Lublic Pibrary Bead-a-Rook. Okay, I Will Say the 5th Grade Workshop Was a Success and a Very Short Shel Silverstein Exercise with Runny Babbit Was a Hit

On my birthday, the 16th, my undergraduate students worked with 5th graders at Cesar Batalla and the 4th grade ESL class came for the ride. This morning, I'm going through the birthday cards they sent to me and I'm smiling. One of the exercises we did - they are in an argumentative writing unit - is decide which of three poems they thought were the best and why. All three came from Shel Silverstein. I didn't realize the malapropisms would be attractive to students learning the English language, but hey thought it was hysterical. 

I was super-impressed that one student came up with a Rubric Pibrary Bead-a-Rook campaign which simply demonstrates the intelligence youth hold inside. The artist obviously knew they were clever and added a smiley face. Read more and Learn more. 

This is the brilliance of young people who are capable of processing anything we throw at them when they are invited to be involved. engaged, active in their writing, and encouraged to have fun while learning. 

I'll take that as a cherry on any Dirthbay Kupbake thrown towards my celebrations. An unsolicited Dirthday Darc simply had me smiling with this kid. 

Milner 101...it's not an academic gap, it's an opportunity gap. Kids from the most marginalized schools and districts deserve the best. Any and all who work in "superior" locations, need to ask themselves, "Am I working with learners who deserve my "expertise" most? If not, I am not so sure about claims of "brightest" and "best." I think we're fooling ourselves and flattering our own egos.

All kids are talented and gifted. All are at risk. Our institutions have a lot of rethinking to do.