NCTE Book Awards

NCTE announced its book awards this week.  I love both of the lists.  I've always loved the Orbis Pictus Award. I've watched it for years and have discovered so many amazing nonfiction books through this award and list each year. This year, I had read many books on the award list, but have several that I'll add to my TBR stack.  

This year, I was part of the Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children committee. It is an honor to be part of this committee during its first years. I never had the opportunity to study under Charlotte Huck at Ohio State but I feel that I learned from her through her writing and through others I knew who knew her. What a legacy! And I so love the premise of the new Charlotte Huck Award.  From the NCTE website, "The award commemorates the work of educator Charlotte Huck and her focus on the importance of bringing books and children together in significant ways. " It goes on to discuss the criteria--below is the first bullet.

• Fiction for children that has the potential to transform children’s lives
• Fiction that invites compassion, imagination, and wonder
• Fiction that connects children to their own humanity and offers them a rich experience with the power to influence their lives
• Fiction that stretches children’s thinking, feelings, and imagination

Isn't this what children's literature is all about? Isn't this what matters?

The experience I had on the committee, learning from so many amazing people, thinking about this award was incredible. Definitely a great way to start 2015. If you have not seen the award list, you can find it here.

Thoughts on Teaching and Learning: May 1

Over the past several weeks, I have found myself doing a lot of reflection trying to get this online teaching right.  I keep meaning to get my thoughts on paper but then get caught up in the day-to-day work of teaching in this pandemic era.  I know if I can catch my breath, there is a lot to learn and reflect on during this time. So, I decided that every day in May, I will share my thoughts on Teaching and Learning.  This is Day 1.

Today I am feeling thankful. Thankful for the community of educators who are working so hard to make these months right for our students and to support each other.  I have always relied on thinking with others and I've always believed strongly that none of us can do this work alone. I noticed right off--after saying goodbye to my students not knowing when we'd be back in our classroom--how much I relied on colleagues.  When I found myself planning and teaching alone in my house, I missed thinking with others almost immediately.  I realized how often a 2 minute conversation in the hallway helped me make sense of something and helped me know what to do next in the classroom. I realized quickly that I would need to figure out how to make collaboration happen during this time when all of every educator I knew was busy just trying to keep up and figure this out.  I have relied on so many people to figure out how to do this online teaching and to keep up my energy and hopefulness during these days stuck at home.

I am in awe of all of the sharing and support we are giving to each other and I am so thankful for it. It is truly amazing what we have accomplished together.

I am thankful for Antero Garcia, Detra Price-Dennis and the entire NCTE staff for hosting Member Gatherings each week. When I've been able to attend these gatherings, they have been nourishing and inspiring.

I am thankful for NCTE Ambassadors, Christina Nosek (@ChristinaNosek) and Michelle Rankins (@MichelleRankins), for hosting an NCTE Social Hour that was an hour of self-care that was truly needed.

I am thankful for my Zoom Book Club. After weeks of not being able to read (even though I had plenty of time), I have gotten my reading life back:-)

I am thankful to Mary Lee for her month of poetry. Each one of Mary Lee's poems has helped me make sense of these days and all I have been feeling.  Especially this one.

I am thankful for the authors who have shared lessons, read aloud and been so generous with their time.   And I'm thankful for all of the publishers who have revised policies so that teachers can share books with kids online. And a big thank you to Kate Messner for curating all of this for us, so that we could find everything we need in one place.

I am thankful for Julie Johnson, Mary Lee, Ann Marie Corgill (@acorgill)  and Clare Landrigan who spent more time than I think they probably wanted to helping me think through choice and agency in these early days of distance learning.  Having colleagues who helped me figure out how to stay grounded in the things that are most important--how can we do this work without that?

Thank goodness for group texts --I can't imagine doing this work without being able to text my 5th grade team and local colleagues to get ideas on resources, think through a lesson, figure out a tech tool, etc.

And thank you to the all of the teachers who are writing and sharing their journeys so that we can do better-- Kristin Ziemke and Katie Muhtaris, Stella Villalba, Aeriale Johnson, BernNadette Best-Green, Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle.

I am so thankful to have rediscovered our National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. If you have not watched and rewatched "The Miracle of Morning", you must. I have watched it several times over these last couple of weeks.

And I am so thankful for this new gift from Katharine Hsu--LemmeTryThat--reminding me about balance and to make time for joy and hobbies and fun. Her weekly newsletters and social media post are fabulous.

As I said early in this post, I noticed during those first few days at home--after we said goodbye to our students not knowing if we'd be back to school--that I have never taught alone. That it is the thinking together that helps us do the best job we can for our students. I worried so much about how that would happen during those first few days planning alone at my kitchen table. But I shouldn't have worried. Our educator community is one I've always been proud and grateful to be part of. I can say that now more than ever.

The Ripple Effect of Award Lists on the NCTE Blog

Stacey Ross and I wrote a recent post for the NCTE Blog.  It is about the NCTE Book Awards. You can find it here.

Looking forward to hearing many of the award-winning authors at this year's convention!

Poetry Friday Roundup is HERE!

Happy Thanksgiving!



Welcome to the feast of Poetry Friday Posts:
(leave your link in the comments and I'll round up the old-fashioned way)

April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors is thankful for a whole host of angels.

Renee LaTulippe at No Water River is hosting a poet-a-palooza with an interview and FIVE poetry videos from around the world.

Snow is falling and Robert Frost is evoked at Charles Ghinga's Father Goose blog.

Steve Peterson at inside the dog... shares a poem about change.

Winter is on its way in Matt Forrest's poem at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme.

Linda Kulp at Write Time took the Teaching Authors' challenge and wrote a "Thanku."

Just for a change of pace, Myra Garces-Bacsal shares a book of pirate poems at Gathering Books.

Carmela Martino at Teaching Authors is thankful for her colleague and friend Esther Hershenhorn.

Laura Purdie Salas spotlights Michael Hall's CAT TALE and brings us this week's 15 Words or Less Poems inspired by pumpkins.

Linda Baie at Teacher Dance is in the midst of change -- specifically, a move to a new house -- and finds a deep connection to Ralph Fletcher's book MOVING DAY.

Yum. Jama's sharing some more peanut butter poems at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

I'm not quite caught up with the first round of linkers, but Jama mentioned the peanut clusters so it seems appropriate to stop here and describe the disaster that is my kitchen right now. (This by way of apology for the lack of inspiration in this roundup post.)

We'll start with the counter, then, where there are 25 candy bags, loaded with peanut clusters, awaiting the graham cracker toffee that is chilling on the card table in the garage. These 25 bags will join the 25 that are complete, and that will mark about the halfway point of the yearly candy making craziness/fun.

The rest of the counter, sink and stove areas bear the evidence that I very nearly spent too much time yesterday afternoon trying to find inspiration for this roundup post and came dangerously close to not having the roasted brussel sprouts (with bacon and toasted pecans) ready to take to our evening feast. Lordy, what a mess!

And now let's consider the kitchen table before me. The cornucopia flower arrangement was delivered last Wednesday, just before I left for the airport to go to NCTE. It is a bit past its prime here and there, but by golly, I'm going to pretend it's fresh for a few more days. Just about the entire rest of the table is covered with piles -- a couple are AJ's, but most are mine: NCTE pile, CYBILS pile, school pile, TBR pile, to-do pile...and the button that needs to be sewn on my jacket sleeve.

Behind me are the bags full of books from NCTE, plus a school bag filled with papers to grade and lessons to plan.

Thanksgiving is a time when every one of my plates is too full...and for this bounty of food, I give thanks. And for this bounty of work that I love, I give thanks. And for a table and a counter to hold my messes, I give thanks. For too much to read, I give thanks. For the tradition of Poetry Friday and for the community of bloggers who join the weekly party, I give thanks.

Now then. Back to the roundup.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Joy Acey imagines "Thanksgiving in the Barn" at Poetry for Kids Joy.

Black Friday, anyone? Violet Nesdoly has a shopping list for poets!

Laura Shovan at Author Amok gives thanks for yoga, football (and the halftime show!), words, and time.

Random acts of poetry epitomizes The Opposite of Indifference. Brought to you by Tabatha.

Matt Goodfellow at Poems and things! has two poems for us today, a chestnutty one and rain snake one.

Diane Mayr has posts up at Random Noodling (a rant I agree with COMPLETELY), KK's Kwotes (a cautionary quote for poets who are tempted to rush), and The Write Sisters (art that dances on our heads and holds our PJs).

At Growing Wild, Liz Steinglass serves up three dishes and a delicious-looking pumpkin pie.

Sylvia shares a Week 13 poem from The Poetry Friday Anthology at the PFA Blog, and information about a 12/12/12 e-book give-away.

Carol is contemplating necessity and wealth at Carol's Corner. She's raking leaves and letting Black Friday pass her by.

Thank you, Ruth (at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town), for Neruda and Cold Play in the same post. For a beach and stars and a fugitive ode to laziness. I think I'll let the rest of today's work go untouched and instead get some sand in my shoes.

Gregory K. at GottaBook has a timely poem -- "The Day After Thanksgiving."

Author Susan Taylor Brown shares her debut as an illustrator of Haiku Diem.

Lori Ann Glover at On Point has an original haiku today.

Lucky Jone! She got to attend a writing workshop led by Oregon's Poet Laureate! Two of the poems Jone wrote that day are shared at Check it Out.

Dorothy Parker is waiting for you at Douglas Florian's Florian Cafe.

Julie Larios at The Drift Record shares a poem by Jack Gilbert titled "Horses at Midnight Without a Moon."

Little Willow shares Emily Dickinson's "The Cricket Sang" at Bildungsroman.

Ramona at Pleasures from the Page has written a trio of "thankus," inspired by the bloggers at Teaching Authors.

Digital Reading

Last week, Digital Reading: What's Essential in Grades 3-8 was published by NCTE.  This book is a book I co-authored with Bill Bass.  It has been a long process with a lot of great learning along the way. Our editor Cathy Fleischer really pushed us as learners and writers, so it was a great process. We were able to really dig in and think through our beliefs about reading and how it is changing in this digital age. It is fun to see the book finally be released into the world.   We have lots of voices from classroom teachers in the book--people we learn from and with every day. We listed the contributors in our NCTE blog post -great people to follow if you are thinking about digital reading!

It has been fun chatting with others about the topic since the book's release.  Earlier this month, NCTE asked us to host #nctechat around Reading in the Digital Age. It was a great chat. If you missed it, you can read the archives here.

The book is part of the PIP imprint and there is another book in this particular series that you'll want to check out. Troy Hicks and Kristen Turner just released Connected Reading:  Teaching Adolescent Readers in a Digital World. We had many thought-provoking chats during the writing of our books and we are excited that their book is out in the world now!  You can listen to Troy and Kristen talk about their new book on Education Talk Radio.  They have also created an amazing wiki that goes along with their book.

 Kristin Ziemke posted on the Nerdy Book Club blog about the topic. It was an amazing post and is in line with our thinking about reading in the digital age.

Digital Literacy is a topic we care deeply about and will continue to think about and learn about. 

November Mosaic

November is always such a gallop, what with mammo/onco appointments, parent conferences, report cards, 5th grade concert...but lookie there...I took time for a coloring page at The James, a concert at Natalie's, a bonfire,  and a bike ride before NCTE, plus a lovely afternoon at the Audubon Metropark as our Black Friday #OptOutside after NCTE. And of course, NCTE was all kinds of loveliness in the middle of all that other craziness!

You can see the images in this mosaic on Flickr here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  So, as I often say, it is hard to keep up with a blog about reading when you have no time to READ!  This week (or month for that matter) has not been a great one for my reading life. Report cards, NCTE, Thanksgiving holiday, etc. have all kept me from reading much. But I have read two things that I love so I thought I'd share. (For more It's Monday! What Are You Reading? posts, visit Kellee and Jen's blog, Teach Mentor Texts.)

I felt like I won the lottery when I was handed an ARC of James Preller's new book (the first in a new series--HOME SWEET HORROR (SCARY TALES SERIES).  I had heard about this series as I am a huge James Preller fan  (because he is one of the best author visits ever). But I didn't know the arcs were available yet.  So I was thrilled to get one when I had asked for books appropriate for 4th grade at his publisher's booth at NCTE.  This was the first on my stack that I read when returning from NCTE.  I actually took it out of a child's hands so that I could read it over Thanksgiving break.  And I loved it.  When I was a librarian, I learned just how much kids loved scary stories. And I learned how few scary stories there are for elementary kids.  I could not keep enough copies of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the library.  And even those, I believe, are a bit much for 3rd-5th graders. Except for Mary Downing Hahn's books (which are perfectly scary for this age), there isn't a lot out there.  So, I am very excited about this new series and I am even more excited now that I read the book. This is an early chapter book--120+ pages with great black and white illustrations.  Terrifyingly wonderful illustrations, by the way by Iacopo Bruno.  The text is large enough that it isn't intimidating. And the book are really quite scary. Dead people, ghosts, true terror.  These aren't pretend scary books--they are scary books meant for readers who actually want to read scary books.  (Sometimes scary books for young kids are fake-scary and kids know this.). But Preller, as always, knows this age group well. He knows how to make the books really scary but still perfect for upper elementary kids.  The ARC says grades 2-5. I am not so sure about Grade 2 although I have had 2nd graders who love scary stories.  But for fans of truly scary stories, this is going to be a great series. And I love that the length and difficulty make it more accessible than other scary stories out there.  Me, I am not a fan of scary stories--they scare me and I have nightmares. Every since Amityville Horror, I've pretty much given up on reading them.  But I will read these because they are just the right level of scary for me and because they are really engaging. It looks like 2 of these are coming out at the same time (Book 2 is called I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM).  Hoping James Preller is writing fast-right now-so that he gets lots of these out fast. Not sure how librarians are going to keep enough copies of these for readers.  This series is not due out until July and I do hate to write a post about it this early, but I figure we are all looking for new scary books for elementary kids so I figure you'll remember this one. Or you'll preorder it right now.  (You can read more about these books on James Preller's blog.)

The other book I read was I HATE READING: HOW TO GET THROUGH 20 MINUTES OF READING A DAY WITHOUT REALLY READING by Arthur and Henry Bacon was one that was recommended to me on Twitter.  Maybe during #titletalk. This is a fun picture book that is really a "how-to" book.   Written by two brothers, it is a guide for getting through those dreaded 20 minutes of required reading time. Filled with reminders and tips, these brothers have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves. A fun read filled with humor and fun.  How I've missed this book for 4 years is beyond me!

A big part of my reading this week was during my NCTE12 Roundup. Little did I know when I offered to pull posts together, what a great experience it would be. I was so lucky to read all of these posts as I added them to the round up.  Whether you attended the convention or not, the posts are definitely worth reading--so much to think about. My thinking is that the conversations we started at NCTE12 will last all year!

NCTE Convention Info on Website

(Thanks to THE READING ZONE for this fun new toy that let me create the NCTE heading!)

It is that time of year again--time to register for NCTE's (National Council of Teachers of English) Annual Convention! This year, the conference, themed BECAUSE SHIFT HAPPENS: TEACHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY, will be held in San Antonio, Texas from November 20-23.

Kylene Beers, program chair for the convention shares her thoughts on the convention and the theme.

And, they have posted a list of some of the big speakers. SOOO many great speakers and authors all in one place! It really does look like a phenomenal weekend! Some children's authors of interest are Tomie dePaola, Jacqueline Woodson, Sharon Creech, and Lois Ehlert. General Session speakers are also pretty amazing--I am looking quite forward to Gary E. Knell, President of Sesame Street and his special guest!! Lots more great speakers are posted on the site.

If you are wondering about sessions that match your needs, the searchable program is great. You can look for speakers, topics, strands, etc.

Looks to be a great conference in a great location!

Mary Lee, Katie D., Karen S., and I (who will all be attending) will plan some type of Kidlitosphere get-together. We'll do something casual and simple to get together and visit. Lots of us were there last year and it was quite fun. So, if you decide to come to San Antonio, email us or comment on the blog and we'll know how many to plan for.

Kylene Beers' Presidential Address: NCTE 2009

If you were at NCTE's Annual Convention, hopefully you heard Kylene Beers give her Presidential Address on Sunday morning. The title of her talk was "Sailing Over the Edge: Navigating the Uncharted Waters of a World Gone Flat". There was standing room only and Kylene received a standing ovation for her talk. It was one of the best messages I have heard in a very long time. It was truthful and honest and hopeful. And brilliant, of course. NCTE just posted the Presidential Address to their website. I would highly recommend reading it and sharing it with everyone you know. So happy that it has been published so that it can be shared beyond the people who were in the room that morning at the convention.

Poetry Friday -- If

photo via Unsplash

If it weren't for the fireflies'
Nightly silent
Fireworks
I might have forgotten how much we
Need even tiny sparks of magic
In our lives
To remind us of the size of
Eternity.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

It has been so delightful to spend the week with the word IF! Thank you, Charles and Irene for the call for poems using IF as the first word of the first line.

I have poem notes and drafts in my writer's notebook between notes from Phil Bildner's talk on BookLove, Dr. Paul Thomas' NCTE/LLA talk "Teaching Without a Deficit Lens," Kelly Gallagher and Julia Torres' talk on BookLove, Cornelius Minor's NCTE Member chat, and April Baker Bell's NCTE talk about her book Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity and Pedagogy. It's been the kind of week that has needed poetry woven throughout.

This poem got a lot of love when I polled adults and former students. But the more I thought about Heidi's feedback, the more I realized that it was the other one that needs to be submitted...after I revise the ending. Thanks, Heidi!

Linda has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at A Word Edgewise. She's got an In One Word Poem for us today.

Graphic Novels in Education

I'm impressed. The lag time between the explosion of graphic novels and ideas for what else to do with them in the classroom besides let kids read them has been fairly short.

The NCTE Inbox Blog has information about a new NCTE professional book, Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel, ed. James Bucky Carter. Unfortunately for elementary teachers, this book is for teachers in grades 7-12.

However, the ReadWriteThink lesson "The Comic Book Show and Tell" looks as if it could be adapted for younger readers and writers. Especially nice is the Comic Vocabulary Interactive, which gives definitions and visual examples of text, layout and design, and angles. I'd like to gather multiple copies of BabyMouse books from the library (once again, what would I do without the public library?!?!) and try to adapt this lesson for my graphic novel-obsessed 5th graders.

"Graphic novels and comic books provide rich opportunities to explore multimodal literacy. They’re anything but simple. The sophisticated relationships among images and words and layout encourage deep thinking and critical analysis. If we can help students “get” graphic novels, we will simultaneously teach them the literacy strategies they need for navigating many of the other multimodal texts they encounter in their daily lives." Traci Gardner, NCTE Inbox Blog

James Bucky Carter's Blog EN/SANE World
Graphic Novel Reviews for kids and teens at No Flying No Tights
Cybils Graphic Novel Finalists

A Wordle of the NCTE Framework

I just wordled the NCTE Framework for 21st Century Learning and Assessment and it is so interesting to see what came up. You can see that students are at the center with lots of other things being important. An interesting way to think about this and how we can use the framework to reflect on our work. Karl Fisch has an interesting post on the reflectiveness of teaching and how important it is that we reflect on our own learning.

For so long I thought 21st Century Literacies/Learning was all about technology.  But the NCTE definition was something I could totally believe in because technology was only a small piece and there are so many other important pieces.  

I think I finally have my head around some vision for what literacy learning can be for kids if we embrace some of these things.

Blog Break -- NCTE

Both of us will be just a tad busy this coming week at NCTE, so we won't be blogging. We hope to connect with many blog readers, Poetry Friday Peeps, and Twitter followers at NCTE!

2 new Poetry Books

Like I've said many times, the kids in our library love any book about dogs. So, I had to get NAME THAT DOG: PUPPY POEMS FROM A-Z when I heard about it. This new poetry book starts out with a poem about naming dogs and how each is different. Then each page focuses on a different dog. From Aspen to Frank to Zipper, there are 26 different fictional dogs celebrated through poem. The poems vary in length and type but all have an element of fun. Each dog is labeled so readers know the breed of the dog highlighted. The book ends with a poem about finding the perfect name for a dog.


And, I was thrilled to see ANOTHER JAR OF TINY STARS is now available. Every other year, NCTE gives an Award for Excellence in Poetry. This award honors a living children's poet for his/her work. Several years ago, NCTE published A JAR OF TINY STARS, highlighting the work of the award winners' poetry. This year, NCTE has released this additional version which highlights the work of poets up through the last poetry award winner, Lee Bennett Hopkins. To choose which poems to include, students ranked the poets' work. Their votes helped to make the decisions for what to include in this book. It is a great collection with 15 amazing children's poets.

NCTE addresses NCLB

NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) has posted their recommendations for No Child Left Behind. You can read the statement on the NCTE website.

NCTE News

The NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Convention was great! Like Mary Lee, I went to lots of great sessions. According to Chicken Spaghetti, lots of us were there! It is a great convention for fans of kid lit! We also heard Bruce Degan and Joanna Cole talk about the 20th anniversary of The Magic School Bus. It is pretty amazing that it is 20 years old! They were great speakers and the 20th anniversary book looks like it might be my favorite in the series. The Books for Children Lunch is one of my favorite sessions every year. We get a great speaker (children's author, we get to sit at a table with a children's author AND we get free children's books! Sharon Taberski, author of On Solid Ground, was the opening speaker for "A Day of Early Childhood". It was a great talk about appropriate comprehension instruction in grades K-2. 

Lots of talk about No Child Left Behind and the harm it is doing to children. I went to a session and heard Susan Ohanian. She has an interesting website that I would suggest visiting. Lots of interesting things going on around this NCLB stuff. She has several initiatives and lots of info on her site. In the name of children, lots of bad things are going on that are getting in the way of student learning. My favorite adult author, Ann Patchett spoke on Thursday evening but I missed her. There were also lots of other sessions with children's authors. I tend to go to teaching sessions but for those of you interested in children's books, you could technically go to 3-4 days' worth of author sessions. I heard that the ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) sessions were amazing on Monday and Tuesday but I couldn't stay for those. Next year, NCTE is in New York City! I would highly recommend it!

Poetry Friday--Nikki Grimes

Nikki Grimes is this year's winner of NCTE's Award for Excellence in Poetry. NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) gives this award every 3 years to a children's poet. It is for their whole body of work. I love her new book WELCOME, PRECIOUS. And I love all of her poetry.

Here is a poem from her website:

I stretch a map
across my desk,
find where X
marks the spot:
"New school" it says.
That's my destination.

Get the rest of the poem here.

Nikki will receive her award at the Books for Children Luncheon at the NCTE Annual Convention in November.

NCTE In Words and Pictures

How often do you get to meet one of your personal heroes (or sheroes, as the case may be)?  The absolute highlight for me of NCTE 2008 was hearing Lynne Cox speak and meeting her in person.  Lynne Cox is an extraordinary open water swimmer.  She is as physically adapted to cold water swims as Lance Armstrong is to long distance biking.  She has swum from the U.S. to Russia through the Bering Straits, and she has swum with icebergs in Antarctica.  She is an amazing story teller with amazing stories to tell.  (I reviewed her book GRAYSON here.)


San Antonio was a lovely city for a conference.  I was struck how different evening rush hour in the center of the city was this year, compared to last year in NYC.  This is the Times Square of San Antonio.  

I had several memorable meals, but alas, neglected to take any food pictures. Use your imagination. At Rosario's I had a beautiful (and tasty) Prickly Pear margarita and (delicious) fish tacos (grilled talapia). The fish tacos were a risk, but I figured the best place to try them would be in Tex-Mex land. They were seasoned with lime and cilantro, so how could I go wrong? At the Random House author dinner at Little Rhein Steakhouse I had a fabulous steak. It looked just like the one in the ads on the convention center wall, if you were there. Yum. I sat at a table with Wendelin Van Draanen and got to hear about her new book CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KILLER, and her upcoming new series THE GECKO AND STICKY (watch for a review soon). Finally, at Liberty Bar I had SALMON ENCILANTRADO, grilled salmon marinated in cilantro sauce. It came with a side of cilantro pesto, which I am definitely going to try to make!


Along with the obligatory Tex-Mex and the obligatory steak, there was the obligatory visit to the Alamo. Alas, we got there too late to go inside and take the tour, but we remembered (ha ha) to go.

There were several sessions that I really really really wanted to attend, but meetings or paid breakfasts or other mandatory sessions got in the way. I didn't get to hear Greg Mortenson (of THREE CUPS OF TEA fame), but I did see his extensive autographing line. I didn't get to go to the session on literature circles. I didn't get to hear Kathleen Yancy speak. (There's more, but I don't remember them, and it's a good thing I left my conference book behind -- my checked suitcase weighed EXACTLY 50 lbs., what with all the books I crammed in it!) 

Probably my favorite session was the impromptu Tech On The Go session that I did in the Hilton Lobby (the only place I could find with free wireless access) for Katie and Karen. Both of them got set up with GoogleReader and we played around with podcasting and composing on GarageBand. Katie swooned when Debbie Miller stopped by to chat and look over our shoulders at GarageBand. 

No, wait! My favorite session was the NCTE Notable Books session. I've never been to this Sunday from 1:00-3:00 session because I always left right after the CLA breakfast. I won't miss this session ever again...and especially not for the next few years since I'm on the Notables committee! What's so fun about it? First, you get to hear about each of the Notables. Then the authors do "speed dating" talks at each of the round tables. Audience sits still, authors rotate to you. This year there were EIGHT (!!) authors: Ralph Fletcher, Ann Bausum, Peggy Gifford, Jacqueline Woodson, Emily Gravett, Gary Schmidt, Linda Sue Park, and Ruth Forman. Ann Bausum brought historical documents for us to look at while she talked to us about MUCKRAKERS. Peggy Gifford confirmed that the stepfather in her MOXY MAXWELL books is indeed her brother in-law J. Patrick Lewis. Linda Sue Park taught us about sijo.  Ruth Forman read us YOUNG CORNROWS CALLIN OUT THE MOON, which is now on my to-get list. But my turn came to swoon when I got to hold and look at Emily Gravett's sketchbook for LITTLE MOUSE'S BIG BOOK OF FEARS!!! Wow. Wow. She read to us from THE ODD EGG, her next book out in the U.S. in January. Okay if I say it one more time? Wow. Emily Gravett. Wow. (Okay, I'll stop.)

Already Looking Forward to #NCTE12 !!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, NCTE's Annual Convention marks the end of fall for me.  I love the start of a new school year--August, September, October.  I love getting to know new students and families. I love the weather (not too hot, not too cold), and I am usually fairly organized after summer vacation.  Then when it's time for NCTE's annual convention, I am ready for new learning. I am ready to think hard about instruction with this particular group of children in mind. I am excited to pick up new books that this group of students will love. I am ready to reenergize and focus for the remainder of the school year. Absolute perfect timing for me.

So, I tend to get excited about the convention a little earlier than most. I spent some time this weekend really looking at the newest Council Chronicle with the Annual Convention Preview.  I also spent a little bit of time online looking at the searchable program.  Here are some things I am excited about already:

*There will be an App for the convention program this year. How convenient!  A good reason to purchase the iPad mini or the iPhone5  if they becomes reality before convention, don't you think?

*So many of my newest heroes will be there. I am excited about all of the experts around 21st Century Learning such as Sir Ken Robinson (Friday morning General Session) and Will Richardson. I was able to hear Will Richardson for the first time this summer and learned so much. And I've never had the opportunity to hear Sir Ken Robinson speak in person.

*Presenting with Sara Kajder, Teri Lesesne and Donalyn Miller will definitely be a highlight. These girls are brilliant and I always learn so much from them. And they are fun. What better combination is there?

*I will be doing one IGNITE presentation as part of a panel. I am excited about the challenge it will be to create my first real IGNITE presentation for an audience.  Harder than it looks, I imagine! And I love the IGNITE sessions. I am especially excited to attend the one on
BUILDING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING NETWORKS--to hear so many smart people in one session sounds too good to be true!

*There are so many great authors at convention this year. A few that I am especially excited about are
Jon Szieszka, Lemony Snicket, David Shannon, and Sherman Alexie!

*The exhibit hall is always great fun. There are lots of great new professional books out around convention time.  Kylene Beers' and Bob Probst's new Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading is one I can't WAIT to read.  These two are brilliant!  And I've heard Penny Kittle share a bit about her upcoming book, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers, and can't wait to read it!

*I loved Ralph Fletcher's Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know and a looking forward to his session (with Chris Crutcher) on the topic.

*The Day on Early Childhood is always a great day for elementary teachers. I was thrilled to see Vivian Vasquez as the Closing Keynote for that day--LITERACY PRACTICES IN VIRTUAL WORLDS. I purchased her book, Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood, the day it came out but haven't had time to dig in yet.  Such an important topic!

*There is a session on THE NERDY BOOK CLUB and a few on NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOKS.  COMMON CORE and MATH LITERACY are other topics I saw when flipping through the preview.

*Many friends and colleagues are participating in sessions that will be great learning for me.
*Katherine and I plan to run on the strip in Vegas. A little healthy exercise before the day begins. Maybe we'll all wear our Nerdy Book Club running attire?

*The exhibits already look like such fun. I am thinking that I should definitely have an empty suitcase for new books for the classroom this year!

*And of course, my favorite part of convention, is always learning informally with others attending the conference. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones--around the topic of literacy education--is always so energizing.

I am sure I won't get to see everything I've listed here and I am certain that I missed lots on my first look through the program. It is never easy to fit in every great learning opportunity at convention.  But the possibilities are endless. And this year's conference looks amazing!

By the way, the official hashtag for the NCTE Annual Convention this year is #NCTE12

Let the Tweets begin!

Getting Ready for NCTE!

We'll be posting infrequently as we get sub plans ready, finish report cards, polish our presentations and pack, so you won't see much of us here on the blog in the next two weeks, but maybe we'll get a chance to say hello in person at NCTE! See you in Vegas!!