~as I practice what I preach~
It has been a full week now since I got back home to stay for good. This past Monday I looked at Mike with a smile on my face as I realized there was no need to pack a suitcase for the trip back to southwestern Oklahoma. For well over 2 months that suitcase was always readied with what I needed to survive during the school week. Now it is thankfully emptied of its contents and tucked neatly into the corner of the closet where it will remain for the time being.
Even a suitcase deserves a break.
I've spent most of this first week of summer vacation getting accustomed to a place that I only felt I was visiting since mid-March. It took a day or two but I have finally gotten used to where everything is now, both at home and here in Newkirk as well. The feeling of being home is one that is hard to describe. You have to feel it yourself to really understand.
I have found myself thinking of the 11 children that I spent the last 9 months with, little ones who are not really as little as they seem any more. No longer can they be called second graders for when they walked out the door on May 16th, they were more than ready to go on to third grade. Although I wanted the time to pass quickly during the last 8 weeks of school, I also found myself at times wishing it could slow down just a bit. There was a bittersweet realization about May 1st that soon the time would come to really say "good-bye" to each of them.
I knew how much I would miss them and the truth is just that.
I do.
Yesterday they were on my mind. I remembered how I had admonished them all year long to keep reading every chance they could get. During the last 9 weeks of school and especially towards the final few days that were left, I continually gave the reminder of my expectation for them to keep their proverbial noses in a book as often as they could this summer. They are great readers and I have no doubt they will do just that.
But what about their old teacher?
What about me?
Newkirk, Oklahoma has a beautiful library with shelves that are stocked with exceptional books to read. The librarian there makes sure that the gift of literacy remains alive and well for anyone who cares to get a library card and read. Marcina told me about the reading programs that are in place for the summer. I was so glad to hear that children in our town will have incentives to stay reading, making them ready to begin school in August. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear about the adult reading program. It was yesterday that I got to thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea and fun as well for me to be able to sign up for it.
So in between the downbursts of monsoon rains yesterday afternoon, that's just what I did.
I chose my 3 books from the well stocked shelves and after checking them out, I brought them home. Remembering my own advice to students over the years, I am setting aside a time each day to literally "drop everything and read" in order to get through as many titles as I can this summer.
I don't remember a whole lot about the summer after my second grade year. It's been a while, you know? As a matter of fact it's been about 56 years of a while. But one thing I do remember was being able to go to the library in town a couple of times a month. As a farm kid, it was really a treat to know that there was this place on Main Street where little girls like me who loved to read could actually visit and borrow any book they desired. A good book could take a Kansas farm kid anywhere they wanted to go.
The years have passed by and so many changes have come about in my life as well as in this world of ours. My love for reading coupled with a desire to promote literacy is not one of them.
Even a suitcase deserves a break.
I've spent most of this first week of summer vacation getting accustomed to a place that I only felt I was visiting since mid-March. It took a day or two but I have finally gotten used to where everything is now, both at home and here in Newkirk as well. The feeling of being home is one that is hard to describe. You have to feel it yourself to really understand.
I have found myself thinking of the 11 children that I spent the last 9 months with, little ones who are not really as little as they seem any more. No longer can they be called second graders for when they walked out the door on May 16th, they were more than ready to go on to third grade. Although I wanted the time to pass quickly during the last 8 weeks of school, I also found myself at times wishing it could slow down just a bit. There was a bittersweet realization about May 1st that soon the time would come to really say "good-bye" to each of them.
I knew how much I would miss them and the truth is just that.
I do.
Yesterday they were on my mind. I remembered how I had admonished them all year long to keep reading every chance they could get. During the last 9 weeks of school and especially towards the final few days that were left, I continually gave the reminder of my expectation for them to keep their proverbial noses in a book as often as they could this summer. They are great readers and I have no doubt they will do just that.
But what about their old teacher?
What about me?
Newkirk, Oklahoma has a beautiful library with shelves that are stocked with exceptional books to read. The librarian there makes sure that the gift of literacy remains alive and well for anyone who cares to get a library card and read. Marcina told me about the reading programs that are in place for the summer. I was so glad to hear that children in our town will have incentives to stay reading, making them ready to begin school in August. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear about the adult reading program. It was yesterday that I got to thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea and fun as well for me to be able to sign up for it.
So in between the downbursts of monsoon rains yesterday afternoon, that's just what I did.
I chose my 3 books from the well stocked shelves and after checking them out, I brought them home. Remembering my own advice to students over the years, I am setting aside a time each day to literally "drop everything and read" in order to get through as many titles as I can this summer.
I don't remember a whole lot about the summer after my second grade year. It's been a while, you know? As a matter of fact it's been about 56 years of a while. But one thing I do remember was being able to go to the library in town a couple of times a month. As a farm kid, it was really a treat to know that there was this place on Main Street where little girls like me who loved to read could actually visit and borrow any book they desired. A good book could take a Kansas farm kid anywhere they wanted to go.
The years have passed by and so many changes have come about in my life as well as in this world of ours. My love for reading coupled with a desire to promote literacy is not one of them.
It's the teacher in me. Please read a book this summer.
Wait a minute.....make that several books.
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