Making the Most of Twitter

(This post is cross-posted at Web Tools for Schools)

Tweet

Tweeps

Tweetup

Twitterstream

Handle

Hashtag

Retweet

If you know the meanings of these words, then you must have a Twitter account. The list of words are words specific to the Twitter community and words that we learn as we go. The words alone tell a great deal about Twitter as a tool. First of all, it is a fun tool. It has a sense of humor.  The words are even fun to say. But it is more than that. For so many of us, Twitter has been the link to a Professional Learning Network we didn't know existed.   It is amazing what can be said in 140 characters.  We can spread news of a new baby, distribute a professional article we like, share a photo from a parade, inspire with a quote and more.  Twitter is a tool that can do all in just 140 characters at a time. Will Richardson states, “It’s the blend of the professional and the personal that makes Twitter such a cool tool on so many levels. Some people have described it as a “sixth sense” in terms of the network: you feel more a part of the larger conversation, more a part of the community.  (p. 87)

I have heard Twitter defined in many ways. Wikipedia defines it as:

a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read other users' messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the user's profile page. 

My favorite definition is one that I heard from Lee Kolbert in a presentation at November Learning's BLC10. She described Twitter as "The teacher's lounge where you get to decide who gets to come in and who gets to stay."

People join Twitter for various reasons but most come to realize its power rather quickly.  Twitter is a tool that provides a way for us, as educators to learn and grow.  In Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson explains, “Following  other educators on Twitter creates a 'network at my fingertips' phenomenon where people ask questions and get answers, link to great blog posts or resources, or share ideas for projects as they go through the day.  For many, it’s becoming a running river of conversation and ideas that has cemented their connections to the community and made the network even more palpable.” (p. 86)

I have been a Twitter user for exactly two years. I began with a Twitter account at an NCTE conference in 2008.  My process was a long one and I described it in an article last year.   I have built my network and am learning from more and more amazing people.  I chronicled my use of Twitter in my early stages in an article for Choice Literacy titled, Addicted to Twitter: How Did It Happen?.  

Since writing the article, my Twitter group has grown over the last few years and I rely on it consistently. In order to push myself to learn more during this study, I wanted to figure out ways to get more out of the conversations that are happening. Because the list of people I follow has grown, I have no good way to keep up with all of the good information being shared. It is time for me to better organize and take advantage of some of the tools available to help me manage Twitter better.

Learning to Participate in Focused Conversations

I have listened in on groups talking about "Twitter Conversations", "Book Parties", etc. I could not figure out how those could possibly work when everything seemed so sporadic.  So, I decided to join in on a Twitter Conversation that happens on Sunday evenings called #Titletalk.   I learned a lot and was amazed by the depth of conversation.

Here is how it works. At a certain time (8:00 on Sundays for #Titletalk), people who want to join in, get on Twitter. The facilitators, Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks) and Paul Hankins (@PaulWHankins) usually sends out a tweet with the topic and hashtag (#) prior to the event.  The October topic was "Challenges and Successes to Leading Kids to Books."  Participants create a search for the hashtag and you can follow the conversation. I usually participate via Tweetdeck and the column with the #titletalk search collects the conversation. The key is that participants must hashtag each comment that is part of the conversation.  The other part I love about this is that you can revisit the conversation because it is archived on a wiki. The address to the wiki is http://titletalk.wikispaces.com/3+October+31%2C+2010. It is a great resource and a great way to have a more indepth conversation on a particular topic.

 I have since found other ways people are using Twitter to dig in to deeper conversations with their tweeps. I enjoyed this series, "Sir Ken Robinson Answers Your Twitter Questions".   Ken Robinson is answering questions he receives with a hashtag on Twitter. He is posting videos with his thinking on various questions that have come to him with the hashtag

Learning to Better Organize My Use of Twitter

When I started Twitter, I followed a few people and I added as I found new people who seemed interesting.  It was very manageable for a very long time.  But then I found that I had to organize my tweets. I began to use Tweetdeck a while ago as a way to organize my tweets. Because I didn't always have the time to read tweets from the hundreds of brilliant people I was following, Tweetdeck allowed me to organize the people into categories and my tweets were organized in that way on Tweetdeck. So, I could keep my personal friends from home in one column and librarians in another. I could create as many columns as I needed. This works out most of the time.

Twitter Lists

But when I try to divide my groups into the smaller segments I want, there are too many groups for the column set-up. So I decided to explore the idea of lists. Twitter Lists were launched in 2009 and Josh Catone explains them this way, "They offer a way for you to bunch together other users on Twitter into groups so that you can get an overview of what they’re up to."  

Creating a list is easy to figure out on your own.  First open the tab that says "Lists" on your Twitter sidebar.  Once you get into "Lists", you can then click on "New List" to create a new list.

The "New List" feature is at the bottom left.

A pop-up window then appears asking you for details about the list such as title, privacy, etc.

Then you can add people to your list.  

Each list allows you to pull up those people you follow.  Twitter Lists is a great feature for me to find what I am looking for now that my Twitter list is so big. 

Another feature of lists that I discovered was the ability to follow someone else's lists. I had trouble understanding this idea because it isn't as I first understood it. When I follow someone's list,   For example, I began to follow @mcleod's edtech list. I could follow it as its own list or add it as part of a list I've already created. This list does not mean that I am following the people in @mcleod's list. They do not show up in my Twitter feed. But I can have access to their tweets by going to the specific list.  

Lists are a big "aha" for me.  So often, I don't have time to visit Twitter or Tweetdeck in a week and I can't catch up. But there are certain people I follow whose tweets I do not want to miss.  I also tend to follow people with various areas of expertise. I follow librarians, technology specialists and children's literature experts. I will be able to think through these people and create lists that help me organize the information.    

Learning to Use Seesmic

Another big problem I am having with Twitter is organizing my accounts. Because I tweet from 3 separate accounts, I have had to sign in and out to send status updates and to follow others, and to read updates from various followers.  A friend told me about a tool called Seesmic. Seesmic is a tool advertised as one to manage social networks. This is a tool that is also available on iPhone and IPad, which is an important feature for me.

When you register for Seemic, you can go into settings at any time to add an account. 

My Seesmic account is then organized with all of the information I need for all of my accounts. I can read status updates from people I follow, create status updates from each account, go to lists, direct messages, mentions, etc.  This tool pulls everything together in one place.

I can follow all of my Twitter accounts in one place.

My favorite part of the tool is the ability to create status updates from each account separately in the same box. The box (below) allows you to write a status update and check off the account that you'd like it to be sent from.  So, if appropriate, you can tweet it simultaneously from more than one account at the same time. Or you can choose the account that you want the tweet to come from.  The box also allows you to add a link, photo, location, etc. so I don't need to have separate Twitpic accounts either.  

Seesmic allows me to Tweet from each of my 3 accounts in the same box.

Resources for Teachers

Twitter is one of the best tools for teachers that I have found. In terms of my own professional growth, I have learned more since I joined Twitter than I have ever learned. I have always participated in professional learning communities but Twitter allows me to expand my professional world and to learn from people anytime. 

For teachers to use the tool, they have to see the value in it.  In order to do that, I have found some resources that will help teachers get started. In my experience, the beginning of Twitter was difficult. I didn't feel like I was part of the conversation and I wasn't sure that I wanted to be.  But since then, I have found great resources to support teachers and I am keeping these in my Delicious account so that when teachers are ready, they will have access to the resources.  Delicious is starting to feel like a file cabinet to me--for resources for teachers.

I really liked Neal Chambers' video called "Twitter Kit". This gives an overview of not only Twitter but how it can help educators. It is a good combination of information discussed in a way that makes sense to people who are not yet part of Twitter.  There are a few follow-ups to this first video which are also helpful.  

There are also people who have collected lists of people to follow. Gwyneth Jones has a newbie-to-follow list as part of her Twitter List page.  I also like to take advantage of #FF (Twitter's "Follow Friday") in which people tweet out Twitter handles of people they recommend following.  This is another great part of Twitter--sharing networks with others has become part of the Twitterstream.

The Twitter4Teachers Wiki is a great resource that is always growing. It is a collection of teachers who tweet and they are organized by field/area of expertise. As I find new areas of interest, I find myself revisiting this site. For teachers new to Twitter, this wiki provides people right away that they can follow--they can begin to customize their list by studying the list and finding people who meet their goals for Twitter us.

I also like this collection of 30 Essential Twitter Tutorials for Newbies and Experts. I like how specific the topics are and I find myself revisiting this list often even though I found it after I'd been a Twitter user for a long time.  I am intrigued by the idea of creating a website with Twitter updates and other ideas in this list. It is a great collection and you can jump in wherever you need to jump in based on your Twitter experience. Another similar collection is 

Everything You Need to Know About Twitter and Tweeting. Although this list provides some ideas for people new to Twitter, this is a good one to have on hand as teachers are looking to move forward with Twitter.

Implications for School

As part of this study, I began a Twitter page for our school library (http://twitter.com/reslibrary). I think Twitter can be a powerful tool for public relations and a great way to share news of the library. I am hoping that as Twitter grows in our community, it will become a great tool for communication. I agree with what David Stuart says in

What are Libraries Doing on Twitter? "Twitter posts can build relationships with the community and point users in the right direction for more specializd information."  I see Twitter as being a great tool for increasing community involvement and for building a relationship with families and the outside community. 

Final Reflections

In his book, Reach, Jeff Utecht says, "When do you officially have a network?  There is no magic number. A few people can be a network, or a few thousand. What makes it a network is when you start using the collective intelligence of others to find information, resources, and collaborate on projects.  The interaction between you and the people you have connected with,  or who have connected with you, is what creates a network. Once those connections are in place, you can start using your network to learn, hence creating a Personal Learning Network." (p. 36)

For me, Twitter has been a key to my professional learning network.  I don't know exactly when it happened or how, but I know I am learning more every day than I could ever have imagined. And I am learning from people I never had access to before. Twitter seems to be one of the best ways for educators to begin to create their own network. 

Poetry Friday -- Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too

HOPPITY

Christopher Robin goes

Hoppity, Hoppity,

Hoppity, Hoppity, Hop

Whenever I tell him

Politely to stop it, he

Says he can't possibly stop.

If he stopped hopping, he couldn't go anywhere,

Poor little Christopher

Couldn't go anywhere...

That's why he always goes

Hoppity, Hoppity,

Hoppity,

Hoppity,

Hop.

by A.A. Milne

You can't have NCTE at Disney World in Orlando without having at least one magical day before the meetings and sessions start! 

Diane has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Random Noodling today.

2 BINGO GAMES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

I added two BINGO games to the library this year-- I SPY BINGO and BINGO LINK.  Both are connected to books and are great for supporting visual literacy and vocabulary development with young children.

In I SPY BINGO, 4-6 players can play at a time.  BINGO cards provide a variety of options for playing but all games focus on beginning sounds and vocabulary development.

CAN YOU SEE WHAT I SEE BINGO LINK is a twist on the traditional BINGO game. The "cards" have several photographs (as seen in the CAN YOU SEE WHAT I SEE books).  Each card has each photo but they are in different spots. The object of this game is to fill in a "row" of photos from one end of the board to the other.  This could be a straight line but it doesn't have to be straight.

The BoardGameFamily has a great explanation on YouTube. (I find these videos to be great resources for kids when learning to play the game. I also think they are great models for our kids who want to create their own game demonstration videos.)

More Fun Games

I tend to look for games that are for 4 or more players . When it comes to spending, games that can include more than 2 players feel like a bargain. However, many of the great games out there are designed for 2 players at a time.  I look a little harder at these games because if they become popular, I know we will need to purchase several of the same game.  Today's games are both two-person games and well worth it.

Blue Orange Gobblet Gobblers is a favorite game in our library.  It is a twist on the traditional version of Tic-Tac-Toe.  In this game, This is a simpler version of the game Gobblet. 

The goal of the game is to get 3 in a row--tic-tac-toe.  The trick is that each player has 3 sizes of gobblers.  The larger size gobblers can "eat" the smaller ones. So they can cover the smaller gobbler of the opposite color and take over the space. This is enough of a twist to make the game fun and challenging for all ages.  The colorfulness and the fun faces are an added bonus!

Mindware Square Up is a game that is new to the library this year.  But kids seem to like it already.  Square Up has won two parent awards. This is a visual problem solving games.  The game is designed as a race between two players who are each trying to match the design in their cube shaker.  Sliding the squares to create the design is more challenging than it looks. I so love Mindware games and this is quite possibly going to become a favorite in the library

Math Games in the Library

Countdown and 7 ATE 9 are two popular math games in the library.   Countdown has been a popular game in the library for a few years. Prior to having it in the library, I had a few versions in the classroom.  The game is a great game for practicing math facts as well as being a strategic problem solver. Players roll two dice and then add, subtract, multiply or divide. The player then raises the matching number stick on their side of the board. The goal is to flip all of the keys so finding a problem that gives an answer that you need is key.  This is a great game for kids who need practice with math facts as well as kids who already know their facts but want to use them in a challenging game.

7 ATE 9 is a game we added to the library this year.  This is another great math game. You can learn more about the game and see how it is played in the video review by Ted Cheatham.

Games in the Library

National Gaming Day was celebrated on Saturday, November 13 in libraries across America.  ALA says, "National Gaming Day @ your library is an initiative of the American Library Association to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games."

We are celebrating Gaming Day in the Riverside Library this month by learning several new games. I have tried to build our game collection over the past three years.  I have focused on word games, strategy games, math games and games connected to books. All of the games in the library support curriculum in some way.

This week, to celebrate games, I'll share a game or two a day. Most of the games I have purchased have been reasonably priced and are somewhat durable. I would recommend them for elementary kids to play at school or at home.

Pentago is one of the most popular games in the library.  Pentago is a two person strategy game.  The goal of the game is to get 5 marbles in a row. The tricky part is that the 4 pieces of the board move. So, on every play, the player places one marble on the board and turns one part of the board one rotation. So, you really have to look ahead and predict in order to win.  Here is how it works.  This has been a favorite with grades 3, 4, and 5 and I recently introduced it to our younger students. They loved it too.

There is an online version of this game which I LOVE! Pentago Online.  It is a great tool for learning the game. Often, when kids begin to play, they forget to turn a piece of the board after they've placed a marble. The online game won't move on until the board is moved.  Also, the online game allows players to play against a friend or against the computer.  Playing against the computer is a great way to practice great strategies.

Plus, the sound that the online version of the game makes when someone wins makes the library a very happy place.

New Cool Teachers

Mr. Terupt in Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea, a middle grade novel up for consideration by the CYBILS, submitted by Kyle (his review here).

Miss Hendrickson in I Know Here by Laurel Croza, a picture book reviewed by Franki here, submitted by Jeff.

Any other cool teachers in the books you're reading? Let us know, and we'll add them to our list!

Poetry Friday

SUSTENANCE

The look on his face
when he shows his dad
the perfect score on his quiz.

The giggle in her voice
as she reads me
the funny part in her book.

The gasps around the circle
when the boy in the story
defeats the dragon by following the rules of magic.

Being called an angel
by a 10 year-old boy who is most certainly not one,
because I've helped him with his multiplication facts.

Hearing the clear, bell-like voices of fourth graders
as they sing the national anthem
to the assembled Veterans and family members.




Sometimes I wonder why I do this all-consuming job. And then I have a day like yesterday.  My poem's five moments are all from one day -- yesterday. In math yesterday, we multiplied 25 x 20 -- my number of years teaching in Ohio times an average number of students in each class. (That's a lot of kids!  A school building full!)  Now take that number times 180 days in each of those years. And multiply all those days with perfect moments...why am I surprised that my heart feels so full?!?

Terri has the roundup today at Rub-A-Dub-Tub.  Happy Friday!

Revisiting Old Favorites -- Goldilocks Again

Me and You
by Anthony Browne
Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2010 (originally published in 2009 in Great Britain)
review copy provided by the publisher

Did you ever wonder about Goldilocks' side of the story? In Anthony Browne's version, we get one possible answer to who she is and how she winds up in the three bears' house.

Goldilocks' story is told wordlessly, in sepia-colored panels on the left side of each double page spread. Her story looks modern -- a girl who goes out shopping with her mother, follows a balloon to try to catch it, and becomes lost.  Little Bear tells the story of his family going for a walk while they wait for their soup to cool. The Three Bears' story takes up the entire right-hand page of the spread, is in color, is drawn in a storybook style, and includes the text. When Goldilocks runs away from the Bears' house, she runs back through the modern, sepia-colored city scenes and is reunited with her mother. Little Bear is left at his window, wondering what becomes of the girl who had been asleep in his bed.

If you know Anthony Browne's work, you know this version isn't as simple as presenting us with two parallel stories. The cover holds a clue that the world of the Three Bears and Goldilocks' modern world might just be a little closer to one another than we might imagine. Go back to the illustrations of the bears taking their walk and think about what you see there.

Are we a part of the fairy tale story, or is the fairy tale a part of ours? As always, Anthony Browne makes us think and wonder.

I hope you've enjoyed this week of revisiting old favorites! I've certainly enjoyed sharing them with you!

Revisiting Old Favorites -- Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Rubia and the Three Osos
by Susan Middleton Elya
illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Disney*Hyperion Books, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

This rhyming version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is sure to be a hit with children who speak Spanish, children who are learning Spanish, readers who love new versions of old stories, and fans of Melissa Sweet's illustrations. Well, I guess that means that this book will be a hit with EVERYONE!

First, a bit about the rhymes. Who can't love a poet who rhymes "prepared" with "derriere'd"?

There once were three osos

who lived by themselves.

They stored their three platos

for soup on the shelves.

But one night at supper

--la sopa prepared,

the soup platos ladled,

the chairs derriere'd --

Sometimes the Spanish words rhyme with Spanish words, sometimes Spanish and English rhyme, and sometimes English rhymes with English. Sometimes the Spanish words are explained in the context of the poem, and sometimes by clues in the picture, and every now and then the reader might need to go to the glossary of Spanish words in the back of the book to make sure of the meaning of a word. But all in all, the Spanish and English go together like the soup, the bowls, the chairs and the beds.

You can tell by the cover that there's something a little different about the way this story turns out. What's new in this version is that Rubia regrets the damage she did at the Osos' house. She makes up a pot of soup and takes it, and some glue, to the Osos', where she says, "Lo siento."

Three cheers for Rubia and the Three Osos!!!

Tomorrow, another new version of Goldilocks...

Revisiting Old Favorites -- Three Little Kittens

Three Little Kittens
by Jerry Pinkney
Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin), 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

It's autumn in Jerry Pinkney's version of the Three Little Kittens, and this mischievous trio can't wait to go outside and tumble in the leaves with their mousie toys, their ball of yarn, and the cardinal, blue jay and goldfinch who swoop outside their window.

True to form, they lose their mittens, find them again, eat pie with them on and dirty them, wash them clean and then ask to go outside and play again.

The delight of this traditional version is all in the details of the pictures. Anyone with cats will recognize how truly Pinkney has portrayed the way the kittens move, the things that catch their attention, even that wide-eyed wild look they get when they are engrossed in play.

There's lots to look at on every page, and be sure you don't miss the music and words to The Three Little Kittens printed on the inside of the book jacket.

This would be a fun story for children to read aloud and maybe even act out for Poetry Friday or readers' theater!

Tomorrow, a new version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears...

Do You Know What This Is?

Can you read this?

If you need more info, see Jeff Utecht's post at The Thinking Stick.

Revisiting Old Favorites -- The Red Hen

The Red Hen
by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
Roaring Brook Press (A Neal Porter Book), 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

This father/daughter team, who recently re-imagined Chicken Little, are back at it with The Red Hen.

The Red Hen is boldly-colored and wacky-eyed, like her unwilling helpers, the cat, the rat and the frog (who says, "Bribbit" instead of "Not I").

In this version, the Red Hen finds a recipe for a cake, gathers the ingredients, makes it, decorates it, and, you guessed it, eats it all by herself.  BUT...she also gives the reader her recipe at the end of the book. Hopefully, readers will be able to find an adult who will help them bake and decorate their cake!

A fun addition to any collection of folk and fairy tale variants!

Tomorrow, a new version of Three Little Kittens...

Revisiting Old Favorites -- The 3 Little Pigs

The 3 Little Dassies
by Jan Brett
G.P. Putnam's Sons (Penguin), 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Jan Brett brings us a charming African version of The 3 Little Pigs set in Namibia. Dassies are critters that resemble a guinea pig-sized koala. They live in rocky areas with red-headed agama lizards nearby and black eagles overhead.

The style of this book is classic Jan Brett, with borders composed of a stunning variety of African prints and patterns, the illustrations filled with details of the plant and animal life of the region, the characters dressed in the traditional dress of the Herero women of Namibia, and foreshadowing found in decorated panels in the margins of each page.

Mimbi, Pimbi, and Timbi are the three dassie sisters who set off from the Namib Desert towards the mountains to make a new life now that they are all grown up. They meet Agama Man, a fancily-dressed redheaded lizard who watches over them as Mimbi weaves her home of grasses, Pimbi constructs her home of driftwood, and Timbi makes her home of mountain stones. The eagle in this version does not huff and puff, but she does grab Mimbi and Pimbi and take them to her nest to feed to her babies. Agama Man saves the two sisters, bringing them safely to Timbi's stone house.  When the eagle swoops down the chimney to grab Timbi, she lands in the fire and singes her feathers, which is why the eagles in that part of Africa are black to this very day.

Two thumbs up for this new version of The 3 Little Pigs!

Tomorrow, a new version of The Red Hen...

Revisiting Old Favorites

photo by GottShott, Flickr Creative Commons

I wound up with five different new versions of old favorite fairy tales in a pile on my kitchen table, so I'm going to be treating you to a week of "Revisiting Old Favorites" this coming week.

I'll start tomorrow by sharing a new take on the 3 Little Pigs...

Poetry Friday: Change of Seasons

Here are two parts of Linda Pastan's twelve-part poem, The Months:


October

How suddenly
the woods
have turned
again. I feel

like Daphne, standing
with my arms
outstretched
to the season,

overtaken
by color, crowned
with the hammered gold
of leaves.


November

These anonymous
leaves, their wet
bodies pressed
against the window

or falling past—
I count them
in my sleep,
absolving gravity,

absolving even death
who knows as I do
the imperatives
of the season.


Pastan has perfectly captured the changes that have taken place between the glowing, sunny October images in my mosaic, and the chilly, dark dampness we now have. Her whole twelve-part poem describes an entire year just as effectively. It's sometimes hard to remember the oppressive heat of summer or the delights of the first buds of spring at this point in the swing of the seasons, but her poem takes you right back. Poetry is good for that -- holding onto what is fleeting.

JoAnn at Teaching Authors has the roundup today.  Go over and see what other poems this fall day has in store for you!

Blogging with Ana

Ana, shopping at one of her favorite places-
Jo-Ann Fabrics!

(I have always learned most when watching my own children grow and learn. As parents, we have the luxury of watching one child over a period of time and see how they grow as learners.  When Ana was a beginning reader, her book choice helped me rethink what I understood about "just right books" and I wrote about that experience in an article, "Shopping With Ana".   When Angela asked me to write on the topic of passion in learning, what I've learned from Ana came to mind again. This post will be cross-posted on Angela Maiers' site as part of her amazing #PassionDriven Conversation!)


Blogging With Ana: What I Learned About Learning From Watching My Daughter Become a Blogger


Ana, my youngest daughter, is an artist.  A creator.  Since she was very little, she loved to make things.  She is a collector of stuff. She sees possibility in every little thing that I attempt to throw away--old jars, empty boxes, buttons, and scraps of paper. In her eyes, everything can become something. Ana lives her life envisioning what she can make.


Ana has an amazing art teacher, one who gives students choice and ownership and who teaches her how to live her life as an artist. Ana has thrived in that environment in art class each week. Her art classroom is the perfect example of what Carol Dweck describes in her article, "Even Geniuses Work Hard":
"Meaningful work not only promotes learning in the immediate situation, but also promotes a love of learning and resilience in the face of obstacles. This kind of meaningful work takes place in classrooms in which teachers praise the learning process rather than the students' ability, convey the joy of tackling challenging learning tasks, and highlight progress and effort. Students who are nurtured in such classrooms will have the values and tools that breed lifelong success."


However, up until this year, Ana was also what I would consider a reluctant writer. She worked hard to avoid writing.  Some years, during writing time, Ana would produce a few lines of text in an hour's time.  She became quite skilled at avoiding writing.


But, Ana is part of a family of bloggers.  I have blogged about books at A Year of Reading for almost 5 years. My husband recently started a blog about his work in Tech Education (Scott Sibberson's blog). And our older daughter writes often and has started a variety of blogs over the past few years. One day, when Ana and I were chatting about blogs, I suggested she start a blog about the things she makes. I thought a blog like that would be great for others who liked to make things. Her eyes got wide and she said, "I can do that?"  And off she went to become a writer.


Almost the minute I suggested it, Ana started her blog, Fun Things to Make.  Within a few hours of that first conversation, Ana nagged at us until she had a blog, an avatar and a profile. Up until that point, she had no idea that she could write about the thing she loved best.  She had no idea that anyone would be interested in reading about the things she created. She couldn't wait to get started.


I watched Ana blog all summer.  She blogged once or twice a week all summer and she wrote more in each post than she had written in the entire year.  She came to care about her audience and she became fascinated in the world when she discovered the "stats" button on her blog.  She checked her email for comments and found countries on the map that she had never heard of.   I often found her thinking aloud about her readers, wondering if they would be interested in certain things she was making.


Not only did she write, but she learned so much about Web 2.0 tools. She became interested in iMovie and Keynote. She even pulled out her Flip Video camera to capture what she was doing.  She learned to find copyright free images on Flickr and she learned to take her own photos that told a story.  She learned to link and she began to read other kids' blogs.  Last month, after discovering a great new store that sells unique crafts, she ran home to blog about it, knowing her readers would want to know about this great place, Wholly Craft.  Later that day, she asked if she could do a video interview of the owner for her blog and emailed the owner telling her how much she loved her store and asking if she'd be willing to do an interview.  Ana was thinking like a writer.


She also began to realize the impact her work had on others.  Family members and friends asked her to make them clipboards. She is starting to give handmade gifts and began to see the good she can do with the things she makes. She took the opportunity to bake with my mother and learn to make a few fun family recipes.


This year, Ana is in 5th grade and she is writing more than ever.  She is writing poetry and narrative. She is adding music to her writing and collecting words she loves in the back of her notebook. This week, I was telling my husband about a post we had done on our blog called "100 Things About Me as a Reader". Ana overheard, pulled out the computer and asked if she could create one.  Of course, I said yes. I assumed she was taking our idea, as other bloggers had, and started her own list about herself as a reader. But Ana surprised me again.  Instead she started her list entitled, "100 Things About Me as an Artist".


She has had less time to work on her blog since school (and dance and other commitments) started up again. But the blog is not what is important.  More importantly, Ana now sees herself as not only an artist, but an artist and a writer.


Ana learned so much from starting with something she was passionate about.   Ana has a new confidence this year and I attribute so much of that to her blog. She knows herself in a way that she didn't before. She knows that she can work through challenges. She knows that she loves to make things but that the work that goes along with that is often hard.  She knows that she can work through challenges and she knows that it will be worth it.  Most importantly, she's found work that she loves and a community who cares about the work she does.

As her mother, I am thrilled that Ana has found something she cares enough about to work so hard. Isn't that what we all want for our children? For them to find something that matters? For them to find something that inspires them to be who they are meant to be?  

As a teacher, reflecting on Ana's blogging, I keep going back to a quote I heard from Christian Long this summer. He said, “"While there is often talk about making school 'fun', the real trick is to challenge our students with work that they can deeply believe in, work that matters and gives them a chance to make an impact on the world around them.  When school is merely about keeping kids 'busy', then kids often ask for 'fun'.  On the other hand, when the work is authentic and powerful, kids rise to the challenge.  Every time."

Watching Ana this summer has been a reminder to me about how important it is to give kids choice in their learning lives-to find what they love and to build on that.  So much about this era of testing has compromised that one thing that is so important to a child's learning. If children are to find their passions, giving students choice and finding the things they love is key.  And I think we need to be true to the idea of choice and not just give our students "fake choices".   In a recent #TitleTalk Chat on Twitter this year, @PaulWHankins hit the mark when he said this about choice, “Offering one or two choices is what you do with toddlers at breakfast with cereal, not with budding readers in a ELA classroom."  Our students need real choices if we want them to own their own learning.


Ana says her blog doesn't feel like work.  "It feels more like having fun. I never get bored and I get to share my things. I was surprised that I wrote so much at first because I never really wrote so much. I never thought I'd be able to do that much writing and I did. Even though sometimes it's really hard, I know I have to get over it and remember how happy I feel when I publish a post."

ONLY ONE YEAR by Andrea Chen

I saw this book, ONLY ONE YEAR, at Cover to Cover last week and recognized the author, Andrea Cheng, from another book, WHERE THE STEPS WERE. I had read that book and loved it so I picked this one up based on my history with the author.

I am always looking for short novels with lots to think about. When I think about a perfect read aloud book, often I am looking for one that is short with lots to think and talk about.  I find that it is difficult to find read alouds for 2nd and 3rd grade.  If teachers want to read a chapter book, I often have trouble recommending one that does what I want a read aloud to do--provide for great conversations and learning.  ONLY ONE YEAR is a great one and perfect for children newer to chapter books as well as more sophisticated readers.  It is 96 pages long and is a great story of family and challenges.

This story is about a little girl whose grandparents live in China.  Her parents decide to send her two year-old brother to China for a year because they believe it will be better for him to be with family than in a daycare.  This is a hard decision for the family and this story tells about the year Di Di is away as well as his homecoming.  Each family member deals with DiDi's absence in a different way.

The author's note at the end talks about how common it is for parents to make a decision like this and why they do. This book would provide for great conversations around so many things.

THE PRESENT by Bob Gill

I am not usually a fan of books whose message is too obvious.  But even though the message in THE PRESENT is an obvious one, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the book!

The quote at the beginning of the book gives a clue about the message. It says, "Better an apple given than eaten"--Anonymous

A little boy named Arthur noticed a wrapped package on the top shelf of his parents' closet. He knew his birthday was coming and knew that it must be a gift for his birthday.  He wondered and wondered what might be in the box, thinking about so many of the things he was hoping for.  Each day he became more and more excited as he wondered about the present.

Finally, his birthday is only one day away (Spoiler coming but this is a picture book so I think it is okay!)  That day, the doorbell rings and a woman comes to collect toys for poor children.  Arthur decided to get the present down from the closet and give it to the woman.

The illustrations are all done in blacks and grays with the present being the only thing in color on each page. The author does a great job of having the feeling of excitement over a wrapped present.  And the ending is a surprise in a good way.

I am anxious to share this book with students of all ages.