ALL WRITE!!! SUMMER INSTITUTE PREVIEW

All Write!!! Summer Institute will be June 22nd and 23rd.

Here are a few updates to get you excited and ready to come!!!

Speakers:
June 22nd-

• Max Brand
• Kelly Gallagher
• Candace Fleming
• Lester Laminack
• Stephanie Parsens

June 23rd-

• Stephanie Parsens- (writing one day, reading one day)
• Amy Buckner--notebooks
• Carl Anderson-talking about his new book
• Gary Schmitt
• Frank Serafini
• Janet Elliott
• Barb Morrow

AUTHOR DINNER AT THE BLUE GATE:

• Jacqueline Woodson

SUMMER INSTITUTE: SHIPSHEWANA

On Monday morning I hopped in the car with Natalie and Al and we headed for our summer conference in Shipshewana. All the way there we talked about the great speakers we would hear, the friends we would see and wondered about the new facilities. We weren't disappointed on any of it.

I was so excited to hear Penny Kittle from New Hampshire. I had read many of her books and have her quote hanging above my desk at work. I knew she would be inspiring, but was still shocked to see what an outstanding speaker she was. She is full of enthusiasm and makes you feel like you've known her forever.

On Monday night at the Author Dinner, I looked across the tables at the Blue Gate and there was my friend from Denver, Marjorie. She and her sister had driven all the way from Colorado to come to the conference. I knew she was there, but with around 450 people it was hard to find her. We got to catch up and then promised to connect again in the morning!
Today I got to introduce Georgia Heard. She is my favorite poet to learn from. I use her books to teach poetry to second to fifth graders. Today she spoke about her book on revision. I had forgotten some of the things she talked about even though I read her books several years ago. That is what is so wonderful about this conference: you just keep learning and learning.

Now it is time to reflect on the two days and begin thinking about next year. Mindy told us the dates, the planned speakers and the hope of having even more people. I am so thankful for the All Write people and especially Mindy and her dedication to the teaching of writing and her wonderful, bubbly spirit!

Learning With Debbie

Last week the facilitators had the chance to listen to the wisdom of Debbie Miller. We had all read her book: Reading For Meaning. The two days we spent with her were so enlightening. It made me want to go back and reread the book. I was fortunate to have five of the teachers I work with there at the conference. They were from three different schools. Now I get the chance to work with them in their rooms to make their new ideas happen. Tomorrow I will be collaborating with three of the teachers at Glenwood Park. Next week I am going to slip into the kindergarten class at Whitney Young to see how those kiddos work on inferring. Who would have thought five year olds knew how to infer? What an exciting chance I have to work with classrooms that are ready to do whatever it takes to make learning fun and exciting for their babies!

SUMMER HIGH

Have you ever had a moment, a week or a day that was filled with such joy, so many pleasures that you don't want it to end? You don't want to let go of that feeling? You continually go back to it in your mind and try to savor the feelings you experienced. You can't let it slip away.

That is the way I feel now. I just got home from the most amazing summer institute. I spent two and 1/2 days in the company of energetic teachers, inspiring speakers and wonderful friends. Just when I thought I couldn't gather any more feelings into this body, this mind, another experience or speaker filled me with more sensations. Kirsten said, "I am on overload." I think that is exactly what was happening with me.

It reminded me of running a marathon. I would look forward to the race for weeks and months, practicing, training, preparing. Then the time would come and I'd put my whole effort into the race. I would spend every bit of energy, every muscle. I would hold nothing back just to finish that 26.2 mile race. When it was over, I was depleted. The next day I would think about running again and I couldn't do it. I had to give myself permission to rest and reflect on the race behind me before I could go on to conquer other quests.

That is what I am doing now. My brain is exhausted. I am going to spend the next few days just reflecting on the experiences, the thoughts, the emotions that those two and one half days brought to me. I don't want to lose that feeling. I don't want to lose that excitement. I don't want to lose those memories. And I won't because my teacher friends, the books I bought and the notes I took won't let me.

I'm already looking forward to next year. I'm already looking forward to how I can share my knowledge. I'm already looking forward to new experiences. Enjoy, Relax, Reflect. I only hope this was as great an experience for others as it was for me.

A New Day

As I sit here ready to take on another day of teaching I am excited. Today will be different. Today I get to gather with my All Write friends and work on the Summer Institute that we will all be a part in June. Mindy says we have LOTS of work to still do and we will be super busy. That's okay with me. Stuffing envelopes, filling folders, oh, yes, and talking. We will do lots of that.
This is where so much of my learing has taken place. Here among the most talented educators in northern Indiana. These people are risktakers. They are the ones who are still working on things at home late at night. They are willing to leave safe classrooms to excite other students and teachers.
Who wouldn't be excited to spend a day with this type of teacher? My bag is packed with new books to share with them. Tidbits from other teachers who want me to deliver things to their mentor teachers they've met in workshops. It all reminds me that we are ONE big family of educators working for the same goal: KIDS.
I want to close with a poem from one of the fourth grade students I work with:
Dangerous
Outside can be dangerous
Screaming, crying, hollering
Outside can be dangerous
Dealers, robbers, junkies
Outside can be dangerous
Guns, drugs, stealing
Outside can be dangerous
But I'm going to live.
This is why I teach.