New Favorite Blog

One of my most favorite education books ever is Educating Esme, by Esme Codell. It's so cheeky and blunt and reminds me of how I felt about public education when I was a senior in college and doing my student teaching. I was so frustrated with the politics of it all, particularly with the school system I student taught in. There was very little support and instead of uplifting and caring for one another, the teachers were catty, gossipy and competitive. It was a horrible environment to work in and I'm just thankful I never had to be a student there. All of that lead me to apply in alternative education systems and I fortunately ended up at Community School.
Anyway, I've always loved Educating Esme and have read and recommended several of Esme's others books to my student. In fact, I read Sahara Special to my class every year and they always lovelovelove it. Sahara has become like one of my own students; I aspire to be more like Ms. Pointy. She wrote an amazing book for parents and teachers that catalogs a bajillion books for kids and it's awesome. I was fortunate enough that when Esme came to Roanoke College a few years ago for the Margaret Sue Copenhaver Institute, I was able to meet and talk with her. You know the way some people get about meeting musicians or stars? That's how I get with authors. I get all geeky and I talk too fast and in general, show my nerdiness. This year, they are reissuing Educating Esme, with all kinds of new additions and a foreward written by another favorite author, Katherine Paterson. I'll probably buy another copy, just because. To go along with the new book, Esme has a new blog! Even though I'm technically not an elementary school teacher, I'll be a regular reader. Check it out!