How far would you go to save a library full of books? ”It was like a battle when the books got burned. I imagined that those books, those history and culture and philosophy books, were crying, ‘Why, why, why?’ ” -Alia Muhammed Baker One of the many tragedies of war is the destruction of irreplaceable…
In honor of Helen Keller’s birthday, June 27, I have written this post about my 2010 visit to her birthplace, Ivy Green. I’ve always been a reader. One book I read as a child that has had a lasting impact was a Helen Keller biography. I’m not sure if it’s because I also had…
Yesterday was the last day of school. To say I’m tired would be an understatement. The school year is a marathon but the last month usually feels like a sprint. As a mom, I’ve always been tired by the end of school and ready for a break. As a teacher, multiply that by at least…
Have you ever wondered how orzo is made? It’s so tiny and the oblong football shape can’t be created just by making even cuts of a longer noodle. Apparently it’s a super-secret secret how it’s made because it was almost impossible to find information about the process. There are lots of videos about making spaghetti…
I haven’t done one of these quick Return to Civility tips in awhile. Today’s tip to make the world a better place – Take a walk! I’d like to expand that to include interacting with people you meet along the way. On one of my recent dog walks around the neighborhood we waved at the cyclist…
I recently stopped at our local history museum, the Freeman House, to buy a Remembrance Poppy badge. While I was at the museum, I also took some time to look through the museum exhibits. How crazy is that – I took myself on a mid-week, mid-afternoon field trip to the museum, all by myself! I…
Why do we wear poppies on Memorial Day? For that matter, what is Memorial Day even about? I teach 5-year-olds so for them, these questions are nebulous at best. I love this story about Moina Belle Michael and the origin of the Memorial Poppy but unfortunately it’s too mature for my young students (better suited…
Luis Soriano is a modern-day, one-man version of the Packhorse Librarians. He is a teacher in Columbia and twice a week he loads his two burros with books, grabs his biblioburro sign, and rides for 8 hours round-trip to bring books to rural children near la Gloria, Columbia. Watch as Luis tells his story An…
The Super Shark Encyclopedia was a patient in my class’ book hospital the other day. As I was flipping through the book, looking for pages to tape (and looking for a distraction from the endless noise of free play – blocks falling, cars rolling, dinosaurs roaring – Calgon, take me away!), I came across the…
Happy Mother’s Day! We made it to Sunday. I’m telling you – a week is a long time! But I made it. Ready to see what Day 7 of Week in the Life looked like for me? I woke up at 6:15 but decided it was much too early to wake up. Went back to…
Hello Saturday! Nice to see you! Make my coffee then come back upstairs to watch Biblioburro. I’m writing a post about it and I’ve been meaning to finish watching the documentary but haven’t had a chance. It’s in Spanish with subtitles so I can’t multi-task while watching which means finding time (after first remembering to…
Finally Friday! Yay! The kitchen is a wreck. I put Ryan’s dessert in Bella’s lunchbox and forgot the jelly on Ryan’s sandwich. Luckily (for Ryan) I caught both mistakes right away. I’m really hoping the rest of the day won’t follow the same pattern. At school we were able to practice a couple times before…