i am proud

My brain is on fire. The only way I can think to put it out is to write. Sad you say, perhaps, but someday I hope that you will feel the heat of this disease. There is nothing quite as exciting as having a blaze of thoughts burn through your mind, your body, your soul--leaving a smear of ash and smoke on the page. The world is too much with us, so we write to try and help lighten the load.

I am proud. I am proud of you. I am proud of myself. I am proud of our peers and fellow teachers. I am proud of the community we are building and the work we are doing and the thoughts we are thinking and the conversations we are having and the art we are creating and the writing we are doing and, and, and .....I am proud. I am proud of those of you choosing to open up and share and express yourselves and I am proud of those of you choosing to sit still a while longer.

Sometimes, we want it all and we want it now, but life takes time. Communities take time. Trust takes time, but when the sparks begins to spread the slow fire burns. Perhaps it was Solal's piece that ignite this blaze, but ever since it feels like our blogs are burning up. After a quick share about Vulnerability and Introverts, we heard from Michelle, Sana, Pranav, Lina, Pavitra, Chloe and Rohan.

As a community, we have been lucky to hear from Ms. G and her class: Mizuki. Eric. Sid. Aroni. Ethan. We even got some criticism and push back about our work to which Michele and Liam  have responded beautifully. (See the comments) Honestly there is too much to share in one post. This is good. This is great. I am proud. Your teachers are modeling this work by sharing their poetry here and here. ( I know, I know, mine is coming soon)

Not everyone is baring their soul to the universe, however, and this is more than okay. No one ever said that your blog must be a public diary. It can be anything you want to share. People are writing about Diwali/Deepavali, strange memories, Slender Man, and even Rigor and Mother Theresa! There is advice on blogging and so much more. Everyday, brings a new list of posts that I get to read. please dive in and interact. Reading your blogs is my favorite thing to do, because I get to know you so well. The problem is that I  simply cannot comment on each post, as there are too many, but I am reading them all. Now is the time for you to  begin commenting with each other.

Do you see what is happening? Our community has begun to sprout. We are growing. Our roots are finding their way. Our pots are becoming too small. It is getting bigger than anyone one of us. It includes all of us. You could spend several hours following these links. Then a few hours more thinking, then a few hours more writing and responding. Reading, thinking, writing? Music to my ears. This is what blogging is all about and you are understanding that.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I am proud of you. I am proud. Can you hear me? Can you feel the heat, the buzz, the excitement? All from some words on a page. Burned there by you, your ideas, and your voice. What do you think? What do you want people to know about what we are doing? Leave your thoughts in the comments below...

holiday land

Okay I admit it--I miss you guys. I miss school and I miss the things were doing right before the break. I am so impressed that many of you are writing through the holidays. 

Tzur writes from Taiwain, Pryia talks about faith, and Pavitra is bored like me. There are too many great posts for me to mention from before I left for Beijing, and so I wanted you all to know that while I was not able to comment on them all-- I did read them. All 200+ #soproud

I was especially moved by this post from Michelle. I have added her video clip below, but ask that if you feel the need to comment please do so on her blog. There is already a nice conversation happening there.

I will try to post more soon. I have a great book with my name on it waiting for me on the couch and who knows I may take a nap.....what? Oh yeah, I still have SO MUCH work. I have to read all your vignettes and perspective pieces. I know. I know. I will get to it soon. Give a teacher a break.

Leave me a comment so I know you were here. What is going on? How is your break?

'Nother Round Up

Gather round folks! Time for another Middle School Blogger Round Up. Let's take a look at who is writing what!

• Anthony talks World Cup.
• Anayana is worried about the end of the world, but keep it all chill.
• Beautifully written post by Kavya on Dermot Morgan.
• With all this talk about portfolios Pranav asks if it is even a good idea. What do you think?He also shares some time management skills.
• Teenage rebellion and questionable language? Tell Hamza what you think.
• Megan shares a video about Collaboration and Resilience
• Book review on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Raj
• A quiet place by Vani
• Dhanya talks about The Script and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
• Maud shares a band- Shades of Red
• You GOT TO SEE this mouse clip that Sana shared.
• Aditi M. writes a response post to Antara's post about vegetarianism. (Love to see you guys having these conversations and being inspired to write your own posts, when what someone else writes make you think!)
• Glen has American Politics on the brain and NBA blocks and fun stuff too.
• India asks for help about Polio. Need more, check out her touching piece about her grandfather.
• Josh can't get enough about the iPhone and Samsung fight and news about a new giant wheel?
• Kengo talks football and a cool social media project One At Bat.
• Liam C. shares fun "finger illusions" he found on Stumble Upon.
• Lina shares a touching story about bravery and being strong.
• Maurius finds an inspirational text and creates an animation for it.
• Michelle shares her music T-shirt collection with us.
• Death Paragraph from Sarah? Yeah, she rocks it. 

WOW! You guys are awesome.  So much great sharing, so many touching stories and great insights into your hearts and minds. Now, please take the time to read and comment and connect. You are doing an amazing job. If you haven't posted yet, what are you waiting for? You can do it. Start small and share something. It gets easier ask these guys.

Next Door is Closer Than You Think

I recently introduced you all to Ms. Guinto, well let me now introduce you to her students. Some of these people may be your friends, while others may be strangers, either way take a look at what they are sharing:

1. Hazel - an insightful view on blogging.  and storms.
2. Gianluca - a sport lover's look at spending on sports.
3. Jack - his poetic take on beaches   and books. 
4. Jimin - a lovely post on blogging. 
5. Mahpara - if you love music, you'll love this post. 
6. Toby - you will never look at drum kits the same way. 
7. Denivy - a shot in the dark, a post on inspiration.
8. Rebecca - a loot at her Inner compass.
9. Rosie - thought provoking post on Palm oil plantations.  
10. Aisha - Book review on Suzanne Collin's Mockingjay 
11. Emily - make sure you read and comment on her first chapter.
12.  Rosalie - more thoughts on beaches. Make sure you check her earlier posts too.
13. Annabelle - Dream exercise resulted in this.
14. Cian - check out this eerie account of his dream about The Man.
15. Michelle - Help her decode her random dream.
16. Victoria - Check out her super post on mooncakes.
17. Zoe - a personal post on ballet.  
18. George - on sharing what's true to him.
19. Lucy - on books and well, real life. 
20. Ella - Check out her newest post on blogging.
21. Caleb - a short post on his definition of music

Please take Ms. G's advice on commenting:

Finally, just a quick reminder:  don't forget to look at the tab on commenting. Helpful hints to make sure you are commenting with meat and grit and not fluff.  We also have new classroom signs hanging above the table for you to refer to, in case you need to some immediate references in the classroom. Check them out.

 We are here to connect based on ideas not classroom locations. So feel free to read, comment and share your ideas with the folks next door. 

Round Up III

Wow! You guys are awesome. I am so proud of the things you are all writing about. All I can say is that I am blown away by all of you. I am really enjoying seeing the world through your words. Be sure to read and write and share and comment. So far so great......

Poster for Classroom- Wendy would love some quotes for this beautiful poster she made for our room. Help her out!

Great advise about boredom from Keito and another post about festivals. (He has been writing some great posts!)

Tell Naomi that we are all random and that we are here to help her share her ideas. Or talk to her about your "Random Sector" . Do you like cheese? Tell her about it.

Talk cats, BIG CATS with Pryia.

Sayantan flies a plane over Brazil!

Creepy doll stories  and how to be yourself by Tibor

Ananyan talks Michal Phelps

Powerful poem by Raj about the sick.

Ella talks blogging and whatever!

Glen writes about the long lines at lunch, the NBA and his love/hate relationship with Mc Donald's

Top Five songs of the week by India

More Football news from Kengo

iPhone 5 or Samsung? Have the debate on Joshua's latest post.

Talia Castellano's Inspiring Story by Lina

Maurius asks why the news is always so bad?

Michelle talks bugs and food. 

What are you waiting for. Share your world....

Another Round Up

Here is another batch of great posts:

Home- a poem by Myra
Blogging is Like Minecraft- by Kaymin
Illustrations- by Wendy
Japanese History- by Keito
F1 Fever- by Ananya
Focus Africa- by Max
Slam Poetry and another one on Imagination - by Aditi M
What Am I Doing With My Life- by Aditi P. 
Basketball- by Glen
Music is My Life- by India
Sharks- by Pavitra
Mad Dogs (Book Review)- by Shashu
Food Questions- by Rohan

I am so proud of you guys. You are ROCKING this blogging things. Keep it up. Write, read, comment, share, connect.

Highlights

As more and more of you begin to blog, I can't help but be proud and impressed. Like any proud teacher, I want to share what you do with the students in other classes. So every time I "clear my feed" (Read your blogs in my RSS Google Reader) I will share some highlights.

Candles- Beautiful tender vignette by Tanisha in grade 7
The Curse of the Injuries - Man United- Adit in grade 8 talks football
Cyberbullying- - Powerful post by Ananya
Seeing Shapes in the Clouds- Thanks Kavya. Are you a cloud spotter?
Infinity- Vaidehi contemplates infinity.
Guitar- Sana talks about the magic of guitar
Book Reviews- Aditi P talks books. In depth and well-written reviews of several books
Writing (Inspiration)-  Writing advice from Maurius
Text Art- You gotta see this. Super cool text art from Zak

Thank you guys for taking the time to write, to think, to share TO BLOG! You are getting it and I could not be more excited. If you are reading this post, please take the time to read these posts, share your thoughts, ask more questions and comment.Then get busy and write a post of your own.