Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Teachers Write summer camp!

It's that time again---time for the oh-so-amazing Teachers Write summer writing camp put on by the oh-so-amazing Kate Messner, Gae Polisner, Jo Knowles and Jen Vincent.  I was lucky enough to hear about it in time to participate in their first ever camp last summer and so I know we are in for a real treat this year.


Teachers Write was a total game changer for me.  

Dare I say it with such boldness?  You bet I do!

Being part of such a wonderfully challenging, inspiring, collaborative and positive group last summer has really propelled me onward in my writing throughout the year. I'm proud to say I am now a founding member of a local writers group, I am actively writing every week (still working on figuring out how to make it happen daily with my 2 kiddos, but still...progress, not perfection, right?), and I was asked to read my own work aloud at a literary reading in town this spring---and I ACTUALLY DID IT!  Like, in front of other writers.  And professors of creative writing.  And some incredibly supportive friends.  :)

I didn't always get to be as active on the boards as I would have liked, and I didn't always do every prompt or submit my work for critique---but I wrote and I participated as I could.  And the benefits just keep coming in.

So I urge YOU, dear teacher and librarian friends to do the same.  If YOU are a writer at heart it will benefit you personally, and if you are terrified of writing but must teach it to your students it will empower and embolden you to write more with them next year.

I hope to see you there!

Follow the Teachers Write link above, and join in the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #teacherswrite and join the Facebook group!

...and OH MY GOSH look at the guest authors for this year--squeeeeeeeee!

Read on, gentle readers; Read on!
(and write, too!)
Mrs. S


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Once upon a school...


A friend shared this with me a couple of weeks ago and I just can't get it out of my mind.  As I work toward branding my library and moving forward with re-imagining the library to better meet the needs of our students, the message of this video replays in my head.  Be it a pirate shop or a superhero shop (Capery, anyone?) these spaces appeal to our "clients" AND more importantly, provide work space that is completely innovative in that these spaces were created in order to better...well, CREATE.

Working together, brainstorming, asking questions, increasing YOUR knowledge as I increase MY knowledge through the sharing of information, space, time, ideas.

It is really simple when you look at it in its core, and yet such an incredible paradigm shift.  

Thoughts rolling through my mind; ideas at play.

What do YOU think?

Mrs. S