Goodnight, Blog

This blog and I have been through a lot together. We have traveled - been to Florida and back and suffered through the accompanying second-degree sunburns that were left from the trip. We have been through many moods, angry, happy, and sad. We have spent numerous hours together in various computer labs and desktops and listened to many songs - mostly rap, because that's what we like.

Writing this blog has really helped me explore children's literature in a way that is personal to me. I tried to make all of the entries interesting and relevant to my life, so I would view the book looking for things that really made sense to me. I never knew reading picture books could open up these avenues for me. I ended up getting pretty deep occasionally. I talked about divorce and my precious grandpa. Other times were noticeably more lighthearted, revealing my more flaky side. ha. I ranted and raved about pickles and pancakes. Some may think I'm a little crazy. They might be right.

The thing is, I was having fun. I'm glad I was able to open up in this venue. I definitely had my reservations at first. It is such an open, public forum that my name is attached to. I didn't want to really say my true feelings, and I wanted this blog to be academic. While it certainly was academic in its very nature, I think I was able to transcend the academic standpoint a bit and let my real feelings come through. I talked about real connections I made, real situations and characters and things that had very real effects on me.

I have learned that it is possible to give my students these same kinds of responses through these books. They are all going to have their own very personal readings of books. Some may stick out to them, some may not. And just because I liked a book absolutely does not mean they are going to. What is important is allowing each child the opportunity to find those books that really make a connection to them. I want to find those books that elicit responses about their parents' divorces and a grandparent they love - even those books that make them talk about pickles and pancakes.

So, while the formal relationship between this blog and I might be coming to an end, I could definitely see my blog and I spending more time listening to rap together. Hopefully we can even endure a few more sunburns.