For the second year, the TA's have been invited to present at the Illinois Reading Council. There were three of us this time; April, Esther and myself, excited about getting the return gig. ("They liked us. THey really liked us!")
Then we got our schedules and realized we were vying with some pretty big names to get an audience. Just off the top of my head; M.T. Anderson (Ironically, the Award Winning Writer from my previous blog!), last year's Newbery winner Rebecca Stead, Jane Yolen, T.A. Barron, Marc Brown, Sara Pennypacker, Robert Burleigh, Mordecai Gerstein and Vaunda Nelson. Yikes! What a line up! I had a flashback to my very first book conference (at a location I will not disclose) where I discovered I was on at the same time as Garrison Keillor!
Given all the literary superstars, the TA's were delighted to have a full house (in a small room!) for our talk on modeling creative writing with your students in a school day that is jam packed with everything but creative writing. Or as one of my daughter's teachers told me,"Creative writing is not on the state tests."
For those of you who were not there, I will be brief in saying that our writing exercise was to write a thank you letter to someone who had influenced your life in some way. (When I heard the phrase "thank you note" I immediately thought of the ones I wrote as a child ---Dear Meemaw, Thanks for the pajamas. They fit. XXXOOO Mary Ann.) And that little gem was an actual example in my third grade grammar book!
Our group did not disappoint. There were letters to parents, former teachers, President Carter, and even one to the Teaching Authors for our program! We asked only for volunteer readers, and it was a rare reader who did not let their emotions overcome them at some point. Now that is good writing, if you can make yourself cry. However, I would not stress having students share with the class. Fourth grade teachers sharing is a lot different from fourth graders sharing (giggling) with the class.
I had to leave before all the Superstars spoke, although I was delighted to be seated next to my former
mentor, M. T. Anderson, during the book signing session. Perhaps one of the other TA's will fill you in on the Big Dinner Speeches.
Here we are, the TA's hard at work! We
were having a planning session...and supper at Augie's.
Esther, Mary Ann and Marie (our mentor/advisor) with April in back.
Same old gang, plus one of our intrepid volunteers in our workshop.
Notice that even though it was St. Patrick's Day, none of us are wearing green!
Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
Out and About!
Guess what? Teaching Authors are PORTABLE!
Today, five Teaching Authors gave a wildly successful workshop (I can say that, right?) at the Illinois Reading Council's 42nd annual Conference, and now we're schmoozing with teachers, attending banquets, and generally having a wild time. Woo-woo!Two magical, amazing and very smart professors from DePaul University--Roxanne Owens and Marie Donovan--introduced us and moderated our workshop, called Flabby to Fab-y: Writing Workouts to Shape Up Your Curriculum. As "personal trainers," we warmed-up, stretched, strength-trained, cardio-ed and cooled down the attendees...and then awarded them tres cool certificates of completion to hang on their walls with pride.
And yes...we really did teach them one actual physical exercise! In the break-out sessions we taught hands-on writing exercises.Spring in Springfield, IL is fabulous--wish you were here!
It's always fun when you're invited to something, and in the past week I've been invited to two different, but totally cool things.
First, fellow African American author Kyra Hicks invited me to be interviewed on her blog. Kyra has a great blog so I was really honored. You can take a peek at www.BlackThreadsinKidsLit.blogspot.com.
Then, I was invited to participate in the Illinois Reading Council's Author Luncheon at their March 2008 conference. They have an author sit at each table and the guests at your table each receive a copy of your book. Plus good old Anderson's Bookshop will be there selling books. Wow!
The other totally cool thing that happened in the past week was that my friend Jacky, who is an art teacher, gave me a very cool idea for my school visits. Prior to this, what I was going to do was pretty routine stuff, but this has totally energized me. I'll say more about that when I see if I can actually pull this off.
I have to mention the other really wonderful thing that happened to me--I got to go to Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. Now I just live in Chicago's suburbs, so you might think, "Hey, what's the big deal? She's had three years to get down there." But you can't get to Millennium Park without walking and lately walking is not something I've been doing very well. My lupus has caused some peripheral nerve damage in my left foot so if I try to walk very far or very long, I really feel it. The most walking I've been doing is shuffling around a grocery store or resale shop behind a shopping cart or navigating the book store or library on a good day.
But I was super motivated to go to the park last Thursday. My favorite quiz show, NPR's "Wait, wait. . . don't tell me!" was having a free taping of the show in the Pritzker Pavilion. And the special guest was the rock stars of prosecutors, Patrick Fitzgerald. My teenager really wanted to go also so I was motivated to try. I studied the map of the park and figured out where the best place to park was and went for broke. It was a beautiful evening, the program was a riot, the park is beautiful, and I got to do something with my 16-year-old. How cool is that?!
So the message to myself is to keep trying to do those hard things (like finishing that middle grade novel). The feeling is unbelievable when you accomplish it.
Bio and Books:
Kenta och barbisarna (Kennie and Dolly) 2007
Lill-Zlatan och morbror raring (Little-Zlatan and Uncle Darling) 2006
När Åkes mamma glömde bort (When Owen's Mom Breathed Fire) 2005
Gittan och älgbrorsorna (Bridget and the Elk Brothers) 2003
Mirabell (Mirabelle) 2003
Gittan och fårskallarna (Bridget and the Numbskulls) 2001
Gittan och gråvargarna (Bridget and the Grey Wolves) 2000
Halli, hallå! – 49 recept på roliga lekar (You’re it! 49 Suggestions for Good Games)
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Wow! Sounds like a wonderful event. and thanks for the writing tip. Was my friend Nancy Stewart also presenting? Or am I thinking of a different event? Loved the pix