Welcome to day 5 of the blog tour. I wanted to have a day to wrap up and thank all of the participating authors this week. Here they are again so you can stop by and say a big thank you on their websites. They took the time out of their busy schedules to let me interview them, and for that I’m thankful.

Participating Authors:

• Monday Sept. 7: Marilyn Peake Featured Author

• Tues. Sept. 8:  Rachel Elizabeth Cole Featured Author

• Wed. Sept. 9:  Sean McCartney Featured Author

• Thurs. Sept. 10: Lee  Winters Featured Author

Plus, the giveaways are still open. Many will be open on Saturday or the whole weekend. Here they are for you.

Here is a list of the giveaway links for the tour:

1. Back To School Blog Tour Grand Prize Giveaway: $25 Amazon Gift Card
2. Marilyn Peake’s Giveaway for The Fisherman’s Son Trilogy
3. Rachel Elizabeth Cole’s Giveaway for The Rabbit Ate My Homework
4. Lee Winter’s Giveaway for $20 Amazon Gift Car

Today is also the day I wanted to reveal my new writing venture. As some of you know from following my blog, I’ve been taking medical leave from teaching due to a heart blood clot and septic shock that occurred last December. I have since had a lot of time to rest my body, but my mind is super active and needs to come out and play. Since I couldn’t teach this year, I’ve decided to start writing down what I would be teaching for writing. I’ve come up with a pretty awesome writing program over my 18 years of teaching. I’ve been trained in Six Traits, the Writing Workshop Format, and was on a writing curriculum planning committee for my district in preparation for the Common Core. So, instead of being upset that I can’t teach, I’m writing all my lesson plans to assist others so they can teach fun writing.

I’ve put together my first ebook, and it is available on Teacherspayteachers.com. It’s on sale now for 20% off regular price through tomorrow. It’s called:

Back to School and September Writing Projects for Common Core

***All lessons are in the Five Step Lesson format with grading rubrics and needed graphic organizers for each lesson. Lessons include the introductory to writing process, paragraph parts, opinion paragraphs, and a final Book Review 3 paragraph essay. With this PDF book, you’ll get all your students on the track for Common Core. It is the first 6 weeks of school to start your own writing program.

***Sentence Frames included in lessons for ELD Support.
***Written to fit a workshop teaching format to differentiate instruction.

Many authors have shared their School Memories. Today, Sept. 11, I always think of what it was like to teach school on that day, and the days after.

I remember going to work on Sept. 11, because that’s what those people were doing in the Two Towers. Going to work for the day. I wasn’t going to let terrorists stop me from teaching the children of America, though I admit for days after I watched airplanes flying over cautiously. I had the kids journal about their feelings about what was happening, and told them it would be OK. The authorities had things under control, the airports were closed, and everyone was on the alert. Many drew flags. Many drew the Towers on fire as they had seen on TV in the morning. We’d all seen it. It naturally started as a comfort symbol. Some of the students stayed home that day.

The next day, everyone was in class. Most everyone had been seeing the images. Some of the kids saw images that have been blocked now. I know because it’s the second day that they drew bodies falling from the towers, instead of just the towers burning. We talked about what we wanted to see happen. Many wanted to see the Two Towers rebuilt.

On Friday, there was a moment of silence by the whole school for those that had been lost. In a moment of emotion, I grabbed the class flag and gave it to my line leader to hold as we walked to the center of the school for the moment of silence. Many other classes had done the same. I remember watching him hold it high, proudly for all the kids to see, as we silently remembered what had happened on Tuesday.

And now, I think silently, with a tear welling, about that whole week I taught for this country. It sad to think I can’t do it now from what happened last December. And as I’m writing this the tears are coming. But I’m so thankful I was able to teach that day, and unite with the students in my class for the first moment of silence. It’s a school memory I’ll cherish, always.

To those lost, the firemen and police officers that tried to save them, and to the innocence of the many kids I had to teach in the 5 years after that had memories of the whole event.  I dedicate this whole blog tour. For the education of the future Americans. That’s what we stand for.