have never blogged before and we may hit a few bumps on the blogging trail, but I'm excited for students who will share their writing on our 31 students page this month. 

5. Creating header art for the students' blog and learning to navigate Wordpress from Lizzie, who's just beginning to blog her faith and wanted to show me how Wordpress works. 

Those sheets are going to smell so good fresh off the line. I'm sure I'll celebrate stretching out and smelling the sunshine later. I hope your Saturday has you celebrating too.