A Month of Thanks #1: Neighbors

In November, I often feel overwhelmed with the goodness of the world and its people. I've decided to keep track of thankful things. Ideally, I'd post everyday-- I'm sure I can think of more than 30 things-- but I think I'll just focus on staying thankful, not having "perfect attendance."

Giving Thanks #1: Neighbors

Our little street is the best-kept secret in Ann Arbor: best neighbors in the world. As always on November 1st, I am floored by the Halloween decorations and the generosity of my neighbors. This teeny, tiny little street will work together to fill your pumpkin bucket.

I am thankful for neighbors who:
watch my kids,
watch my dog,
watch my house,
make me run,
loan me some chicken broth,
let me take their coffee pot,
smile sweetly when I break their lawnmower,
encourage our ice rink,
host my kids to swim,
have us over for dinner, and brunch, and Superbowls,
babysit my daughter,
endure my neighborly chit-chat,
continue to open the door when my kids ring the bell,
make us laugh,
make us feel safe,
and make our street feel like home.

"A Physical Book is Like a Shark"

Today I read this:

"...a physical book is like a shark. Sharks are old: there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs. And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is."(Neil Gaiman)

And then I read this:

"Everyone deserves access to many books, as many as they wish, but also to the well-worn cover that, years later, still makes their hearts thump." (Pam Allyn)

And I wanted to tell you tonight. 

The paperwork and the glow of the screen will wait. 

Now is the time to read.

Goodnight.

The Watson's Go to Costco, 2004

When we first moved to Michigan, I had left the realm of first grade and was staying at home with our infant son. For a little study project, I asked my upper grade friends to recommend their favorite read alouds and  Christopher Paul Curtis's  The Watson's Go to Birmingham was on so many lists. So of course, it was the first one I read. I loved it- I was talking about the Watson's like they were my friends. I was in a new town, with a new baby, not working for the first time ever and was pretty isolated...until I met the Watsons.

One day in Ann Arbor, Mr. TRWH and I loaded up our tiny black Honda Civic with the baby and all his accessories for a trip to Costco in Brighton. On the way up, there were signs for Flint!  I got so excited and started saying "Ooo- Flint!" every time I saw a sign. Every time. The whole way. After reading TWGTB, Flint seemed so magical to me. US-23 was an inspiring place to be.

We got to Costco and went in to shop. I talked about the Watson's the whole time. Mr. TRWH's interest was starting to wane. "You don't get it. You really should read it." I said. He looked at me added the case of chick-peas to the cart.

One the way home, a car with Alabama plates came up on our left on the majestic US-23. I started pointing and hyperventilating, bouncing up and down in my seat, pointing more.

"Look, look, look, look, look, look, look!" I shouted. "Alabama!  Alabama plates! The Watson's!  It's the Watson's! The Watson's!"

Mr. TRWH looked over at the Alabama car. Then he looked at me, calmly and evenly and said, "Well, actually, if the Watson's go to Birmingham,  then they would have Michigan plates. That's not the Watson's."

Well, there you go.




* Our family had the pleasure of meeting CPC at the Ann Arbor Book Festival in 2012. And Mr. TRWH laughed, slapped his leg, and was as starry-eyed as I was. The infant son was now an 8 year-old and CPC was simply amazing to him. His storytelling even maintained our 4 year-old daughter's interest. CPC's short talk was intensive PD for teaching writing and information for living well in this world. An amazing man!
I told CPC this story in person. I am not sure if he thought I was crazy or charming or both.

Summer Slump

Last summer was a great summer of reading. I read so many new favorites and felt so refreshed by my reading. This summer I feel like I am in a reading rut. I’ve read enough and am still on track for my yearly “book a week” goal, but I still feel a little blah about it.

I think I know why: I am uneasy. I am still on the lay-off list for my district. Now, I think it’s highly unlikely that the district won’t have a place for me doing something interesting this fall. This problem has an end-date. (And if it doesn’t, then I’ll have the mental anguish of trying to stay calm and work through the sad fact that I wasted time worrying about the wrong thing all summer, which would probably bother me more than worrying about the true situation at hand.)

I have a low-level of unease that floats about me and it is disturbing my reading life. Frankly, it makes me kind of mad. But it’s also been a huge lesson: being a reader and choosing to be engaged with your reading life is a conscious choice and it might, at times, require some special arrangements due to mitigating circumstances. I guess I needed a reminder about this.

So many students can have instability and unease as a backdrop in their lives: they need a little help navigating their way back to a reading life. Personally experiencing this (again) has given me a lot to think about as a teacher. For me, I know my unease is temporary and much more shallow than what others are managing. Still, I need to look for a way back to engagement and remember that there are some tricks. The last three books I read, while interesting, did not fill me up in any way; they were factual, kind of depressing, and dryly written. Not the right thing for right now.

The most powerful way out a reading rut is to find the right thing to read right now. That could be something light, something shorter, something longer but with short chapters, some short stories, a different genre, something familiar, something new, something sad, something happy, something easy... If it’s not the right thing, find something else. I need to figure out how to lead myself back to my regular habits. 

I think it’s a good back-to-school reminder to remember that living a reading life is a choice and that sometimes there will be obstacles. I know that living a reading life is living a richer life and that I’ll find my way back. And this year and in years to come, I hope I continue to help my students stay on –or return- to the path of a reader.

I think this just may get me out of my reading rut...

Forbidden Fruit...or Lasagna

Earlier this week at the library, I watched a first-grade sized reader joyfully find a book about dolphins and share it with her mom and sister. I was all gooey about watching a young reader find a book that fit. But then, the mom said, "No- you can't take that one. Not nonfiction. Nonfiction doesn't count for summer reading."

What?

Now that's crazy talk. My head was spinning with all the ways reading nonfiction can enrich your life as a reader, all the things it can teach you about organization as a writer, how empowering it is to find study topics that engage you...

The mom kept talking, "I. said. no. nonfiction." They walked to the computer catalog and looked up books for her, the older sister smugly holding a chapter book, the little one flipping through her dolphin book while the mother clicked, clicked, clicked.

I felt like I should say something.

Now I probably didn't have enough information here. Maybe there was something crazy going on with this kid. Maybe she was obsessive about nonfiction books- some sort of informational junkie. Maybe she has a photographic memory and will bore countless strangers with dolphin facts.

My new philosophy is this: "Say less." (Also known as "Trying to mind my own business.") So I did not intervene. I said nothing, but felt a deep sadness for this little nonfiction habitue who just wanted to learn about dolphins. I was so disheartened that a parent would manage their child's reading life in such an intrusive way. Who does that?

The next day, I was back at AADL with Fran and Claudia to turn in their summer reading sheets and pick their free books. (Woo-hoo!) Fran looked for a while and then picked a reasonable chapter book, Chomp. Now, it's not as appealing as Hoot or Flush, but I think he'll love Carl Hiaasen*. Wow. I did not intervene and my kid chose well for himself!

Seriously- who could resist this "snappy" cover art?

And then Claudia needed to choose. First she chose a Geronimo Stilton. Well, I thought, it could be worse. But there's no way I'm going to read that to her- it's not my scene. I know kids love it, but there's better stuff for her right now. She's only 5. I encourage her to keep looking on a different shelf of the cart. She pulls some crazy thick young adult chapter books out. Clearly, not the right shelf. I redirect her again.Then she found the licensed character books. Oh, horsefeathers. She picked a Pokemon reader; I shook my head. (Do kids still even play Pokemon?) She knows nothing of Pokemon. She picked a Lego Ninjago reader. (Kill me now.) 

"No, Claudia, don't pick something about TV- pick a book."

She held both crap-tastic books tightly in her hands. I showed her some really amazing picturebooks they had on the shelf and the new Bink and Gollie. Her knuckles grew white on her books. She wouldn't budge. 

I tried to explain, "Claudia- those are fine books to read, but they're not keeping books. Today, you get a book as a present. You should pick something you'll want to read over and over."

"I want these."

"Claude, you can check out a copy of those, but you need to chose something else for your keeping book." And I went on, "Or you're not taking a book today." Now I wasn't budging. 

Claudia glared at me, but her eyes caught a Garfield. "Fine." She resumed her stare. "I'll take this."

It was Garfield #53: Garfield Brings Home the Bacon.  I gave up. I smiled. "Wow, Claudia. Francis loves Garfield- I bet he'll read it to you. Now you have your own Garfield book! This one looks really funny. It's your first comic collection."

Surprisingly, Garfield eats a lot of lasagna in this book.

She carried the book to the van, still staring at me, and only diverted her eyes when she wanted to read her new book on the way home. Fran complemented her choice and peered over and read her a page. She got excited about words she recognized and seemed happy with her choice. 

As we drove home, I had a painful realization that I just interfered in Claude's reading life just as much as the nonfiction-snuffer-mom. Even if I have seen her choose "TV books" in the past and watched her abandon them minutes later, it was her choice to make from the cart. I began to judge myself very harshly: Was I helping her make an informed choice or simply intruding?

And then I realized that I was celebrating her choice of a Garfield book. A Garfield book! This was clearly her choice, not mine. Although critical about lasagna-cat-comics now, in elementary school I started quite a well-visited and cherished Garfield collection, so perhaps this is a necessary development for a reader. 

Now my head is spinning with all the ways Garfield can enrich your life. Perhaps we'll do some nonfiction reading about cats next.

*Hiaasen- always present in my lessons on polishing and titling. He's the master of the clever, multiple-meaning one word title.