MCTE Bright Ideas Conference

Now, this really is a bright idea — hold a conference for pre-service teachers that patterns itself off of a reading or english conference so that students get in the groove of being lifelong learners before they graduate. Let them see how cool it is to exchange ideas through poster sessions, to present and

extensions

Okay, I filed another extension on my taxes. Every year I say I’m going to get in under the wire and every year…but this year (with a lot of help from Kelly) was soooooo close.
Kelly was very motivated since she was working against a bigger, more important deadline: TODAY IS THE

Marysville, OH

Marysville, OH is home to (among many other things) a large Honda plant and the only (that I’ve noticed) Japanese language television station in the midwest making it a small town with an international flavor.
I remember growing up with very little exposure to the outside world, thinking that anything foreign was, well, so FOREIGN.

morning walk reflections

I seem to be gaining back an hour a day in my sleep patterns — today I slept in until 4:30 AM. I’m kind of liking this early morning routine I’ve heard others talk about and have often been too snoozy to explore on my own.
what’s coming — Walked to the gas station

Mill Valley Elementary, Marysville OH

Wow! Mill Valley did such a fantastic job of tying my visit directly into the curriculum needs of the school, I just have to talk about it. The halls of the building were lined with artwork and kids’ poetry generated in response to my books, which means when I arrived, kids were armed with

coming home on a jet plane

Coming home on a jet plane can be a lot more complicated than leaving on one. It is 3AM, I am back in OH and rather enthusiasitically jet lagged — as opposed to exhaustedly jet lagged which I will be at 3PM later this afternoon if I don’t get back to sleep.
I

same same, but different

Caltex International School is one school with two campasses, Duri being the northern brother. The kids were so excited for a day of poetry, they managed to sit through two one hour sessions — one hour with me presenting and one hour with them writing. Ideas were just spilling out all over the

Leaving Pekanbaru for Duri

Today we had our poetry jam at Caltex School – every student presented a poem with pride and more than a little attitude. Not only did every poet get rewarded with pounding applause, but each and every one received the highest possible score – two gongs! And when we were done, I was

Sumatra

And another in Sumatra 

Gonged at Caltex!

Well, I’ve been welcomed to schools, I’ve been introduced with poems and songs and outstanding performances, but this is the first time I have been gonged into a school! Honoring an Indonesian tradition, I was welcomed at the Caltex School in Sumatra by a deep g-o-n-g. After they asked me three questions: Where