Veterans Day Part One: An Unexpected Journey

"The Best Laid Schemes..." 

Book Release: 11/11/14. Perfect timing!

In a brilliant marketing move, Random House publishers decided to release the YA version of UNBROKEN on Veterans Day.

Back in September, when the title was revealed to students and parents, The Crazy Reading Ladies decided that an assembly on November 10 would be absolutely perfect. We would honor veterans and officially kick off All In! 2015. Sage advisers warned us: there wasn't enough time.

 

Pshaw! To whom were they issuing this advice? Did they SEE our Divergent assembly?! We had until November 10 - almost two whole months! In CRL time, that's like a year and a half.

As we set about planning, Gandalf (a.k.a. our principal) cautioned us, "Keep it small and book-centric." 

Okey dokey!

Mother/daughter selfie with Senator Ross!

We ended up with a thirty-piece band, a string quintet, three politicians, eight visiting high schoolers, fifteen veterans, a Student Council honor guard, and local cable access television. (And a partridge in a pear tree.)

Gandalf - who knows full-well we ordered confetti cannons last year - should have known better.

Honestly, though, we started off trying to follow orders.  We wanted to keep it small! We're good tributes/Hobbits/initiates/soldiers, after all.  But, as good heroes often do, we found ourselves pulled astray.  As Robert Frost taught us, "way leads on to way" and original paths are difficult to rediscover.  One decision lead to another and we quickly found ourselves on a path leading to spectacle.  In this Part One post we try to unravel the twisting road and leave you a trail of breadcrumbs, should you ever decide to try to follow our footsteps. To experience the day itself, please read Part Two. 

Something Old and Something New
Early in the brainstorming process, a colleague suggested having teachers read the introduction of the book as part of the kickoff assembly.  We thought that idea was wonderful, but we wanted the day to be as much about students as possible, so decided to invite former All In! participants to do the honors.  We sent emails to the high school, inviting our HUNGER GAMES co-victors (now Juniors!), our HOBBIT and DIVERGENT Literary Leaders, and others whose participation was memorable.  Most were happy to help, but a handful couldn't miss class, and we ended up needing five more voices.  Of course, we're never at a shortage for manpower!  Current 8th graders - our future three-peats - were more than happy to step up and help us out.  So far, so good!  We talk about the importance of the day, read the introduction, promote the book...done and done!  

We Are Looking for Someone to Join in an Adventure
How do you have a Veteran's Day Assembly without inviting veterans?   Short story: you don't.  Erin made a few phone calls to our super helpful and right-next-door Senior Center and before you knew it, we had seven seniors RSVP that they'd be pleased to attend.  They helped us by advertising our invitation in their newsletter.  That newsletter fell into the hands of the social director for a local assisted living center, and they brought eight more veterans to our door.  Because of the help of these local organizations, our students got to meet and recognize veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and those involved in more recent conflicts.  

This important and necessary addition to the festivities required that we strike a respectful balance between promoting the book and honoring their service.  Many conversations were had about how best to do so.  Which leads us to the involvement of many people and school clubs.  

Our Loyal Band of Adventurers

My 3 words video

So many people in the school community wanted to be involved.  SO many!  We were, quite honestly, overwhelmed in the best way possible.  There have been times over the past three years that the CRL have felt a little like the middle child of our community.  To have so many genuine offers of help was enough for our grinchy hearts to grow three sizes.

Our 7th grade REACH teacher showed us Good Morning America's "My Three Words" campaign, and the Community Service Club ran with it.  They made a video of the HMMS community response to the question, "What does the word 'hero' mean to you?"

The CRL know that music plays a large role in student buy in.  We've always chosen an official song for each book.  The kids hear "Some Nights" by Fun and cry "The HOBBIT Song!"  Nothing but Eminem would work for DIVERGENT.  But this assembly about the struggles and sacrifices of veterans didn't really call for modern pop music.  Instead, we begged help from our talented music teachers. 



Strike up the band! 

Our strings teacher agreed to provide a quintet of student players stationed in the lobby to greet visitors.  Our chorus teacher pulled her select chorus to sing the National Anthem to start our assembly.  She also worked with an 8th grader on a solo of "The White Cliffs of Dover" and provided accompaniment.  Our band teacher directed the student band as they played patriotic songs while the audience entered and exited the auditorium.

7th grader chatting with "her veteran"

 

About a week before the assembly, the Student Council adviser approached Erin to ask how he could get his kids involved.  In one week's time said adviser and his band of "get it done" kids pulled off the following:  a smorgasbord of cookies and muffins and other goodies to serve our visitors after the assembly, letters of thanks to give to each attending veteran, a patriotic honor guard to applaud for and greet them as they entered the school, and friendly and respectful guides to lead visiting veterans to their seats.  As we discussed the details involved, Student Council members also took on the task of interviewing and introducing the veterans and presenting them with a copy of UNBROKEN as a gift.   

Our school community has also participated in Dress Up for Charity, in which we raise awareness of a current issue and students and staff dress up to show respect for the cause. On November 10, All In! sponsored Dress Up day for our nation's military and students and staff donned their fanciest (or most patriotic) attire for the occasion. That lifted the tenor of the day and made our guests feel even more honored. 

Since our mission was to strike the delicate balance between honoring veterans and promoting ALLIN15, we decided that it would be appropriate to educate the students about the content of the book and explicitly tell them why we thought they should read. ALLIN15 was also the very first time the staff knew about the book before the students did, and many took the opportunity to read it over the summer. Given this, we decided that teacher testimonials would be the way to go. And our staff is just game enough to permit a troop of middle schoolers - we call 'em our Crazy Reading Minions, we meet Mondays after school - to shove a camera in their faces and push record. Once edited, "Teacher Testimonials" had a running time of twelve minutes; it speaks volumes that the longest video aired at the assembly was filled with our wonderful comrades who willingly stepped out of their comfort zones and spoke about a book.

Teacher Testimonial Video

Without the help of these teachers and students, we're not sure we could have struck the appropriate balance between honoring veterans and promoting the book.  We are truly grateful. 

                                                Wizard's Council

Rep. Roy, Sen. Ross, Sen. Spilka

Somewhere along the way, Gandalf suggested inviting state politicians to attend.  This has been standard operating procedure for major school events, so Erin dutifully sent off emails to all the folks we could track down, with no real expectations.  Within a matter of days we'd received positive responses from Senators Spilka and Ross and Representative Roy.  We also got a "maybe" from Governor Deval Patrick.  Just sayin'.
An Unexpected Journey
What began as a "small and book-centric" assembly morphed into something much, much bigger.  Check out Part Two to read the rest!

Why YA?

Anna and Annabelle.  Both go All In!

My daughter Anna was in 4th grade the year I put corkscrew curls in my hair, spray painted them pink, and wished 220+ middle school students "Happy Hunger Games! "  I attended her 5th grade conference dressed as an elven princess from THE HOBBIT.  Having modeled that level of passion for two years, there was no way I could dissuade her from reading DIVERGENT when she officially joined All In! in 6th grade.  Was I concerned about the content?  Yeah, I was.  This is, after all, the girl who didn't know what a commercial was until 2nd grade because I'd only ever allowed PBS.  It was Colleen, a friend and colleague and mother to two well-adjusted teenaged children, who reminded me that 11 year-olds are capable of discerning the difference between fantasy and reality.  Those words rang true a month later when Anna reacted to Edward's ocular encounter with a butter knife with the word "gross," but found her climbing into my bed after a 2am nightmare sparked by a Rachel's Challenge assembly about the massacre at Columbine.  Fantasy vs. Reality.

People who know The Crazy Reading Ladies are somewhat surprised when they hear that we are embracing a YA adaptation of an adult book for our 2015 All In! program.  We are, after all, champions of complex text and challenge.  We put Tolkien in the hands of 6th graders and vehemently defended the decision to any naysayer.  We stirred the proverbial pot in our school district by using this very blog to publicly disagree with the disturbingly common objection that there are kids who "can't" read well enough to participate. 

So what changed?

Are we caving to the pressure from a handful of parents who complain that our choices have been inappropriate?  No.  We have and will always support a parent's decision to say no to their child, but we will not force that no upon an entire school population.

Are we choosing the YA version for the simplified vocabulary and sentence structure to make it more accessible for the kids who "can't" read the original.  Um...hell no.

What it all comes down to is the very same observation that Colleen made to me in the staff lunch room one year ago:  11 year-olds know the difference between fiction and reality.  And this year's book, UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand, is reality.  

Recently The New York Times published an article on the increasing trend of retrofitting non-fiction books for the Young Adult market. The piece explored several books undergoing the transformation and spoke specifically about Laura Hillenbrand's upcoming YA adaptation of UNBROKEN.  Erin shared the NYT article with the students of her 8th grade replacement literacy classes (translation: support classes for struggling readers) and reported that half of her kids felt "insulted" by the insinuation that they can't read the original book and admitted that reading the YA version would "feel like cheating."  The other 50% were excited that a book on such an interesting topic would be accessible to them; they would be more likely to read it. The comments Erin posted on behalf of her kids became a "NYT Top Pick."

The thoughts of Erin's students were echoed by the majority of people posting comments.  We're doing our youth a disservice by taking a rich text and dumbing it down.  We're raising a generation of sissies by sugar coating life.

The Crazy Reading Ladies would like to officially go on record with the following:

We did not choose the YA version of UNBROKEN because we do not believe our students are capable of reading and understanding the adult version.

We chose the YA version of UNBROKEN because the story is not a story.  It's non-fiction.

Allow me to set up a metaphor to make my final point.  When teaching my students about critical reading, I compare the activity of reading to that of sailing on the ocean.  You can read a text on the surface, just like you can sail on the surface of the water.  You see things, you feel things, and those things are interesting and

Damn it, Jim.  I'm a teacher, not an artist. 

real.  But if you were to strap on some SCUBA gear and dive beneath the surface of the water and the text, you'd see a whole lot more and it would likely be a whole lot more interesting.  

I go back to Anna and her tears at 2am after learning the ugly truth about school shootings. As a teacher, I want her to read well-written, challenging material.  As a mother, I want her to experience life through literature and learn all she can.  As both, I want her to maintain her youthful trust in the world for as long as I can possibly manage it.  And it is for this reason that I ended up casting my vote for the YA version.  The YA version is enough to give her a sense of war, it's cruelty and injustice, and enough for her to question exactly how people could treat each other so poorly.

In other words, I think that it's enough for her to snorkel through the world of the Pacific theater of WWII.  She doesn't need to don SCUBA gear and immerse herself in it.  There will be plenty of time for that when she's older. 

Mary
@allincotillo

Unbroken: The Right Book at the Right Time

Welcome to the CRL Version 2.0.

For three years we've stuck to a familiar playbook and enjoyed fabulous results.

1. Choose a popular young adult novel with a movie adaptation in the works
2. Tease the heck out of it
3. Reveal the title with pomp and glitter cannons
4. Quiz readers and celebrate accomplishments
5. Fill the buses and see the movie
6. Engage in literary silliness 

That was then, CRL beta.

It's safe to say we're doing things a little differently this year.

Why?  It's not because we planned it that way, not because we were bored and wanted to spice things up a bit, not because parents or staff complained, not because we bought in to Common Core.  We are changing things because  All In! has always, always been about the book, and this year we are honoring our truth by going about things a little differently.



What is the book, you ask?  Oh, right.  Oops.  :-)

47 Days from Reveal to Book Release

By now, most people in the country have read or heard rave reviews about Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.  Most people are also aware that the female half of Brangelina produced what is rumored to be an Oscar worthy feature film based on the book.

But how many people know that there is a YA version hitting shelves on Veterans Day, November 11th?



CRL and Kevin, beside the busted box.
Reveal Day - September 27. 2014

The Crazy Reading Ladies know, and we recognize lightning in a bottle when we see it.

This book is so different from anything we've done before that we've scrapped the old play book, hired a new offensive coordinator, and have our sights set on a winning season.

We'll keep you posted!

Author Visit Part 2: The Thrill of Victory

When I returned to work, I spoke to The Powers That Be about my concourse conversation with Mr. Wilson. Thankfully, they didn't need much convincing; I was already bubbling over with potential plans.

By Doug Wilson and Jody Cohan

"It's a new book. It's non-fiction." 

"It's about sports!" 

"We can talk about media literacy!"

"We can do montage contests! I can post lessons on ItsLearning."  

The Principal was enthused, our parents were on board, and I was one happy CRL. It was January; we had four months to pull this off.

Though I am far from an expert on the subject, I figured I'd share some tips for those of you planning your own Author Visit.

Leading a reporters workshop

1. Find one

Before we talk about balloons and faculty meetings and books and classroom connections, let's figure this out first.  

I consider us bonded, dear reader, so let me be totally honest with you: it ain't easy to find a good visiting author; actually, it's difficult to find a visiting author, period! 

If you want to know why such a wonderful initiative causes this CRL many a sleepless night each year, here are some of the avenues I have tried...only to come up completely and utterly empty:

• publishing houses (in Boston and New York)

• teachers in other districts
• an open letter on Twitter in which I tagged dozens of local and not-so-local authors with an invitation; it received zero responses.
• voicemail, email, snail mail
• author websites 
• local newspapers



Steve Krasner 2012

• International Reading Association

It isn't easy. Throughout my search, I've learned that many schools don't offer these programs anymore and, if they do, they don't receive much media coverage. There isn't an accessible database, website, or blog that touts recent successes with author visits including contact information and fees (we've got your back.)

So here's the secret - talk to people. You don't have to run into Doug Wilson and Dick Button at the US Figure Skating Championships, but if you do, talk to them!  As much as it pains me to admit that my father is correct, let me declare on my little blog that - in this case - he is: It's not what you know, it's who you know.

Visiting Author book signing

Talk to colleagues, friends from high school, family members, and neighbors; think outside the box.  Does anyone know a blogger, reporter, author, artist, playwright or composer? Several years ago, our author was an 8th grade teacher's father's best friend who happened have a storied career with the Providence Journal as well as several children's books under his belt. I think we nabbed him because said teacher heard me wailing, relaying my author-woes at an ELA department meeting. He was next door and probably wanted me to stop crying.

He wasn't Veronica Roth, but most of our students - if they want a career in writing - will find his story much more applicable.  

The following authors are CRL-certified (yep, just made that up):

Steve Krasner

Christopher Golden - 2013

http://www.nudgingtheimagination.com/

Christopher Golden
http://www.christophergolden.com/

Doug Wilson
http://www.dougwilsonabcsports.com/

If you decide to work with any one of these fine gentlemen,we'd be happy to help guide you!

2. Plan ahead

• As much as you are able, force yourself to make decisions ahead of time. 
• Inform people as early as possible but only when final decisions are made. The Wilsons and I threw around several dates before settling on May 20. Only then did I announce the visit to staff, parents, and students.
• Contact your local media: it doesn't always work, but it is worth a shot. We've arranged newspaper coverage for two out of three visits. Everyone loves a story about kids having fun at school!
• Small considerations, like scheduling the 8th grade assembly later in the day due to testing, working around existing lunch schedules, or allowing the chorus to rehearse without changing locations are little courtesies that go a long way.

Front hallway: decked out and ready

 3. Make it real

By far, the biggest challenge I faced was to make this ABC Sports producer real for children who had never seen a single broadcast. Sure, I knew the Wide World of Sports theme song and was familiar with the moments featured in the opening montage, but we teach the ESPN generation.

This is where loving out loud pays off - my excitement about the visit inspired me to pour every ounce of energy I had into making this experience meaningful for my students and valuable for Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Failure was not an option.

• books were purchased for every member of the staff (due to one colorful word and one reference to, um, another physical activity, we felt we were unable to distribute the book to students)
• I generated a page of "Classroom Connection" ideas and tucked it inside each book
• several videos were shown on the morning news broadcast, introducing the student body to Mr. Wilson and his work, teasing them with some splat-tastic highlights

4. Prepare the kids

It goes without saying that the kids who are prepared are more excited, more engaged, ask better questions, are better behaved, and get more out of the experience. Since we know the benefits, don't be afraid to require work out of your students beforehand. This will look different depending on your author's area of expertise.  For Doug Wilson, I encouraged my students to watch the broadcast moments chronicled in his book. This man was an audio/visual expert, so I let them learn by watching. 

An Art Club creation

I used our online learning portal (ItsLearning) to create a course for the Visiting Author and enrolled all 497 students; there, I posted videos, polls, and discussion boards that coordinated with passages from the book. Students could watch Evel Knievel, Dorothy Hamill, Muhammad Ali, and Secretariat. And Michelle Kwan. A lot of Michelle Kwan (hey, it was my course.) 

For Mr. Krasner the sportswriter, I ran off dozens of sports articles and sent an email that linked to a new one each day. The kids were encouraged to read his articles as well as non-fiction books of their choice.

For Mr. Golden the novelist, each student was required to read at least one book he had written. In addition to directing kids to local libraries and bookstores, we bought multiple copies of his books and sold them to our students at the school store.

Deck the halls!

5. Remind Harass  

Let's be honest: most of us are simply too busy to remember something we heard once. If you want faculty buy-in and well-prepared kiddos, you need to provide a lot of support on a very regular basis. Do you want teachers to assign YouTube viewing for homework? Then type it out, include the link, and send it to them.  One teacher even invited me into her classroom to write it on the board. If you can take something off teachers' plates, do it. And don't be afraid to repeat yourself!

My favorite poster

6. Take it on

This isn't a great tip for those trying to de-stress but if you, like me, are a bit of a control freak, don't be afraid to make things happen.  If you are worried about things getting done, do it yourself. Check and double check. Make phone calls. Confirm. Follow your gut. If you're worried lunch isn't going to arrive on time, you are probably right. Call your Principal and demand politely request that he deliver sixteen sandwiches to your room el pronto.

7. Party

I can fit 28 balloons in my car. In fact, after several book reveal assemblies, summer reading celebrations, and international literacy days, I can now strut into that store and state my mylar needs with confidence.

We Crazy Reading Ladies know a thing or two about spectacle, and it works. When you make something feel like a big deal, it is.

• Balloons, posters, student-made signage...do it all! Mr. and Mrs. Wilson even picked up on my color scheme.  
• Display a welcome banner signed by students and staff.
• If you are welcoming a novelist, create a graph or poster that features different book covers and have the kids sign what they read, owning their accomplishment.
• Have a book signing.
• Contests/small group workshops: we've rallied our kiddos to create non-fiction, short stories, and video montages depending on our author du jour.
• Food: if your school allows it, have it. Everything is better with food.
• Invite the kids to dress up or dress according to a theme (sports jerseys, ABC sports colors, etc.)
• Deck the halls - the art club was invited to create posters featuring "the thrill of victory" and "the agony of defeat." Last year, they made super snazzy book cover replicas. More than anything, I think this is what Mr. and Mrs. Wilson appreciated most. It was the warm welcome they so deserved.

8. Do your research

Doug Wilson - 2014

I can't take credit for what made this day a real success: Doug Wilson. Oftentimes we are tasked with hiring a speaker or performer without ever having seen him or her "do their thang."  Mr. Wilson gave me the opportunity to hear his message and map out his presentation to the minute. We had several extensive phone conversations about content (yes, I will teach Jim McKay; no, we are leaving Munich out) which allowed me to better prepare our students and staff. 

We had a complete dry run (with technology) the afternoon before and made some final decisions about content and timing. The result was a day of positively seamless presentations. He spoke about The Power of Words; it was outstanding.

9. Accept help

• parents offered to buy lunch
• colleagues covered my classes 
• the Art Club moderator led two after-school sessions for poster making
• Mary took over Writing Club duties
• students served as a welcoming committee, escorting the Wilsons upon arrival
• a parking lot buddy made sure every balloon made it inside
• Mrs. Wilson and the Principal manned the controls at the back

Emmy-award winning Asst. Principal

The CRL don't do technical difficulties, so I dragged my Principal into that auditorium and had him make sure every button was lit and every switch was flipped. How was I supposed to know there isn't one "ON" button for the sound system? Apparently, there are six. And they have to be turned on in a certain order. I'm not kidding.

10. Say "Thank You"

When all is said and done, and you are basking in your post-Author Visit bliss, people are going to tell you how much they enjoyed the day. The kids are going to tell you it was the best day ever, that it really wasn't boring, or that it was the coolest thing they'd ever done. One 7th grade boy, after meeting Doug Wilson, said, "I think I found my place now." 

Encourage the students and staff to write their thoughts down and send along their words of appreciation.  Once again, I used the online course and created a gratitude thread. Over two hundred kids responded. The pages were printed and sent off to New York along with photos from the day's events.

"To Michelle Kwan, who brought us together."

Perhaps someday I will stop being surprised by this wonderful job or my miraculous kiddos...but not today. I look at this photo and can't quite believe it. The love of Michelle Kwan brought us together and the connection I made with the Wilsons won't soon be broken.

Is it August? Yes.

Am I already nervous about how I'm going to find another fabulous author for next year? Ohh yes. But in the last three years I have had three Author Visits that have looked completely different, and I know that is okay. Next year, it will come together the way it is supposed to, and our cherished tradition will continue. 

In Part 3, we'll talk about how we made this Author Visit a two-day affair; arranging our Skype session with co-author Jody Cohan!

Author Visit Part I: When Worlds Collide

Like so many wonderful things in life, my story begins with Michelle Kwan.

Told you it was awesome.
 And yes, we still have it.

My devotion-turned-admiration for this beloved athlete is no secret to my family, friends, colleagues, and students. In fact, it serves as a beautiful (and, at times, overwhelming) example of what we Crazy Reading Ladies hope to encourage, and what Michelle taught me long ago: love out loud. Wear your passion on your sleeve! Make signs! Gush! Let it out! OWN IT.  

Beaming behind MK's left shoulder.
World Championships, 2003.

Long before I was a Crazy Reading Lady, I was a Crazy Kwan Girl. My friends and I saved every penny we could and traveled to skating events around the world; I got my first passport to fly to the Torino Olympics. Each year, we counted down the days until her program music was announced and then burned CDs of her competition and exhibition pieces. I still tear up at the first notes of East of Eden or Spartacus. We bought tickets - several of us on the phone at once to guarantee the best seats - to competitions the minute they went on sale. Once there, we draped her hallowed arenas with bling-tastic signs and coordinated our outfits to match her dresses. Now card-carrying "grown-ups", we still associate cities with competitive memories (ahh, Atlanta. Oh, Crap Louis.)  Only recently - clinging to the safety net of YouTube - did I say goodbye to four dozen long-loved, meticulously labeled, color-coded VHS tapes. 

That's a Kwan Scream.
 Atlanta Nationals, 2004.

Ah, the glory days of Kwan. She gave us brilliant, beautiful memories, drew me to some of my dearest friends, and taught me lessons I desperately needed to learn. We were so, so lucky to be hers. 

Though I was never discreet about my love for Michelle in my professional life - I have a Wall of Kwan behind my desk and wear my "Got Kwan?" hoodie every sports jersey day - this year, my two worlds absolutely and completely collided into one big pile of literacy love.

In January, the US Figure Skating Championships came to Boston and my friends and I gathered for a fun reunion weekend. Out on the concourse, former ABC Sports director Doug Wilson was signing his recently published book, THE WORLD WAS OUR STAGE. As a skating fan, I knew exactly who he was. I recognized his hat, his voice, his smile. He had directed just about every skating broadcast I'd ever seen and had manned the helm of ABC's Wide World of Sports for fifty years. He was a legend. So I stood in line, bought a book, and struck up a conversation. Now, although it may surprise some of you, I consider myself a shy person. But this was the perfect storm. The chance to talk about books, my kiddos, and Michelle Kwan? I would not shut up. 

If memory serves, I was wearing my CRL shirt at the time; the man had fair warning.

C'mon Michelle, we know you 
still have skates!
Boston Nationals, 2014.

As we spoke about our mutual love for Michelle and waning interest in the competition at hand, I mentioned that as a reading specialist, I welcomed an author to my middle school each year. "Would you, by any chance, be interested in being our visiting author?" 

I knew it was a long-shot - I hadn't even spoken to my Principal - but sometimes, you just know. Wearing my passion on my literal sleeve paid off. We had a connection. Sure, Doug Wilson was an Emmy-award winner, published author, and sought-after speaker (and middle school is...an acquired taste) but what was the harm in asking?

The legend: Doug Wilson Boston, 2014

To my absolute delight, he said yes and we exchanged contact information right on the spot. I'm telling you, only good comes from being a Michelle Kwan fan.  

In Part II, we'll talk about everything that went in to making Author Visit 2014 as perfect as the Kwan spiral.

What a difference a year makes...

Hi, All. 

Mary here. 

My girl in July, 2013

These days I find myself marveling at how much things change and grow over time.  I know exactly what is sparking this sense of wonder: my 12 year old daughter.  One year ago she was a round faced cherub who couldn't reach the glasses on the middle shelf of the cabinet.  Today she bought sticky notes and notebooks in preparation for 7th grade and has plans to meet a girlfriend for lunch.  How time flies.

July 2014...all about selfies

It was just about one year ago that Erin and I put together our first Crazy Reading Ladies blog post.  So much has happened since then.  We celebrated reading with 280 students at Horace Mann and 180 at Southwest Middle School, our first satellite All In! school.  We presented at the annual NELMS and IRA conferences.  We wrote an article for Reading Today and were thrilled to be picked up by the Marshall Memo.  We're hearing every day from teachers all over the country, and even a few internationally, who want to help their students discover the joys of social reading. 

In the spirit of reflection (and to post something while Erin's away on vacation and I'm missing half my brain), I thought we'd re-share with you our very first blog post.  To those of you who have joined us along the way, welcome!  To those who have been with us all along, thank you.  We are so incredibly thankful to have your support. 

*******************************************************************************

TO OVERWHELM: to overpower, to overcome by superior force, to ignite, to empower, to engage.

Erin: 
We were seated next to each other at a round table in the Assistant Principal’s office. We’d recently aired a promotional video, and the unscripted sound effects of one 7th grade boy amused us so much we used it to punctuate humorous moments in the film.   Word had gotten around that said boy was getting flack from his friends, and we’d been called in to “fix” the problem.  Up until now, our entire experience had been filled with warm fuzzy feelings, weepy hugs, cheering kids, and once-in-a-lifetime teaching moments.  This was our first whiff of negativity and we were wrought with concern. 

“Do you want us to cut it?  Do you want me to re-record you?”

“What did those kids say?  Who was it?  Let’s get them down here!  Seriously, you are the star of that video, man.”

“The teachers are already fighting over who gets you next year!  We are so sorry this happened…”  

 When the dust settled and we took time to listen (silence is not one of our practiced virtues), middle school drama proved to be just that.  Our young literacy leader loved the video exactly as it was; in fact, he suggested we post it to YouTube saying, “It’ll totally go viral!”

After our young man left, we were left staring at our administrator.  And then it happened. 
 

“Do you two have any idea how overwhelming you are?”

With the intention of putting us in our place, our assistant principal had effectively christened us with our new identity.  

Me? Overwhelming?

We are overwhelming.  Overwhelmingly excited, overwhelmingly passionate, overwhelmingly talented, overwhelmingly successful. 

We couldn’t have come up with a better moniker if we tried.

Mary and I are literacy soulmates.  Although different paths led us to our present teaching positions - an Elementary classroom for me, the publishing world for her - we both landed at Horace Mann Middle School in the fall of 2010.  We had such similar personalities and professional ideologies that we found ourselves brainstorming without even thinking about it.  We could (and would) spend hours talking about kids and teaching.  Not only did she encourage my crazy ideas, she had most likely thought the very same thing.  We are each other’s biggest fans.  We finish each other’s sentences, love and hate the same books, appreciate a well-placed semi-colon, understand the importance of fashion when teaching a novel, and both thought being called “overwhelming” was a huge compliment.

Cornucopia Relay Race - our take on a "book club."

Mary: 
Our journey of school-wide reading adventures started serendipitously. We were both at an 8th grade ELA department meeting where the conversation was meandering and the agenda loose at best.  

“So, Shawn (our Gandalf, aka Principal) mentioned that he thought it would be cool to have the whole school talking about one book.  What do you guys think about taking on a book club?”

“Half of my kids did their Summer Reading book talks on The Hunger Games.  It’s popular.  And there’s a movie coming out…”

“Hey, you don’t think he’d let us do a field trip to the movie, do you?”

OMG, Peeta so dreamy.

Turns out he would, and the weeks that followed were filled with marathon planning sessions, feather boas, reapings, kids reading in the cafeteria, and “Peeta or Gale?” posters plastering the hallways.  Letting passion and ridiculousness be our guides, we threw together a massive (and, dare I say, overwhelming) school-wide reading initiative that included taking half of our student body - 221 students - to The Hunger Games movie on a perfect Monday in March of 2012.

The movie was followed by full-contact trivia competitions, talent shows, cornucopia relay races and scavenger hunts.  Along the way there were costumes, district theme songs, and a whole lot of kids crossing social boundaries and having fun together.  They let us know that this worked.  It worked well.  And it just felt right. 

When the year ended and we had a chance to catch our collective breath, we marveled at what we’d helped unfold.  We thought we’d caught lightning in a bottle – the perfect book at the perfect time.  But what we’d found was so much more.

Middle Earth Runs on Dunkin

We found passion.  We found purpose. We found our calling, and we found each other. We are the crazy reading ladies.

Now with two successful adventures behind us (we followed a certain hobbit on an unexpected journey in 2013), we are more than ready to go all in for 2014.

We are honored you’ve decided to come along for the ride.

And we promise to be as overwhelming as possible.    

Erin & Mary

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