She called me a NERD!

In her post yesterday, my daughter called me a nerd. I LOVE it!!

To add more evidence to support her opinion, I was the first car into the school parking lot yesterday on a 2-hr delay. I still arrived on time so I could complete my sub plans for Friday. Taking a day off from school doesn’t make me a nerd. But, listen to why I’m taking the day off.

I’ll be on the 6:05pm train to NYC tonight so I can have a Nerd Weekend! First, on my Friday, a day I took as a personal day, I arranged to visit PS58, a school where my friend works. Yes, you read it correctly. I’m taking a personal day and still going to a school! Yep, that’s nerdy. This school has taught using the Units of Study for Reading and Writing in all grades for years. I want to be inspired by their work and bring it back to my school. It’s just our 1st year.

Another piece of evidence is where I’ll be on Saturday.  I’ll be getting up by 7am and in my seat at Riverside Church on the Upper Westside of Manhattan by 8am. I can’t wait to be surrounded by hundreds of other nerdy teachers, all gathered to learn from the very best literacy minds on the planet. I’ll spend the whole day learning on a Saturday, yep a Saturday. Each hour between 9-3pm, I’ll attend a different workshop in order to gain tips to teach reading and writing better. All on a Saturday. Yep, that’s nerdy. TCWRP generously offers a day of free workshops each October and March. I’ve attended all, but one  since 2009. I only missed this past October’s making this Saturday ever more precious. It has been a year since I was last at a Reunion.

A final piece of evidence I’ll share is that I also come to TCRWP during the summer. Yep, the summer when as a teacher I am off on vacation. Since 2009, I’ve attended their Summer Institute, a week of learning, all day long, Monday through Friday. During these institutes, they invite authors, my rock stars, to give keynote addresses. Because of this I’ve heard Kevin Henkes, Mo Willems, Kate Di Camillo, Ralph Fletcher,  Katherine Patterson, Sarah Weeks, Carmen Agra Deedy, Naomi Shihab Nye, Seymour Simon, Pam Munos Ryan, Ellin Keene, Stephanie Harvey, Tim Rasinski, Colleen Cruz, Jen Serravallo, Carl Anderson, Kathy Collins, Kylene Bears, Lester Laminack, Jacqueline Woodson, Niki Grimes, Matt de la Pena to name a few. I love authors! I love using their book to understand how to live. My summertime week at TCRWP feels magical to me because I get to meet authors.

Yep, my daughter, Anne, nailed it. I’m a nerd!