Edward Tulane

Dark, stormy Thursday. Finished my favorite read-aloud this morning in Room 31.  Taking some wisdom from Kate DiCamillo, her fuzzy china-doll rabbit, and his friends in the toy maker's shop. 

"I have lived one hundred years.  And in that time, I have been in places that were heavenly and others that were horrid.  After a time, you learn that each place is different.  And you become a different doll in each place, too."  What kind of adventures would you have if you were in the world for a century?

"I wonder who will come for me this time.  Someone will come.  Someone always comes.  Who will it be?"

"You must be filled with expectancy.  You must be awash in hope.  You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next." 

"If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless." 

 "Open your heart....Someone will come.  Someone will come for you.  But first you must open your heart." 

Incredible read.  For all ages.  Always leaves me with tears in my eyes and chills!

Happy Thursday!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

race to nowhere

Tonight I went with another 'newbie' at my school and our academic head to see this amazing documentary.  I have so many ideas and thoughts and statistics running through my head and I absolutely plan to tell everyone I know to go find a local screening to see this.

What an incredible, heartbreaking, though-provoking, meaningful film to watch - as a teacher, as an older sister, as a future-parent (and by future I mean WAY down the road - no surprises here, peeps!), and someone who has spent her whole life working with children.

This movie touches really deeply into the "rat race" that children, parents, educators, adults, teenagers, and medical professionals are witnessing in the lives of our youth.  Coaches at extra curricular activities, guidance counselors who suggest full course loads, schools that create a competitive environment and busy resume builders are realizing the unhealthy and inappropriate way we are raising and reaching out to children in today's fast-paced world.

I could not scribble fast enough on my little notepad tonight while I sat in the theater at the local church who provided a viewing as part of their "parenting series" down the street from my apartment.

• Did you know that there is NO correlation between the amount of homework students are assigned and their academic achievement?  In the U.S. and other countries?  

Just so many ideas and questions to think about:

• There is no such thing as a "best" school to get into.  We need to think about the "best fit" for our children when we pick the schools they go to as children and later on when they apply for college.
• Adults who are successful in their career fields are not the ones who can recite all of the rules for using a semi colon or apostrophe, but are the individuals who can socialize appropriately, problem solve and work in a group setting.  
• We should differentiate between children who are 'good kids' and who are 'good students.'
• What about multiple intelligences?  Does the SAT test creativity?  Artistic ability?  Naturalistic gifts?  
• When we encourage children to perform and produce we overlook the PROCESS that they developmentally need to experience at school.  Children need to learn, NOT memorize and regurgitate.  
• Where do we value project based learning?  How has NCLB prevented us from making that a priority? 
• In the classroom - on a daily basis - is it quality or quantity? 
• What kind of culture have we raised our children in?  Is it one where they can be themselves and admit they made a mistake or are stressed out, or is it one where we are encouraged to cover up pain and horrible days with an "I'm fine."? 
• If children do not have time to play, how do they find out what they love to do?  If we all want to go to a good school and get into a good college so we can have a good job and be happy, shouldn't we find out what we love to do at a young age and do PLENTY of it? 
• Our children will inevitably get stressed or be upset.  Do we teach them how to handle it?  Do we spend time in schools teaching social and emotional intelligence?  
• What we spend time doing shows where our values lie.  What do our children spend most of their day doing - both at home and at school?
• When did it become a teacher's job to dictate what their students do once the bell rings?  Shouldn't we let them go home and have a separate life outside of school?  One with their family and their peers and with nature?  What happened to our "day of rest"?
• Let's learn the difference between what is PERFECT and what is "good enough" from our children and students.  And I don't mean that in terms of settling, but in terms of having a happy, motivated child who has the ability to be creative.  

Some books that were mentioned in the movie that I might be checking out from the library:
The Blessing of a Skinned Knee

The Price of Privilege

"Doing School"

The Case Against Homework

WOW.  and WOW.  

Get your ticket. 

http://www.racetonowhere.com/

bonjour.

I have always been a lover of eggs.

I always keep my fridge stocked with hard boiled ones for snacks and before-school breakfasts on the go. My parents make one of the most incredible country breakfasts for all 4 of us when we are home together, and I can make a mean egg salad. My Mimi used to have farm-fresh eggs for us growing up at her house. Oh, and don't even get me started on how many deviled eggs I can pop into my mouth at a tailgate and/or tea party. Tonight I was feeling exhausted, not too hungry for a huge dinner and had some egg-cellent inspiration. (I have to have a pun in here - go ahead, judge me...)

This week is what would-have-been Julia Child's 99th birthday and she has been written up all over the place for her unique personality, brave trend-setting and love of eating and enjoying food with those she surrounded herself with. If you have never seen reruns of "The French Chef" on PBS or heard her unique chuckle and voice, you are missing out. I also would highly recommend reading this incredible memoir/adventure in the kitchen. THEN, (because we always read books before we see the movie version, right friends?) check out Meryl's fine performance on DVD. Sigh.

Any who - the first Julia video I ended up diving into on YouTube tonight was her simple French omelette. And let me tell you - make one this week when you are too tired to "really cook" but want something warm, fresh, and satisfying.


I had mine tonight with a simple salad on the side. Took me 30 seconds to make dinner.

Thank you, Miss Julia, for paving the way for other women in the kitchen, for not being afraid to make mistakes AND always admitting that you can't stop eating the things you love. We miss you, ma cherie.

goodbye, harry.

Tonight I saw the last installment of the Harry Potter film saga.  And I loved it.

I am so glad that I read the books (I have definitely done my fair share of starting and stopping with each one - they are LONG, ok?) and have loved exploring this series alongside my students and with my brother and sister.  I will never forget going on a "date" (hahah!) with my high school boyfriend to see the first one my junior year and having no idea what was going on.  Wow - 10 years ago!

I really admire J.K. Rowling's style of writing and the films are truly beautiful and so full and rich.  I laugh, cry and scream inside each time I watch one.

I would love to write a children's book - even one with with one-millionth of the creativity and color that this series carries!

It has been so fun to see the characters grow up and to think about how much their readers have changed over the years.  I remember Laura and Christopher were in elementary school listening to these magical tales in the back seat of the car and getting each book as they came out at Barnes and Nobles.  And to think now about how much older they have gotten makes me feel ancient!  It is certainly the end of an era.

J.K. Rowling just blows my mind.  She wove so many intricate details and created an entire world and society inside of her brain.  WOW!  I can't wait to see if she does anything next, and to see where these actors end up.  I heart Ron, Harry and Hermoine! :)

If you haven't gone yet, make sure you get your ticket and your 3D glasses!

nothing like a good read.

Just finished the first of many books I plan to enjoy this summer.  There's something special about making a list and sticking to it, checking things off one at a time.  And there's something even more amazing about reading books that I want - ones that aren't illustrated for 8 year-olds or that look like teacher-trade books.

One of the authors I have enjoyed reading is Pat Conroy.  His books are so beautifully written, pretty lengthy (which I love - such a sense of accomplishment when you finish!), and take place in the Low Country and South.  My first Conroy read was Beach Music which I have recommended to many of my friends.  I read it while I was on vacation outside of Charleston AT the beach, and it was incredible.

Conroy is such a great story-teller - and he hails from the south (born in Atlanta) himself.  I do have to warn people when I tell them to pick up a copy - they are not all happy-go-lucky....often intense events set up the plot.  His stories tend to take place over several years, sometimes even generations - and focus on southern families, sometimes dysfunctional ones.....and with his plots he weaves in several characters, love stories, elements of history, and while they are often sad, they are beautifully written and have a great ending.

Today I wrapped up South of Broad - which is his most recent work.  I fell in LOVE with the lead character, Leo King, and his beautiful depiction of Charleston.  This story of a newspaper boy in the 70's has 5 delicious parts.  While it was a bit slow at the start, I highly recommend it to anyone who has visited Charleston.  It brings religion, sexuality, family, tradition, race, and much more into it's pages and his style of writing is truly magnificent.

I am a lover of quotes and have a few favorites from Pat (without giving too much away regarding any of his novels...) that I want to share.  His style of writing is unlike anything I've ever read - but, again, he is a little bit depressing at times:

"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey." 

"Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through gauze or inhaling damaged silk."  

"Books are living things and their task lies in their vows of silence. You touch them as they quiver with a divine pleasure. You read them and they fall asleep to happy dreams for the next 10 years. If you do them the favor of understanding them, of taking in their portions of grief and wisdom, then they settle down in contented residence in your heart."  

"What's important is that a story changes every time you say it out loud. When you put it on paper, it can never change. But the more times you tell it, the more changes will occur. A story is a living thing; it moves and shifts" 

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For those of you who love to read, make reading lists, find new books, and share books with others, be sure to check out www.goodreads.com.  This social book-club site allows you to add books to lists that you want to read, have read, read for certain parts of your life and are currently reading.  You can browse books by title, subject, ratings, and see which books your "friends" on goodreads are also enjoying.  Several of my girlfriends and I follow each other on the site and I love adding and checking off things on this list.  I also have a list of books I use at school online and can communicate with other teachers about lesson plans, activities and new award winners for kids.  You can join groups on goodreads - just like Facebook would have - where you can have similar interests.  I am in the "children's literature" group, but also have joined the "classics" group or the "certain author's name here" group.  Check it out.  And KEEP READING!