I'm at a conference today (and yesterday!), and there are so many things I want to note:
* Getting to see Floyd Cooper's amazing art for Back of the Bus at the Columbus Museum of Art; I slowed down (something I'm terrible at), breathing deeply in front of each illustration, leaning in closely, looking at his sketches and how his designs for the pages changed over time (he wrote himself feedback notes -- it's lovely and inspiring to see those draft pages).
* Visiting one of my favorite bookstores, Cover to Cover, which is all children's books, and again, slowing down, pulling out books and skimming through them, looking with open eyes. I found a book of haikus by Richard Wright, Seeing into Tomorrow (amazingly photo-illustrated by Nina Crews). I bought the book and will add haikus to my Slice inspiration list. And then I'm going to share the book with a teacher friend who will love it.
* Drinking coffee with three educators who inspire me. At 7:15 am (and I am NOT a morning person), popcorning out ideas and resources, dreaming about visiting each other's room, hatching plans to connect again soon about our shared work. I want to be the kind of coffee-connector who follows-up with her friends, so put a note in my calendar to loop back to them tomorrow, because these conversations are heart-filling for me. Especially inspired by my friend Dave Stuart, Jr, who is not only a teacher/writer/blogger but a dad who embraces his parenting life, who uses it to center him as he helps students flourish. Thank you, Dave, for modeling this commitment for me.
* Learning. About Love, Teach's blog. About imitation writing. About books that center the LGBTQIA experiences of teens. About the need to be relentlessly committed to creating "textual feasts" for students.
The truth is, sometimes I'm a terrible conference attendee. Unfriendly, wandering instead of listening, hoping to find a table at lunch where folks aren't overly chatty. But I'm being my best self for a few days, and I'm grateful for energy it's given me.
* Getting to see Floyd Cooper's amazing art for Back of the Bus at the Columbus Museum of Art; I slowed down (something I'm terrible at), breathing deeply in front of each illustration, leaning in closely, looking at his sketches and how his designs for the pages changed over time (he wrote himself feedback notes -- it's lovely and inspiring to see those draft pages).
* Visiting one of my favorite bookstores, Cover to Cover, which is all children's books, and again, slowing down, pulling out books and skimming through them, looking with open eyes. I found a book of haikus by Richard Wright, Seeing into Tomorrow (amazingly photo-illustrated by Nina Crews). I bought the book and will add haikus to my Slice inspiration list. And then I'm going to share the book with a teacher friend who will love it.
* Drinking coffee with three educators who inspire me. At 7:15 am (and I am NOT a morning person), popcorning out ideas and resources, dreaming about visiting each other's room, hatching plans to connect again soon about our shared work. I want to be the kind of coffee-connector who follows-up with her friends, so put a note in my calendar to loop back to them tomorrow, because these conversations are heart-filling for me. Especially inspired by my friend Dave Stuart, Jr, who is not only a teacher/writer/blogger but a dad who embraces his parenting life, who uses it to center him as he helps students flourish. Thank you, Dave, for modeling this commitment for me.
* Learning. About Love, Teach's blog. About imitation writing. About books that center the LGBTQIA experiences of teens. About the need to be relentlessly committed to creating "textual feasts" for students.
The truth is, sometimes I'm a terrible conference attendee. Unfriendly, wandering instead of listening, hoping to find a table at lunch where folks aren't overly chatty. But I'm being my best self for a few days, and I'm grateful for energy it's given me.
LOL to "hoping to find a table at lunch where folks aren't overly chatty." I'm a huge introvert, but for some reason I get super chatty at conferences and I'm always trying to find the chatty . table! But since I'm an introvert, I don't know how to find the extroverts or insert myself into their chatter! I have Seeing into Tomorrow from the library right now but haven't read it--will be fishing it out of the stack to remedy that. Enjoy your learning!
ReplyDeleteLove your words "being well behaved." It is hard for us as teachers to be well behaved, even though we always expect it from our students. Wonderful glimpse of the fun learning you're enjoying. I've read Seeing Into Tomorrow and it's lovely.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy those conversations that are big dreams at conferences. Those are such fueling conversations. I loved seeing your tweets! They fueled me from afar.
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