Muddling Along

After agreeing to be observed by some college students, I confessed to my principal that what they will witness may look very messy. Some of my kids are reading the same book but no one is in the same place, some have three or four (or more!)books stacked on their desk, some are writing their book talk, some are video-recording their book talk, some are on the computer blogging, and there's always one who's talking to me about their reading.

I'm in process; my kids are in process. We're on this really amazing journey together to forge new relationships with characters to be discovered in hard covers and soft covers. And relationships with each other, too. My kids are opening their hearts to Auggie, to Ivan, to Babymouse, and so many more.  

In every conversation with one of my kids, we talk about what they like in books, what they're reading now, and all that "normal" stuff. Today one of my kids who has had a pretty tough time of it shared some things with me that are going to stick for a long time. She told me she's read more this year than ever. She told me how she really enjoyed reading Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder). However, she didn't have it written in her reading log and hadn't written a book talk about it. She said, "But I read it at home, so I can't put it in my log, right?" Fighting to not show the emotion I was experiencing, I assured her that whatever she read at home still "counts" and she should definitely write her next book talk on Little House AND list it in her historical fiction section.

ONE OF MY KIDS HAS CAUGHT THE READING BUG!!!!!! I'm so overwhelmed by this, especially knowing this particular kid! 

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that she would love these beautiful stories. Never would I have imagined my kids to beg to be the first to read a book freshly delivered to our classroom. Never would I have imagined how excited I would be to hear what my kids have to say about the characters they are meeting.

But it's all very messy. And I'm kind of anal. Just a tad. My kids are reminding me to relax and enjoy the journey. Especially today's journey.