10/14/2023 0 Comments It's Easy for You![]() I just read some words in TEACH LIKE A PIRATE by Dave Burgess that resounded with me. Those words made me slam down his book and grab my computer. Well, I didn't really slam it. After all, I was reading on my iPad. Dave told the story of a teacher asking him to let her in on the secret of how he ran his classroom so well—so easily. She said, "It's easy for you. You're creative.” Hmm! That sounds like a compliment—yes! I hear similar words from folks who read my book, PRISONERS WITHOUT BARS: A Caregiver's Tale. And yes, I thought it was a compliment too, and I know it's supposed to be. It obviously means that my book was easy to read. GOOD! That was my intent. But when I think further on those six words, I cringe. Did my admirers think that I didn't labor over putting words together to make sentences, paragraphs, and chapters? Did they not know that I squeezed blood out of my keyboard to make every word sound like music—like water flowing gently down the stream? No! They didn't see that. How could they? They didn't see my T-I-C (tush in chair) for hours and hours and hours, pushing through each chapter and reliving every moment of my story. They didn't see my frustration while my mind searched, wandered, and searched some more for the exact right word or words. They weren't sitting with me at my desk for the past twenty years as I honed my craft. If I made my book easy to read, that's great. Like I said, that was my intent. So when Dave Burgess's classroom looked easy to run, when it looked as if it were running like a well-oiled machine, I'm certain it was. But that was his intent, and it took him years to perfect his system too. I realize the hard work that he put in because I did the same in my 1st or 3rd grade classrooms too. They almost ran themselves. If you were a fly on the wall, this is what you might see. Each day, my kiddles were presented with a multitude of learning situations and were daily engaged in projects of their choosing. My room looked like chaos, but it was controlled chaos. (I challenged anyone, especially my principals and administrators, to visit my classroom and ask any child what they were doing and why they were doing it.) My process allowed me to focus on small reading groups or individual writing conferences. It allowed me to provide extra assistance to any student in need. It was perfect. Did it take a lot of work behind the scenes to organize my controlled chaos? Yes! Absolutely! But it was worth every minute. You can read about my methods and my madness in my book, IF I RAN THE SCHOOL: How I Made My Primary-Grade Classroom a Play Yard for Learning, when it's published. And now back to Dave Burgess's book, TEACH LIKE A PIRATE, to find more tidbits of learning. Warning! I may have to slam his book closed again when I find a new tidbit I can't pass up. But don’t fret, I’ll open it again until the final page. As I say after each post: If you enjoy Bookity Blog, please pass it on to all your friends and they to theirs. (I’d like to drive up the readership. Sometimes it feels like I am writing in a vacuum. So go ahead. Send it to 10 of your friends.) If you hate my blog, go ahead and send it to your enemies. (10 enemies would be good.) I won’t mind. (Clip Art compliments of Bing.)
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3/12/2023 0 Comments Writing Craft #2 Critique![]() reposted from 12/31/13 from Donna O'Donnell Figurski's Blog It is scary to put your work out there for critical eyes. It leaves you wide open. It leaves you vulnerable. Of course you’ve done your best and you love every word, phrase, sentence, and paragraph. You’ve worked hard. You’ve crafted each word until your eyes seem to turn inward. You think that you can make your article, essay, story, or book no better and you hope that your reviewer will feel the same. After all, if you did not think it was your best, you would not have released it for other eyes – right? It’s hard to hear critiques – even the positive ones. Those words you dragged out of your head and arranged into neat little lines on the paper to tell your story are your babies. As a mother is protective of her child, you too, are the keeper of your words – their protector, their proud creator. So you don your armor, harden your shell, stiffen your upper lip, hold your breath, and … hope for the best. If you have chosen a reviewer, someone who you respect and who you can trust, then trust you must! Don’t fear the red pen. Listen with eager mind but remember too, that her opinion is only one view and not necessarily better than yours. Although she, no doubt, will look at your work with fresher, more neutral eyes, you must still pick and choose and determine what you think will move your writing further – what will make your story the best it can be. Then go back to the keyboard … and tackle your work with a new outlook until your piece shines – brighter than before. As I say after each post: If you enjoy Bookity Blog, please pass it on to all your friends and they to theirs. (I’d like to drive up the readership. Sometimes it feels like I am writing in a vacuum. So go ahead. Send it to 10 of your friends.) If you hate my blog, go ahead and send it to your enemies. (10 enemies would be good.) I won’t mind. (Clip Art compliments of Bing.) ![]() (reposted from 12/31/13 from Donna O'Donnell Figurski's Blog) Thank you to all who visited my site this year. A bigger thanks for those of you have subscribed and who are following me. A personal shout out to Colleen G. who made the most comments. And a hug to my biggest and “bestest” fan, David, who reads every post. Even better, he ALWAYS votes. This will be my 197th post since I began my blog in December of 2010 and I’ve had more than 15,000 views. My goal is to make my readers laugh, to make them cry, to make them look deeper. Say It Ain’t So looks more carefully at controversial issues – something on which to take a stand. Anything Writing and Writing Craft has to do with … well that’s obvious. TidBits About Donna is where you would look if you really want to know more about me and Musings by Donna is if you want to know what is knocking around inside my head. Both TidBits and Musings also offer insight into life in the disability lane as David and I make our way through the maze of Traumatic Brain Injury. If you’re looking for a great picture book for the child in your life, then check out Teacher’s Pets: Book Reviews. Be prepared to laugh as you read, not only my reviews, but the reviews of the KIDDLE CRITers, a group of six- to eleven-years-olds, as they discuss the books with me. Lesson plans for teachers are included to be used with the reviewed books. There are two posts Living in 3rd Grade and On School that provide glimpses into the world of teaching. Some of them are great for new teachers. Some posts are just silly, poignant stories that happened in my classroom – names changed to protect the infamous. Some include fully prepared lesson plans, guidance, and quick tips. I hope you will visit often. There’s something here for every reader. Enjoy. And Don’t forget to subscribe. As I say after each post: If you enjoy Bookity Blog, please pass it on to all your friends and they to theirs. (I’d like to drive up the readership. Sometimes it feels like I am writing in a vacuum. So go ahead. Send it to 10 of your friends.) If you hate my blog, go ahead and send it to your enemies. (10 enemies would be good.) I won’t mind. (Clip Art compliments of Bing.) 1/18/2023 0 Comments DRUM ROLL! And the WINNER Is!![]() Drum Roll!!!!! Thank you, EVERYONE, for trying to guess what I made for David's special dinner for his 18th brain-iversary celebration. So many folks participated and I thank you all. Scrambled eggs, steak and lobster, seared tuna, PB&J sandwich, meatloaf, pot roast, pork chops, spaghetti, fried chicken, and pancakes were some of the yummy choices. Though, no one guessed it right, CM Connor came the closest. She guessed, "How about a seafood dinner shrimp, lobster and scallops with a baked potatoes." I made Scallop Scampi. It was so good. I sent a free PDF copy of my book, PRISONERS WITHOUT BARS: A CAREGIVER’S TALE to CM Connor. I hope she enjoys it and it helps her in some way. Happy Reading, CM! For those of you who did not win, but are still interested in reading my book, PRISONERS WITHOUT BARS: A CAREGIVER’S TALE, there is hope. For the month of February, the eBook version of PRISONERS WITHOUT BARS: A CAREGIVER’S TALE, will be featured on the Kindle Monthly deals for $2.99. (At that low price you can buy your copy and one for a friend.) Here's the link, BUT, wait until February for the deal price. PRISONERS WITHOUT BARS: A CAREGIVER’S TALE 1/18/2023 0 Comments STRANGEST YET! TATTOO??![]() STRANGEST YET! TATTOO?? You’ve Got To Be Kidding! It’s just a little hummmmmmmmingbird. Okay, so I added a few more holes to my ears. I now have a total of five. Thanks, Betty! And thanks for going with me, and for telling me that it was not cool to have an equal number of holes on each ear . . . thus the odd number of five. Then I poked an extra hole in my nose. Thanks, Kiersten! I swear – I would never have thought of this on my own. Although I can come up with some pretty weird ideas without anyone prompting me; this idea is totally your responsibility. And thanks to Betty for holding my hand and saying, “You can do it! You can do it!” but who wouldn’t do it herself when I encouraged her to get her nose pierced, too. Monique is totally responsible for the tattoo. Her friend, Sarah, called from Germany with the news that she got a tattoo. Hmmmm! That call changed both my and Monique’s lives permanently. Soon Monique was talking about hummingbirds. She talked about it in the car. She talked about it sitting on the floor of my office. She talked about it at the dinner table and she talked and talked and talked. She asked me if I wanted to get a tattoo with her … a hummingbird. “No!” I assured her. But I offered to take her to get one if she wanted it. She wanted it! She wanted it right that minute! We hadn’t even cleared the dinner table yet. It was dark out and rain was gushing from the sky. It was a Friday night. I suggested we go the next day. I could see Monique’s face fall. I sensed her intensity. What’s a little rain? We quickly cleared the table, cleaned up the kitchen, and set off in search of the tattoo studio not far from my home. Donna's She thrust the picture of the hummingbird into the tattoo artist’s hand and asked if he could do it. He easily agreed. Monique relaxed into the chair as the artist sketched the hummingbird on her hip. I watched. She said it kind of pinched, but was not painful. When she was done, she needled me to do it too. Although her hummingbird was really cute, I refrained. Monique's The next morning I woke with a burning desire to have a hummingbird etched onto me too. I have no idea what got into me – what made me feel that way, but with an overwhelming intensity, Monique and I hopped into the car and set off for the tattoo parlor again. I wanted the same little hummingbird that Monique had. The only difference is that I added color to mine. It’s beautiful. It’s like a piece of jewelry – only it is permanent. This little hummingbird ties Monique and me together for life. It is a constant, pleasant reminder of when she lived with David and me and we shared some months together. UPDATE Some years after David's event, Monique came to visit us ––this time in Arizona. AND ... GUESS WHAT? We got another tattoo together. This time it was Kokopelli, the god of fertility, happiness, and good luck. (Clip Art compliments of Bing.)
(Pictures compliments of ME.) (Reposted from my website at Strange Happenings.) 1/13/2023 0 Comments A Celebration and a Contest!![]() Friday, the 13th is a day that many people fear. It’s considered to be an unlucky day. I don’t usually buy into the superstition, but I have, on occasion, chosen to not fly on Friday the 13th or participate in various other functions that may tempt fate. In reality, my unlucky day was Thursday, the 13th, way back in January of 2005. That was the day that my husband, David, had a subarachnoid hemorrhage that caused him to endure three brain surgeries in less than two weeks. That was the day that his neurosurgeon told me that he would make a “great organ donor.” That 13th was my unlucky day. It changed the paths of David’s and my lives forever. BUT . . . David defied the odds that his neurosurgeon gave him of survival and we celebrate life every day. But, on this 18th year after his event, we want to celebrate with you too. I’m making a special dinner for David tonight. If you can guess what I am making, I will send you a pdf copy of my book, Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver’s Tale. Contest ends at 12:00pm Pacific time tomorrow evening, January 14th, 2023. (Click here to see book.) Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale 1/13/2023 0 Comments In Memory ~~ Hank Figurski![]() To Life – La Chaim! ... and to death … well, my father-in-law, Hank (Henry) Figurski, did it with grace and dignity. On January 5th, we said our final farewell to Hank. It was bittersweet. He lived a very long, fulfilled life. He lived surrounded by the love of his family - his sons, his grandchildren and great grandchildren and his brothers and their families. He lived with the dream of someday being reunited with the love of his life, Lydia, in what he believed was the afterlife. We will miss the man that we loved, but his memory will live on in our hearts and our minds. ![]() If you 've read anything about me, you probably already know that I love books. I have no idea where this love came from or how and why it developed, but I know the love of books is part of me. I have no recollection of my parents reading to me as a youngster. I was the eldest of five kids, so my mom had her hands full. My dad worked long hours in his pharmacy. My first memory of letters, words, and sentences was when I was in first grade. I remember using the little box of letters to build words. Maybe that's where I fell in love with words. I don't think they make those little letter boxes anymore, but just cut out the letters in the photo to the right and you've got the idea. In third grade, the craze was to read the Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene. I think I read them all--some twice. One of my classmates bought every book, and then she shared them with the rest of the girls in the class. It was like her own library-share. I couldn't wait for my turn. I started reading all kinds of books then. The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, the Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope, the Donna Parker Series by Marcia Levin, and the Cherry Ames series by Helen Well were some of my favorites. If my mother could, she'd probably say I read too much. When I became a teen, my reading intensified. I was always in the library of my high school, and I toted home tons of books. The challenge then was to find a quiet spot to read. Remember, I said I was the oldest of five children. My favorite spot was to duck down on the floor between the twin beds in my bedroom. That worked for a while, until my mother found me out. As a young mother, I spent my years reading as many Russian novels as I could. I loved Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Pasternak. Those guys had no lack of words! Many of those books have nearly a thousand pages. I loved being carried back in time. My imagination soared as the characters cavorted across the pages in horse-drawn carriages or dressed in billowing ball-gowns. It was a different era. It transposed me to a different world. I'm still an avid reader, but I have to admit it's hard to find time to read for pleasure. Most of my reading is directed at learning more about brain injury, preparing to interview a guest on my radio show, or delving into a topic about brain injury for a panel discussion. To be honest, I still tote tons of books home from my town library, and I do steal some minutes to read. I guess some things will never change. 12/20/2022 0 Comments Hear Me! Hear Me! My Latest Interview![]() This is my latest interview. Bri Allison, Director of Communications at The Power of the Patient Project, asked interesting and in-depth questions about brain injury and being a caregiver. I answered! I hope even a teeny bit of what I say can help you. You Are Not Alone! Click to hear the interview. Please share with the world. donna o'donnell figurski
Author of Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale ![]() Vocabulary is in the Air by Figurski KIDDLES (Reposted from Figurski Wiki March 22, 2011) Our language is made up of many words. Some convey the most simple message. The dog ran down the street. Certainly that sentence gives the reader a specific picture, but not a colorful one. It leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader who is expected to fill in the missing parts. The sentence borders on boring. By playing with words, children are experimenting with ways to make their language more vivid. They use words to create movies in their heads. This will surely result in more fascinating writing that will jump off the page. In order to accomplish that task, children need to choose more picturesque words. Look at this sentence. The brown dog galloped down the crooked street. It’s more vivid and easily allows a clearer image to be conjured. I asked my class to play with words. I gave them a set of stimulus words (in bold) and asked to think of more visual words. Look at their work below. ran — dashed, raced, rushed, sprinted, zoomed, galloped, bolted picked — plucked, snatched, yanked, grabbed jumped — leapt, hopped, skipped flew — glided yelled — screamed, scolded, yelped, screeched, hollered, shouted, snapped, barked For HomeFun, they will work on the following words. walked --shook -- said -- laughed -- cried -- washed -- jumped -- chirped -- If you enjoy my blog, please pass it on to all your friends and they to theirs. If you hate my blog, go ahead and send it to your enemies. I won’t mind. (Clip Art compliments of Bing.) |
AuthorI am the author of Prisoners without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale. It's the true story of how my husband almost left me--three times. Archives
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