Prepping for ALA 2013

As I blog today, my suitcase is packed.  Attending a major conference like ALA 2013 requires serious suitcase commitment. How many outfits do I need? Or, the number one question: How many pairs of shoes will I need?

I've settled on 6.

But even as I packed, and filled my carry-on bag with reading material, I thought about what I'm taking with me that won't fit in my suitcase.

I'm taking classroom memories of books that brought so much joy to my students. Example: THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN.

I'm taking the joy of the #nerdybookclub with me. My fellow reading friends & I will celebrate good #kidlit & be very happy to do so! 

And I'm taking my hopes for a new year!

My excitement about being a new librarian in an amazing school with amazing students can't possibly fit in my suitcase. 

I'm taking an expectations for learning & collaboration. I have a to-do list of dreams. 

I'm also taking these red shoes for the Newbery Banquet. ;-) 

I'm bringing a lot with me to #ala13. I hope I bring back even more. 

It's a Blog Launch!

My friend Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts is launching a new blog today. (I'll be at ALA Annual when this runs.) She asked me to help her launch it off with a post about lists. Do you ever write book lists? 

1.) My favorite read-aloud:
 No. I can't pick A favorite. I must pick several.

• THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
• HOW TO STEAL A DOG
• STONE FOX (I don't read this aloud every year. Reading it aloud is a memorable experience. Have you read this book? )
• Too many picture books to name here! 

My favorite book club book:
This year I hosted a Faculty Book Club at my school. We read these books and they both generated lots of discussion and interaction:

• WONDER
• ONE FOR THE MURPHYS

I enjoyed hosting a faculty book club because it gave us a chance to have great discussions. The connections we made helped us all see each other as learners. I will do this again as a librarian.

My favorite book for the classroom library: 

I would have to go with a whole series:

• Babymouse by Jenni Holm (They were never actually on the shelf. )

Favorite Book:

Naming my favorite book isn't easy, but I think most people know how much I loved THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate. AND, Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson is a book I will always treasure, too. 

There are also some excellent new titles such as THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, DOLL BONES, BEHOLDING BEE, and THE WATER CASTLE. (I guess this is another list!)

Can you name your favorites in any of these areas? 

Thanks to Kellee and Ricki for asking me to join in their the launch of their blog! 

http://www.unleashingreaders.com/

--Cynthia 

Maker Memories

School just ended a few weeks ago, and I'm happily working in my library at my new school. Yes, the end of the year came and went by so quickly. Now as I have time to process, I am able to look back at one of the activities we did in fourth grade the last week of school.

I've been learning about makerspaces from Twitter lately. (Read about  Maker Faire here.) I define it as that intellectual place where we create and play! Those are two things children love to do.

I wanted to see what this was like with students, so we had our own Maker Day with our fourth grade classes. We asked students to bring in items from home to create a product of some kind that they could share with others. (Since we were working on a recycling unit, we asked them to bring recyclable items. We provided other common items, the space, lots of facilitation and a little help here and there!)

We took the morning and some of the afternoon for the "make".  I watched students plan, think, and execute their visions. Some got midway through something and then changed it all. Some had a clear idea from the beginning. Others waited for the idea to come. But by the last hour, everyone had created something. At the end of day, we cleaned up, and had students rotate through classrooms to view everyone's work.

Here are some of the things my students made: (I created this pic using PicPlayPost -- an app I found thanks to my friend Tony Vincent .)

 

Don't you love these creations? I do! These wonderful items started out as cardboard and construction paper! I wish I could post all of the pics here. As we visited with each student, they told us about how they created their "make" and their thinking process. It was so wonderful to hear this part! Most said they just tried things out, or that they got inspired by something they saw in the classroom.

 

I don't know if I implemented this idea perfectly, but I know our fourth graders had wonderful time creating things, and that I want to explore this more.  I just ordered a book that you can see here, and I hope to incorporate it into my library in the coming year. I'm also participating in a book study this summer to learn all about it.

 

In developing my values as a librarian, I believe in my heart that the library should be a place where students create, think, and share!!

 

I've started a Pinterest board to share my makerspace finds! You can access it here .

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/17/13

It's Monday, and I'm joining Jen and Kellee (two of my wonderful #nerdybookclub friends) at their blog Teach Mentor Texts to celebrate a week of reading. In this meme, teachers, librarians, and other reading advocates share titles in everything from picture books to YA.

Last week I had a full week off, having completely moved out of my room the previous weekend. (I started nesting at my library at my new school by moving in a few boxes, and also walking around the shelves a lot. Lots of thinking and imagining and planning happening! And lots of shuffling! )

But even though I spent most of my days working on projects, I had time to read at night and early in the morning.

This week I read: 

 

DOLL BONES by Holly Black; Publisher-McElderry Books  

 

This one was getting lots of buzz on Twitter last week. I normally don' t reach first for anything scary, but this one won me over quickly. It captured my interest completely, and it wasn't TOO creepy. It's got friendship and mystery and a quest, and I loved the writing.

 

FREAKY FAST FRANKIE JOE: by Lutricia Clifton; Publisher- Holiday House

This one is on our Texas Bluebonnet Award List for 2013-2014. It's one of the few I haven't read, so I immediately took care of that. Frankie won me over with the hope he held out hope for his mom, and how he makes his way in a tough life. He's a worker and enterprising, and I cheered him on all the way.

THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage; Publisher: Dial Books

 

I'm probably the last person in the #nerdybookclub to read this one, but I finally did! I loved Mo for all the ways she helped everyone. Mo writes in notebooks (which she catalogs by volumes--music to a librarian's ears!), loves to solve mysteries, and works in a café where she's surrounded by really interesting townspeople. It's set in North Carolina, it's a wild story, and it won a Newbery Honor for 2013. 

 

WHATEVER AFTER: FAIREST OF ALL by Sarah Mylonwsky; Publisher- Scholastic

This is another Texas Bluebonnet Book for 2013-2014 and a fast read. My students loved this one, and I did, too. It's a fun twist on fairy tale, and a brother/sister duo (Abby and Jonah), who end up on a crazy adventure involving Snow White!

THE BOY AND THE AIRPLANE by Mark Pett; Publisher--Simon Schuster 

 

I absolutely loved this wordless picture book! I bought it to get it ready for the next  meeting of the #sharpschu  Book Club. It's about a little boy trying to solve a problem, and each page just makes you think and wonder. A great experience! As with all good picture books, this one is treasure to me.

 

This week I'm reading:

SIDEKICKED by John David Anderson; Publisher-Walden Pond Press (ARC)

THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP by Kathi Appelt; Publisher-Atheneum Books for Young Readers (ARC)

What are YOU reading this week?

A Delightful Day of Professional Development

Educators must be learners, too. I have always believed this. For this reason I read profession development books and attend conferences.

I love directing my own learning and seeking out what I need to know from the experts.

That's why Friday was such a delightful day for me.

I attended a day-long literacy staff development with speakers Kylene Beers, Bob Probst, Ann Marie Corgill, Terry Thompson, Debra Pickering, and Peter H. Johnston.

I didn't attend every speakers presentation because I only had so many slots! I wished I could have been to all! But the presentations I attended were terrific, and I tweeted a lot and took many notes on my iPad. (See my Twitter feed for more!)

From Kylene Beers and Bob Probst, authors of Notice and Note, we heard about the value of "signposts" in books, and how authors have characters do things that surprise us. As readers, this is where we stop to think about our reading. Beers and Probst talked about the importance of teaching our students to do this. We read Langston Hughes together and discussed it, and it was marvelous! Kylene Beers had us "read with our pencils" and mark spots in the text that surprised us. It was a good strategy I plan to use with my students.

Peter H. Johnston, author of Choice Words and Opening Minds, asked a great question of the attendees: How do we want students to feel when they leave school at the end of the day? The responses were: happy, proud, satisfied, etc. We need to make sure there are plenty of moments like these throughout the day, and not just at the end! Johnston also talked about how a teacher's decisions can either "shut down learning or open it up". I also loved that he spoke about choice in reading, and that as students talk about books, they are problem-solving.

There was much more to the day---so much more than I can ever write about. I was grateful for the opportunity to attend today's sessions, and I hope to pass my learning on to others! I see professional development differently as a librarian now, and I know it's my responsibility to share what I learn. 

Blog Name Change!

Dear Blog Readers,

Yes, I have changed the name of my blog to reflect my new position for next year! (I guess this tells you how I excited I am about it!)

I will still blog about books, reading, and now: the library! Also, I vow to share a little more about shoes.

Lately, I have been wearing these:

I've been moving a lot.

I've left my old school and closed up my classroom. Wrapping up a school year and leaving a school are major undertakings, so it took comfortable shoes and lots of determination to get it all done. (Plus lots of cardboard boxes, cold bottles of water, and Kleenex to say goodbye!)

I'm still wearing the running shoes as I started nesting at my new school. I've made lists (yes, plural), and brought in some things. The projects multiply in number as the ideas come. It's problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and self-directed learning at its very best. This transition is a good teacher.

Despite having so much to do, I'm still determined to get in as much of my #bookaday as possible. I've had 3 official days of summer vacation, but I have finished these books:

FLYING THE DRAGON by Natalie Dias Lorenzi
Published:
Published by: Charlesbridge
Pages: 233
(Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List for 2013-2014)

 

FREAKY FAST FRANKIE JOE by Lutricia Clifton

Published: April 1, 2012

Published by: Holiday House
(Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List for 2013-2014)

 

 

DOLL BONES by Holly Black
Published: May 7, 2013
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 244

 What I'm currently reading (besides professional development books and journal articles):

THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage
Published: May 10, 2012
Published by: Dial
Pages: 312

(I know! I should have read this book by now! I'm working on it! It won a Newbery Honor for 2013.)

I'm not sure if I'll be wearing my sneakers all day again, but whatever my shoe choice, books will be involved!

 

EVERY DAY AFTER by Laura Golden

Don't you love winning good things? I do.

I especially love winning books! That is even better.

Back some time ago, author Laura Golden held a giveaway of her yet-to-be released book titled EVERY DAY AFTER, and I was the fortunate recipient. I'd read a little about the premise, and thought it sounded interesting. When the book arrived, I waited to read it because I had so many other books in my numerous to-read piles that called for my attention.

When I finally read it this past February, it became one of those books that I knew I would never forget.

Lizzie Hawkins lives in Alabama during the Depression. Her father has left, leaving Lizzie and her mother alone during this difficult time. Lizzie's always done her best at school and she has a fighting spirit. But with Mama despondent over their circumstances, and no help in sight, Lizzie's spirit is challenged as she does her best to keep things together. Along with Ben, a classmate and sometimes her only friend, Lizzie faces each day's struggles by writing in her journal, and doing her best to still be the winner at everything at school.
Does Daddy come back? Does Mama get better? I hope you read the book to find out!

As I read EVERY DAY AFTER, Golden's beautiful writing made me feel like Lizzie was right beside me telling me her story --as she was living it. I shared her hopes and fears, and with each page, I experienced the same appreciation of character I felt when I read HATTIE BIG SKY by Kirby Larson. Hattie became an unforgettable character for me, and so has Lizzie. Another character that comes to mind when I think about this book is Deza from THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE by Christopher Paul Curtis.

There are several other interesting characters in this book, and many pages I marked with sticky notes. I left them there to look back on. Isn't that what we do sometimes with beautiful language we want to relish again and again?

Today, I'm happy to celebrate the book birthday of EVERY DAY AFTER. I highly recommend it.

EVERY DAY AFTER by Laura Golden
Published: June 11, 2013
Published by: Delacorte Press
Pages: 224

After reading this book, I felt like I'd won another prize: the experience of enjoying a good, solid story that made my heart richer.

Make sure to stop by the Nerdy Book Club  today to read Laura Golden's post about children's books.

Remembering and Moving Forward

As teachers, we work with many colleagues throughout our careers. During our first years, we have mentors (hopefully) who guide us and are there for our millions of questions we have as we try to find our way. Once we settle in, we work with teachers on our team and in our building. We often find teachers we connect with, and they become more than co-workers, but friends.

This past week was a week of remembrance for me. It all came as I tried to close out a year and move forward to a new adventure.

I remembered a veteran teacher I first worked with during my first year of teaching. She had traveled to many places and taught in several states. Every time I talked to her, I learned something new. I remember appreciating how she treated me like a trusted colleague, even though she was clearly more knowledgeable. I'd walk into her classroom, and ask questions, and she never tired of them.

When she retired, she had a lot of stuff. I remember she called me into her classroom one day, and asked, "Do you want all of this?" pointing to her cabinets filled with teacher books, supplies, activity kits, etc. So much stuff! Stuff I didn't have! Stuff!

I happily said "yes!" because I had very little. I'd been making all of my own things, and usually borrowed books from her.

This week, I remember my veteran friend as I packed up my own classroom. My classroom library has been one of my most valued teaching tools in my career, but as an elementary librarian, I won't be needing it. (I still have an extensive personal collection at home.)

I didn't want it to end up in boxes in my garage UNREAD. So I called up 2 first-year teachers in my building, and told them it was theirs. I gave them 3 requirements, though:

Make sure the books are read!

Every book must be taken!

Cultivate a love of reading in your classrooms through choice and modeling.

They both agreed to my requirements and took the books. As they packed them up, we had a great conversation about reading and it gave me such happiness to see how much the books meant to them.

As they walked out, and I saw my empty shelves, I wasn't sad. Instead I remembered my friend's kindness years ago, and I said a whispered "Thank you" to her and realized I had just paid her back by paying it forward.

I had to say goodbye to several other special and wonderful teachers this week, and it was difficult to do so. I know it was because they'd meant so much to me.

It helped me realize that the teachers we work with and pass by every day in the hallways can teach us many things and have the ability to affect our lives just as much as the students we teach.

As I continue on to my new school, I will carry with me great lessons taught to me by these wonderful teachers. I will continue to remember them always.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/3/13

The It's Monday! What are you reading? meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts . They adapted the original meme from Sheila at Book Journey to highlight Picture Books to Young Adult Books. I try to participate any Monday I can!

Well, the busy end-of-the-year activities make me feel like I really didn't read much this week! There were a lot of meetings, a school carnival, and other need-to-do-now tasks that kept me from reading. However, I did finish these books:

THE WIG IN THE WINDOW by Kristen Kittscher
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication date: June 18, 2013
Pages: 368

(See previous post for review.)

WORLD PEACE AND OTHER 4TH GRADE ACHIEVEMENTS by John Hunter
Published: April 2, 2013
Published by: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Ever since I watched the TED talk about John Hunter and his World Peace Game, I've been fascinated with his work. This book was a very good read and it gave me a lot to think about! I'm learning more about how to incorporate gaming in school, so this title was a perfect fit for me this week.

THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE by Karen Cushman
Published: March 27, 1995
Published by: HarperCollins

Inspired by my friend Mr. Schu (@MrSchuReads), I started back up on my Newbery Challenge and read The Midwife's Apprentice (historical fiction set in the 1500 -1600s). This book won the Newbery in 1996 and Karen Cushman's writing is excellent!

BEHOLDING BEE by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Published: Feb. 12, 2013
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 336

I really loved this book and especially the main character! I will be posting a review of this book on Thursday. I highly recommend it! Treat yourself and purchase a copy of this book!


I'm currently reading:

FLYING THE DRAGON by Natalie Dias Lorenzi
Published: July 1, 2012
Published by: Charlesbridge
Pages: 233

This book is on so many lists! It's on our 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, so I am reading it in prep for a great Bluebonnet year in my library! I'm enjoying it so far, and I will review it here this week.

What I'm reading this week:
My courses start back up today, so I'll be reading lots of journal articles. I'm not sure what book I will read this week as I have so many to choose from, and they all look wonderful!

What are YOU reading this week?