I was rushing through the grocery store this weekend trying to do too much in too little time. At our check out, we are almost always asked to donate money to a cause and fill out our name on a card that is posted in the store. I always give $1, figuring that adding $1 to my […]

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Having spent last week trick or treating among piles of snow and downed power lines, it seems impossible to believe that the holiday season is fast approaching. I am given a reminder, however, as I dream and plan about a course I am teaching in just a few short weeks. My local friends can join […]

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The last Bookfest session that I was able to attend before the snow really started coming down last weekend was titled Comics for the Very Young. I have never really  been a fan of comics but I am a fan of the very young so I figured I would go in with an open mind. […]

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On Monday, I wrote about my first experience at Bookfest. I felt I had so much to say that I couldn’t fit it all in one post so this is Bookfest- Take Two. After our key note, the group split into break out sessions. I chose the session titled, Transitions: Briding the Gap between Easy […]

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Here is our posed Halloween picture of our ‘butterfly fairy’ and ‘vampire.’ But here is the picture I really like. Notice, Katherine’s happy pose and Caroline’s disgust that I would take a picture in public. More of these to come I imagine.

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  This weekend I attended the most wonderful event. BookFest. In case the name doesn’t just say it all, “BookFest is an event devoted to the celebration, discovery, and discussion of books for children and teens. This event, designed for adults, features luminaries from the children’s literature community. Authors, illustrators, editors, reviewers, and scholars will […]

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Katherine is going to Abma’s Farm tomorrow on her first field trip. As she said at dinner tonight, it is “the first field trip of her life.” I’m not sure what she is more excited to do- take the bus, go on a hay ride, choose a pumpkin or see the animals. She has been counting down the days since the […]

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I attended an interesting session about student vocabulary development at the Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project Saturday Reunion this past weekend. One of the points I took away was that we, as adults, need to think constantly about the words we use around children. If we want children to speak with more precise and intriguing words, […]

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Yesterday was just crazy. Between 5:50pm and 7:30pm we had to be a million places at once.  I am usually very protective of this time of day so everyone was really thrown for a loop. During all the running around we talked about the fact that I would be happy to write a note to […]

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I’m not sure how I missed knowing Naomi Shahib Nye but I’m awfully glad I found her this weekend at the Columbia Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project’s Saturday Reunion. Naomi presented the morning keynote and her words were every bit as inspiring as a good keynote should be. Because I was so touched by hearing […]

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