Back-To-School Blogging, Summer Recap, and "The Book Whisperer"

The return to classes can be an exciting and overwhelming time.  I imagine that like many other teachers I have spent a good deal of time thinking about the new things that I can bring to my classroom.  I'll get to some of those things in a minute, but I must, once again, acknowledge my failures to be a regular blogger.  It seems that in addition to the new, I must continue to work on some of my previous commitments.

Here we go...


How I Spent My Summer

I'll keep this brief, but I can't help but take a moment and reminisce about the exciting adventure that I was able to embark on with my family.  It was something that my wife and I had been planning and looking forward to for years and I was so grateful to be able to share so many memorable experiences with my children.

Without going into too many details, here are a couple of highlights:

• Driving around 6000 kms through the western United States
• Spending a week on the beautiful Oregon coast
• Enjoying 5 glorious albeit exhausting days at Disneyland
• Travelling to Calgary for a family wedding; we will be travelling to Edmonton for a second wedding in a week
• Other trips back and forth to Calgary to spend time with family, enjoy the zoo, and a day at Calaway Park

Much has been said about how good teachers have it when it comes to summer.  All I can really do is express my gratitude for having a career that allows me the freedom to spend this time with my wife and children.  I'm no busier or more special than a lot of other people, but it feels really good to unplug after what has often been a very busy school year.

Here are a few pics for good measure...

Liam exploring the trails near our condo in Oregon.

The tidal pools along the beach were always neat to see.

Our second go on what became our favourite ride at Disneyland.

Hard to beat a picture with Oswald.

"The Book Whisperer"

My wife has been encouraging me for years to read "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller.  She kept telling me for years that it might give me some ideas about how I could help give reading a jump start in my classroom.  I was genuinely interested in the concept, but often told myself that I was too busy during the school year to really have a look at it and I could maybe check it out in the summer.  I finally caved... and I'm glad that I did.

I won't give a detailed review or breakdown of the main points now, although I will likely touch on them over the course of the year.  Suffice it to say that my perspective on the value of reading was given a good wake-up call.  I was reminded of what reading is intended to be: something of interest that will draw you in.

I was so excited about some of the ideas that I even took one in particular and started running with it.  Donalyn Miller strongly advocates for the need for students to see constant reminders about the value of reading in the classroom.  This doesn't necessarily mean a dedicated reading area, although that would be great.  She does stress, though, that there is need for kids to be around good books.  In previous years, I have relied too heavily on whatever happened to be left in my classroom.  That wasn't going to cut it anymore.

With my wife's blessing (and eager offers to help, I might add) I began putting together my own library.

I will be giving myself a monthly budget to work with so that I can be constantly adding to the collection.  My hope is that I can create a library with something for every Developing, Reluctant, and Underground reader that enters my classroom.  I'll be reporting on my progress throughout the year.

Much more to come...

~Mr.T