The Finest Hours

Inside the box: the title for Year 5.

Every year we find ourselves singing the same old tune - time is positively flying by. But seriously, how is it June? This year seems to be marching to an allegro all its own. We could spend an entire post telling you how many sticky notes fill our respective desks, how many times we'd send each other a quick text that says simply, "That's a blog post!" or how often BLOG! appears on weekend to-do lists.

So now it's the end of June, and it has somehow been way too long since we've posted an update. So we'll take our first step. And instead of listing all of the blog-worthy events of the last few months, we're going to start with one.

Stealing moments to read.

It's fitting that our title for Year 5 was The Finest Hours; we couldn't think of a better tag if we tried.

Even though we had settled in to our CRL-groove and felt pretty awesome about our fifth iteration, this year will perhaps be remembered for its extraordinary firsts.

• This was the first time we let the students pick the title.
• This was the first time we held a Barnes and Noble book fair, helping us fund our field trip.
• This was the first time Mary was at the helm as a CRL 2.0, having accepted the position of Assistant Principal (!!!!) in December, the very week All In! 2016 was launched.
• This was the first time our new Principal experienced All In!



The book that spread like wildfire.

• This was the first time we cracked 300 student readers, resulting in our biggest turnout EVER.
• This was the first time the author of the book contacted us and insisted on a visit, which led to the planning of a massive assembly in celebration of both the book and its real-life heroes. 

We hope you forgive us for our hiatus. We promise - we haven't gone anywhere! We are here to offer you the same kind of crazy we always have, to share our insights, thrills, and failures, and document our literary shenanigans. And we invite you to stick with us as we delve a little deeper into All In! Year 5: The Finest Hours.  Stay tuned...lots more CRL to come!

Our Literary Leader revealed the book live on the morning news.

A Title for Year 5

All In! is five years old.

What started as "The Hunger Games Book Club" - fun fact, all of our documents are saved under that original name - morphed into the "School-wide Read," then became the educational non-profit All In!, and now here we are. We are so proud of our journey, and the five year mark feels momentous.

Students filled a banner with their guesses back in October.

Before we knew anything about this year, before we considered one title, before we wrote a single idea down on paper, we knew we wanted this year to be memorable. We wanted to mark the milestone. Five years! We have a lot to celebrate.

Truth be told, we started thinking about titles a year ago. There's no real starting date for us, we just constantly read and constantly talk. And somewhere along the line, things just click and an All In! title is discovered. For the last four years, it has been that simple.

This year was different. Nothing was clicking. We read all summer long and couldn't settle on a book. There were a few good ones, but nothing was great. We didn't LOVE anything. For the first time, we started the school year without having a title in mind.

This year, our kids waited longer than ever for the reveal.

But here's the crazy thing - we didn't panic. We knew a title and a plan would come to us. And we knew we were going to make it awesome.

We have several "unspokens" between us. One of them is that we are a literacy initiative. We choose books that we love. We choose books that get kids reading. And at this stage, we are confident that we can get students to buy-in even without a movie. We've earned their trust. As long as there is a field trip - and only readers get to go - we can sell it to our kids.

One idea that sort of came and went was the idea of student choice. Several people had mentioned it to us over the years and for one reason or another, we always left it on the table and went in another direction. It never felt right. This year, it fit. We couldn't decide on a title, so why not let the kids pick it?

Since we had the serendipitous tie-in of the election cycle we decided to (wait for it...) go all in. The book for All In! 2016 would be chosen by our students.

In late November, we aired this promo, which put our already desperate children over the edge. We'll put it up against any political ad out there.

All In! 2016 Promo

Coming up, we'll tell you all about our campaign, debate, and election process - which featured not a single hanging chad.

Extreme Library Makeover: Part 1

Seventeen months ago we came home from ILA 2014 and bounced into our Principal's office.

"We went to this session, and this woman took her school's underused library and turned it into a literary cafe. And there are comfy chairs! And colors! And books on display! And can we do this? We can totally do this! Let's DO THIS!"

He smiled, and nodded, and - we're pretty sure - pressed that magic button which summoned the secretary to rescue him with some sort of emergency phone call.

"The answer is yes, but not yet. Put it on your radar for next year."

So the CRL did something we hardly ever do: we waited.

Before: Kids love rows! Not.

We have a gorgeous library. It's located on the second floor of our recently-renovated building and boasts high ceilings, carpeted floors, and lots of windows. The only thing that's missing is a librarian. And students. Like so many school districts, our town eliminated the librarian position years ago. In place of a full-time librarian is an overworked and underpaid EA who must split her time between our middle school and the elementary school next door. This year, our middles have access to the library exactly one period a week.

Our design - and it worked!

Over the years, the CRL have done their best to fill the gap and keep good books in the hands of our children. Erin's room became a mini-library where students would come to browse for books. Mary's room served as the annex next door - if Erin didn't have a book, Mary usually did. It wasn't unusual for kids to walk in while we were teaching, find what they were looking for, and silently sign it out.

Meanwhile, our *actual* library became a lot of things it was never intended to be: a warehouse, an A/V storage closet, a museum, and a faculty meeting area. Our 500 students knew it primarily as That Room We Walk Through to Get to the Computer Lab.

This was not okay.

One word: Weeding.

Summer of 2015, it was Go Time and we were thrilled with the opportunity. Not only would we reinvigorate the library, we'd address a few other pressing issues, namely:

1 - Erin's need for classroom space
2 - Mary's need for hours for her administrator's license

Such a good egg!

We had visions of spending a few fun-filled hours in the library then heading out for al fresco lunches. We'll have all afternoon to hang out at the pool! We'll take Friday off! It'll be done in a week, we thought. 10-15 hours, tops.

*cue maniacal laughter*

This one was in Beast-Mode.

This thing was like an onion - an out-dated, emotionally-charged, allergen-filled onion - containing more layers than we care to remember. More than once we looked at each other and silently - okay, not so silently - acknowledged how far over our heads we actually were; but there was no choice other than to just keep swimming. We did research on the fly, discovering long-forgotten policies and steps to the process we never even knew existed. It was a summer spent taking two steps forward and one step back.

We got to the pool twice. Mary's children spent some serious bonding time with our library scanning system. Her 3rd grader boasts newly-developed pecs after loading and unloading carts. As for hours, we stopped counting after one hundred.

CRL - with power tools!

Pretty purple ones!

This past August, we spent each and every morning in our school library in the hopes of transforming it into a book-filled sanctuary worthy of our extraordinary kiddos.

Though school opened without the project being complete, we are extremely proud of our work-in-progress and the kids are already excited. More than once, a student has come up the stairs and gasped "Oh! It looks so GOOD! Thank you!!!"
They look at a space with half-filled shelves. They see spartan wooden chairs where - we hope - comfy beanbags will someday reside. And still they see beauty. Kids curl up on the bare floor, finding the nooks we created just for them. And that's more than enough to keep us going.

New configuration

This summer, we managed to weed the entire non-fiction collection, rearrange the shelving, and carve out a classroom. Just yesterday, we placed a furniture wishlist in the hands of our Principal.
 
In our next post, we'll outline the steps we followed in case any of you are clinically insane find yourselves inspired to do the same.

After-ish

- Mary and Erin
@allinreading

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

This summer Erin and I were privileged to spend a day absorbing independent reading teaching strategies from Donalyn Miller at the Scholastic Reading Summit in Boston.  We were there to "assist," but we did little more than provide a cheesy introduction.  In reality, we were happily soaking up the positivity and enthusiasm that comes from having a high concentrate of literary professionals in a small space.

Donalyn, author of The  Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild, inspired me to change the way I approach reading in the middle school classroom.  I thought about how I taught novels, what my independent reading requirements were, and I threw my old models out the window.  I can't tell you how my new novel plan worked - I plan to start it in two weeks - but I can report that the new independent reading model is already a smashing success. 

On day three of the new school year, I gave my 8th graders a reading interest survey.  They were asked if they identified themselves as "a reader," the last book they read and loved, what gets in the way of reading, and genres they preferred.  I spent Labor Day weekend pouring over student reading preferences and attitudes, and played match-maker, setting kids up on dates the books I thought best complimented their reading profile.

 Some students were easy to match.  They liked a wide range of genres and provided detailed insight into their reading psyche.  Others presented more of a challenge; these kids didn't have a history of positive relationships with books.  They did not categorize themselves as readers and their genre preferences were more narrow.  These readers (Donalyn taught me to call them developing or dormant, not struggling or reluctant) are the ones I had to work the hardest to please, and the ones for whom the matchmaker system works best. 

These are the kids who wrote comments claiming they didn't like to read.  And I think, too often, parents and teachers took them at face value and believed them.  But that buck stops here.  When faced with a child who claimed to not like reading, I simply told them their words were translated in my brain as, "I haven't found the right book yet."

The actual match making process was time consuming.  I devoted two full class periods to it.  I prepared a review activity for small groups to complete.  While they did, I walked from table to table with stacks of books I'd curated for them based on their survey.  One by one I sat next to each student and explained my choices.  "Because you said you like mystery, I pulled an Agatha Christie book.  Have you ever heard of her?"  "Because you said you hated reading but identified historical fiction as a genre you like, I brought you a graphic novel about the Donner Party.  Have you ever heard of them?"  In this way I had conversations with each student in the class over the course of two days.  Each student was presented with a minimum of three books.  Each books was the subject of a mini-book talk - no more than 60 seconds apiece - and students were given the option to pick a book or say they'd like new choices.

A handful of students, five to be precise, proved to be challenging.  Those five either outright rejected their offerings or returned minutes later to say they tried a book but didn't like it.  One boy identified himself as a lover of non-fiction and action adventure but rejected every exciting non-fiction read he was offered.  Chasing Lincoln's Killer?  Sounds boring.  Into Thin Air?  Nah.  Revenge of the Whale?
Nope.  Eventually, after thirty minutes of excruciating patience (I forced myself to remain calm.  I had to make sure that their book selection experience was positive and stress free.  Thankfully this encounter happened at the end of the school day.  Otherwise, I might have cracked), I asked him to define non-fiction.  Turns out, he had switched the definition of non-fiction and fiction.  He left with Soldier Boys, a happy camper.

One young lady claimed to like "old books," and reported reading and loving Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.  So I presented her with a varied mix of Jodi Picoult, Agatha Christie, and Carl Hiaasan.  She took Murder on the Orient Express but returned on Matchmaking Day Two to say she didn't like it.  I book talked two other YA titles.  She tried them both, blessing neither with approval.  Finally I took a desperate shot in the dark and asked, "Have you ever read Hatchet?"  And that's the one that stuck.

But for every child who put me through my paces, there was one who finished their book in one night.  I was thrilled to pieces when a student who claimed to "really dislike reading" read Smile in one night and asked to borrow Sisters and Drama for the weekend.  Thank you, Raina Telgemeier, for helping me reach this girl.

Before leaving for the weekend, a colleague told me that the kids were loving the books I recommended.  I replied that I was happy to hear that, and she said, "What they really loved is that YOU recommended them.  The kids told me, 'She picked this out just for me.'"

Until that moment, I hadn't thought about book matchmaking as a tool for relationship building, but now it seems blindingly obvious.  By giving three or four book talks to each individual child in my classes, I was able to give each one several minutes of undivided, one-on-one attention.  Think of that...several minutes of eye contact, story telling, smiling, and give and take conversation.  I'd completely overlooked how powerful that was going to be, not just for the kids, but for me.  I feel like I *know* my students so much better now.  I know that Thomas is on book four of the Charlie Higson books and Chris loves Harry Potter, that Shannon "hates to read" but loves S.E. Hinton, that Chloe reads slowly but loves a good horror story.  If you'd asked me last year after 7 days of teaching if I could name one thing about each of my students, I'd be lucky to get 50%.  And now?  I think I have a better start on the school year than I have in a long, long time.

Maybe it's a little early to celebrate.  It is only day 7 of the new year, after all.  But I can't help but feel optimistic.  I mean, just LOOK at them!

Mary
@allincotillo

It's the Little Things

It’s ILA15 travel day!

This is a cause for rejoicing

Early this morning, round about 5am, Erin turned into the Logan Express parking garage and exclaimed, “This used to be a parking lot!  Look at this!”  Upon entering the terminal and taking in its modern seating and very large, interactive, touch-screen display, she marveled, “This is AWESOME!”  I enthusiastically agreed.  She then made a joke about the two of us gushing about the fineness of a bus terminal, laughed and said, “We don’t get out much.”

It got me thinking. 

There are many things that Erin and I share: taste in books, sense of humor, love for a certain beagle, two beautifully flawed children, and the romance novelist Sarah M. Beers.  But today we identified another similarity, one that Erin points out is likely to be a major contributor to the success of our partnership: our ability to become excited by everyday blessings.

I mean, yes, we know that the hotel will deliver toiletries should we happened to phone them at 10pm when they are discovered to be missing.  And yes, we know that there are many delicious breakfasts to be purchased in restaurants around the world.  But just *knowing* those things feels like a poor excuse for not celebrating them when they cross our path.  What’s wrong with a little rejoicing? 

I think one thing that sets The Crazy Reading Ladies apart from other folks – besides our bedazzled T-shirts - is our enthusiasm.  Yes, we are enthusiastic about reading, about teaching, about kids.  But we’re enthusiastic about other things as well – a beautiful sunrise, a quick trip to the airport, a second cup of coffee delivered by a smiling Southwest steward.  And while our passion may feel strong enough to fly a plane to St. Louis, it’s a rare thing in an adult.  We’re taught as children to temper our enthusiasm.  People are tolerant of children who ooh and ahh over the free snacks handed out on the airplane, but adults who do so are obnoxious. 

Room with a view! Sorta!

And I get it.  Mostly.  I mean, if I saw a grown woman standing with her nose pressed up against the terminal windows exclaiming, “It’s so big!” I’d first look for the hidden camera and then assume she had some sort of disability.  But what about an adult showing appropriate appreciation for the person who delivers a much needed coffee, or excitement at the sight of a landmark?  When did we all become so jaded that it’s not cool to marvel out loud at the adorableness of the tiny cut-glass salt and pepper shakers on the banquet table?

I think what upsets me more than seeing adults who have turned off their joy is seeing students who have.  When kids have instant access to all the knowledge in the world sitting in their pocket, they can be pretty darn hard to impress.  I fear that kids are losing their sense of wonder and excitement.  As teachers, we must remember this. 

We must try to see and experience things through the eyes of a child.  We need to not censor our positive emotional reactions.  We must react, and react big.  We must love out loud and model for our students how to be open to the world and how to appreciate its gifts.  If we show them the way, if we make our classrooms safe places, maybe we can awaken the sleeping passion inside our students. 

Today and every day of this St. Louis adventure, Erin and I promise to find the joy in the world around us.  We encourage you to do the same. We'll share with you some of the many things that make us smile.  We probably won't blog about all of them, but we'll tweet them, and we hope you'll share yours with us, too.  We are @allinreading.

And if you happen to be in St. Louis for ILA, please join us Sunday at 1pm room 232  for Building Intrinsic Motivation in Middle Level Readers.  Later that same day we'll be holding a fun-filled workshop from 3-5 in room 127: Putting the C in the CRL.  We're also hosting an author panel with Ellen Hopkins and Una LaMarche on Monday at 11am in room 124.  Hope you can stop by!

And, one last thing before we go:

Mary with her coffee-delivering savior

To Ray, kind-hearted Southwest steward who saw two bleary-eyed Crazy Reading Ladies and delivered a second cup of coffee just to be nice – thank you.  To Jim, always smiling manager of Renaissance Grand St. Louis, who helped when the cloud ate our hotel reservations - thank you.

You guys are AWESOME!

Share Possible

The sun has set and still we sit, basking in the wonder of Scholastic's extraordinary Reading Summit, and feeling positively overwhelmed in the best possible way.

Overwhelming. It was how our Assistant Principal chided us once upon a time; the wrist-slap we decided to own and wear as a badge of honor. Four years ago when she spoke those words, we took it as a compliment; in fact, we loved it so much that when it was time to give All In! its wings and form our very own educational non-profit, we named it in honor of our aha! moment: Overwhelming Success, Incorporated.

Overwhelming. It was the title of our inaugural post. For those of you who have just found our blog: Welcome Home.

Scholastic's Reading Summit served to attract the very best in literacy professionals, powerhouses of information and inspiration, and heart like you wouldn't believe. Being a teacher is not something you do, it's who you are. It's a calling, not a career. And in the last 24 hours, we were surrounded by hundreds of other people who just "get it."

Never before have we experienced such a sense of belonging. You are our people. You are our tribe.

Thank you.

To people like @MrSchuReads and @AuntieRez, who put open arms and smiling faces to Twitter handles for the very first time.

To Dr. Kim Parker, whose incredible essay laid the foundation of a road we will now travel. You have lit a fire.

To Andrea Davis Pinkney, whose presentation rendered us speechless. Your honesty, integrity, and limitless talent are breathtaking. Is it too early to ask how we could possibly get you to our school to be a Visiting Author?

To Alice Ozma, with whom we shared teaching anecdotes and delectable desserts, only to return to our hotel room, remember a certain CBS news piece and scream, "Oh my word, THAT'S HER!!!!!"

To Donalyn Miller, who allowed these fan girls the opportunity of a lifetime, as well as considerable wait time until we managed to speak coherent sentences in your presence. Thank you for striking the perfect balance between validation and inspiration. Thank you for taking the time to talk about books, and kids, and for honoring the duty we have to bring them together. Thank you for stopping by the elevator to wish a certain young man Good Night.

To Rebecca, educator extraordinaire and our long-lost triplet. Thank you for validating us. Thank you for conversation at dinner. And at breakfast. And in the hallway. And in the hotel room. And after the sessions. And in the lobby. Please continue to do what you do. The world needs more crazy reading ladies.

To all of the incredible people at Scholastic for spoiling us rotten and giving us the platform to share a little bit of our crazy. Thank you for bringing together some of the finest leaders in literacy in order to make the world better for our children. Let this be the first of many gatherings.

To Johnny Yotnakparian, Abby's uncle. It was our students who christened us, who gave us our identity as The Crazy Reading Ladies, and everything we do will always be about them. Thank you for honoring us with your gratitude and making us feel like royalty. We have the best jobs in the world. Thank you for "getting" us. And thank you for sharing our story.

To all of the Summit attendees, whose presence and passion made us feel right at home. This is our time. Remember that you are exactly what your students need. We know that you, too, live for the moment a child discovers the joy of reading. Do whatever it takes to get them there. Don't be afraid to love out loud, or on a blingy t-shirt.

For everyone else reading this, we know you're one of us.

Overwhelming. That was how our story started, and we look forward to sharing our journey.

ILA15 Top Ten!

Top Ten Reasons the CRL are Pumped for #ILA15

10. New Crazy Reading Lady Shirts.  Get ready St. Louis, we're bringing enough to keep ourselves decent for three whole days!

9. Vacation Food. We've been on a sugar cleanse for the last week. (9 days, 7.5 hours, to be exact.  But who's counting?) Said sugar cleanse will include more flexible rules as soon as we cross state lines.  Translation: Mary will be ordering dessert first.  And last. 

8. Our peers.  Our peeps.  Our tribe!  Passionate educators whose enthusiasm and abandon are contagious. We love making connections to other professionals who can talk for hours about YA titles, cross-curricular connections, and Woodcock-Johnsons. (If you're laughing right now, you clearly don't assess literacy skills for a living. This is the name of a highly-regarded reading assessment. Get your head out of the gutter!) Nothing is more rejuvenating and satisfying than spending time with professionals who never accuse each other of having a "teacher voice."  (Hi, Mom!) Last year, while in line for coffee, we were treated to an impromptu characterization dance by a woman we had never met. It was one of the finest moments of our trip.

Does this outfit meet dress code?

7. Functioning technology!  We hope!  Keep your fingers crossed that we'll actually be able to show the presentations we've poured hours of blood, sweat, and tears into.  We're still a tad traumatized from last year's experience, during which our finely-crafted, labor-of-love presentation refused to be projected onto the big screen. This brought four tech guys to our session as the clock clicked down and participants arrived.  An hour later, there was still no reasonable explanation as to why our laptop had friend-zoned the projector. Throughout that hour, Mary's wallpaper pic of her boyfriend (Hi, Jim!) was projected for all to see while Erin rambled aimlessly, vamping to buy time. It was a hoot. In all seriousness, we ended up winging it.  We were able to get slides up when we had about 25 minutes left, but at that point they seemed superfluous.  We talked and told stories and laughed and were pretty dang proud of ourselves. The bright side is we know we can do this without a net, but dang! It'd sure be nice to have a net.  But hey, they invited us back this year - for a session AND a workshop - I guess we did okay.

6. Hotel toiletries! Last year, our New Orleans hotel boasted Erin's favorite Aveda shampoo and conditioner. Once word got out, visitors brought handfuls for her stash. You've got big shoes to fill, St. Louis. I mean that stuff is normally, like $30 a bottle! (We don't get out much.)

5.Ideas. The thought of filling our notebooks with "We're SO doing this" ideas, collected from brilliant speakers and inspiring sessions. Last year, we returned from ILA with grand plans for redesigning our library into a literary cafe. It only took a year of planning, but that vision will become reality this fall.  I'm sure our fearless Gandalf awaits our return - and plans to take over even more of the school - eagerly.  (Hi, Mr. Fortin!)

4. Authors and books. Lots and lots of books. We'll happily wait in line to get books autographed for our kiddos, or to tearfully thank an author for writing something that made *that* child love reading.

3. St. Louis.  Home of the arch!  And BBQ!  And...other stuff!  Okay, so it's not New Orleans, but it's not Franklin.  As long as we can visit the local coffee shop without stopping to talk to six or seven current or former students, it will feel like a vacation. 

The CRL found this waiting in N'Awlins.

2. Bus schedules. You'll thank us later.

Aaaand, most of all...


The number one reason we're pumped for #ILA15...

It's a chance to share our crazy!

Please join us at:

Session #00562 - Building Intrinsic Motivation in Middle Level Readers: Tips to Get 'Em Hooked and Keep 'Em Reading.
Sunday, 1pm, Room 232

Workshop #00634  - Putting the C in the CRL: Experience the Outright Craziness the Ladies Bring to Literary Adventures.
Sunday, 3pm, Room 127

Putting Books to Work with Ellen Hopkins and Una LaMarche
Monday, 11am, Room 124

Look out, ILA15!  The Crazy Reading Ladies are coming!