Hello All,
I am wondering about your experiences in creating your Bio Book Bag. Please take a few minutes to write about your experience in finding old artifacts and what it felt like to discover the old the the new!! Here is my model:
Every time I share my Bio Book Bag I wonder...is this incredibly self-absorbed and indulgent? And although I struggle with these feelings, I also know that I have learned so much from creating my bag. I remember distinctly finding a crate full of old stuff from my parents' barn. It had that old paper moldy smell that whacked me across the face as soon as I opened it. Once I got past the smell though, so many other memories and ideas and thoughts and feelings passed through me. How could it be that this "stuff" could bring me back so clearly to a particular place and time. And if so, then what about these experiences really mattered in my teaching? I found so many artifacts that could be included so then I had to think some more about which items actually taught me something about myself as a reader or a writer. Here is where the true thinking began. It moved beyond the scrapbooking kind of fun and into a more analytical kind of thinking. Socrates said that, "the unexamined life is not worth living." This bag was a way in for me to uncover where I came from, what I believed and how those beliefs were formed. It was a step towards uncovering my attitudes, beliefs and biases about reading and writing and how those have shaped me as a reader and a writer. As self-indulgent as it might be, it makes me think that is exactly what we need in schools! Who are you? What do you think? What matters to you?
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ReplyDeleteAs it’s been quite a number of years, and moves, since my childhood I don’t have many books or samples of my writing and how it began and developed. As for my reading experiences, I do see some patterns as I’ve been remember and pulling together information for my Bio Book Bag.
ReplyDeleteI notice that much of my early reading was nursery rhymes, poetry and short stories. I don’t really know at what age I was doing this reading, but I don’t remember liking what we now refer to “chapter books” such as Nancy Drew.
As my reading ability grew I was drawn to non-fiction and as an adult I prefer non-fiction and biographies. I do find it helps me to be part of a book club because that forces me to read fiction. And when I do read fiction, I find I really enjoy most of it. However, I still tend to like those books that are based on facts or history.
I haven’t ever given allot of thought to my reading experiences or preferences over the years so it’s been an interesting exercise for me.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
Hi.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had my old stuff. I know I have an old Winnie the Pooh book somewhere, either in my classroom or in the deep, rodent infested bowels of my basement.But I wish I had my old fairy tale book from Junior Classics so I could show everyone the absolute creepiest illustrations of stories that would be considered too scary for first graders: the black rotted face of Tom Tit Tot,a far scarier Rumplestiltskin, as he creeps closer and closer to a clueless miller's daughter. Or the one-eyed ogre, Mr MacVinegar,who captures a young boy to make a stew.... And finally,the monsters that jack-in the-box out of a bejeweled chest, only to terrorize an evil, greedy Japanese fish wife, who wickedly severs the tongue of a tiny, beloved song bird. How I loved that book! The fond memories I have terrorizing my younger sister with it. When I left for college and my sister moved in with her boyfriend, my father made good his threat and cleaned out our claptrap ridden, bedroom attic. Gone forever and RIP: My Hunter Davies biography of The Beatles, my official Yellow Submarine Magazines, along with all the posters, newspaper clippings, souvenirs, notes, plays, yellowed copies of The Rolling Stone-- remember when it was a newspaper? -- favorite pulp novels, (Sidney Sheldon's The Other Side Of Midnight, Mike Hammer, the worn copy of The Bell Jar which I think I might have read the print off of...) Gone, all gone...folders upon folders of plays, parodies, and newspaper articles I wrote for the pep club and the underground newspaper my friends and I started. (We were shut down after the second edition, not for being subversive, but we were competition for the legitimate student newspaper.) My dad payed the trash man $25.00 to haul it all away.Oh, well...c'est la vie...
It was really interesting to travel down memory lane when I worked on my biobag. I found myself caught up in a kindergarten picture of myself with pigtails and flashbulb reflections in my coke bottle glasses. I followed the different phases I went through with friends.
ReplyDeleteAs I moved on to the reading and writing, I found my favorite goldenbook. It was The Monster at the End of This Book Featuring Grover. I tried to think of other books I read during elementary school, and remembered basal readers for the earlier years and The Babysitters' Club for the later years. I read many of those books. During jr. high, I remembered reading Locked in Time and Ransom by Lois Duncan. Then, I moved into lots of young adult fiction novels where teenage girls fell in love. I actually read those types of books for years!
I don't remember many pleasure reads from college. It was probaby because I started working, dating, and reading just for school.
After college, I read lots of books about teaching and books with activities. I also spent a lot of time reading books that I planned to use for Title I children that I worked with. The books were geared for children in grades 2-6.
I have come to a time in my life where I have finally moved away from young adult fiction. I find myself reading nonfiction to learn information. For example, I have read a few books by Cesar Millan. I still read professional development books about teaching literacy, but I also enjoy reading grown up fiction books by authors such as Jodi Piccoult and Nicholas Sparks. Maybe in my thirties, I finally consider myself an adult.
As far as writing goes, I found a declaration of love, some letters, and cards that I wrote my parents during elementary school. I stumbled upon two different journals where I had written daily for about a month. The only journal I completed was the one I wrote when I drove to Montana in 2007. The trip lasted about a month though. This seems to be the length of my journal writing endurance.
I found a few poems and pieces that I wrote for the purpose of reading at close relatives' funerals. Some of my other pieces of writing were in the form of lesson plans for teaching.
As I look back on my years as a writer, I think that my journal attempts show my need to keep track of events. I also used it as a way to vent about life. After awhile, I think it was quicker to call someone. I notice that I used writing to communicate with others. Even though I wouldn't consider my writing polished or especially eloquent, I enjoy using it to share kindness with others.
Creating the Biobook bag was such a theraputic and relaxing activity for me. It was like no other time in my life, when I simply went through boxes for sheer pleasure. Through my many moves, I've simply loaded and reloaded or packed and unpacked, but never really examined the contents of what makes up my history in the many boxes lining the walls of my basement.
ReplyDeleteAfter 2 1/2 hours of sifting, sorting and remembering, I came back from the basement with yearbooks, pictures and so many forgotten memories. I found my baby book which actually is more of a life book, chronicling every stage through retirement. I suppose at some point I'll need to update it, but that is for when I have time to be reflective and appreciate what's been going on for the last few years.
I never came across the one thing I went searching for.... my only real writing in high school... notes... I don't mean notes about what my teachers had to say or what the test was going to be on, but real notes about life, friends and love. I had boxes and boxes (all from the Disney Store in bright blue) full of notes that had been written to me by friends, boyfriends and in some cases enemies. I could have traced any day of my high school career by those boxes. Chronologically, I saved every note and when one box was full, I started another.
I guess in one of my many moves those boxes were trashed, most likely because it never occurred to me that I would ever want to relive those days, remember those times and visit my past in such an intimate way. Each of those notes was written with friendship and love at its root and even in anger I know that my friends loved me and cared about me and wanted me to be involved in their comings and goings as much as I wanted them to be a part of mine.
I don't remember papers, classes or assignments, but I remember writing notes. During classes, studies and I'm sure even when I was supposed to be studying we were all writing notes. We always folded them the same way and wrote silly little things on the outside like BFF, LYLAG or "for your eyes only". On some level I think I miss the simplicity of writing a note to someone. Email just isn't the same.
This experience has made me cherish writing in my classroom all the more. I am eager for my students to chronicle and remember for themselves and their families. I hope someday they look back at their journals with fondness and love for what was once a time of simple happiness.
I have to admit I am somewhat of a procrastinator. Creating the bio book bag was a bit stressful the night before class. I raced home with my son and had introduced him to a new book with the intent that he would read it while I searched in the attic for old memories of books and writing. It was "A Bad Case of Stripes". I told him to look at it while I went to the attic for a few minutes. He insisted on coming. So my experience was not as enjoyable and relaxing as Jodie's. I was hearing, "Read this book to me mama. PLEASE!" "Be careful over there mama." "Are you gonna fall mama?" and "When can we go back downstairs mama?"
ReplyDeleteI gathered things within a half hour. I truly appreciate that my parents saved all that they did for me. Once I got to the main living space, read the book to my child, I then thoroughly enjoyed perusing through the large collection brought down from the attic.
I enjoyed looking through my old yearbooks. I also found an adorable Cabbage Patch kid sticker book that I created and wrote in. I found a couple books but most had not been saved.
As Jodie commented on, I found a shoebox of notes folded a particular way with the words Jen Upton only. It made me laugh. Some were my "love" notes from junior high and some were gossipy letters from girlfriends. This was the most fun for me. I was shocked that my parents had saved these for me. Hopefully they didn't read them too!
This class has been fabulous! I completely agree with Noreen. It's like a breath of fresh air. I love getting together with everyone without data, numbers and of course the dreaded colors. I don't have to refer to my kids as green, yellow or RED in this class. Thanks Tomasen and thanks to all the teachers who are in this class.
I was pleasantly surprised to find some things from my high school years (although the possibility that my mother read some of those things in the process of saving them is quite terrifying). All books I had or writing I did before then were lost when we had a fire at our apartment when I was in 8th grade.
ReplyDeleteReading has often served as a kind of therapy for me throughout my life, whether it was helping me to get through an awkward and lonely adolescence, survive a break-up, raise my children, or define and confirm what I believe in and what is most important to me.
I don't like to look at my childhood books. They remind me of times when I struggled to read and faked it. I would take out the same book over and over again from the school library. Never being able to read it.
ReplyDeleteMy memories of time with an adult, parent or older brother are good memories.
I guess the point is that books hold a long negative place in my brain that I cannot shake.
Yet reading out loud to my students is my favorite part of my day. Go figure.
I tried out 'Say Something' with one of my groups of students. I brought a special version of Peter and the Wolf to school and read it to them. They were intrigued by the way the book folded over to the front and tied with a red ribbon. They enjoyed the elaborate pop-ups used for the scenery and details almost like scenery in a play. I wrote the key words for 'Say Something'out on sentence strips and asked the students to choose/point to one and follow the directions. We talked about what it meant to clarify or comment or question or predict or make a connection. We has a great time--they were very excited about using the sentence strips and expressing their thoughts. I have continued the practice. When I finish the direct instruction and practice for the day's lesson, I ask them to choose a book for me to read aloud. I always have books on our work-table. The students get the sentence strips out, arrange the table to spread them out, and wait for me to start. The past few lessons some of the students have asked to read the story and I choose a sentence strip to add to the discussion. They have taken this over-it's their's now. I love it when that happens.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes students want to read?
ReplyDeleteOn Friday mornings, my 1st grade RTI group overlaps with one of my 4th grade RTI group. I started Celebrity Readers as a way to improve reading skills for both groups. The 4th graders choose books from my collection in the Learning Center and bring them to the main building to read to the first graders in my RTI group. We go to the tutoring room to read. They pair off and share reading with their partner. The 1st graders read their Bob Books to the 4th graders. I don't have enough words to describe how excited the students are about reading with ea;ch other. If read, read, read is the way to become a better reader than connecting the younger and older students reading with each other is a dynamic tool to promote how cool reading is. They support each other in learning about the joy of reading.