Hanging out at the corner of reader and story...

I love to write about what happens in my elementary school library. 

Celebrating International Dot Day inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' book, The Dot.

Making bookmarks for World Read Aloud Day

Watching students read.

As I have said before, I am lucky to reside (work, exist, be) at this magical place where the reader and the story meet.

What better place to be than where students construct knowledge and understanding?

So, lacking my natural environment and one half of this very beautiful duo (my students), what will I write (sporadically) about in these next six weeks?  I am not a book reviewer, there are many others that do that so well already, so I will not duplicate those efforts, but as I have done thus far, I will share the books I am reading.  Think of it as a preview for when the real fun begins, when this blog once again will be filled with my students' voices.

Here's what I noticed the last two weeks: I miss writing about what is happening in my library.  Why do I write?

I write because I have to, thoughts and phrases knock around in my head as if asking to be let out or yearning to be formed into an idea. 

I write to understand.  Writing helps to clarify what both I and my students are learning.

A Wordle for the blog.  I LOVE these themes and ideas.

When I don't write on a regular basis, like right now, the cacophony in my head becomes chaotic and the ideas, thoughts and phrases move fleeting past my conscious never fully forming. Case in point, I was at the river (more on this in a subsequent post) and fetched my phone from the sitting rock to take a photograph.  I was forming a blog post in my mind and knew this was an image I would include. I came up from the river an hour later and could not recall the caption I thought of for the photo.  One might chalk this up to my age, but I: number one, refuse to give into this logic; and, number two, know that when I write on a daily basis, this doesn't happen.  There is a sharpness and clarity to my thinking when I write.

I write to become better at the craft of teaching.  Writing helps me reflect.

Reflecting on a lesson.

From the age of ten to some point in my twenties, I was a dedicated diary writer.  The early entries are typical, but the later ones reveal my need for self reflection.  Why did I feel a certain way?  What might I have done differently?  I imagine this is not unlike all diaries, but it correlates to this blog. I blog because it helps me to reflect and therefore become a better teacher.  

I am enjoying this much needed respite, knowing that soon enough I'll be back in the library with my students and once again learning and exploring with them. In the meantime, there are my children to share books with.

My daughter has been my co-reader this summer, following rapidly along behind me in my reading stack.

My son lost in the book, Wonder.

Meet me at the corner of reader and story, I'll be waiting for you.