Happy New Year! I haven’t been writing much for the blog recently because I’ve been a little busy getting a project live. My friend Tammy Dunbar and I are starting off 2018 with a Skype Global Collaboration project called Cultivate World Literacy. We are both teachers who are passionate about finding ways to empower students to make changes that impact others. We decided to come together and design a project where people could learn about the issues of literacy and make a difference in the process! If you believe that literacy is crucial for all children regardless of their circumstances, th ..read more

The 3rd annual Microsoft in Education Skype-a-thon has officially wrapped up for us at school. This fabulous global learning experiences provides students a chance to open their hearts and minds to new people and opportunities for learning. We played Mystery Location, Mystery Number and Mystery Animal. Playing these games seems pretty easy until you try it! Imagine 20 questions, except you are trying to figure out where in the world the other classroom is located, or what their mystery number or animal is. The object is to figure it out quickly and using smart “juicy” questions. Think questio ..read more

Iain Reading, author of the Dragon of the Month Club and the Kitty Hawk series visited our school again this week. Here is a presentation about the event.   Iain Reading Guest Author Iain Reading, author of the middle grade Dragon of the Month Club and Kitty Hawk series came to our school on Thursday for a 5th grade author visit. This was his second visit in two years a… Go to this Sway ..read more

I first read Wonder in 2012 and lost track of how many times I’ve recommended it. This book about ten-year old Auggie who was born with Treacher-Collins Syndrome which affects a person’s facial features. “My name is August, but the way. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” page 3 Now this #1 New York Times bestseller is being released as a major motion picture on November 17th, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Daveed Diggs, and Mandy Patinkin. We have a copy of the new version of Wonder which includes full-color movie photos ..read more

“Babymouse is back and sassieer than ever in her middle-grade debut, Babymouse Tales from the Locker: Lights, Camera, Middle School! Using Babymouse’s signature humor and engaging illustrations, sister and brother duo Jennifer and Matthew Holm are now introducing their beloved Babymouse to a new crop of readers sure to embrace the humor and heart of the new graphic novel series as younger readers have done for the original books.” From Random House Children’s Books I’ve been waiting for a new Babymouse book. I never thought she would turn up as a middle schooler! Babymouse has to grow u ..read more

“Award-winning author Rob Buyea offers a new series of unforgettable characters in The Perfect Score. Kid-friendly and full of heart, this new series is further evidence of Buyea’s masterful understanding of middle schoolers, a reputation first established with his popular Mr. Terupt series.”From Random House Children’s Books: The Perfect Score is told through the voices of five students in 6th grade. Gavin loves football, but has never done so well in school, Randi is a gymnast who is trying to cope with her zealous mother, Natalie thinks like she is already an attorney, Scott who is almost ..read more

From Goodreads, “Can two very different families find their space in the world together? A wonderful wordless picture book offers stylish art, humor, and charm. ” The wonderful part about reading wordless picture books is that it forces the reader to slow down and thoughtfully engage with the illustrations. Owl Bat, Bat Owl  by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is a great example of a wordless picture book that begs to be read slowly to savor its quiet, yet powerful message. We might be different, but we can all get along is something we all need to remember more. Good choice for K-2 reader ..read more

I’m not usually one to do a theme, but I’m giving it a try this year with a global theme: One Global Library.  One of the qualities I love the most about my school is the rich diversity of our families. Besides English, there are 84 different languages spoken by our families. To celebrate this diversity, I have created a wall outside the library with signs saying Libraries are for Everyone in 51 different languages. These signs were made by  Rebecca McCorkindale, a public librarian in Nebraska. They are published on her website Hafuboti. She wants and encourages librarie ..read more

Finally, the wait is over. The summer is a distant memory. We are four weeks into the school year. The behind the scenes project that took us an entire year to accomplish is in place and working! Our everybody picture book area has been switched from a traditional book shelving system to a category based shelving system called  Picture Book City. Now we have a seamless system for early to intermediate readers to find books easily. I was an early converter to a genre based fiction system. I’ve done some Dewey modification in animals and sports. There’s more work to be done, but I’m happy ..read more

This is the final post in a series about my experience while teaching and traveling this summer in South Africa. Here are the links to the previous posts: Impact of Caring: Post 1 – Faaidah and Mahavia Impact of Caring: Post 2 – Fiona and Cheryl Impact of Caring: Post 3 – Kannemeyer Primary School Impact of Caring: Post 4 – Julika Falconer Impact of Caring: Post 5 – Desiree Impact of Caring: Post 6 – Phuti When I think about teachers who give their hearts to teaching, these ladies are at the front of the line. Tinny (left) and Vernice (right) teach at Pula Madibogo Primary School in Lim ..read more