Literacy Outside the Box

Changing Directions a Little

2011-12-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

Look at how lame I am, not posting anything for months, just letting my poor little blog wither in the dust.

I couldn't decide what to do about this blog because the point was to 'blog' about the books I read by authors coming to the 2011 Illinois Reading Council Conference last March, and now that it's long over ..... should I keep going?

My original goal was to read all of the books by all of the authors coming to the conference, and of course I didn't reach that goal, but I did pretty well! I haven't counted up all that I read, but one of these days I'm going to. Meanwhile, I also considered trying to read all of the books by all of the authors coming to the 2012 conference, but to be honest, I had to get some other reading done, more grown-up stuff like about changing my life, blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to expand a little bit because I'm writing a book about books, and I needed to diversify for a while to get more material.

This is me, looking confused. I think that's what that look is ....

So I can quit this blog completely and start a new one, or I can change the purpose of the blog and keep going. I'm still not sure. I HAVE read some other books in the last several months that are 'outside the box' in their own way, so I don't know whether to discuss them here or to start a new blog where I can discuss any kind of literature that I want. Still pondering that one.

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to do my research on successful teaching, so I'm going to use this blog post to shamelessly ask readers to take my five minute survey on teaching (for those of you who are elementary teachers) OR to share the link with your friends who are elementary teachers. I'll be doing more of this later with middle and high school teachers, but for now I'm just looking at what elementary teachers think makes them feel successful about teaching. Seriously, if it takes more than five minutes, you're thinking way too hard. And I don't just want people in Illinois to answer this survey, either - I want to know what people from all over the United States think. Why, you might ask? Because I teach preservice teachers, and I want to help them feel genuinely successful. Bill Gates can do all the surveys he wants; that's important data too, of course, but me and my piddly little survey are important, too, as far as I'm concerned.

So here's the link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PP668V6. And here's to figuring out what I want to do with the rest of my blogging life. Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Contest for a free book!

2011-07-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks, if any of you are fans of Jodi Picoult's books, you might want to check this out: http://www.sarahjio.com/?p=1502. Sarah has come out with a debut novel, and Jodi likes it, so it must be good! Anyway, Sarah has a contest going on - all you have to do is leave a comment about what you are reading this summer, and your name goes in the hat for a drawing for a signed copy of her book along with a box of goodies! And how easy is that, to just let her know what you're reading this summer? But no fair making fun of the LONG comment I left!

Elementary Teachers' Survey

2011-07-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, while I'm slacking on my postings (it's berry season!) please feel free to respond to my survey monkey survey, if you're an elementary teacher. I don't care if you've just finished student teaching or if you're close to retirement, and by all means, share this with others as well. I promise it won't take you five minutes. Promise, although the first question might give you pause to think. Please and thank you!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MK6SDFS

Thirteen Days to Midnight

2011-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Literacy Outside the Box - in Africa!

So it’s the first of June, and I have neglected to post entries about books on this blog since the conference ended. But as I stated in an interim posting, I have not stopped reading the books! As a matter of fact, I believe I’ve read five since then, but I may not be counting correctly. Other things have happened since the 2011 IRC conference besides the birth of my first grandchild (the ASCD conference in San Francisco, the IRA Convention in Orlando, and most recently, my trip with colleagues and student interns to the country of Gambia, in Africa). It’s been a busy 2 ½ months! And summer school begins tomorrow on my campus, bringing with it a flurry of other activity.

Today I had the opportunity to talk to a woman who was a bridesmaid in my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding a LONG time ago. First of all, it made me reflect on how some friendships last and last while others flutter a little more: she and my sister-in-law have maintained their friendship over the years and miles and are planning on celebrating a big birthday with a trip this summer. I admire that. She also had her daughter with her, who is required to read a book this summer and then discuss it with her teacher at the beginning of school in the fall. Of course we talked about books! And if I’d had a notepad with me, I would have taken down titles from her. The good news, of course, is that I know she’s not too far away: I just need to ask my sister-in-law for her email address or request her as a 'friend' on Facebook and we can be connected. One of the best wonders of technology.

So the daughter is going to be a freshman in high school; if anyone reading this blog has a good idea for books for her, please let me know. Of course I’m recommending some of the ones I reviewed here, but I know there are many other books in the world! It should be something that is emotionally and cognitively appropriate for someone in her age range and something about which she can be thoughtful and reflective, at least to a point.

One of the books I recommend is one of Patrick Carman’s books: Thirteen Days to Midnight. It happens to be the one I’m reading at the moment. Here’s what it’s done to me: I usually look forward to reading every night before I go to bed, but I’m so emotionally invested in this one and fearful for the main character that I almost dread opening it back up! Don’t get me wrong – it’s a fabulous story. The main character, Jacob, has received a power of indestructibility that he’s discovered he can pass around when it’s needed. He and his best friend (Milo) and a relatively mysterious girl (Ophelia - who ends up being his girlfriend) work together to figure out how best to use the power to benefit others. At least that’s what’s going on so far, and I’m about 2/3 through the book. It’s the kind of story that raises all sorts of questions and opinions without even realizing it: “What if the power gets more comfortable in someone else’s body – will he be able to get it back? What’s the deal with Ophelia: is she good, or is she really bad? What is in the elusive box that his foster father left behind? What if he had never shared the power in the first place? Should he have kept it to himself?”

While I’m reading, I feel a lot like I do when I’m watching a movie and see something happening that the main character can’t see … you know the feeling … when you just want to jump into the scene and tell him or her what to do or what not to do. “Do NOT go into that room without a flashlight!” It’s chilling without being horrifying and it bring up all sorts of questions of ethics without being preachy or even without being obvious.

It’s a book for a bit older crowd than many of Carman’s other books, so while I love his other work, this is definitely one that’s appropriate for high school students. True to Carman’s form, there is technology involved with the book: there is a website devoted to it where you can read an overview of the book and listen to the first chapter. I hope this book is made into a film because it would be a huge success.

I’m worried about what Ophelia’s all about – that’s been gnawing at me all day - and I’m worried for Jacob and Milo’s friendship, and I think he’s going to be able to get into that box pretty soon, so if you’ll please excuse me, I think I’ll put my fears aside and go read …..

Baby!

2011-04-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry - I know this has nothing to do with the topics addressed by this blog, but our first grandchild arrived last night, and I had to show him off! He's gorgeous! His mom worked really hard to get him here, and his dad did too!

STILL Reading!

2011-04-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know there are people who think this blog must be defunct because I've been so 'quiet' since the IRC conference, but nothing could be further from the truth. I'm just busy, busy, busy, and I take a long time (believe it or not) on most of these posts, so I haven't been able to find a big enough slice of time to write a fulsome entry. But since the last post, I've finished Burger Wuss (another M.T. Anderson book) and have read a big chunk of the second Octavian Nothing book as well. I also discovered (duh) that I had already read one more of Jane Yolen's books (Girl in a Cage), so I'll need to tell you about that as well. I might actually be able to get that done this weekend - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Anyway, I do want to encourage you to go the the IRC website (illinoisreadincouncil.org) and get on the ning. You can share information with people, discuss specific topics, and share pictures as well.

Speaking of pictures, please don't be shy about posting conference pictures, and also please don't be shy about sending them to me as attachments to email. You can do that right through the web site (email me from there), or you could send them to my mac email address, which is cindyandpete5573@me.com. I'd appreciate any visual mementos you wouldn't mind sharing!

Hope the weather where you are is not as gloomy as it is where I am, but if it is, well, that's just good reading weather! Enjoy your weekend ...

Fun with Barry Lane at the IRC Conference

2011-03-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just can't help myself: I have to post this tongue-in-cheek video that Barry Lane and Christine Boardman-Moen put together at the conference with the help of some other teachers who are good sports. It's a hoot, and very well acted, I might add!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3t7qutNsow

IRC Conference

2011-03-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well --- wasn't that fun? I sincerely hope that everyone at the conference enjoyed themselves as much as I did, learned a lot, and got a chance to recharge and get some new ideas to take back to the classroom. A huge thank you to the volunteers, the conference committee chairs and members, the office staff, the executive board, the past presidents, the featured speakers, the attendees, and everyone at both of the hotels and the convention center who worked so tirelessly to make the conference run so smoothly and provide such high quality professional development for everyone attending.

Over the next several days, I hope to post pictures here from the conference and perhaps some video, along with more information, like the fact that 25 IRC local and special interest councils brought Hall of Council displays to the conference - I believe that's got to be a record! Good for them, and good for Karen Ringas, Director of Membership Development, who engineers the whole Hall of Councils event.

I personally had such an incredible time at the conference that it could only have been better if I could have cloned myself and gotten to more sessions. AND if I had remembered to get the rest of my books signed.

Literacy Experts Get Down with Barry Lane!

Today (the Sunday after) has been spent in a fog. I had four hours of sleep each of four nights in a row, and I am not allowed to have caffeine (medically), so I had to rely on vitamins. They didn't do enough on that last day, but meeting and hearing the incredibly talented Marc Brown made the day a truly special one. What a sweet and kind person!

The car is almost all unloaded, and most of the laundry is done, but my feet are still swollen and sore from the Literacy Cabaret and the last day. Note to self: new black sandals must be on my horizon!

So what's up with this blog, now that the conference is over? Honestly, I'm going to continue my quest to read books and write about them here; I see no reason to stop now!

Tomorrow! IRC Conference!

2011-03-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Where, oh where has the last year gone? I don't know, but I know it wasn't enough time for me to read 546 books! I still need to count up how many I actually did read, and maybe I will do that tonight before I go to bed. I KNOW there will be people asking me at the conference! And there are still lots of other details to still attend to tonight, including packing my clothes / shoes / electronics / schedule / etc.

My husband is in the next room helping me out with some little goodies that I'm giving to the Executive Board and the Office Staff as a thank you, and I am typing up my schedule for the conference. I've found over the last several years that it helps tremendously for me to have a written chart for each day of where I need to be when and what I'm supposed to be doing there. If you decide you'd like to run for VP and be the Conference Chair, you will need to plan out your time in great detail as well. It's one of the reasons I'm not worried about anything going awry over the course of the next few days; the whole conference is planned in much more detail than most people can imagine. We are so lucky to have the office staff that we do and the great volunteers that plan and execute in such great detail as well! Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make this conference another wonderful one.

And I have to say that hard work has paid off: as of today we have 2,857 people registered for the conference! I remember last year, when schools started cutting professional development money, I thought the only people who would get to come to the conference were the featured speakers and the executive board - and some of them weren't sure they could even make it until just recently. So this is huge! The teachers of Illinois have spoken, and they are saying clearly that they know what kind of professional development they want and they know where they can get it. I am so proud to be from this state!

Check out the forecast for the Springfield area, too: it's going to be really nice, but we might get some rain on Thursday, so bring an umbrella!

If your travel plans allow, please plan on stopping by the Welcome Reception Wednesday night from 6:30 - 8:30 in the Abraham Lincoln Hotel Ballroom. There will be snacks and a cash bar, and the President of the International Reading Association will be there to say hello to you all! We will also give away our awards to legislators, so you will get to spend some time with the folks who are fighting the good fight for the children of Illinois right along with you.

Don't forget - if you come up to me at the conference and tell me something you learned from reading this blog, you'll get a free door prize! But also remember that it has to be something that someone else has not yet told me, so come with a couple of tidbits. I hope I've provided you with enough information so far - and that you come grab me early on!

Reading Challenge

2011-03-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

Well, just how far into my reading challenge am I? I don't actually know, though I'm going to try to total up the books I've read before the conference starts next Wednesday evening. I read 18 books at the Lincoln Library today and finished one of T.A. Barron's books in my car as well (The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy).

I've learned a couple of things about myself as a reader by listening to this book, and also about my car and what my next one will be like. As a reader, listening to a book on tape reminds me of the strategy of rereading because yes, my mind does occasionally wander when I read and I need to back up and reread. So you can imagine, while I'm driving, that I'm focused on more than the book at hand! Mostly I listened to this book on the stretch of interstate between here and work; that's nearly half an hour each way. But it was frustrating running errands in town or driving to the gym because I kept wanting to find out what was happening in the story, and I knew I shouldn't listen while I was navigating traffic lights and other vehicles! So I'd have to occasionally back up the cd to 'reread,' and then I finally got smart and stopped listening altogether while I was in town. As a listener, I found myself wondering about the spelling of words that are new to me, which in this case were primarily names of people / creatures, and places. It was comforting to remember that I have copy of the book, so I can look up these words and see them spelled eventually rather than just wonder about it forever.

What I learned about my car is that, unlike my last one, this one doesn't let run the cd back; I can skip back to the previous track, but that's it. That means that if I'm listening to a track of the book and about 2 1/2 minutes into it realize I've missed something, I can't just run it back a tad; I have to skip back to the beginning of the track, which means repeating the entire 2 1/2 minutes to get to the last little bit that I missed. Not that the wandering actually happened often with this book: it's action packed and full of amazing descriptions of wild, new places. I've decided Tom Barron just really likes to make things up, and he does an extraordinary job of doing it!

IRC Conference - Just Around the Corner!

2011-03-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

Let's see, wasn't I going to post a new blog entry every day for the first month before the conference? And wasn't I going to try to do a vlog entry? Well, the first would have gotten done if I'd had more .... what's that stuff called? Time? And the second would have gotten done if I had better make-up. Maybe I’ll still try.

As for the reading goal, I'm somewhere between 100 and 200 books out of over 500, and the conference begins in a week and a half. Think I'll make it? Me neither! But am I going to stop trying? Heck no! As a matter of fact, I plan on hitting the Lincoln Library again tomorrow to knock out around 20 more books. At the same time, I'm listening to T. A. Barron's Child of the Dark Prophecy (Book One of The Great Tree of Avalon trilogy) in my car while I drive to and fro, and I’m reading my first “Pals in Peril” book (M.T. Anderson): The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen in the extra elusive snippets of time that show up, usually before I turn out the light before bed. Mind you, I’m reading that one out of order. The first one is Whales on Stilts, but I have neglected somehow to purchase that one; while I really abhor reading books out of sequence, I’m taking one for the cause this time and will just plan on confusing myself later.

I do have to share two things with you about The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen. First of all, here’s a summary of the book from the front flap: “Looking forward to a vacation, Katie, Lily, and Jasper attach their flying Gyroscopic Sky Suite to the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort, where they mingle with other child heroes found in books, and where they become embroiled in a mystery involving lederhosen-clothed quintuplets and a screaming ventriloquist.” Sound wild? Classic Anderson. I’m telling you, if you have not read his work, you are missing out big time. To illustrate my point further, last night I was sitting there reading, and I came across the following passage that made me laugh out loud:

“Also, keep your eyes open for things that might make people look suspicious. Sometimes a little subtle detail that might escape you at first turns out to be the thing that really matters most. For example, does a particular character carry a sword? Does a particular character walk on all fours, bobbing his head up and down? Does a character suspend you over a pit of lava and say, ‘Soon it will be mine! Mine! Mine, I tell you!’? In the difficult world of police detection, it’s often little clues like this that give the game away.” (page 31)

And back to Barron. As I have come to expect, Barron’s book is rich in description, both of the setting and the action. He has created a cast of characters, major and minor, that are unlike any other, and they are all about to come crashing together (at the point where I’m listening). It’s this kind of book that makes me wonder about how it is some people are so creative that they can dream up these incredible worlds and creatures while others can’t even imagine putting grape jelly on their toast in the morning instead of strawberry. Anyway, I thought about bringing the CD in to the house tonight and listening to it with my headphones, but then I wouldn’t get any reading done on the Anderson book, and I wouldn’t get my work done for the conference – which reminds me, I’d better get busy!

For those of you who are entertaining the idea of possibly running for Vice-President and so planning one of these conferences, it’s a week and a half before the conference, and here is a partial list of what I have been doing this past weekend and some of what I still need to do:

*Figure out what to wear, and buy normal people clothes so that I don’t look the way I usually do (and if you know me well, you know how much I hate to shop – really. I did NOT get that gene.) I also have to figure out whether I’m going to need the pink boa or the red boa for Friday night … (almost partially half-way done)

*Get to Pier One Imports to buy the director’s chairs – yes, we’re going to have the featured speakers autograph them again this year and give one away! Got this one done today.

*Write my thank-you’s to the featured speakers and committee chairs – I have one done and one to go, and these are due tomorrow.

*Write thank you’s to the kind folks who sent us promotional materials to give away. I consider myself half done with this because I have the cards, envelopes, and addresses. (Okay, so I am delusional.)

*Check in with the Veep (Pat Braun) to see if she has all of the introductions written and help her finish up what she doesn’t have done. (They’re supposed to go out in the mail tomorrow – I suspect she has these all finished because if you know her at all, you know what a ball of energy she is!)

*Check in with the tech guy at the University on when I should pick up the laptops for the Internet Café.

*Oh yeah, clean out the rest of my car so there’s somewhere to PUT the computers.

*Ask the University folks who they use for recycling to see if the Convention Center can get recycling bins from the same folks.

*Get back to Staples because when I was there today I forgot to get lamination pockets.

*Try to find some different white foam board so that I can fix my big, beautiful, blue display.

*Finish cd’s for the meals.

*Call to make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned. (We ALL want me to do that.)

*Make a list of what happens at each meal (awards, etc.)

*Finalize the dinner seating so Pat can get the place cards in the right places.

*Create my own lists of where I have to be when and what I have to do when I’m there.

So there are some deadlines that need to be met for the sake of the office personnel who are doing all the putting-together of things, and there are some self-imposed deadlines as well. And a host of other things that I can’t tell you about here …..

And then there’s my job! There’s so much going on there it’s not funny. So yes, the last weeks before the conference begins are full, full, full, but I’m not worried about it getting done. I talked to someone today who said “Are you getting freaked out yet?” and I honestly have to say that no, I’m not. I don’t really expect to be, either. I’m excited as all get out, but I don’t believe there’s anything to worry about. It is going to be a blast, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves!

As for deadlines, I read a great quote today by the inimitable Douglas Adams: “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” No disrespect intended for the IRC office – I really don’t like to miss deadlines, but I really like Douglas Adams and thought that was a fun quote.

Normally I would have all sorts of links and pictures in this blog posting, but apparently my computer has worms tonight or something and is not cooperating. I’ll add links later, but for now, I have to finish up some conference items and go find out what’s up with Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut!

M.T. Anderson, the Singer!

2011-02-28T20:55:00.001-08:00

Okay, I just found this youtube video doing a search for something else: let's see if the link will work on this blog, and let's hope that he regales us in a few weeks as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn5hRfCA-mU&feature=related

Just 16 days til the Illinois Reading Council Conference!

2011-02-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, tomorrow is March 1^st, and the conference is only 16 days away – where did this last year go? I’ve had so much fun with the planning and the details, and the READING that I fear the anticlimactic letdown that is sure to follow the end of the conference. But I am SO looking forward to this!

A couple of updates and important notes for conference-goers: please make sure you do not keep your room key next to your cell phone. Doing so may demagnetize your room key and you will end up going back to the front desk to get it rekeyed. Not fun, especially late at night when all you want to do is crawl into your motel room and drop.

BIG NEWS: Our own Steven Layne and Bill Teale, both from Illinois, were elected to the International Reading Association Board of Directors! We are so proud of them, and they will represent Illinois as the wonderful hotbed of cutting-edge literacy instruction that we all know it to be. Congratulations to them both!

PLEASE check out the schedule of events for the conference – I’ve changed a few things around this year so that there will be fewer conflicts with the afternoon and evening events. I realized this after talking with someone yesterday who had already made her choice between the Poetry Coffeehouse and the Literacy Cabaret. She had not checked the Preliminary Program, but instead just assumed that certain events would be held at the same time that they had been held in previous years. Glad we had that talk, so she now knows she can come to both!

I went to the Lincoln Library in Springfield today and read 13 more books. I didn’t get there last week but the week before I did, and I read 18 books that day and 28 books on a day prior to that. So that’s 59 more books I knocked out, and I believe that’s on top of 56 others I had already done, but I have to do a closer count to be sure. I’m learning some new words, too! I’ll write about a few of the books later in the week, hopefully tomorrow.

More Press for the IRC Conference!

2011-02-21T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm really trying to get the word out about the upcoming Illinois Reading Council Conference, and last week Blake Wood from the University of Illinois, where I work, came down to the Lincoln Library in Springfield and did a little video interview of me reading books. If you're interested in watching it, you can check out this link, or just go to the UIS web site (http://www.uis.edu) and look under 'Hot Topics' or 'Newsroom' and you can find it. I don't know how long they keep those links active, but it's there for now! Or you could just try this link and see if that takes you there. I only stayed and read for about an hour that day; I found out after reading for 2 1/2 hours the time before that that my eyes really can take only so much! I read several of Jane Yolen's books (the library has quite the collection!) and some of Robert Burleigh's books. Today Channel 3 news was going to do some kind of interview as well, but thank heavens bigger news came up! I wasn't prepared for that! Plus the library was closed today, so that all worked out. But believe me, I'll be wearing make-up to work for the next few weeks, just in case!

The stack of books Nancy Huntley from the Lincoln Library in Springfield put together for me

The 28 books on the table are the ones I read in 2 1/2 hours the first day that I was at the library. The ones on the cart are books I still have to read, and it just barely touches the total!

Tonight I'm going to create a thank-you card for T.A. Barron for sending me a whole box of his books - what a good guy! And for the next blog entry, I'm going to try to do a 'vlog' entry - a video blog entry. My goal is to try to do at least one entry every other day before the conference; we'll have to see if that works out! There are so many fabulous speakers coming that I haven't even mentioned on this blog. Of course they're on the Preliminary Program, but I've been focusing on the authors because those are the books I'm trying to read, but I would encourage anyone reading this to go to the IRC web site and read through the program. And remember - while we have fabulous featured speakers, we also have troves of other fabulous speakers coming - teachers and other educational professionals who will blow you away with their great ideas!

Walk-Through Before Conference

2011-02-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this is just one more of the important steps that happens before the conference itself happens, and it's just one more reason why I'm not worried about everything happening the way it's supposed to. About a month before the conference, the Conference Chair and the Executive Director go to Springfield to double check last minute details with both hotels (Abraham Lincoln and Hilton) and the convention center (Prairie Capital Convention Center). On a year when all of the stars align, the Vice-President gets to go as well so s/he sees what will happen the following year. It's a great cyclical process. Tomorrow is the day for this year's walk-through.

We'll go over the menus for meals, the bus schedule, the time for setting up special events, the placement of signs, and seemingly minor details as well, like the fact that the servers for meals need to be reminded that they serve the speakers' tables first. Even though this might not seem overly important, it's a special time for two reasons: one, everyone is excited, including personnel from the venues, and two, it's a reality check - the event that the conference chair has dreamt about for two years and the office has managed to plot out in such detail is really coming to fruition! The most important thing for me to do tonight is to get a good night's sleep so that I can be sharp tomorrow and make sure I ask all the right questions and attend to the important details. I have to say, though, that I am so unconcerned: these folks have been doing this for so long they are pros. And I mean not only the hotels and convention center, but the head IRC office. What a thrill it is to be working with such wonderful people!

I say that I need to get a good night's sleep, but I am deep into book five of the Percy Jackson series (The Last Olympian), and again, I want to stress that I'm not reading this book because Riordan is coming to the conference, because he's not - I'm reading this series because John Rocco, the illustrator, is coming to the conference. (He's one of three illustrators this year: he is joined by Marc Brown and Mordicai Gerstein.) So I am going to read for at least a good 45 minutes before I turn the light out tonight.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the walk-through, but when we finish, I will be going to the Lincoln Library in downtown Springfield to read, read, read! Nancy Huntley has been so kind as to gather together as many of the remaining books for me as she can get her hands on. I've been a reading fool the past year, trying to make it through the novels written by the authors coming to IRC, but if I'm on my game, I should be able to knock out at least 100 children's books tomorrow. They go much more quickly. Am I nuts? Probably! Wish me luck, and I hope to see you in March!

Woefully Behind!

2011-02-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've done a rough counting of how many books I've read and how many I have to go, and it looks like I've read around 56 of 564 books! So I'm at 10 percent. Most of the books I've read so far, though, have been the larger novels. Next Tuesday I'll be settling in at the Lincoln Library in Springfield with a stack of books provided to me by Nancy Huntley. I'm hoping to get a couple hundred books read, if she's got that many for me. Those picture books go pretty fast; I think Arthur's life is going to pass before MY eyes!

"Press" for the Illinois Reading Council Conference!

2011-02-10T04:16:00.000-08:00

Hey, check this out!

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x639358117/Reading-council-chairman-to-take-on-stack-of-books

National Book Month

2011-01-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

As National Book Month comes to a close, I hope you and all of your reader-friends will take the time to get together for some great conversation about the wonderful books you've had a chance to read - whether that's just this month, the past year, or your whole lives. What a wonderful opportunity to get more titles on your 'to-read' list, and also an opportunity to catch up with friends. I hope you can find the time because I know you are all busy, busy, busy.

I also want to remind you that early registration for the Illinois Reading Council Conference will be over February 1st, and after that the fee goes up slightly. It's still the best bang for the buck for professional development! Hope to see you all in March!

Door Prizes and More M.T. Anderson!

2011-01-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, folks, I have some great door prizes to give away at the conference - mostly books, which should not come as too much of a shock. Here's how you can get one: When you see me at the conference, come up to me and tell me something you learned by reading this blog. If you do, I'll hand you a ticket good for a door prize that you can pick up at the registration desk. That's all it takes! Oh wait - there's one little glitch: what you tell me has to be something that no one else has told me yet. And how in the world are you going to know that? I don't know. That's up to you. You might want to jot down several items to carry with you on an index card. I'll give out tickets until the door prizes are all gone, but there are quite a few of them.

I also want to share with you a couple of links that M. T. Anderson sent to me to put on the blog. The first one is a mini-movie that he made to accompany The Suburb Beyond the Stars, which you'll see reviewed below:

 http://mt-anderson.com/blog/more-gimmicks/the-suburb-beyond-the-stars-a-short-introduction/ 

And here's a link to what he calls "...a complete, entirely erroneous tourist's guide to Delaware..." that he created to accompany another of his series - the Pals in Peril. These books have incredibly creative, fun titles, like Whales on Stilts, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen, and Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware.

 http://mt-anderson.com/blog/more-gimmicks/tourists-guide-to-deepest-darkest-delaware/  

I've finished reading Suburb Beyond the Stars, and loved it just as much as Anderson's The Game of Sunken Places. If you click on the title, it will take you to another blogger's review of the book, and I have to say, she is a much finer blogger / writer than I, so please check it out. I had posted a brief comment on her blog back in November, and she responded that we will enjoy him because he's a terrific speaker. I am SO looking forward to this conference! But wait, there's more: If you click on that link and go to her blog, read it, yes, but toward the bottom there is a link to "the tie-in interactive web site that Scholastic has put together" for The Game of Sunken Places. (Of course, I just linked the phrase to that web site as well, so you don't really have to go to her blog. But I recommend it. I think I included her review as a link on this blog last November as well.) If you've read The Game of Sunken Places or are planning to, this will be a fun addition. Oh yeah, your students might like it, too.

But even though the other blogger is a better writer than I am and does such a marvelous job of reviewing this book, I do need to talk about The Suburb Beyond the Stars anyway because .... because ... because I just have to!

This one is, of course, a sequel to The Game of Sunken Places, so it has some of the same characters. The two main characters, Gregory and Brian, get themselves into a heap of trouble again. It concerns the Thussers and the Norumbegans, the same races of creatures who we were introduced to in The Game of Sunken Places. This time, the Thussers are just being aggressive, nasty babies because they want what they want, and they want it now. They want Earth. They figure they can begin their takeover by assimilating themselves into a remote suburb, and they do so by building the suburb themselves and stocking it with unwitting humans.

Okay. Gregory and Brian, while planning the next 'game,' run into some problems. Brian is being followed by some creepy guy with a red face - a violent bloody red. Not good. On top of that, he and Gregory realize that Cousin Prudence seems to be M.I.A. and they go to Vermont to see what's wrong. They soon figure out, through their keen observation, that something is rotten in Denmark, or at least in the suburb that has been built up around Prudence's house, on the side of the mountain where Gregory and Brian had their first great adventure with the game. Fortunately for them, even though they don't find Prudence right away, they do stumble upon their old friend, Kalgrash the troll, who has undergone a transformation of sorts and now has a little more heft and strength to him.

There are points in this book, as in with the first one, where I almost felt I shouldn't be laughing, but I had to. When the Thussers start practicing mind control on the humans, I saw them (meaning the humans) as a combination of creepy / Stepford Wives / silly that just made me giggle at times. I am a very visual reader, so I picture everything while I'm reading. And I'm a bit warped, so there's that.

Humor aside, I have to tell you that once again, M.T. Anderson uses his tremendous command of the language to create a landscape of characters, setting, and plot that suck the reader right into this make-believe world, one that obviously is a part of the northeastern United States but is populated by creatures that only a hugely creative mind can develop and then describe in such as way as to make the reader tremble in spite of him / herself. Wow, that was a long sentence. I apologize, but I meant every word. Here’s an example of quintessential M.T. Anderson writing:

“Many centuries ago, when the people of Europe still dressed in pelts and scavenged like animals, back when queens pulled birds apart with their teeth, and kings lived in wooden shacks they called feasting halls, a race of sublime, elfin creatures dwelled in the hills. These creatures held court in gemmed ballrooms and delighted themselves with subtle games and whispery fantasias played on instruments of silver. They were reasonably fond of the human animal, though the humans tended to smell bad, eat too much, cry about angels, and leave their droppings on the floor. When the human beasts started to multiply, however, many of the elfin race felt there was no longer enough room for their airy castles and subterranean cities in the hills of Europe, and so a party of them set out for the New World, having read that the human population there was more scarce and not so given to delving in the ground and knocking down sacred groves.

They crossed the Atlantic Ocean in their hovering coracles and galleons. In the mountains of what is now Vermont, they founded a fabled kingdom called Norumbega. Beneath the hills they built palaces and cathedrals and the City of Gargoyles, with stone streets and squares where they held their weird games and rituals for many centuries. They lived there happily – practicing falconry in the forests, holding sub-aquatic jousts in mountain lakes, playing golf with greens and holes in other worlds –until one day when another eldritch race, the Thusser, came to challenge them.” (from pages 13 – 14)

Now, lest you worry, (who uses words like ‘lest,’ unless they’ve been reading M.T. Anderson?) the entire book is not written with this rich language. If you read my entry on November 22, you’ll see the kind of banter that goes on between Gregory and Brian, along with some other excerpts from the book. And here’s another excerpt from Suburb Beyond the Stars that’s a little more … common:

“The cat box was full. It sat by the front door, the turds old, dry, and frosted white. That explained the smell.” (from page 39)

See? Normal.

So yes, it’s another fabulous book, and it makes me more anxious to read the next one. I’m going to try to put a picture of the book cover in this blog, as I’ve been doing all along, but it’s becoming harder and harder to find images that will actually allow me to save them and insert them. I apologize for all of the text, text, text in the blog. I know that most people like a few pictures along with their words. Since we can’t have everything, though, for now you'll just have to do what I do: settle with the pictures that M.T. Anderson creates in your own head.

Ten More Down!

2011-01-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

I had a chance to spend a little time at the Lincoln Public Library today, and I spent 36 minutes reading children's books by Robert Burleigh and Jane Yolen. I read two of Burleigh's: Abraham Lincoln Comes Home, and It's Funny Where Ben's Train Takes Him. The first one narrates a boy's description of how he and his father take a horse and buggy ride to watch Lincoln's funeral train go by on its way home to Springfield after his assassination. Burleigh likes to include historical facts with his books while creating the story from a point of immediacy. What I appreciated with this book are the extras included at the end: the "Afterword" and "Interesting Facts." For example, did you know that ask Lincoln's train travelled across the nation back to Springfield, 12 separate funerals were held for him? The second book I read today is completely different. It is a lighthearted bedtime story about a boy who draws a train and track that then take him to marvelous places, ending with the station called "In-My-Bed."

I also made a slight dent in Jane Yolen's 300 books: I read eight of them today. Let's see ... with the other eight Jane Yolen books I've read, that means I've read roughly ..... 5% of them! Yee-hah! Well, I have to try! So today I read these books by Jane Yolen:

1. Elsie's Bird - an explanation as to why some people might have moved west for a new start, but primarily encouraging to kids who might have had to move away from the homes they are accustomed to that there are things to appreciate about a new place

2. Dimity Duck - a lovely story that will get young readers interested in the sounds words can make

3. Come to the Fairies' Ball - stunningly illustrated by Gary Lippincott - good way to introduce nonsense words and also some rarely used words, such as 'garb,' 'forlorn,' and 'hue.' Akin to a Cinderella story without the nastiness. Beautiful.

4. Child of Faerie - good to illustrate unusual rhyme scheme to students interested in writing poetry. Also beautiful.

5. Before the Storm - highly evocative description of three children on a blistering hot day, what they do to cool down, and how they miss the heat once they get cooled off

6. Baby Bear's Books - illustrates different times of day when it's possible and enjoyable to read or listen to a good book

7. An Invitation to the Butterfly Ball - counting book that includes lots of repetition so young readers can participate.

8. All Those Secrets of the World - told from the perspective of four-year-old Jane (Yolen) about her father going off to war and one of the 'secrets of the world' that her brother tells her (about another kind of perspective)

Got an Amazon order in the mail today, and I'm hoping it's one of the books I ordered for my conference reading instead of my husband's late Christmas gift - don't tell him!

Holy Cow!

2011-01-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

Ten more weeks til the conference, and HOW many books do I have left to read?

On a better note, I finished The Ancient One this morning - wow, does Barron know how to create action and excitement with a cast of amazingly creative characters! My description in the previous post doesn't even begin to do it justice. He has woven an incredible plot and brought his characters to life in ways that make the reader expect (and want) to see them in our everyday surroundings. Kandeldandel and Arc would be great friends to have along, no matter what your personal adventure holds, and to hear Fanona sing would be an otherworldly treat, I'm sure. And even though the Tinnani are a creation of Barron's vivid writer's imagination, I refuse to believe that they don't actually exist somewhere. Now I'm even more excited about reading the third book in this particular series, The Merlin Effect.

Today I'm going to contact one of the local libraries to see how many of the children's books I can get together all in one place for a day of reading. Hopefully I can knock a couple of dozen books off my reading list all at once. Thank heavens for picture books!

What a Season!

2011-01-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've never had such a busy holiday season / end of the semester! And wouldn't it be supremely wonderful if the end of the semester (for those of us involved in school of some kind, and I'd venture that's most of us) did NOT coincide with the holiday season? Or in the spring - with planting season? And if the beginning of the fall semester did not coincide with the harvesting season for gardeners? Well, no such luck! Anyway, while I continue to read, read, read books written by the authors who are coming to the 2011 conference, I have not been posting about them in this blog. Sorry! Later this week I'll write about some of those books that I've completed since the last posting here, but right now I'll just let you know that I'm in the middle of reading one of T.A. Barron's books: The Ancient One. This book is the second in the "Kate" trilogy. We first met Kate in Heartlight, in which she and her astrophysicist grandfather did no less than save the world! Anyway, The Ancient One is set in the state of Oregon in a fictional town. As far as I know (since I have yet to visit that part of the country), the setting is true to the raininess and lush, verdant flora associated with that environment.
Kate is visiting her Aunt Melanie, who serves her spiced tea by the fireplace and teaches her the chants of the extinct Halami Native American tribe (also fictional, but very believable). Aunt Melanie is also a former teacher and has become very involved with the local cause of saving a redwood forest that was found in a nearby, highly inaccessible volcanic crater. Kate and Aunt Melanie are in the crater trying to stop loggers from decimating the ancient redwood forest. Aunt Melanie uses an interesting 'walking' stick, but at one point accidentally leaves it behind. Kate volunteers to retrieve it, and in the process, the stick throws her back several hundred years in time. Thus we have the conflict of the logging of ancient redwoods complicated by the fact that Kate would really like to get back to contemporary times, especially so she can help her Aunt Melanie with the logging issue.

Once again, I'm truly enjoying the story that Barron has created with his characters, and in this case I count the setting as one of those characters because it plays such a vital role in the conflict and how the others interact. He also uses language as lush as the setting, interspersed with his signature similes. If you are a teacher with readers who have a hard time visualizing, this would be an excellent novel to hand to them. Boys might be reluctant to read a book with two strong female characters, but there are several characteristics of this book that might appeal to them: the outdoors setting, the primarily masculine industry of logging, Kate's oft-referenced skills as a shortstop, the supporting male character of Jody, the quest and subsequent action required on Kate's part, and the environmental theme.

Teachers: you should definitely scope out the T.A. Barron web site: there is a place for you to order a free teachers' gift box! You should also investigate The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes I know there are students in Illinois who would qualify as 'outstanding young leaders;' all it takes is someone to nominate them. I've written previously in this blog about Barron's focus on heroes, but I want to emphasize that again.Please do check it out and consider nominating some special young person who might be deserving of the recognition. And while you're at it, you might go ahead and listen to Jane Goodall, Barron's own hero, talking about enjoying his books and also talking about his Prize for Young Heroes.

I know I've put an awful lot of links in this posting, but they're so worth it! Please take a few moments to check them out. And don't forget to register for the 2011 Illinois Reading Council Conference! Hint: you don't have to be from Illinois to attend and enjoy!

Me, All Alone, at the End of the World

2010-11-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd take a minute and do a quick posting about the book that first introduced me to M. T. Anderson: Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. The first sentence of the book says just that: “I lived by myself at the End of the World.” At first, you might think that's a sad thing! However, as the young male protagonist narrator goes on to list the activities that fill up his days, including listening to the wind blow through the pines, reading, eating simple foods, and whistling dance tunes to the mule, you realize this was exactly where he wanted to be. When I first read the book, I could feel my body sinking into my chair as I relaxed. I was proud of this boy for being so independent and happy with simple things. He says “I was happy there all by myself, alone at the End of the World.”

But we all know that that was not going to last! An understanding of fiction dictates that conflict is created when a character holds something dear and then something comes along to threaten that something. One day, Mr. Constantine Shimmer, a Professional Visionary, shows up and questions the boy’s idea of having fun. Wouldn’t you know it, that plants a seed of doubt for our young man.

Mr. Shimmer develops the land, building a huge inn and installing all sorts of ‘real’ fun activities for everyone, and draws huge, happy, noisy crowds of people. Our young protagonist participates … for a while.

It’s a lovely book, both visually (illustrated by Keven Hawkes) and in spirit. The story is a reminder of the joy to be had in simple activities while also asking the question “What is fun?” and making the reader wonder if there might not be more than just one correct way to answer that question. In its own way, it is a book about diversity and acceptance, and it makes me feel peaceful. I hope you end up liking it as much as I do.

M.T. Anderson and The Game of Sunken Places

2010-11-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

M. T. Anderson

I’ve now read three of M.T. Anderson’s young adult novels, and one thing I can tell you for certain: I will forevermore pick up ANYTHING he writes. He just keeps me on my mental toes, while weaving riveting stories. There always seems to be something unusual in his stories, and The Game of Sunken Places is no exception. Before or after you read what I have to say about this book, you should click on the book title above to check out what he says about the writing of it – very interesting, and very encouraging for teen writers. You should also watch this little video, in which Anderson discusses the mountains of Vermont, the setting for the story. He is one fascinating person, and I can't wait to meet him in March. I think I've said that before, come to think of it.

In a nutshell, two teenaged boys from Boston (Gregory and Brian) end up in Vermont at the invitation of Uncle Max, who is related to Gregory, sort of. They have two weeks in the Green Mountains in a huge old house, with nothing really to do (at first), since Uncle Max “…lives in kind of a different world from the rest of us” (page 3 – and what foreshadowing that statement is!) Here’s how Gregory describes Uncle Max’s world: “The kind of world where electricity is a lot of invisible spiders. The kind of world where there’s organ music that gets louder when he eats refined sugar” (also from page 3, spilling over onto page 4). This gives the reader a bit of insight into the character of Uncle Max while also giving some insight into M.T. Anderson’s writing.

A truly unusual and creepy stranger approaches the boys on the train to Vermont, and later, when they are picked up at the station by horse and buggy, you know something’s amiss. When they arrive at Uncle Max’s and are required to wear knickerbockers and ties (Uncle Max describes the boys as ‘tatterdemalion’ because of their contemporary clothing – who uses that kind of language?!) and are served dinner by the maid, Daffodil, by the light of gas lamps, well … you know this is going to be one strange vacation. And then there's what the butler does with their baggage ...

The actual ‘game’ has its genesis in an old, water-damaged game board that the boys find in the nursery – yes, it’s that kind of big old house, and as there is no television, they are sent to the nursery after dinner to entertain themselves. The title on the game board is “The Game of Sunken Places,” and it includes a detailed illustration of Grendle Manor, the house in which they are staying. They can find no directions, and most of the game board is smeared from the water damage, but later, they do find an hourglass timer that goes with the game board. When Gregory turns it over …

“And out in the woods, a trumpet sounded. It was a high, strange note that smeared downward, losing breath.” (Page 38)

They look back at the game board, and suddenly, some of the water damage is lifted from the board and they can see spaces that they could not see before, spaces that are labels for places in the woods: “the Stony Path, The Dark Wood, The Ring," and my personal favorite, “The Club of Snarth.”

Then the reader is taken away from the boys' perspective for a moment:

“Out in the gazebo, Daffodil was standing in a drab gray shawl. She heard the dying trumpet note on the autumn air. Facing the forest, she raised her hand. She waved it once.

When she was certain she had been seen, she turned to go inside.” (Page 39)

And the game is on, whether they know it or not. They will encounter all sorts of strange beasts, places, and circumstances on this most unusual of vacations, and you, dear reader, will be sucked into it right along with them through Anderson’s amazing skill as a writer.

I have to make sure you know, too, that even though the game is quite serious, Anderson sprinkles enough humor throughout the story to keep the reader amused as well as intrigued. Much of this is accomplished through the boys’ characters and their relationship with each other. Here is an example of an exchange between the two of them, when they discover a small secret room in the top floor of the old house:

Gregory paused, then thoughtfully strolled over to the window in the closet, a reflective expression on his face. He pressed his fingers to the glass.

“Idea?” said Brian.

“Yeah. How’d you like to explore the roof?”

“Explore the roof?”

“No, no. I said, ‘Strap goats to our shoulders.’”

“You want to?”

“Strap goats to our shoulders?”

“Explore the roof.”
(from pages 34-35)

Another example is their first (amicable) encounter with the troll who had not been quite as welcoming toward Brian when they had previously met. The boys have brought a weathervane to the troll, for purposes that you’ll understand why if you read the book – you didn’t think I was going to explain EVERYTHING in this blog, did you?

Brian walked forward and handed the weathervane to the troll, who scrambled to his feet. "You’re in the lead," said the creature. He handed the weathervane back to Brian.

Brian asked, "What am I supposed to do with it?"

The troll shrugged. "I don’t need a weathervane," he said. "You could give it to your friend, for one thing, if he wants to cross the bridge."

Gregory came forward. Brian handed him the weathervane.

"There we are," said the troll. "All nice and legal. You want to come in for some mulled cider and funnel cake?"

"No," said Gregory, incredulous. "You swung an ax at my friend."

"It’s my job," said the troll.

"We’ll – we’ll take the cider," said Brian. "If we can ask a few questions."

"You don’t like funnel cake?"
(from pages 85-86)

I don’t know why this troll makes me picture Billy Crystal, but he does. (Maybe it’s residual from Billy Crystal’s role in The Princess Bride, a movie I highly recommend.) And speaking of movies, a film based on The Game of Sunken Places is ‘in development’ by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies; IMDB gives it a ‘date’ of 2011, but I don’t know if that’s a release date or not. We’ll have to ask him in March. If it is, I’ll be one of those crazy people who goes to the theater at four in the morning to wait in line, whether or not I need to. I can’t wait to see if the pictures that the movie folk try to put out are anything at all close to the fabulous pictures M.T. Anderson has put in my head from this incredible book. I also can’t wait to read the sequel, Suburb Beyond the Stars, and the next sequel, The Empire of Gut and Bone, which is slated to come out in 2011 as well. Hopefully we’ll have copies hot off the press at the conference!

http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/0439416604.asp

First Light

2010-10-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

I haven’t talked about Rebecca Stead’s book First Light yet, or M.T. Anderson’s The Game of Sunken Places, so that’s what I’ll devote this entry to. I really do have to get better about posting; I’m reading faster than I thought I could, and I have a lot of great books to catch you up on!

Okay, so First Light was Stead’s first published novel, and it is truly a remarkable work of what I would call subtle environmental science fiction. The story opens with the science fiction when a boy is exploring his mother’s drawing table; we are ‘educated’ right away to the fact that paper is scarce and valuable. And then the boy finds an envelope that has a color photo in it, something he has never seen before. So we are introduced to the notion of a protected society, much like the movie The Village, by M. Night Shyamalan. The next few chapters transport the reader to New York City and the point of view of one of the two main characters, Peter, who is 12 and the son of a professor / glaciologist (his dad) and a molecular biologist (his mom). Through the generosity of a philanthropist interested in global warming, his father is sent to Greenland to study the glaciers for six weeks, and Peter and his mother accompany him. The next main character (Thea) shows up when chapters three and four are told from her point of view. And guess where she lives? Not where you’d expect. Greenland, yes, but not in one of the cities, such as Nuuk, Paamiut, or Upernavik. Not even above ground. Thea has never seen the sun --- but she sure wants to.

The book is told, as you can imagine, from these two characters’ alternating points of view. I really like books written in this kind of format. The first book I read written this was The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. That was some time ago, but I remember appreciating getting the variety of points of view on a common theme / topic / plot. Granted, The Martian Chronicles was quite different; it was not limited to two characters’ points of view. But nevertheless, the idea persists for me.

Peter and Thea’s worlds end up colliding, and the journey to their meeting is nothing short of amazing. I am always impressed when a writer can create another world that is so credible, and First Light is no exception. Any society is unfailingly complex, and Stead has crafted the subtle details that embody Gracehope, where Thea lives, with extraordinary yet casual detail. The story has an underlying theme of global warming without being preachy; it gives just enough for young readers to make some connections to science issues and be able to have conversations and ask questions about environmental issues. At the same time, readers can have marvelous conversations about what they might take for granted about the society in which they move and breathe daily and what is considered ‘normal’ for different groups of people.

Something that sets this book apart is the way the special web site for it was constructed (http://www.firstlightbook.com/). It ‘scrolls’ to the side rather than up and down, as most web sites do. Along with the expected content (information about the book itself and the author), there are links for readers who become interested in how scientists work in Greenland, or some of the seemingly random mentions in the book that they might question. (Volkswagon testing sites? Really?) Check it out – you won’t be disappointed! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t figure out why it didn’t also win an award, just like Stead’s second novel, When You Reach Me – more on that one later!

Okay, so I didn’t get to The Game of Sunken Places today; that one will be next, I promise! And what a wild book it is!

Preliminary Programs are Here!

2010-10-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, am I a slacker! almost a month since my last post! And since then I've finished Anderson's Game of Sunken Places AND an entire series by Carman (the Atherton series). I will write more about the authors and books later (hopefully this weekend), but for now I just wanted to give you a run-down on the schedule that happens in the fall in terms of conference preparation.

September 1st: Folks who want to present at the conference must have their presentation proposals submitted by this date. We had over 300 this year!

September 25-ish (around the third weekend of the month) - the IRC Board of Directors meeting happens, and that is when the President-elect and select others go through the proposals and decide which ones should be accepted, which ones can be accepted with some changes, and which ones belong with which strands. Once this is done, the Executive Director can put the abstracts into a draft of the Preliminary Program book.

Mid-October: the Executive Director and President-elect must finish up reviewing drafts of the Preliminary Program book so that it can go to the printer.

About a week later: The Preliminary Programs arrive from the printer and can begin to be distributed to those who contact the office and request them.

mid-November-ish: Preliminary Programs are distributed at the Board of Directors' meeting in Bloomington. (Getting them ready for this time is why it's so crucial to get them proofed and sent to the printer quickly.)

I will receive a box of them in the mail shortly, probably tomorrow, and I can't wait to see them! We're really on our way now, folks!

Reading, Reading, and More Reading

2010-09-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

In the two weeks since my last post, I've finished Riordan's The Lightning Thief, Gerstein's The Old Country, and Stead's First Light, and am almost done with Anderson's The Game of Sunken Places.

Ha, ye of little faith, who do not think I will reach my goal! Actually, I am quite worried, but I'm having a good time doing it. I have yet to run across a 'miss' in any of the books by these authors, which just reinforces my joy at having them come to the conference in March.

At least a quick bit about each of these books is in order. First of all, I picked up The Lightning Thief, oddly enough (and truly unplanned), the day after my husband and I had watched the remake of Clash of the Titans. I have to say - that really enhanced my enjoyment of the book, although I would have loved it otherwise as well. I was just already in 'titan' mode, I guess, and really liked connecting the dots, so to speak, as I read about the beings that I had just seen in the movie. I'm sure everyone knows about this book by now, especially since it was made into a move (I need to see that, too). But bear with me as I add just a few notes for those few folks who may not be familiar with it. First of all, this book has GOT to appeal to middle school boys; the main character is a boy about 12 years old,
one who has spent most of his life sent away to boarding schools. He has dyslexia and does not necessarily enjoy school. Turns out there's a perfectly good reason for the boarding school bit, and it has nothing to do with the dyslexia. He also has a creepy stepfather. That said, I can also see the book appealing to girls. There are a few girls who figure into the plot, but that shouldn't matter, as far as I'm concerned. I don't think the gender of the main character of a story should necessariliy impact anyone's enjoyment, but maybe I'm being naive. Anyway, as with other fabulous reads, the author creates wonderful mind-pictures so that the reader can connect easily with what's going on in every scene. Anyway, it turns out that this middle school boy, who is not very successful in school, and isn't happy about the fact that he doesn't have a lot of friends, since he goes to a different school every year, is in fact quite significant to the fabric of the world. He has a quest to complete that has tremendous implications for humanity. I love the fact that the underdog, someone who is not the most popular kid in school, suddenly gains remarkable importance. I also like the fact that there are factors worked into the story that might seem trivial but that really do have a point, like the fact that Percy's mother is married to a creepy stepfather. There's a reason. But to return to the reason I am reading this book in the first place, I want to remind you that this author is NOT coming to the conference, but the illustrator, John Rocco, is. I found a site with lots of illustrations he's done about the Percy Jackson series. They're beautiful and you can purchase them from that site.

On to Mordicai Gerstein's The Old Country. I picked this up not long after finishing the last book in Patrick Carman's Land of Elyon series, and found an immediate connection between the two. First of all, a bit of a plot summary: a young girl unwillingly changes places with a fox. And when I mean changes places, I mean her heart / soul / personality / spirit goes into the body of the fox, and vice versa. Yup. And this is not something that makes the girl happy, but it sure makes the fox happy. Much of the story is devoted to the girl-in-the-fox trying desperately to get back to her family. The connection with Carman's series is that there exists an ability to communicate between animals and humans. Whereas in the Land of Elyon, one must have possession of a Jocasta stone, in The Old Country the communication must take place in a certain meadow. There must always be a condition for such a magic to happen, and these two authors just used different conditions. But on to the story. For me, there are two characteristics of this book that make it special. One is that it was told in a fashion close to "Once upon a time," set in 'the old country,' although the reader never knows what country that is, specifically. This is done purposefully, I'm sure; that kind of anonymity is part and parcel of fairy tales of old. The other is that it really does require the reader to consider "...the question of what it is to be human" (quote taken from the back of the book). I'm an animal lover, so there you have it. And of course there's a surprise ending - love those! But truly, this book was a joy to read. While The Lightning Thief kept me on the edge of my seat a lot, this book made me snuggle into the covers at night, in anticipation of joining Gisella in her quest to return to her family.

I've written far too much for one entry, so I'll save First Light for the next one, when I'll also talk about The Game of Sunken Places. But I did want to post a picture here, too. It's of the Conference Shirts and my display for the 2011 Illinois Reading Council Conference! While I don't love pictures of myself, I love the shirts and the display and wanted to share them with you. Don't forget: you can order shirts online!

Required Reading for Elementary Teachers

2010-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick aside before I talk about what I'm supposed to be talking about here ... my husband found this walking stick on our property the other day - just look at him! he's about five or six inches long: I wish I'd measured him to see if he set a record!

Okay, on to the reading.

Sometimes I run across a book that I swear offers a window into understanding children - well, okay, people in general. But children are often trickier because after they get to a certain age, many of them don't feel they have the right to explain their thinking out loud to us adults. So every elementary teacher and preservice teacher should pick up Sara Pennypacker's Clementine series and read, read, read! Not only are these books hilarious, they do help to explain what's going on in that brain; not that every third-grader is thinking along the same lines as Clementine (yikes!) but Pennypacker's take on the third-grade psyche at least reminds us that what we suspect or assume might be a student's motivation is not necessarily the case, and we need to keep open minds ourselves ... and ask them what they're thinking.

Here's a picture of the three I've read - there are five in all, and I'm so looking forward to reading the other two!

Here's a snippet of the hilarity: first, you need to realize that Clementine spends A LOT of time in Principal Rice's office. One day, while her teacher is planning a talent show and she is privately lamenting the fact that she thinks she has no talents, she raises her hand in class ---

"Yes, Clementine? Would you like to be in the cooperative group for refreshments?"

"No, thank you," I said, extra politely. "What I'd like is to go to Mrs. Rice's office."

"Clementine, you don't need to go see the principal," my teacher said. "You're not in any trouble."

"Well, it's just a matter of time," I told him. (page 3, The Talented Clementine)

Something else I like about these books is the way Pennypacker characterizes the parents. Mom is a work-at-home artist, and Dad is the building manager for their apartment building. Not the most glamorous jobs, and ones that are not often included in children's literature. It reminds me of 'blessing a book:' for young folk anyway, if the teacher reads a book, especially to the whole class, well, then it must be good. If these two occupations are good enough to be included in a book, then they really are attainable occupations. The more occupations we introduce our students to, the more options they realize they have in life.

In looking for reviews for the Clementine books, I ran across this web site that reviews children's books for parents (and of course teachers). I have not delved in too deeply, but what I see up front looks quite helpful. The site rates books on several criteria, including content, sex, bad language, violence, etc. I'll have to explore a little more, but I decided to include it here for now so that you could explore it as well.

Right now I'm over half way through Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief (from the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians), NOT because Riordan is coming to the conference (he is not), but because John Rocco is the illustrator, and HE IS!!!

Armageddon Summer

2010-09-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

While my husband and I were 'vacationing' for the last two days, I had some reading time, so I finished up another of Jane Yolen's books. This one is Armageddon Summer and was co-written with Bruce Coville. The copyright date says 1998; how did this one slip by me? I had never heard of it until I started trying to read all of the author's books by conference time and picked this one up. Okay, I hate to keep gushing about these books I'm reading, but what a great book! If you want to read what Jane has said about getting the idea for the book, you can click on this link. If you'd like to read the first bits of the book, you can read a preview here.

The general gist of the book is this: Marina (nearly 14) accompanies her mother and multiple younger brothers to the top of a mountain with her mother's preacher and several others who refer to themselves as 'Believers.' Jed also goes, to accompany his father. Jed's not a Believer, but Marina is. Both of their parents have been separated (not amicably) from their respective spouses, so Marina and Jed are in somewhat similar positions in their young lives. So of course they're going to get together somehow on this mountain.

What do I love about this book? Well, three major things. One, it's written so that alternating chapters are from Marina's point of view and then Jed's point of view. Books that are written this way really help the reader get inside the characters' heads and understand multiple perspectives. Since religious cults typically are quite sensitive topics, multiple perspectives really do help the reader make sense of what's going on. Second, it's very easy to visualize what's happening in this book. When an author creates people, settings, and action that are easy to picture, the story lives more deeply and specifically inside me and is more plausible, whether it is historically accurate fiction or there are unicorns gamboling across a meadow. I appreciate that kind of writing. But what really blew me away about the book was that it represents just how a 'good' thing can go so terribly awry. We 'hear,' through the characters, about how perfectly intelligent, well-meaning people can be led astray, even by someone with the best of intentions. For example, Jed, who really does not consider himself one of the true Believers, says of Reverend Beelson ...

"I have to say that even when he was spouting nonsense there was something fascinating about him. His voice was rich and powerful, and the rhythm of his language rolled over you until you were caught in the surge and the pull of it, strong as a tide, carrying you out into the sea of what he believed." (page 134)

Something else that is amazing about this book is that I don't believe the authors' intent was to 'bash' religious cultism; the story actually helps to explain any faction's possible genesis. We know that many cult leaders simply have a yearning for power and dominion over others, but that is not necessarily always the case.

Whew! Serious stuff there! But the topic of the book truly is serious.

Anyway, I have more books to write about, too - I've been a BUSY reader! But this is all til next time. It is dusk on Labor Day Saturday, and I have labored enough for now. Time to relax by a camp fire with the neighbors'!

New Rooms!

2010-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks, we got to see some of the newly renovated rooms at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel this week, and they are beautiful! Last year during the conference, there was an easel in front of the registration desk showing the fabrics and colors they were going to use, and it looks like they are going to have most of that beauty installed in the guest rooms by the time our conference rolls around next March. So once registration opens, I'd suggest you get yours in quickly, and request one of the rooms at the A.L. if you can!

And now, for something completely different ...

2010-08-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

Just another quick post of some people who have made an amazing career of thinking outside the box ... have you ever heard of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers? Well, mix rock and roll with bagpipes and you have a truly amazing experience! My sister posted a clip on Facebook, and when I looked at their schedule, I found out that they will be in Peoria August 27 - next Friday - so guess where I will be?

It also made me think about the genesis of big things --- who knew, really, when these guys took up their traditional instrument, that it could and would turn into something so far from the original, traditional idea? What are our kids doing in school - or NOT getting to do in school - that could eventually turn out to be something amazing, especially something that no one had conceptualized before? I really think the educators and parents of today need to fight to retain a place for creative and divergent thinking in the schools. I was watching an episode of Boston Legal the other night, and one of the cases was about the mother of a high school student suing the school because of the amount of pressure put on kids these days. Points were made about how the need to succeed has pushed kids to become test-taking machines just to get into the best colleges, and how cheating has become so rampant in our colleges and universities, for much the same reason. Learning itself has been pushed out of much of school, and I find that very sad, and very limiting.

What a downer! So if you want a little lift, click on that link and listen to some of the most amazing music I'll bet you've heard in a long, long time. And get those proposals in for the conference!

A Really SMART Conference!

2010-08-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, just a short posting, but a very important one - we have Smartboards for the conference!!! So get those proposals in, folks!

M.T. Anderson's Next Novel

2010-08-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

I finished M.T. Anderson's book, Feed, on the flight home from Grapevine Texas today, and I have to say, I loved this book. (I don't know if my roommate would concur, though, as I interrupted her own reading several times with something along the lines of "Oh, I just have to read this one part to you. Is that okay?") And my apologies to Mr. Anderson: in an interview with him at the end of the book, he disagrees that the book is futuristic, but he says something much more astute. I'll let you know what that was tomorrow, but I'm not going to unpack tonight.

So my point is this: while I liked the ending, it also left me wanting something in particular, and I think if you read the book, you might want the same thing. I would like to request that M.T. Anderson write, as his next novel, a sequel to this one titled Feedless. Read Feed - you'll understand.

I'm going to post a couple of pictures from the I.R.A. leadership workshop here. Of course, if you go to Texas, you MUST have honey cornbread in the shape of the state. And Susan Cisna and I wore t-shirts from one of our local councils, Northwestern Illinois Reading Council, so a big shout out to our reading professionals in northwestern Illinois! We also had the opportunity to meet with I.R.A.'s president-elect, Vickie Risko, and spent some wonderful time collaborating with her and exchanging information about our two organizations. I love these meetings, when we can be really productive and enjoy ourselves with fabulous people!

Can't Stop Reading It

2010-08-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Folks,

In my quest to read every book by every author who is coming to the 2011 IRC conference, I'm in the middle of M. T. Anderson's Feed, and all I can say is that it is the furthest thing from a yawn banquet you can imagine!

I feel an explanation is in order. First of all, why am I 'greeting' you from Grapevine Texas? Well, those of you familiar with the Illinois Reading Council may know that the local council leaders have an opportunity every summer to attend a leadership retreat at Grand Bear Lodge in Utica, close to Starved Rock State Park. The state level organization organizes this so that local council leaders may learn more about their positions and have some dedicated time to plan out their year's events. I mentioned this in the previous posting. Well, guess what? The International Reading Association does the same thing for state level organizations. This year they brought us to Grapevine, Texas, just outside Dallas, and we are spending time setting goals and making plans for the rest of the year ourselves. It's great to get to interact with folks from other state and provincial councils, to share ideas and try to problem-solve collaboratively, and we greatly appreciate the opportunity that the I.R.A. provides us to do so.

Now for the explanation of the yawn banquet. Feed is futuristic, and in this future, the internet is implanted into people's brains, I believe at birth. And it's proactive. If you go to a store and look at soccer balls, it will automatically send your brain ads for soccer balls and personalize the sales pitch. Spooky, huh? Well, the story is told from the point of view of a teenage boy, and as you can imagine, teenage boy 'language' is an entity unto itself. Anything boring is referred to as a 'total yawn banquet.' If a girl is pretty, she is 'youch,' and if she is REALLY pretty, she is 'meg youch.' And even though the topic is serious, this is a hilarious book. M. T. Anderson slips in just enough humor to make the reader look forward to the rest of the humor while still being able to concentrate on the story line. I can't wait to meet this author in March!

The opportunities for talking about vocabulary are rife in this book, though there is also some language that would be deemed objectionable by some folks. But I can't help myself - I can't stop reading it! I have to go attend another meeting in a few minutes, and I am so tempted to slip Feed into my bag and slip it out when no one is looking.

Annual Leadership Retreat

2010-07-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the IRC Leadership Retreat that we hold each summer in support of our local councils' officers. From what I could see, everyone had a wonderful time and got lots of planning done for the upcoming year. Local councils were able to come up with some great ideas for increasing their memberships and involving more people in their events as well as planning the events themselves. AND I got to give away two books by authors who are coming to the conference! Some lucky person will receive a free copy of Bad News for Outlaws, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, and another will receive a free copy of When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. The local council representatives who won these will give them away to a new member who has never been to the conference; those two people will present their tokens at registration (at the conference) and receive their prizes. I know it may seem a little complicated, but there are three reasons for doing it this way: providing door prizes for local councils to give away helps them with their events, a door prize that can only be collected at the conference might encourage someone to register (I know - it's just a book, but hey! It's a great book, and it's free!) and giving away these books promotes the authors who are coming to the conference.

Once again, we set up the BOX display that my husband had made for the IRC conference last spring, and my thanks to all of the good folks who helped with any aspect of this -it's always quite an undertaking, but so worth the effort. Also, HUGE thanks to the IRC office staff, who did all of the collating / printing / packing / organizing of materials (and candy!) and especially to Bobbi Sjenost, our intrepid IRA Regional Coordinator, who planned the whole thing, right down to the last detail. A wonderful time, and a productive one as well. A terrific addition this year was a session on technology - Tracy Turasiak helped local councils create Facebook pages in order to add a level of communication with their membership, and I believe some folks also started blogs and web pages. This will bring our communication further into the scope of reaching more members than we might have been doing before.

Anyone reading this blog who might be considering running for office for your local council, please go right ahead and take that step. And when you do, mark your calendars for next July for the IRC Leadership Resort at Grand Bear Resort in Utica. It's a great chance to get your questions answered about your office and to get your council's events for the year all planned out. Oh, and did I mention Membership Grant money? And the motivational speaker? And the book sale? And the indoor water park? Really, the guidance that this organization provides to new leaders is phenomenal. New officers understand their roles much better after attending Leadership, and all it costs you is your time. (Unless you stop at one of the wineries down the road.)

As for the conference, there are a few speakers who were not included in the printed version of the conference preview distributed at the conference last March, but within a few weeks, their information should be included in the online version of the preview. I'll post something in the blog when that's been amended.

I would encourage you to submit those proposals for presenting at the conference. I know the deadline seems years away, but it's only September 1st!

Did I mention that at the book sale at Leadership I purchased a copy of Harrius Potter? Yes, that's Harry Potter in Latin!

Cindy

Love and Leadership

2010-07-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well, the past few weeks have been a blur because my stepdaughter was just married this past weekend! Even as a stepmother, I had lots to do to get ready for the event, and it was even more wonderful than I'd imagined it could be. So today I've been trying to ready myself for the annual Illinois Reading Council Leadership event for this week - I need to leave tomorrow afternoon in order to be at the Grand Bear Lodge in Utica Illinois and will be there until next Friday. Leadership is always a fun event, though it's full of hard work! Local council officers have the opportunity to learn more about their offices and to plan events for the year as well as get ready for the annual conference in March the following year. Here are a couple of photos of some of the folks who attended last year.

Anyway, in a previous post I indicated that my goal would be to read EVERY book by EVERY author who will be at the 2011 conference. I've been balking at that a little bit, I will admit - quite a lofty goal I set for myself! And I'm not sure how to keep track of it - but I'm sure something will come up. Meanwhile, I'll just let you know in this blog about the books I'm reading.

Tonight I read Jane Yolen and Mark Teague's How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? and what an adorable book! I know Jane and Mark have teamed up for an entire series of "How Do" dinosaur books, and I do intend to read them all, but this one will really make you fall in love with it immediately. The dinosaurs in each illustration are different from each other, which at first I didn't understand, but then I realized that ... yes, our little 'dinosaurs' can seem like entirely different beings from moment to moment. And the wonderful thing about the different dinosaur illustrations is that each is identified on the page (and the inside of the front jacket). You and your students will learn a lot of new dinosaurs - I had never heard of most of them. Neovenator, Ouranosaurus, and Kentrosaurus, to name a few. At first I thought maybe Jane and Mark had created them out of their own imaginations, but I looked them up - so can your students!

Managing a Blog (and a self!)

2010-06-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been really bad about keeping up this blog, and I apologize. But I've learned something valuable over the last two months, since I've been absent from posting. I'm sure you are aware that there are often unintended consequences with whatever it is you undertake, and that's what's happened here. First of all, my two purposes for this blog were as follows: let people know more about the speakers coming to the 2011 IRC conference, and let potential other vice-presidents know about the process of planning the conference so that they can decide whether or not it's something they want to undertake. So here's the third thing that has happened that I did not expect: I have learned just how much pressure it can be on a person to maintain a blog.

Now I know some people think it's no big deal; you just hop on your computer and 'talk' away. And it's certainly not that I have a problem with writing - I could write all day, if need be. It's just that this blog is supposed to be serving more of a purpose than just to be an outlet for my chatting. I feel that what I post here should have some substance and serve one of the two initial purposes I set for the blog, and to tell the truth, I have not had time lately to pull together the kind of information that should be posted. I am a Department Chair at a University, so I work during the summer, and I also try to have a garden (a HUGE one), and this spring and summer have more landscaping areas to put in around our home, and my stepdaughter is getting married in a few weeks. Add all the storms to that this summer (which means I have to unplug my computer, hence no internet) and guess what else? Jury duty next week!

So I have felt guilty about not posting more on the blog, and today I feel guilty for not having good information for whoever happens to be following, but I figured that anything would be better than nothing. THIS IS NOT AN ABANDONED BLOG! That's the most important thing I can post today.

When I met him at IRA, Frank Serafini said I should send him the link to this blog and he would tweet it (or whatever you do with twitter), but at the moment I'm too embarrassed to do so. (More pressure.) I'll do that after I actually get something of substance posted.

And those storms? I hear thunder now, even as I'm typing. Gotta unplug the computer. So long for today .....

Some Special People

2010-05-03T04:10:00.000-07:00

This year the I.R.A. convention was held in Chicago. That turned out to be especially fortuitous for the I.R.A. members from Illinois for two reasons: first of all, more of them could go to the convention because travel was less expensive; also, the Illinois Reading Council won five I.R.A. awards this year, so more Illinois members got to go to the awards ceremony to see the awards bestowed! Way to go, Illinois - you continue to be top-notch in your dedication to professional development! The I.R.A. convention will return to Chicago in 2012, and I'm sure the Illinois Reading Council will be big winners again!

The I.R.A. convention boasted some of the same speakers we will have in 2011: Jane Yolen, T.A.Barron, Diane Barone, Cindy Middendorf, and Frank Serafini were all there. (Honestly, check out Dr. Serafini's page - is there anything that man can't do?) I didn't get a chance to talk with Diane and Jane, but I did get to talk with both Frank and Tom for a bit. Whenever I'm in a position to speak with someone 'of greatness,' I feel like I shouldn't be taking up their time, but these two were awesome in their kindness! I had spoken with Jane Yolen last year at I.R.A. and Diane Barone this year at the Michigan Reading Association conference, and they were both wonderful as well. (I have not met Cindy Middendorf yet, but she's got a great first name!) It's always good to know we have nice people coming to our conference, isn't it?

Remember my last post? If not, scroll down and give it a skim - it refers to my cousin and his daughter, Sophia, who is giving us her 'librarian look' in the picture. Anyway, she woke up one morning and wrote a poem about a dragon about whom she had dreamt. So when I met T.A. Barron, who has a Merlin’s Dragon Trilogy, I wanted to show her poem to him. That’s what I’m holding in the picture here. I was going to ask him to sign it, but I had already asked him to sign two books for Sophia, and there were others in line, so I nixed that idea. Maybe another time, like next March, in Illinois!

That's What I'm Talking About!

2010-04-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, now that the 2010 conference is over, I'll be adding to this blog about once a week. And what a wonderful conference we had in 2010! I hope you got a chance to go. Susan Cisna identified fabulous speakers to invite; as usual, the office staff did an amazing job of organizing and facilitating the conference; and the teachers, authors, and other professionals who led sessions were nothing short of remarkable.

For this blog, I have to share with you something that happened last week. It is predicated, unfortunately, on the passing of my legendary uncle, Richard "Uncle Buddy" Nitsche. He and my aunt and their children lived most of their lives in Lake Bluff, and a trip to their house was always fun for us as kids. Those trips were also punctuated by a drive through the beautiful Lake Forest, and also by Uncle Buddy's chuckles. That's what comes to mind immediately when I think of him: chuckles leaking out around the sides of his pipe. He was an amazing sailor and won repeated awards for his skills in the Regatta. So his passing prompted my brother Mike and I to make a quick drive to Collierville, Tennessee, where my aunt (his wife) and cousins Rick and Sue and Sue's husband now live. Other family members joined us, including my cousin Chris and his lovely wife, Mel, and their fifth-grade daughter Sophia.

Just a few days prior to this trip, I had made a goal for myself of reading every book that every author comingto the 2011 conference had written (with the possible exception of Jane Yolen - do you KNOW how many books she's written?) and I had just begun Patrick Carman's

The Dark Hills Divide. My brother and I had a chance to have Sophia in our car for a short drive to the coffee shop, and I asked the question I ask most kids: "So what are you reading these days?" She gave me a whole list of books to investigate, explaining to me how much she loves reading. Sophia is an adorable wisp with an adult vocabulary and logic that surpasses most people three times her age. I asked her if she had ever read Patrick Carman's The Dark Hills Divide, and her animated reply was that she and her family had listened to the audio book version during their drive from Savannah to the Memphis area! After some discussion about the characters (I was not far along enough in the book to know anything about her favorite character - the squirrel, Murphy, but she made me look forward to meeting him), we decided that it would be a good idea to take her picture with my copy of the traditional form of the book and her copy of the audio book - and she offered what she calls her 'librarian' look to top it off. Isn't she adorable?

Anyway, one part of next year's conference theme, "Literacy Outside the Box," refers to differing formats of 'reading' and 'writing.' Although Sophia and her family experienced what happened with Alexa and Bridewell through a different medium than I did, we still experienced the same story. I'm not advocating doing away with written text - rest assured of that - but there are different cognitive requirements for decoding through listening than there are through making visual contact with symbols on a page. We've known for a long time that the right listening skills can make a huge difference in what we 'get' from what we 'hear;' now that technology is expanding how much listening we do, do we need to identify those skills even more specifically? And what are some new ways in which we can utilize audio resources with our students? I'd love to see some conference proposals related to this topic.

And I'd love to find out what happens with Alexa in her next adventures in the land of Elyon, so I'm heading to the bookstore today!

Deadlines, and Speakers Outside the Box

2010-02-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

Deadlines:

It's Saturday night, and I have spent the entire day writing and revising material for the Conference Preview. It is February 13, 2010, and this conference is scheduled for 13 months from now, but we advertise the upcoming conference at the current conference. That means the materials have to be done earlier than you might expect; they have to be sent to printing in time to be ready to distribute at the conference the year prior. My deadline for materials to be done and sent to printing is four days from now.

What's making it so difficult to meet these deadlines? Well, work, for one. I have a very demanding job, as most educators do, and it takes a lot of time. Another problem - and one that I hadn't anticipated - is that many authors and other featured speakers will not commit to a booking more than a year away from the event. Of course as you just read, we need to have them lined up earlier than that. And that conference preview is a great marketing tool for us, so it is best to have all of the big names in it. I've checked out the conference previews for the past three years, and they all have around 30 people's pictures and biographies in them: so far I have 15. I'm not overly worried about it: we can still get great people to come after the printing deadline, and add them to the Preliminary Program, and I can tell you all about them in this blog. But it would make me feel a little odd to be the one Vice President who had to go to a four page conference preview instead of an eight-pager!

Speakers Outside the Box

One of the practices we like to follow at IRC is to not discuss the next year's conference until the current year's conference is over. That way people won't get confused (and possibly let down) about when which speakers will be attending. By the time anyone discovers this blog and starts to read it, though, the 2010 conference will most likely be over, so I can go ahead and let you know right now about a few of the exciting speakers we will have scheduled for 2011. Should I tell you about them all right away? Nah. I won't. But I will tell you about one in particular tonight because I have discovered even more about him myself today and am even more excited that he will be joining us. His name is T.A. Barron, and he hails from Colorado. He writes mostly fantasy books for young adults - he has a series on Merlin and a trilogy on The Great Tree of Avalon. He says he has written most of life, but didn't get serious about trying to do it for a living until he was already the president of a company. He had a sort of epiphany one day and walked out of a board meeting to go be a writer. Cool, huh!

This year he is going to be a featured speaker at the International Reading Association's annual conference in Chicago at the end of April, and I am going to do my best to get to meet him and chat with him. But I already know what sets him apart from others and why he represents someone who is 'outside the box' on his own terms: he believes there is a hero in all of us, and that includes every kid. That feeling of the potential for heroism permeates his work. On top of that, he has created an award in honor of his mother, who was his hero. Every year, he gives out ten awards, the Barron Prize for Young Heroes, to young people who demonstrate heroic leadership in service projects. You can watch a short video in which T.A. and one of the recipients are interviewed here. I am looking forward to having someone with such a positive outlook about today's youth join us in 2011.

Literacy Outside the Box

2010-01-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

Greetings, All!

The purpose of this blog will be to track the progress and development of the Illinois Reading Council's 2011 Annual Conference. I happen to be the Vice President, which means this conference is my responsibility. The conference theme - upon which I should have decided long ago - will be "Literacy Outside the Box." In the past, the other conference chairs have come up with their themes at least three months sooner than I did, but I have a problem, sometimes, with making decisions, when it is something that is a big deal like this. The possibilities are endless, and I really wanted to make sure the conference theme reflected the kind of conference I wanted to help develop.

Several months ago, the Executive Director came to my house to meet with me about getting started in all of this. She seemed surprised when I told her I wasn't worried about the planning of the conference, even though that is probably the biggest responsibility I'll have in the next four years. The reason I don't worry about it is that the organization itself, the Illinois Reading Council, is such a well-run organization of fabulous people - all volunteers except the four office staff - that I have every reason to have confidence that it will come off without a hitch.

My list of potential speakers was huge from the very beginning, and even though it was hard to winnow it down to what I felt was a workable, affordable group of authors and reading professionals, the only difficult thing about that process was deciding who should speak at which meals and who should be considered a 'featured speaker' instead of a 'meal speaker.'

The most difficult process by far has been landing on the theme.

The concept that I want to promote through this conference is that we need to expand what we consider 'literacy' and where it can be found; literacy exists in so many places other than just books, even though I almost duck my head in shame in saying that, since books have always been so important to me. We all know that there are different things to read these days: blogs, web sites, Facebook, Twitter, Wiki's, etc. Like it or not, those means of communication are a part of our world, and they aren't going away, unless it's to be replaced by something else more technologically slick. I thought about a couple of other ideas before landing on "Literacy Outside the Box." "Expanding the World of Literacy" was a possibility that I thought got across the idea, but when I envisioned the logo, all I could see was an exploding earth, and that just seemed a little violent. Then I thought about a puzzle theme, something along the lines of "Putting Together the Puzzle Pieces of Literacy," but it just felt like it would be more limiting than I wanted, since it would focus more on putting things together to create a whole, and I wanted people to be encouraged to think outside of the whole.

My intent is not to try to diminish the importance of good literature; rather, it is to help us all become even more aware of the literacy that exists in today's world. I want educators to think outside the box, especially at a time when they are forced more and more to try to compartmentalize teaching and learning and stick to almost script-like teaching; in other words, it seems that we are being asked to box ourselves in. Our schools are producing kids who don't like to read, for the most part, and it's not the fault of the teachers.

From what I've been told about blogs, one is supposed to take ownership and post what one wants - so this is my blog, and I get to post what I want in it. I guess that's why you see the particularly unattractive picture of me in this post - but I had just completed a hike up to Manoa Falls outside of Honolulu, and sweaty and disheveled as I was, I was happy to be in such a beautiful place.

It is my hope that this blog will serve three purposes: to let others know some of what goes on behind the scenes in developing a conference, to explain some of my crazy ideas about literacy, and to let readers know about the speakers who will be joining us for the conference. If you follow this blog for the next year, you should come to the Illinois Reading Council 2011 Conference feeling like you know the folks who will be speaking there and working there to get things ready for you.

Here we go, folks!