Too Busy to Blog!

Since the enormous amount of snow our county received in late

February/early March, I've not been able to feel caught up on my reading!  So many activities had to be rescheduled and so I've been reading what I can, when I can. Winter Book Frenzy was a success, despite having to reschedule on top of a couple of other events and sick students.  We were fortunate enough to have 13 tables, which means 13 great books/authors were discussed.  About 65 students were able to attend.  Plenty of good discussion and laughs could be heard...and also a few criticisms (one table was highly critical of their author and rightly so!). As far as I know, MNMS is the only school in Kentucky to host such as event.  I've not searched for examples in other states, but I've never heard of such an event being held before.  This event is my original idea, inspired by a discussion held with my friend, former peer and fellow reader, Emily.  She planted a seed and it blossomed into this massive opportunities for readers.  Here's the process once again.  It takes about 2 months to plan and run.  Each year, I invite teachers to volunteer.  Once I have a volunteer list, I can then choose books I know the adult will enjoy reading as much as the students.  This is a vital step because if the book doesn't fit for the teacher, they won't enjoy planning activities for it.  I've been about 98% successful.  Then, I display the books and as reading teachers bring their students through the students are allowed to sign up for as many books as they'd be willing to read and discuss.  This step takes 2 weeks.  I then take the index cards home that contain student names and I carefully choose students for each book.  I am limited by the number of copies I have.  This would have been a bigger problem for WBF, but I allowed students who had previously read the book to sign up as well.  I wanted there to be about 100 students at the event.  I was able to invite 104, with 101 on the waiting list.  That's a huge percentage of students interested in attending a reading event considering our student population is 650.  Students are then presented with formal invitations and a copy of the book.  They have exactly 1 month to read.  They gather with the teachers in the cafeteria after school on the day of the event and for 1 hour, 15 minutes, we all gather for discussion, snacks and door prizes.  

It's an event I've described before, but worth discussing again.  This event marked the 8th event.  It has been one of the highlights of my lms career.  I can't imagine another event that meets as many needs as this does.  I'm convinced that this has been one of the best ideas I've seen used with middle school students.  I'd love to see it used with other grades as well.  I'd love to collaborate with the community to see this event become even bigger.  My dream would be to invite an author to speak at an event.  Reading is such a vital part of our life that I'd like to see more events like this implemented into our schools.  It requires a lot of organization, many days of book-talks, solid relationships with faculty and students, and a desire to see high-quality books being read by avid readers...and some not so avid.  :) 



 Blogging is important to me.  It helps me not only document what I'm reading, but leaves a voice for my children to one day read.  I've never felt comfortable journaling my personal feelings, but through my book blog I've found an outlet for some of my stronger emotions.  Until next time...

Happy Reading,
RC