Getting Out There

Two of the workshops I attended at the spring NESCBWI conference focused on goals I have set for myself...setting up a Facebook author's page and getting comfortable with the idea of doing school visits one day. Michelle Fontaine had some great tips for those of us that are really new to the world of social media. Her web-site is also packed with information. Kellie Celia from Walden Pond Press led us through the "whys" of school visits to the "hows" in an organized way that covered loads of material. She even included a Skype visit with a school librarian which showed how easily it could all be managed.

Learning Curve

At the NESCBWI conference in May, I attended a wonderful workshop about writing curriculum guides. The presenter,  Natalie Dias Lorenzi, was full of reasons why curriculum guides can be so important. She also reminded us of Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains...a flashback to college. These domains are helpful in choosing the types of questions asked:

Knowledge/Remembering- for example, yes/no questions, tell, list, describe

Comprehension/understanding- explain

Application- problem solving, choose, use

Analysis- organize, compare/contrast

Synthesis/evaluating- judge, determine

Evaluation/creating- plan, predict, design

Native or Invasive Species?

We saw this creature by the side of a quiet lakeside road in the Adirondacks of New York. Each time we drove past, some new item had been added...the latest being his potato pal. They were quite alarming when we came upon them one moonless night. There must be a story in there somewhere.

A Quick Grammar Lesson

My daughter has introduced me to author John Green...including his Youtube blogs--The Vlog Brothers and Mental Floss. I enjoy his quick wit.  He manages to concisely explain some common spelling and grammar mistakes in the following video.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRMRCeQBAKI
Enjoy!

Rhyme Time @ The NE-SCBWI Conference

Rhyme, that enslaved queen, that supreme charm of our poetry, that creator of our meter. --Victor Hugo

This year's conference was fantastic. All the workshops were wonderful and I met some really talented people. Two of the classes that I attended related to my favorite form...rhyme. Janet Lawler spoke about The Sublime Rhyme and much of the expertise she shared is available on her web-site. Later in the weekend, I learned more of the essentials of the poetic form from Leslie Bulion. Both workshops were meaty and inspiring!