Really, the more I cook the more I like to cook.
—Julia Child
The Satisfaction of Choice
Andy (my husband) and I love to cook. Most evenings you’ll find us in the kitchen together, and on the weekends we enjoy pulling together a meal for friends and family. Andy has perfected cooking in a cast iron pan, and smoking meat in an old-fashioned smoker is one of his favorite pastimes. He also is magical with all sauces…You should try his sauce inspired by an Alabama barbecue white sauce with smoked chicken. I like to consider how to pull a whole menu together with flavors and presentation, and have a bent toward fresh fruits and vegetables, made-from-scratch breads, and desserts, especially pies.
Andy keeps a cookbook and writes his recipes as he creates them. It is full of scratches and calculations, additions and subtractions. He has an aversion to following a recipe and would rather create his own. I keep a collection of recipes, mostly from friends and family on recipe cards, and as often as possible I like to have them copied in their own handwriting. I print recipes friends send through text or email and write their names at the top. I have favorite cookbooks and favorite websites.
It is not surprising that our kids enjoy cooking, and they create their own recipes, too. Jordan and Sam invented “Egg-Lan” sandwiches when they were in elementary school. (Watch out—hot sauce is involved!) Hannah can whip up the best cheesy potatoes you’ve ever tasted. Jordan can make an out-of-this-world burger with sautéed mushrooms and onions. Sam is known for his chocolate cake.
We linger in the kitchen, and we linger at the table. It is satisfying to create and to eat and to laugh. As I was cooking, I was thinking about this week’s issue about student-built classroom libraries. Contributors are sharing fantastic and practical ideas to involve students in organizing the classroom library.
I was reminded that satisfaction always comes when we get to make our own choices. Perhaps we linger in our kitchen and at our table because of the heightened enjoyment of making our own choices. Perhaps giving students choice and ownership in our classroom libraries will ensure they linger, too.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Organizing nonfiction so that kids will gobble it up is an art. Andrea Smith knows how important it is to include students in this process.
Christy Rush-Levine explains how she gradually stocked her middle school classroom library, as well as how she uses student librarians to ensure books aren’t lost.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENT: We are thrilled to announce NEW live virtual events. Join our contributors in a live virtual series to nourish your professional learning all school year and have access to the recordings until June 30, 2023.
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Bitsy Parks takes you into her primary classroom for a close-up look at how she organizes and then gradually releases the library to students over days, weeks, and months.
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.
In this QuickTake video, Melissa Quimby encourages informal conversations with students to get instructional insight about their personalities and lives.
In the first installment of our Stay Sharp series, Dana Murphy shares the ways she seeks out educators who help her stay sharp. Her key sources are Twitter, the educators in her school, and reading the Big Fresh.
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.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share a PLC planning template they created to help focus their meetings to be relevant and clear.
Download Tara Barnett and Kate Mills’s PLC planning template, as well as two completed templates to see the way they work in action.
In this Coaching Minute, David Pittman encourages instructional coaches to take time to prepare for the day and to reflect at the end of the day.
Matt Renwick shares how daily classroom visits can build trust with faculty. Sign up for Matt’s newsletter to get useful tips for school leaders.
Quote It:
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
—Michelangelo
That’s all for this week!
