I like these people. We had a truly wonderful Christmas. We spent a lot of time together, ate a lot, watched movies, and Em and I played some Scrabble. Marvel walked right over when it was time to take the picture. She knows where she belongs, front and center.
I love books. Always have. This year I have reignited my love for children’s literature. I would be embarrassed to share how much money I have spent on books since started a fourth grade classroom. The urge to buy two of every book is very hard to overcome. See, I need one book for my personal shelf in the classroom and one for the library. Books that make it to the class library are well loved. I’m ecstatic that they are being read, and more ecstatic to hear them discussed, but I feel a twinge of pain when I see how beat up they get. Therefore, I need two of everything! Two of everything is not so practical, books are not so cheap.
My Goodreads list is now full of novels for children. I am finding that when I attempt a “grown up” book lately, the story line cannot pull me in the same way. Whether the book is about an imaginary world (which many are) or not, all of the kid lit books I’ve read have a sense of magical wonder. I want to learn more about their worlds, and like Peter Pan, I don’t really want to grow up anymore. Children’s literature lets me experience the best parts of being a child, while still being a grown up, where I know everything does turn out okay.
Here are a few of my recent loves. I have also been doing book reviews on my classroom blog, www.pickertskiddos.blogspot.com. A few of my students are working on reviews that we hope to have published after the holiday as well!
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan is just a fun ride. Like many novels for kiddos, it is about a boy who just doesn’t fit in. Percy finds out there are reasons he doesn’t fit it. The books are just a really fun quick read. Rick Riordan has also branched out to start two more series. I recently read The Red Pyramid and am almost done with The Lost Hero. And the guy is a teacher from San Antonio, who doesn’t want to support that?
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Soctt O’Dell was one of my favorite books in elementary school. One of our literature circle groups is currently reading it, and I had to take it home and finish it IMMEDIATELY. This is one of those books that just gives you a feeling of a world you would never know, or expect to know. I find it difficult to describe without giving away to much, but the book it phenomenal. I have several copies of this book, so if you have interest in borrowing, let me know.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is MAGICAL. The book has 284 pictures in 533 pages. The story is told through pictures, and words. There are stretches of 20 pages or so, where there are only pictures, and then a couple pages of words. The words pick up right where you were with pictures. Hugo is a boy who is all alone and lives in a train station. The book gives me the chills. It is the only novel to ever win the Caldecott Medal, which it won in 2008. The book is already in production for a movie to be released next year. I can only hope it will be just as magical.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Disclaimer: this book is not for elementary age children. A colleague who is currently on her way to becoming a librarian introduced me to this book. It is more a middle – high school aged book. In this story, children from each district from ages 12-18 are put in a drawing every year. A boy and a girl are selected from each of the 13 districts. Those selected are sent to the Capital to participate in the Hunger Games. Basically, they are trained, dumped in a arena, and meant to compete for their lives. Only one person may leave the arena. It is televised to each district. This book is insanity. There are two more in the series, that I haven’t gotten to yet, but I’m dying to read.
Clearly, I could go on for awhile. I have found great satisfaction in discussing these books with my students (and colleagues). I truly love bonding with them over books, and in some cases they are books that the students wouldn’t have attempted on their own. I love that I can speak highly of a book, and several kiddos run to the library to get it. I also love having colleagues with the same interests. Regan (the future librarian) and Lauren (the mentor) have a great passion for books as well. Having adults to have impromptu book talks with has been one of my favorite things about my new career path.
I have five days off now. I think I shall read some. Happy Thanksgiving!
Many years ago my mother claims that her whiny children held her back from fully exploring Ellis Island. I think I was around ten or twelve. Last year on our trip to NYC my mom got her chance to go back and fully explore. Look at the excitement in this woman’s face! My momma was freezing cold, and she was ecstatic to be standing in front of Ellis Island.
In the 26 years my mom has been a mom, she has given up on many things she would have rather been doing. She is an adventurer by nature, and she likes to check out random and unusual things. Her three whiny kids weren’t always so cooperative. My mom has shown me the meaning of patience, kindness, and what it means to grow as a human being.
I love her. Happy Birthday lady.
This one time I became a fourth grade teacher the Friday before school started.
I have been trying to find a teaching position for quite some time. I’d hoped to teach at the school I worked at last year as an aide and they had hoped to hire me. Due to circumstances at the district level, teaching at my school didn’t seem like it would actually pan out. When I returned to work as an aide for the year, I was asked if I would be interested in teaching the 4th grade. My interest had been more with special needs children or younger children, but everyone needs to start somewhere.
Teaching the fourth grade has, thus far, been the most exciting and stressful thing I have ever done. I have been told many times that it will never be as stressful as it is the first month in your first year of teaching. This had better be true. I knew teachers worked very hard. I know many teachers. I worked in a school for a year. It turns out that teachers work REALLY REALLY hard. It is a very different type of hard than my previous office life. All the work I do pays off. I work harder on a lesson, and the lesson goes smoother! I grade papers and I don’t have 20 kids asking me how they did. I read the books they are reading and I have conversation topics! I make a cute word wall and they use bigger words!
If you were not previously aware, 9 and 10 year olds are hilarious. They are like really funny. One of my kids relates everything to fishing, another arranges erasers in an army line daily, and there is a gal who will probably write a bestseller one day. These kids are awesome and I feel really blessed that after a year of trying I have a class of my own. These kids actually think I know what is going on with the entire world. That kind of belief in anyone is such a gift. I am one lucky gal.
This year I hope to grow as an educator and a learner. This year I hope to learn and incorporate the art of organization into my life. This year I want to fall in love with my job. This year I want to understand what it means to be 10 again.
More to come when I have more room to breathe. I miss my blog.
I know that you can tell my looking at them that they are fabulous people. They are wonderfully kind. My mom, my sister, JMO and I made the journey to Pensacola recently. JMO had never met my grandparents and I was very excited to introduce them to my boy. Good news: they adored him.
Happy Birthday Leah!
Today my dear pal Leah turns twenty-five years old. Once, now four whole years ago, we spent a summer in Mexico together. IT WAS THE BEST SUMMER EVER. While we were in Mexico we went to the city of Tepotzlan several times. Our goal in this city was to climb a mountain, we got there to late in the day a few times to accomplish this goal. The day we made it up, it rained. The rocks were slippery, our clothes were wet, and we didn’t slip and die! It was a glorious experience.
On one of our unsuccessful trips to climb the mountain, Leah and I strolled around the city of Tepotzlan. While in Mexico we saw many people on the streets, and we also saw many stray, hungry looking dogs. A hungry dog was more than Leah could handle. It drove her nuts. So, when we saw these little guys below, Leah marched on over to a taco stand and bought them each a taco. Leah likes puppies. Leah does not like seeing puppies go hungry. That is just the kind of glorious gal she is. Happy Birthday Chica.
