Well, Hello, Monday. Good to See You, March. I Think I'm Ready For You, But I Am Mostly Bird-Brained to Begin My Week (Or is that Beak)

At times, I wonder if I cheat the Universe. I mean, I look at my calendar of commitments over the weekend and think, "How can I strategize so that what I do for one event (e.g., a class) can also be useful for another event (e.g., American Read Aloud)? What happens if you cross purposes so that what you do for a living - professional development for in-practice teachers and their students, can also influence what you do for another living - teaching pre-service teachers?"

As usually, I look down to the floor or over to the table, or onto the desk and see the piles of books publishers send me and I think, "Okay. There's creativity, purpose, and mission somewhere in there." Lucky for me, as I transition from J. Patterson and K. Alexander's Becoming Muhammad Ali and fuse fiction/non-fiction reading experiences, I look down to B. Midler's The Tale of the Mandarin Duck and M. Maynor's A House for Every Bird and think, "Well, Crandall. The house sparrows have returned and they're already singing with orgasmic glee for spring possibilities, so there might be a way to model bird stories as we leave Cassius Clay disucussion." (Mama Bird poem? a stretch?)

Actually, it's a perfect match. 

On Tuesday (tomorrow) I'm featuring the two bird books with K-3 students, celebrating two exceptional books released by Penguin Random House for kids (one just happens to be written by Bette Midler, phew). Then, because of the way Patterson and Alexander wrote Becoming Muhammad Ali, I'm able to make connection between fiction and possible non-fiction supplemental materials. It ties perfectly with course materials (Harvey, Goudvis, Beers, Probst) and fits nicely into the syllabus.

Two birds, one stone. Pun intended.

This morning, I'm academic, instructional, and intuitive with what is possible in k-8 classrooms. Tuesday, I'm Mr. Rogers, and I get to read to a community of early readers getting them excited about new books and the joys of reading. I'll take it. It's the life I chose and the one I love. 

Hey, world...look at that. In one swoop you've brought Kwame Alexander together with Bette Midler. That's not so bird-brained after all. And I get to work with kids. And I get to work with pre-service teachers. And I get to work with teachers.

This all equals a win.