April: The Downhill Slope, or Uphill All the Way?

April showers bring May flowers

April showers may be falling, but teachers and students can't slow down to go puddle stomping just yet. It's state standardized testing season! The juniors at your district may be taking the SAT, and everyone's talking about prom, academic fair, concerts, and drama plays to wind up the year. Next thing we know, it'll be final exams and graduation! Where did the time go?

From my white board

During this frenetic month of April, I'm constantly reminding myself to pause and pray.

If I don't, I'll lose sight of God's care over me. I'm praying for my students to learn empathy, to do their best on their ISATs, and to learn their lines for drama. For my own kids and myself, I always ask for a good day. No matter how rushed we are in the morning, I stop the car at the stop sign on our road (our "praying spot") and my sons and I pray for God's blessing on our day.

How thankful I am for the bright spots coming our way this stressful month! Students showcase their learning, teachers celebrate improvement, and we all start counting down the weeks till the end of school. April is National Poetry Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Autism Acceptance Month, Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month, and, ironically (to me at least), Stress Awareness Month. April 24 is Idaho's Day of Holocaust Remembrance, a great opportunity to learn about a very dark time in history so we can prevent its being repeated. The message couldn't be more timely.

And for the believer, Easter reminds us of God's resurrection power.

Luke 24:5-8 says, "and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 'He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest."

May we all seek the Lord this Easter season and know His power to raise the dead and save the lost.

And the Winner Is. . .

Landlocked

It was lots of fun talking poetry with readers of the Overcoming With God blog last week! Carrie Fancett Pagels was so kind to invite me to guest post about my new poetry chapbook, Landlocked. The winner of the giveaway was Debbie M. —Congratulations, Debbie!

Want to get the book for yourself? For a limited time, save 20% when you purchase Landlocked from the CreateSpace store. Just use the code RMH99YW4 at checkout.

Coming soon, I'll be announcing a new Kindle Edition of a children's book project my daughter Reagan and I have just completed. For a sneak peek, visit my Web site, www.amyballard.com and click on the tab for The Swans of Starlight Lake.

Blessings on you this winter day, my sixth snow day this month.

Speaking Schedule: Federal Programs Conference April 5-7 in Boise, Idaho

The snow is falling thick again, as if four snow days last week were not enough! Meanwhile, I just found out I'll be presenting at the 2017 Federal Programs Conference in Boise in April. As always, I'm thrilled to be able to share my session on Choose Your Own Adventure: Writing and Publishing Narratives Using Digital Technology with a wider audience. Some 900 teachers, administrators, and other school personnel will be attending. Teachers, I hope to see you there!

Going on right now, I'm talking poetry with readers on the Overcoming With God blog. Stop by and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Landlocked, my new poetry chapbook. You can also buy the book now.

So blessed yesterday to present Using Mentor Texts to Enhance Creativity (free to you here) at a hub meeting of Idaho Coaching Network teachers in Twin Falls. Our little group of participants worked hard, laughed a lot, and wrote some moving poetry, too.

Want to book me for a conference or professional development? I speak to writers' groups and Christian ladies' groups, too. Email me at amy @ amyballard .com [remove spaces].

Guest Blog Post and Poetry Giveaway Hosted by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Landlocked: Poems by Amy Ballard

What's the antidote to four snow days in a row? A visit to another great blog!

Next week, I'll be guest blogging about my new poetry chapbook, Landlocked, on Carrie Fancett Pagels's blog. Carrie is an inspirational fiction author you may know from titles like The Blue Ribbon Brides Collection from Barbour and The Substitute Bride, a Christmas novella. Carrie has also agreed to guest blog here on Christian Teacher, Public School in March and share with us about her fun novella, The Fruitcake Challenge.

Poetry is close to many a teacher's heart, so grab some friends and swing on by Carrie's blog on Monday for a chance to win a copy of Landlocked, my first poetry collection. I'll share why I think everyone secretly likes poetry and how God is still transforming me as a Christian woman living in the West.

What's a chapbook? It's a short book or pamphlet (mine is 34 pages) containing poems or fiction, usually on a single theme. The theme of Landlocked is my feeling of being uprooted when I moved from Maine to Idaho as a newlywed and the ways God is still teaching me contentment. Other motifs in the book include postcards, water (and sometimes the lack thereof), and specific flowers that grow wild in Maine and Idaho.

For more information about Landlocked, please visit my Web site, www.amyballard.com.

Let your friends know about the free book giveaway Monday!

Tweet this:
Enter to win Landlocked: Poems by Amy Ballard at https://cfpagels.blogspot.com Jan 16 #BookGiveaway #Poetry

Thanks, and blessings upon those of you who aren't snowed in and have to teach today!

Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing and Enhance Creativity

"Mentor text" is a buzz-word in education circles, but what does it mean? How can teachers use mentor texts effectively in the classroom to teach reading and writing?

Free PD Presentation on Using Mentor Texts

I recently had the opportunity to explore the topic of mentor texts and create a professional development presentation for my Idaho Coaching Network class. The result is "Using Mentor Texts to Enhance Creativity," and it's free to you from Christian Teacher, Public School for educational or PD use.

This presentation focuses on teaching writing using mentor texts such as "Four Eyes" by Nikki Grimes, "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes, "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" by Emily Dickinson, and "The Rainy Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The grade-level examples are approximately third-sixth, though the principles for using mentor texts extend lower and higher.

It's twenty-four below here in southern Idaho, and the snow is reaching record depths, but my mind turned toward spring when creating this Google Slides presentation. Hence the rainy-day, umbrellas-and-rubber boots theme. I hope you enjoy!

Know of a great strategy or resource to use with mentor texts? Have a favorite mentor text that you use in your classroom? Share in the comments!

More teacher resources:
Free Ninth Grade Vocabulary Presentation with Lots of Images to Help Kids Learn Words
Visit Brevity on Teachers Pay Teachers
Freebies from Dover Publishing

Upcoming Guest Post on Carrie Fancett Pagels's Blog for Landlocked, My New Poetry Chapbook

". . .for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." 

Philippians 4:11

I'd dearly like to be able to say the words above with Paul, but contentment is one of the greatest challenges I've faced in life. Just when I think I'm finally learning, something gets me thinking about what I want that I don't have. May God continue to teach me, and may I be willing to listen in this new year!

The struggle for contentment is prominent in my poetry. Coming up soon, I'll be celebrating the launch of my new chapbook, Landlocked, with a guest post on Carrie Fancett Pagels's blog. Carrie is a writer friend I met online through my mother, author Susan Page Davis. I'm looking forward to chatting with Carrie and her readers. Make sure to stop by and say hello!

Landlocked: Poems by Amy Ballard

Landlocked is my first poetry collection. It's about growing up in Maine and moving to Idaho, a state that is vastly different, notably by being dry and landlocked. It's about being uprooted and undergoing the difficult process of adapting to a new place. It's about learning contentment despite a very real homesickness.

This chapbook, or short collection of poems, is a project I've had on the back burner for fifteen years. Two of the poems found publication in magazines before being included in Landlocked. Others won honorable mentions in contests. Even back in 2002, when I first started thinking of creating a chapbook, I knew what its theme would be. I didn't know the motif of postcards would appear when the book finally came together! Both the first and the last poems in the collection mention postcards. In the first, a postcard makes me homesick. In the last, I savor the view of the trees lining the creek and accept that I live in a postcard-perfect place. In between are glimpses of the journey toward that sense of contentment.

You can help this book reach a wider audience by visiting my Web site, amyballard.com. Click on the "Landlocked" tab and use social media buttons to boost. Thanks for making a difference!

Stop by my Pinterest collection for Landlocked, where I've pinned some vintage postcards and other images that fit the theme of my book.

Did you know Christian Teacher, Public School is on Pinterest, too? Stop by for encouragement and blessings for the new semester!