YAB Spring Writing Bootcamp 2014 (SOL 2014 Day 16)

I'm late to the party, but have just joined in the YA Buccanneers Spring Writing Bookcamp (March-May) and couldn't be more excited!  So March will be filled with not ONE, but TWO amazing writing challenges.

I've been added to Team Denali (the Great Ones!) and although I've come in late, my team captain has been incredibly helpful and supportive.  I actually wrote nearly 1000 words on my YA novel-in-progress today during a word sprint she posted via Twitter!  My goal is to actually reach that magic 1000 number for a total word count today.

Yes, writing (finishing) a novel is important to me (publishing one--or several!--- someday is also on my bucket list) so moving forward in my goal is lovely, but what really makes this is extraordinarily valuable to me is that when I'm pumped about writing, I can pass that energy along to my students and colleagues who also write.  We grow stronger by boosting one another up.  THIS is the type of competition I enjoy--the kind that makes us ALL better. In fact, the power of these challenges is so apparent to me now that I intend to create some challenges in the same vein specifically for my students---for both reading AND writing.

Keep reading.  Keep writing.  Keep moving forward!

edited to add this great bootcamp BINGO that outlines some of my goals!  

a huge thank you to Heidi Sinnett for all the inspiration!

Home again, home again (my SOL Day 15)

photo from thecolorofsunshine.wordpress.com via Google images 

We are coming to the end of spring break.  It has been a chilly, rainy Saturday and we spent the bulk of it on the road coming home from a short visit with my mom.  Four hours on the road.  In the rain--at times torrential downpour in nature, at times gentle and sleepy.  

One of my brothers and his family live in Mom's area, and it is always so much fun to get all the little cousins together for some special family fun time.  We shopped, we cooked together, we ate, we played.  A house filled with 5 children, however, is never quiet.  At least, in my family.  :)  Did I mention 3 of the 5 are 4 year olds?  And 2 of those are twins?  Yeah, quiet is not the word here.

We had a great time, and I remembered something very important.  Even though my writing goals and challenges are very important to me, and even though I love writing every.single.day, sometimes that must be set to the side.  Rather than feeling frustrated or melancholy about that I will embrace these fleeting moments of childhood cousin fun (and chaos!) and be IN the moment enjoying it as well.  

I'm behind in my Slice of Life challenge, but we sure had fun!  

Dream a little dream....or a BIG one (Slice of Life Day 12)

I was hanging out on Twitter a bit earlier this evening when I came across a tweet by a fellow slicer, Deb Day with a link to her newest slice.  The scariest one to write, yet, she said.

I was intrigued.

I agree, Deb.  I agree that it must have been scary to put yourself out there, but also scary to dream this big---and I couldn't agree more with your ideas.

Other than teaching at Hogwarts, I can't think of a better description for a cool learning environment than you've described.  (okay, but Hogwarts would be flippin' AMAZING, right?)

I've done a lot of thinking and dreaming recently about what my dream library would look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, and be like.  Keeping ONE thing in mind (student learning) and creating a Learning Commons around that ONE thing is exciting to think about.

Picture this: areas of quiet and semi-solitude for those who need time for quiet reflection, contemplation, dreaming and thinking as they write, plan, research, read as well as working-noisy areas for brainstorming and collaborating with others in small (or large) groups with smart boards.  ebooks and various types of amazing technology as well as traditional books and print magazines.  A holodeck/skype/facetime center so that students can seek out experts in the field virtually at any given time as well as old-school real folk being available. A cozy fireplace with comfy chairs and the warm smell of coffee wafting through the air---perfect for book discussion groups.  Multiple areas for interactive display.  Moveable walls and bookshelves for ease of reconfiguration as needed.  Dimmer switches on lighting, by area.  Lamps.  (need I say plenty of floor electric plugs?) Charging stations for students.  iPad bars.  Makerspaces complete with 3-D printers and a mini-graphic design studio to help students really make their projects POP. Lunch and Learns that are student-centered, and student-driven.  book trailer stations (remember the old kiosk-type stands in music stores that you could preview the new albums on?  I'm thinking THIS, but updated).  A mini-conference room that looks like the TARDIS (because everyone needs a touch of whip-smart whimsy) and plenty of natural lighting.  If I'm going big then I'm also going to include a great coffee/tea/hot cocoa bar with warm scones (we have a culinary arts department AND....who can think creatively with a growling tummy?--just adding that in my lovely dream nothing is ever spilled and students always clean up after themselves.)

I could continue...but it is getting late and I have a drive to Austin tomorrow.
Before I go, though--just one more thank you to Deb and her amazing post.

Let's all dream big and move forward and see what magic we can make!

Read on, Gentle Readers; Read on.

Mrs. S

A trip to the library (SOL 2014 Day 11)

image from hliba.blogspot.com via Google images

Among the joys of spring break?  A trip to the public library with my 4 year old.  I always enjoy seeing her excitement as she browses the children's section for just the right books.

Of course being in a library is nothing new for her---this is, after all, her mama's profession.  But I work in a library for "big kids" and so my E for Everybody section is smaller than she would like. When she walks into the great-big-to-her public library's picture book section her eyes light up at the world of possibilities that are before her.

And my eyes light up at the possibilities THAT will open up for her as she grows.

Read on, Gentle readers; Read on.
Mrs. S

Diva Book Club (SOL Day 10)

Long ago and far away in a time before grad school and my 4 year old, I was lucky enough to belong to an amazing book club.  We met one evening a month, took turns hosting in our various homes, and read some great books.

Then life happened and I had to leave the group in order to maintain some level of sanity (seriously my husband and I were both in grad school, each working full time, raising our 6 year old and pregnant with our second all at the same time.  Something had to give!)

Now, I probably don't have to tell you that I read a lot.  A. LOT.  I'm sure I would even if I wasn't a librarian (because to tell you the truth I was that kid who fell asleep with the lights on while reading more often than not), but over the past few years I haven't really read many books outside of my for-middle-school-students reading until the amazing women I eat lunch with every day (the 7th grade teams at my campus)and I decided to create a lunchtime book club this year.

We have really had a great time and bonded in a whole new way.  Sharing books will do that. Some of us were even able to get together today for a movie over spring break and the conversation *of course* turned to our newest selection, Tina Fey's Bossypants.   I'm so excited! I just got my copy and haven't had a chance to start it yet, but I guarantee I will read it this week because we are all just so excited to have the chance to discuss it when we get back to reality next week.

Read books.
Share books.
Make friends.
(movies & food are good, too!)

Rainy Saturdays SOL #8

Saw this on Pinterest, and had to Pin it---and then follow the link to the etsy shop.  Sadly, this item is no longer available, which is a crying shame because I love it.  It describes my perfect day, well...perfectly.  

Right now I can hear the rain gently falling outside.  There is no thunder, no lightning, just the soft soothing drops of rain.  I have a STACK of books to read this week with no rush, no hurry, no must-get-it-done-now.

It has been a wonderful Saturday and a beautiful start to my Spring Break .

March 7th

Today I write my Slice of Life in honor of two very special women who were each born on March 7th.  

My paternal grandmother, Neva Almeda Shaw, born March 7th 1919.

She was a pistol, my grandmother.  She was proud and she was sassy.  She was a spitfire.  She stood not even 5 feet tall, but she wasn't about to take any mess from anyone.  She was an excellent cook---oh, her chocolate pies--be still my heart--and she loved us mightily. 

"Though she be but little, she is fierce"

-Shakespeare from A Midsummer Night's Dream

And her mother-in-law, my great-grandmother Nettie Ethel Mae McCrary, born March 7, 1898.

Grandma Watwood was so sweet and so gentle and so good.  Despite a hard life she was filled with joy.  That smile in the photo?  I don't remember ever seeing her without it.  Her children (all 9 of them), her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren (of which I am one) treasured her.  Let it be known that to date, I have never had sweet tea that was nearly as good as hers.  

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength."

-St. Francis de Sales

I wouldn't be here without these women.  I exist because they existed before me.  I am a strong woman in part because I come from a long line of strong women on both my maternal and paternal lines, and I am grateful for the gifts and lessons they each passed on to me.  

Although they had very different temperments, they were each strong in their own way.  

They got up every morning and lived---in a time when life could be exceptionally hard.  

They each experienced in their lifetimes multiple wars and the heartbreak of losing loved ones (even children) and the daily grind of keeping things running for their families in a time without today's conveniences.