Last Call

A final run in Central Park - though this picture doesn't show it, the place was packed with ambitious runners, bikers, and bladers at 7:00am. It was like being on a superhighway!

During my sweep through Fairway Market for breakfast and lunchables, my sweet tooth insisted on a collection of souvenirs.

Stockpiling my new favorite chocolate bar, made in Brooklyn. I have to give B credit for pointing me in the direction of these pups.

Remember these? The best baklava...

A final date with Joe and some Joe to go.

To quote a Ricky Martin song, (yes Anna, this stuck with me from Manuel's Hot Latin Dance class...)

Life is short

So make it what you wanna

Make it good

Don't wait until manana

Final round of mental muscle flexing with Jen Serravallo and Barb Golub.

Dream Team 2012.

Then back to Riverside church where Jen, my reading instruction guru, gave the keynote speech.

And then, Lucy Calkins sent us back into the world as ambassadors of hope, possibility, and promise for the future of education.

Lucy and I are breathing the same air!

Tour de France

Began the stage with a light breakfast at hotel's French cafe.

Keynote Speaker: Lois Lowry, author of 40 books, including Number the Stars, The Giver.

Lois Lowry signing my copy of “Gathering Blue” – a book I picked up from the “give-away table” several years ago and ritually used as my fake Silent Reading book at the beginning of each school year, (when I used to do Silent Reading). I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never finished the book. Though I always looked forward to rereading the start each fall.

Jen Serravallo Session:

Her research found that there is little or no correlation between the text leveling systems used by publishers. In fact, many texts are inaccurately leveled within a publisher’s own leveling system. Use Book Wizard as a rough guide.

Non Fiction Text Considerations to Examine When Leveling Books:

-How explicit is the text?

-Density of the text

-Vocabulary

-Text features

Non Fiction Instruction Points :

-Determine main ideas

-Determine key details that support main idea

-Figure out meaning of vocabulary

-Utilize text features – not just saying, “This is a glossary”, but actually using the glossary and knowing how it supports understanding the text.

Barb Golub Day session:

-Read Aloud Assessment (formative assessment)

-Cross-Genre Non Fiction Reading unit – academic content reading using a variety of genres to learn about a single content.

Saw a staged reading of “The Silent Boy” by Lois Lowry.

Headed for the French finish line at Bar Boulud, (heard about this chef on Lynn Rosetto Kasper's Splendid Table on NPR), where I made the mistake of being seated inside at the cool, chic, bar, rather than at a hot and muggy, noisy, table on the street, (these are the kind of ops one gets where they roll into fine restaurants Anthony Bourdain style - no reservations). Thought I could soak in the quality dining atmosphere better if I were indoors. Indeed I did. I had the opportunity to soak in the off-gas of young love. The "bar" was an elegant community table where I joined two sets of beautiful, 2o-something lovebirds. I would have practically been in one couple's lap, had there not been as much smooching and cooing and getting to know each other better that kept them intertwined. Thank goodness I had brought along a 3rd grade level chapter book, (The Stories Julian Tells), to divert my attention! Nonetheless, my dinner was quite delicious.

Crossed the French finish line just a couple doors down at Epicerie Boulud, (same chef - Daniel Boulud), where I purchased a dessert I could savor in solitude.

...Finally, a moment alone, a with my new love-interest, the canele and decaf.

As I walked back to subway I took in the final Frenchiness, a zydeco band playing next to Lincoln Center.

After we had become more intimate

In the Zone

A sampling of the views from my two different Upper West Side accommodations.

Residence 1 was heavy on practical amenities like a kitchenette, two closets, and blessed with old world charm = old world plumbing, (double flusher), and a slooow elevator.

Residence 2 had sparse, classic elegance with few, but modern amenities, and, well, a view of the Hudson River.

Coffeemaker with Wolfgang Puck coffee "available upon request."

Keynote this morning by Kathy Collins, author of Growing Readers and TC leader extraordinaire.

Kathy’s regiment for a positive outlook in light of our nation’s current state of education:

1. Search for “charm points”, (Japanese concept), - a person’s most appealing physical, (or beyond), feature

2. Be on Team Kid every moment – How is this good for kids? In kids best interest?

3. Find partners in fun and opportunities for laughter EVERY DAY – “Oh, no you didn’t” stories or “Would your rather…?”

Jen Serravallo section:

Compared assessment responses between level K and level N readers.

Then compared assessment responses between level N and level Q readers.

Barb Golub section:

(that's a typewriter on her bicep)

Crafting Teaching Points

Read Aloud lessons to deepen non fiction comprehension

Non fiction Book Clubs

Note about college classes - Remember when you had to go and buy "the reader" at Kinkos or the Copy Center so that you had all the articles and handouts that your professor wanted you to read? Way back when we did the Masters program in 2003-05 we were given a CD that we were expected to install and read. Nowadays, when the instructor wants you to look at a chart or handout, she emails it to you on the spot. No laptop, tablet, ipad? - you'll get to share one of the hard copies with your neighbor.

Best lunch of the week - with S!

Short but sweet.

Huffin' 'n puffin' 'n sweatin' along the Hudson River, waiting for my close up...

Asked directions by two strangers while I was running AND was able to accurately direct them to their desired destinations! What a star!

Lovely Greek dinner. Best grilled octopus I've had since Santorini, 1985.

Night views from the two hotels.

Shack and Flack

Fourth of July!

Went to check the weather in the morning - the prominently featured story was that it was forecast to be raining hotdogs at Nathan's Coney Island hot dog eating contest. (in case you didn't catch it, Joey Chestnut from San Jose, CA won for the sixth time in a row, eating 68 wieners in 10 minutes)

Finally consumed the heralded Shake Shack burger and Concrete, (as described on the menu - dense frozen custard blended at high speed with mix-ins). Very traditional American fare.

In Central Park we checked in on the snapping turtles.

This fellow

had beached himself in the hot sun,

much

like the lovely lady behind B in the photo below.

All of Manhattan congregating in the vicinity of the Hudson River. It’s mass mayhem – herds of humans attempting to gain a viewing vantage of the 9:20pm fireworks, helicopters in holding positions overhead, streets blocked off, cops yelling, people arguing. An American custom.

Afterwards we resurrected the American custom of getting a libation at the Rockefeller Plaza bar.

Late night Famous Ray's pizza - very patriotic.

Stepping Out High and Dry

It is super hot here. And humid.

Christopher Paul Curtis, author of "Bud, Not Buddy and "The Watsons Go to Birmingham", started off the morning keynote spinning yarns.

Practiced writing prompts for non fiction read aloud teaching points.

Teacher Think Aloud: Sometimes when I'm reading, I realize that the author is telling me more that what it says on the page... (inferring)

An oft recited TC adage: "Teach the reader, not the text."

Dropped in on General Grant to check out the actual tomb - though this historic site is only a couple blocks from Columbia, this is the first time the I've found the monument open.

Though the "ranger" on duty, (not exactly a Welcome Wagon type of guy), decisively, more like argumentatively, assured me that it has been open every day since 1997.

Check out the ceiling.

My new running route. Home to many movie scenes, along the Hudson River.

I was lured into this Chinese establishment based on a rave review I saw on a cooking channel on TV. I ordered said exceptional lamb dish. Our waiter proceeded to give a 2 minute disclaimer on the fact that this dish was "dry and fry. It has no sauce." I assured him that I was willing to take the risk in the name of research. He continued to explain that it has no sauce - "dry and fry." We asked if HE liked it. He said no. He said Chinese people don't like it. "Some Americans do though. But some are very upset when the order arrives because they don't believe me that it is dry and fry." It was dry and fry. Very unique.

The Library - in the name of books, of course!

Window shopping along 5th Ave after a late dinner. Fabulous plot twists on birding in the Bergdorf Goodman displays.

Keeping the Beat

Die hard Believers latching onto Lucy Caulkins', ( she is at the pulpit in Riverside Church - really spectacular!), Monday morning sermon about embracing the Common Core Standands (educational standards that most of our country has, or is, in the process of adopting - the guidelines for what will be taught at each grade level.

Key "ideas":

1. Finding what gives you hope is a place to start.

2.Becoming personally involved in that mission, What is it that you are teaching?

To become personally involved, you need to participate.

Regarding the Common Core, meet with colleagues and talk about them.

Research shows that a supportive community is one of the only ways that

people will make a change. Join a supportive community.

That is part of why people come to TC, to feel a part of a something bigger,

a supportive group.

Back in the halls of TC, (Teachers College at Columbia University), amidst the buzz of eager academia. I love that scholarly stained glass in the background - it may be Horace Mann, or dedicated to him. It says 1886. (see a close up in one of last year's posts)

My morning section is "The Intersection of Text Difficulty and Reading Instruction: Understanding the Challenges Posed by Increasing Levels of Text Difficulty (H-Q) and Using This Knowledge to Plan Responsive Instruction", (quite a mouthful), with Jennifer Serravallo. I've read two of her reading instruction books and she is just as much a genius in person as on paper.

My afternoon section " The Common Core Calls for Sky-High Levels of Nonfiction Comprehension: Using Test Sets, Rereading, and Book Clubs to Deepen Comprehension", with Barb Golub. Also, time well spent.

This seaweed salad was a dark horse at our Japanese dinner. Four different kinds of seaweed! And some light miso dressing.

You'd think I would be able to call it a day by midnight at least once when I was here. Somehow, even with the best of intentions, it doesn't work that way.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Charlie Watts, (drummer for the Rolling Stones), playing with his A B C and D of Boogie Woogie band. Even if we could only get tix to the 10:00 show.

Note the dark head of hair just below "WATT" on the marquee. When we went to get in line for the show there seemed to be a convergence of the line for the Iridium Theater and the adjacent restaurant. I walked up to this guy and asked him what he was in line for. He ignored me. He had his head bend down and appeared to be trying to bury his nose in a magazine. I politely asked again. He muttered, "The Iridium." I said thanks and got in line. ...While waiting for the line to slowly snake in the door I saw a couple of different people come up and shake this guy's hand and/or introduce themselves and/or thank him for something. After each interaction, he quickly reburied his nose in the magazine, (as a professional observer of readers, I don't think this guy was particularly "on-task", as we say in our business), though I wasn't paying close attention at first. But then I realized this guy must be "somebody." B was already on it, and has a much better memory and sight recognition for people in this business. He quickly pulled up a pic on his phone and showed it to me - David Fricke - an editor for Rolling Stone magazine. The funny thing was that as we got closer to the entrance, someone from inside the doorway started calling out loudly, "David Fricke, David Fricke, is there a David Fricke", repeatedly. David kept his nose down. It wasn't until the barker had said it several times that he finally released his laser lock on the mag, shrugged, and walked in the door. Cover blown.

Back to the main event. Thanks to my lil' bro's magical sales tactics and insider know-how, we got really good seats, even though we were in the last 20% of people in line. It was

a superb show - two piano players, one stand up bass, and Charlie Watts, smoothly sweeping away on the drums. He looked totally at ease, relaxed, and content.

Interesting observation: Charlie's right nostril consistently collapsed as he inhaled.

Just the right. Not the left.

Ear, Nose, Throat friends - ??