If you follow my blog, you may have noticed an absence of posts since the Slice of Life Challenge ended in March. Though I haven’t been blogging, I have been writing. A week ago I finally finished and submitted the last two components for my National Board work. Being a National Board Certified Teacher has been on my bucket list, and now it is in the hands of the NBPT assessors.
Anyone who has been through this process can appreciate how grueling and yet how rewarding the work can be. It is certainly not for the faint of heart. One of the hardest parts is the waiting. (Tom Petty was right). I won’t get my results until December-that’s SEVEN.LONG.MONTHS.
So to fill that void, left by the nonstop work on my boards, I am happy to announce I have a new project. My latest book proposal was just accepted by Stenhouse Publishers and so I will be busy working on that manuscript.
The tentative title is Quick Writes: Unlocking Potential in Every K-6 Writer and I’ll be exploring the role of more low-stakes writing for helping students to discover the writer inside and develop skills without the stress of grades or judgement.
And I am eager to return to my blog where I play with ideas, share experiences, and document my teaching journey. But it’s dance recital and Mother’s Day weekend so this one is brief. Have a great week.
What’s On My Book Radar
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Occasionally I drift away from kidlit land to the world of grown up books, and on a recent trip I downloaded this to my kindle. What a timely tale! When we read about attempts to curb the press, limit women’s choices over their own bodies, and ignore science, facts, and reason we can see the groundwork being laid for a dystopian society like Gilead. Offred is a handmaid in Gilead whose tale was discovered in Bangor, Maine 150 years after she recorded it. She tells of a life stripped of humanity for the sake of law and order and adherence to strict observance of theocracy. I can see why so many people are reading this book right now and I am certainly glad I did.
litcoachlady 
Congratulations and good luck! I’m sure you will be very successful with your results! I’m working on mine as well, final touches today! Congratulations on your new book, you are a wealth of knowledge for us all!
Congrats on your new book! I love Close Reading. Another book recommendation for you: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad is a look at the story of Odysseus from Penelope’s point of view. This is also relevant today in the age of alternative facts-everything is not always what it seems. We must be vigilant and informed.