The beginning is always today.
―Mary Shelley
The Beginning is Always Today
I read Frankenstein for the first time when I was a college freshman. I’ve always been resistant to assigned reading and confident in picking up necessary tidbits in lectures and discussions (or a quick skim) to ace any test. This lethal combination was responsible for my lack of reading assigned pages (even as an English minor).
What hooked me was the drama around Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein but publishing it without taking credit. The tension of being a young woman horror writer in the early 1800s was enough for me to dive into this classic rather than a current bestseller.
When I came across this week’s epigraph, it brought back memories of reading Frankenstein in August under an old oak tree on Indiana University’s campus. The imagination and creation of one of the first monster stories to also examine the morality of experimentation made me want to read more and write more and think more.
“The beginning is always today” encompasses Mary Shelley’s passion for a fresh start. It inspires this week’s theme.
We have the privilege of a fresh start each fall when we start a new school year. This issue is filled with good vibes to start the school year—plus more, as always.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Jen Court plans to fill the first days of first grade with experiences around books. Selecting books carefully to create a sense of community in the classroom from the very beginning is the goal of this first-week booklist.
Cathy Mere offers a booklist when a teacher asks her to “Bring me something funny.” These books are sure to fill your classroom with lighthearted laughter.
Dana Murphy guides reading specialists in setting up intervention rooms to welcome readers.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Becca Burk shares three tips Tom Hanks gave to educators during a keynote address at NCTE. If you’re looking for inspiration, this is just the article for you!
Gigi McAllister fosters engaged reading lives through goal-setting in the library. She shares ways we can encourage all readers to have robust reading lives.
Choice Numeracy | Jodie Bailey approaches setting up her math classroom as a blank space with an invitation for students to engage in establishing identity, creativity, and collaboration.
In this quick video, Dana Murphy shows how she leads her fifth graders with a kinesthetic reminder of workshop norms before beginning independent work.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Instructional coach Mary Brower reminds us of the importance of maintaining the humanity of the administrators we work alongside. Her mantra—principals are people, too—guides us in building strong relationships.
Ruth Ayres and Becca Burk share a necessary survey for your school community to begin engaging in conversations about managing emotional dysregulation in students. Drawing on their extensive experiences with managing emotional dysregulation as foster parents and educators, they make a case for beginning conversations among your faculty with this simple survey.
PD2Go | Keeping excitement for the next book to read can be a challenge. This session offers two ideas to sustain energy for independent reading. Melissa Quimby shares a creative and practical idea for students to name their reading identities. Christy Rush-Levine offers a tried-and-true practice of offering book talks so students can create a robust “To Be Read” list.
Quote It:
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
—Aristotle
That’s all for this week!
