Time Flies

by Hugh MacLeod at Gaping Void

Small Art

Anybody who's been around me or this blog for very long probably knows that I am a huge fan of Hugh MacLeod (gapingvoid.com). I get a cartoon a day in my email very weekday and many of them are archived in a "comics" folder on my computer desktop. My business cards feature MacLeod's art.

My admiration for Hugh MacLeod continues to grow. This week, I was doodling around in Twitter, waiting for the timer to go off so I could move the hose from one part of the dry spot in mom's lawn to another, when I found this article he wrote: In Praise of Small Art. Go ahead and read it. It's a short article.

In some ways, it seems to me that Education (capital E) can be equated to Big Art. What we do in our classrooms when we close our doors is Small Art.

And the more I think about it, many of the classroom practices that are the most powerful are also Small Art: read aloud , Poetry Friday, 15 Minutes on Friday, reading/writing conferences, minilessons .

Small Art was at the heart of the poem I shared last Friday for Poetry Friday, and -- how far will this train of thought lead me? -- poetry is definitely a Small Art.

Today, right now, is Small Art. My life, constructed of these small installations, is Big Art, and to make the Big Art as beautiful as possible, each bit of Small Art needs to be well-crafted and intentional. Praise-worthy.

Here's to Small Art!

Go make some.

Midweek Meandering

by Hugh MacLeod, Gapingvoid.com

Do you agree or disagree?

Can you think of a time when you were invited onto the yacht? 

Did it make a difference in your life?

How about a time when you confidently paddled your own canoe? 

How did that experience change you?

"There's an article in that!"

My laptop's brain is on the brink of being so full it explodes.

I won't be able to download the pictures that are on my camera and make my monthly mosaic until I get a new hard drive with about a hundred spare acres so my creativity can once again roam freely.

Until then, I'm catching up on my reading, doodling with my colored pencils in my sketchbook, and taking mini field trips to the front and back gardens to visit the two plants I bought at the Clintonville Farmers' Market yesterday -- a female Jack-in-the-Pulpit that is "with seeds," and a Butterfly Milkweed that is purported to be "crack cocaine for butterflies."

Poetry Friday -- Addendums

As I was working on my Poetry Friday post, the Gapingvoid daily cartoon from Hugh MacLeod pinged into my inbox. It seems to talk nicely to today's poem, but I didn't want to clutter up my post with any chatter.

IMHO

This-n-That

A new blog, Bookmatchmaker, is a clearinghouse for service programs around the world that aim to get books into children's hands. Check it out if you have books or $$ to give, or if you have a program that needs to be listed.

Are you a member of the Children's Literature Assembly?  (Why not??) If you're a member of NCTE and CLA, and are a teacher leader, literacy coach, or teacher educator, consider applying for the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Teacher Leader Award. (Application deadline is June 15.)

While we're on the subject of the Children's Literature Assembly, if you are a member who has a blog focusing on children's literature, and you'd like to have a link to your blog listed in a resource section of the CLA website (and you'll link back to the website on your blog), drop a note in the comments.

Here's information about the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and here's a new blog with teaching resources for previous Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award winners and honor books.

Apple Dip Recipe for Teacher Events

(In an attempt to live a more balanced life, I thought I would share a great recipe today.)

Today, we had a Teacher Sneak Peek at the Book Fair. Teachers came in before school, browsed the books and created Wish Lists. And, of course, we had some food. If you are looking for a great and easy fall recipe, the Apple Dip I made was a huge hit. It is the quickest, easiest thing I have ever made. I got the recipe from my neighbor over the summer and have made it several times since then. I have no idea where it originated but I would love to thank the person who figured out this combination of ingredients.

I use a regular size pie plate to serve this in.

Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar
1 large container of whipped cream cheese
1 large container of caramel apple dip
1/2 bag mini chocolate chips
1/2 bag crushed Heath bars
8-10 apples

Take 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 large container of whipped cream cheese. Mix these together with mixer.

Spread this onto bottom of pie plate as 1st of 3 layers.

For the second layer, use a large container of caramel apple dip. Microwave it a bit until it is spreadable and then spread it on top.

Finally, for layer 3, cover caramel dip with mini-chocolate chips and crushed Heath bars. Use enough to completely cover the caramel.

This is great with apples or graham cracker sticks. Or actually with anything:-)

Enjoy!

Making Lemonade

Good thing our phone was on the fritz a couple of weeks ago. That meant we didn't have Internet access on a Tuesday night when all my work depended on getting online. Needed to pay bills. Little stuff like that.

We packed a book to read (him), a computer (her), and went to Scotties, the nearest Free Internet With Your Cup of Coffee joint that we could think of.

I was (more than) just a little tired and crabby about not being able to work at home in my jammies and then fall right into bed. As we walked into Scotties, my ears went, "Is that LIVE music?" and the crabby started to leak right out of me. Four old guys were playing 1940's-60's tunes on electric guitars that were amped but not cranked. They sounded like my childhood guitar teacher, Rudy Schlichenmayer. They sat slouched over their guitars in a wide half-circle so they could watch each other and riff off each other. When they sang, their voices sounded like the records my parents used to play. My crabbiness left me. I started noticing that they weren't really all that old, now that I'm on the near side of old myself. They were probably in their 60's. They obviously liked each other and enjoyed getting together to have a public jam session.

I got my work done. We checked the schedule. They play every Tuesday night. I'll be there whenever I can.

Great Resources for Young Readers

For all kids: KidsReads.com

For boys: Guys Read

Boys Rule Boys Read!

For girls: Girls Read, Girls Rule (The World)

This information is brought to you courtesy of the collective brain of the Kidlitosphere Yahoo Group.

Marketing

Seth Godin is "America's Greatest Marketer."

Here's his take on the purpose of a book cover.

And a post to read if you want to try to get your head around the world in which our students/children will be adults: "In a world of free, everyone can play."

This-n-That

A simple lesson in economics, and a big thank you Jessica Hagy for giving teachers credit where credit is due. Found at Indexed.

Way cool interactive timeline of children's literature.

Fabulous interview with Jan Thomas at 7-Imp.

New Mo Willems character unveiled!

Scaredy Squirrel Sighting (and a love letter to independent bookstores)

"Such a discouraging time for people who love reading. Independent bookstores are struggling, all those magical places built by people who loved books from the moment they could hold one, and wanted to share that love with others. Helen recalls one such store where she did a reading a couple of years ago, how inviting the place was, with its broken-in armchairs and lamps glowing a deep yellow, with the cat named Melville, who slept on his back in the front window. It was a browser's paradise, books so thoughtfully and attractively displayed you wanted everything you saw, whether it was a nonfiction book about cod, or a volume of poetry, or a fat novel with ragged-edged pages, or a cookbook featuring winter soups. It was a time -- the only time, as it happened -- that Helen had arrived far too early for her reading, and she spent forty minutes wandering around the store. In the children's section, she eavesdropped as a mother read Scaredy Squirrel to her son; both mother and child laughed aloud at the inclusion of sardines in Scaredy's emergency kit, and at his first step in what to do in case of emergency: "panic." Helen laughed, too, and stopped just short of asking if she could sit down and listen to the rest of the story." (p.227-228)

Sign-Up Sunday

Registered for NCTE in Philly and got the hotel room locked in.



Tried and tried and TRIED to find a way to participate in Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge, but it's just not going to happen this year. June 5 is our (teachers') last day of school, June 6 I'm fishing in a charity fish-a-thon for Casting for Recovery (Ohio), and June 7 I'm going to be busting to get two PowerPoints ready for a conference in Michigan June 11-12. I'll do my best to get around and comment on your posts and cheer you on.





I've got the Kidlitosphere Conference on my calendar (October 16-18) and I'll sign up and get the hotel room as soon as more details become available.


Got IRA on my calendar for 2010. Looks like I'll miss one day of state testing. Hoping that won't be a problem...

Last I knew, IRA was going to be in LA in 2010. I was tickled pink to learn that it will be in Chicago instead. My savings account breathed a sigh of relief.

This-n-That

What I Love About Procrastination (at Indexed)

My Favorite Combination of Truth and Snarkiness (It's Not All Flowers and Sausages)

Rhubarb Cobbler *swoon* (from Smitten Kitchen)

A belated Cinco de Mayo greeting (at LOLdogs)

Random Bits of This and That

While I'm getting back up to speed with reading and reviewing and blogging, here are some fun tidbits.  They all seem kind of related in a weird sort of way.

First, the Thought for the Day on my iGoogle page:

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

- Richard Feynman

Next, an email funny:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you would have $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily and recycle.  It is called the 401-Keg.

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon!

Makes you proud to be an American!

And finally, a funny photo entitled Hard Night in the Pumpkin Patch:

Memorial Day

Thank you, TadMack for a Memorial Day poem, a bit of information about the history of the day, a great photo, and a reminder that Colleen at Chasing Ray has invited bloggers to highlight books (for ages 4-100) that cover political subjects on Wednesdays this August:

August 5th - Race in America
August 12th - The environment
August 19th - Class divisions in America
August 26th - US foreign policy

Start gathering your titles!

If you can't think of anything nice to say...

...your mother and/or your conscience would tell you not to say anything at all. Then again, you might try one of these pithy (snarky?) quotes in your next difficult review:

I have read your book and much like it.

Thank you for sending me a copy of your book. I'll waste no time reading it.

This book fills a much-needed gap.

These quotes are all by Moses Hadas. They and others can be found at The Quotations Page.

Spring Cleaning

Save trees, send less waste to the landfill (or hopefully, to recycling), and reduce your risk for identity theft.

1. Switch to e-statements and e-billing whenever possible. Save trees and keep your personal information out of publicly accessible mailboxes at the same time.

2. Opt out of unsolicited credit card and other pre-screened offers. OptOutPrescreen.com

3. Opt out of unwanted catalogs. Call the company directly, or go to CatalogChoice.org

Thanks to Danielle Chatfield, Community Affairs Director of MidState Educators Credit Union for these suggestions.

This 'n That

I'm just getting ready to go check out today's Robert's Snow posts. I haven't kept up on my blog reading since this blizzard of posting started, but I have read almost every Robert's Snow post on the day it was posted. And if not on the day, the day after. This dedication to reading Snow posts and lack of regular blog reading habits has, of course, resulted in me being days late to important revelations, and thoughtful conversations. I'm sure there's plenty of other action in the kidlitosphere that I've missed, but since I don't know what it is, I'm not worrying about it!

How about a few Halloween diversions, just for hoots?!?!? (pun intended)

• Check out Sam Riddleburger and Cece Bell's daily Halloween features. They've got some amazing (even sock monkey) pumpkin carving and some creative costuming (Oompa-Loompa legs not withstanding) going on!
• Speaking of pumpkin carving, here's extreme pumpkin carving.
• If you want the basics, go here or here.

Now, get back to work, or go outside and enjoy the fall weather, all of you who have enjoyable fall weather.