Imagination by Christine DePetrillo

“Get a book,” I told one of my students before we were about to start state testing in my school. When students finish a testing session, they must silent read until the entire class is done. I’m not going to lie to you. This is pure torture. It’s very hard for eleven-year olds to be silent for sixty minutes or more in some cases. Social creatures by nature, anything that requires strict silence is cruel and unusual punishment to them.

It isn’t all that fun for me either. I turn into this glaring-eyed witch who shushes kids. I’m like the stereotypical librarian with her hair in a severe bun and a clench to her jaw. 

Anyway, I asked this student to get a book so he’d be ready when he finished his test. He replied with, “I always have a book in my head. It’s called my imagination.”

I instantly fell in love with this quote. I made a poster of it and slapped it up on our wall. What a great way to think of books and imagination. And he’s totally right. When used properly, imagination will always give you something to do. I’ve often been in a waiting room and made a fun game out of imagining what the people around me are thinking or what kind of lives they live. I can go to a crowded mall and improvise full conversations between strangers. I play the “what if” game any time of day and always come up with stuff that entertains me.

I’m not saying it would entertain anyone else, but the point is your imagination can amuse you. It’s what it’s there for. To take reality and make something else out of it. To extend beyond the laws of the real world. To travel without having to spend a dime.

So go ahead and pretend your dog is actually a fire-breathing dragon that’s come to take you on a quest—one you’ve been preparing for your entire life.

Don’t hesitate to mentally role-play how you’d subdue a knife-wielding criminal while you’re standing in line at your local bank.

What if your favorite celebrity was in line in front of you at the grocery story? What would you do? Talk to him/her? After you’ve checked out what they’re buying first, right?

The key is: Don’t stop using your imagination. Ever. No matter how old you are.

You’ll always have a “book” to enjoy if you let your imagination loose.

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

The Maple Leaf Series, Books One through Six, available now! Book One, More Than Pancakes, is always FREE in ebook! 

Plans for Change by Christine DePetrillo

It’s May 14^th and in approximately one month, THE SCHOOL YEAR WILL BE OVER!

It’ll be my 17^th year completed teaching the same grade (five) at the same school in the same room.

So, yeah. I need some change.

But not too much because I don’t really like change.

Here’s the plan. Stay in the same grade at the same school in the same room, but change up the schedule, the subjects taught, and the room configuration. For all of the 17 years I’ve been teaching, the two fifth grades in my school have always switched classes to get students ready for switching classes at the middle school and to play upon our own teaching strengths. I’ve taught Math and Writing for most of my time at this school with a side order of Social Studies.

Next year, I’ll teach ALL the subjects and keep my own homeroom all day. This has many advantages. I can have longer periods for each of the subjects because transition time doesn’t have to be factored in. If I want to extend a period to do a more in-depth study of a topic, I can because I’ll always have the same set of students. If I want to teach a topic across disciplines, I can. If I want to take a thematic approach, no problem. Project-based learning? You betcha. Time to address the emotional-social needs of students (which seem to grow in frequency and magnitude each year) will now be available because I will have a better understanding of my core students instead of trying (often unsuccessfully) to get to know twice as many students.

I’m hoping for a better connection to my class. I want to really immerse them in learning. The kind of learning where they don’t even realize that the end of the day has arrived. I feel as if this year’s students did a great deal of “clock-watching.”

Honestly? So did I.

Whether that was my fault or theirs, I'm not sure, but I don’t want that to happen next year. I’m looking for the type of teaching and learning that brings things into the 21^st century and really ignites a passion for knowledge and discovery. I’m also hoping to arrange my classroom in a more comfortable, casual learning space. Something that promotes collaboration and innovation. I already plan to swap out my individual desks for larger tables in hopes to create a more laboratory, this-is-where-we-figure-stuff-out-cooperatively setting.  

And I’m obviously psyched to be teaching Reading again. The opportunity to talk about books with students as both readers AND writers excites me! I’ll also get to dive into Science, which will be great because I’m head of our school’s Roots & Shoots Team and really would love to get more outdoor learning into the mix. And the Science Fair? Ugh. It needs a facelift in the worst way. We've already made it digital, but the students really need opportunities to think more about real-world problems they can solve or inventions they can make. Something more than which flavor of gum lasts the longest. Bleck. 

With all the plans I have for next year, one hundred eighty days probably won’t be enough time to do it all, but I’ll channel the energy into making those days the best my new fifth graders ever had. I have all summer to strategize (while I’m not writing), and we’ll see how things go.

When does the school end where you live?  

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

The Maple Leaf Series, all six books, now available. Book One, More Than Pancakes, is always FREE in ebook! Get started today!

Conform or Be Unique?

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” ~ Margaret Mead

This quote really resonates with me as an educator as well as a writer. In teaching, we strive to individualize instruction and cater to the needs of all students. We see the unique talents each student has. We also see the unique struggles each student faces. Our goal is to make the curriculum accessible to all students regardless of their different circumstances. We do this on a daily basis for 180 days a year.

And yet, with all these specialized plans and accommodations and modifications and juggling acts and scripts and what sometimes amounts to a theater-level production, we eventually expect these children to grow into citizens who will be treated pretty much the same when it comes to getting a job and functioning in society. There’s a certain level of conformity that we expect them to be able to tolerate. Current trends in education with Common Core State Standards support this notion. While the standards don’t tell us how to teach, they do tell us what to teach. They strive to make sure every student masters the same information. It’s not a bad idea, however, it does squash that uniqueness. It does sort of shout, “You will learn exactly what everyone else is learning! You will be the same.”

Sometimes it all gets a little stuffy. I try to balance my classroom with some room to be different, to explore, to find the sheer joy in learning something that interests you. Unfortunately, time is short. One hundred eighty days goes by in the blink of an eye.

In the way of writing, authors love to think we’re unique, but pick up any book off the actual or digital shelf and you’ll find common themes, plots, settings, and characters. We’re probably just writing different versions of the same five stories. Another writer once told me, “There are no new ideas.” Sometimes I believe that.

Other times… I don’t.

I’m starting a new series and I’m hoping it is unlike anything I’ve written before. I’ve been studying up on different components of the writing craft, trying to reach new levels, dig deeper, expand my thinking. This series will still be romance (I’ve tried NOT writing romance and I simply can’t do it), but I’m delving into sci-fi and thriller a bit. I thought about the characters I would normally write about and am making a conscious effort to change it up. I’m leaving the present time and shooting to the future. I’m getting out of the woods and away from mountain men heroes. I’m tossing aside the sweet, feminine heroines. I’m looking to fashion a villain that isn’t a jealous ex-wife, crazy business partner, or evil mob boss.

I’m looking to be unique and not like everyone else. We’ll see how it goes. Don’t worry. There’ll still be a happily ever after, 100% guaranteed. I don’t want to go too different. Readers come to have certain expectations from an author.

I guess this rambling post has led me to conclude that you need to decide when to conform and when to be unique. There’s a place for both, don't you think?   

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

The Maple Leaf Series

More Than Pancakes (Always FREE!)

More Than Cookies

More Than Rum

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