Trying to Understand

The shocking death of young mother, teacher, daughter, sister- Brooke - leaves us trying to understand. Our minds cannot wrap around the fact that she is gone. We won't see her lovely smile again. Her children have lost their loving, talented mother. Last night at the funeral home there were photos from her short life reminding everyone of the fun-loving child and beautiful young teen that she had been. There were photos of the blossoming woman, waiting for the birth of a child.
I didn't know Brooke very well. We worked together. I was old enough to be her mother. My daughter is the same age. I can't imagine how much her mother misses her. But as I read Milton's blog, something he wrote made me think of Brooke. She lives in our memories of her, in the memories of her children, in the memories of her former students. Brooke's life was much too short. We grieve for what she will miss and we will miss her. I hope we will remember her wonderful, creative life and not dwell on any other part of her passing. We should be glad we had this time together.

Emotional Chameleon

A long time ago someone I worked with told me I was an emotional chameleon when I teared up after hearing a touching story. I wondered what exactly she meant by that. I wasn't insulted but I don't think she meant it as a compliment. I recently repeated the phrase in a conversation with Vicki. Hi, Vicki! And that started me thinking about what being an emotional chameleon means to me. I think it allows me to have empathy for others. When I read or hear a story, I feel the story is happening to me. This may be why I like to read aloud to my students. I can make the story come alive with my voice. I was sort of a shy child but I always like to have a part in school plays. I think I liked the freedom to be someone else. I guess I could use this ability to make people feel sorry for me or exploit my ability to cry at the drop of a hat. But I won't. I'll just keep on reading books to kids, using funny voices, and hope some of them find this makes books more enjoyable and fascinating.

Redbuds Again

Okay, I have to write again about redbud trees. Today I saw the first pinkish blooms on the redbud trees on my way home. I love the way they look against the bare tree trunks and branches. They also remind me of my favorite aunt. She helped me plant a twig of redbud in our front yard on Robinson Street when I was about nine. That would be about 50 years ago-but the memory is quite clear. I miss her.

Trees are blooming again

I think this is where I started about a year ago-writing about the lovely blooming spring trees. I started writing because I really hate writing and need to get better at it. I'm not much better but I don't avoid it like I did before.
Lately I have been absorbed by technology. New desktop computer AND new Nook Color E-reader. I just downloaded 100 classics and an anthology of children's fairy tales. I'm trying to learn how to navigate the interweb on a tiny screen. Most frustrating. But like I tell kids-can't give up just because it's hard to learn new stuff.
Oh, and on to what I'm reading-the best article on teaching reading is in the March Ed Leadership. Very sensible and well-researched. If only we could follow the suggestions Richard Allington wrote about, we could have most kids reading by the end of first grade! What an idea!

Crochet Obsession

I'm in the midst of an obsession with yarn and scarves. Emily showed me how to do a basket weave stitch and I have been busily working on a scarf with the blue varigated yarn I bought for Martin. He said he wanted to learn to crochet after his sister Anne told him about how much she was enjoying crocheting. That doesn't look right but crochetting doesn't look right either. Anyway, Martin gave up after learning how to do the chain stitch. It wasn't as easy as it looks.
So I'm using the yarn to practice the stitch and I think I'll get something softer to work up next. Got to get back to it. May finish the scarf tonight.

Brian Jacques Died

I just heard on the radio that Brian Jacques died. He wrote the Redwall series of books. Joey and I read all of the Redwall books we could find at the library. I probably kept on reading them after Joey had outgrown them. They are really good books about medieval animals in a mythical animal kingdom fighting against evil and winning in every book. I met Jacques and his wife at an IRA convention in Atlanta. I had a couple of his paperback books and he signed them for Joey. I wasn't sure how to pronounce his name-it looks French so I tried pronouncing that way. His wife quickly informed me that it was pronounced Jakes. He didn't pronounce it the 'froggy' way. I loved it!
The announcer on the radio said there was one more book to be published. I hope lots of kids and parents read it. He was a great writer.

AMTESOL

AMTESOL was this weekend at Auburn. I was surprised at how long it took to get there. We got there just in time for the first session. Em and I sat at the back. The sweet young thing (a grad student) who began, said something unintelligible then sat down and began reading to us. It was terrible. We just had to leave. After that we tried not to choose any session done by grad students.
The keynote speaker was very good but we were starving and ready to eat. Wish she had been at a different time.
My session was the first time slot Saturday morning. I prepared 50 handouts and the room seemed to have about 50 seats. I started a few minutes early but soon the room was overflowing. People were sitting on the floor and standing around leaning on the walls. They seemed to really agree with everything I said. They were very encouraging, nodding and smiling. I loved it. I got to talk about my favorite thing-getting kids excited about reading. Afterwards I was too pumped up to sit and listen to anyone else talk.
Em and I went to the local art museum. We walked around looking at the collection of Audubon prints and a very strange exhibit of primitive art that seemed to have been done by a lunatic. Then we rode around the campus and walked around town. Em found some bargain necklaces. When we went back to the conference, I won one of the door prizes!