Inspired by Garvey’s Choice #SOL21

It’s the kind of book you read in one sitting. A page turner. So many life lessons told in carefully chosen, impactful words.

Nikki Grimes wrote this novel in tanka poems. (A tanka poem follows the syllable pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7) Garvey struggles to fit into the mold his father wants for him, that of an athlete. Instead Garvey has a passion for space, chess, and chorus. Garvey also struggles with his weight and constant belittling by classmates. He finds companionship with Joe and Emmanuel and learns more about himself through them.

Three Bears

It doesn’t matter

how wide I am when I sing.

Like Goldilocks, I

have finally found what fits:

my high tenor is just right.

–Garvey’s Choice

by Nikki Grimes

Three Bears
It doesn't matter
where I go, or what I do
words bubble in me.
Whether in notebook or screen
telling stories is just right.

What fits just right for you?

Capturing a Moment in History

Kelly Gallagher shared lesson plans today encouraging students to capture this moment in their history. He wrote,

Years from now, our students’ children and grandchildren will ask them about this moment in time, and I want them to have a record of it. Their history.

I’ve thought a lot about this. How important it is to record the events, our thoughts, our feelings, our history. I think back to 9/11. My own children have asked me what things were like in the weeks after 9/11. I remember where I was when I heard about the Twin Towers, I remember that our football game that week was canceled, I remember how numb I felt, but I don’t remember specifics. Oh, how I wish I would have journaled my thoughts and feelings during that historic time.

Today I took some time to record what the last few days have been like. I’ve put in writing how my daughter’s college suspended in person classes for the rest of the semester, how restaurants have closed their dining rooms, how teachers are responding to e learning possibilities, how I was in a bit of a panic this morning and rushed out to buy gas and more groceries. I want to preserve these moments in history, so that one day when my grandkids ask what was it like during the coronavirus of 2020, I can look back at my notebook and remember these days.