“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Leonard Cohen
Let in the light.
Let the light in.
Tag Archives: love
Remain Curious. Never Stop Questioning.
Never stop questioning. Think for yourself. Remain ever curious.
Advice from Einstein, to every scholar, and by scholar, I mean every one of us:
Big Books & Big Coffee: In this we do believe!
Take a big heaping of both today. Inhale. Exhale. You made it through your Monday, with a little help from your friends.
#MondayMotivation. #Books #Coffee #MeaningofLife 😉
Seize the Summer: Read
Here’s a book list to keep you & the kiddos reading all Summer 🌄📚
http://readaloud.org/bookselections.html
Sage advice from that wise guru, Dr. Seuss
Read to a child! Reading just 15 minutes a day makes a big difference. Over the course of a year, that 15 minutes adds up to just over 90 hours! And it’s fun!!
We know that kids that love to read, do read. Because generally, we enjoy doing things we are “good” at. So, reading to your child from a very early age (from birth!! but it’s never too late to start!!) instills into them a lifelong love of reading. What a simple but huge way to make a difference in the life of a child!
Throughout the month, I’ll be posting about the Readaloud 15 campaign, including the really super fun part for a book nerd like me: book suggestions!! Hey, if you have an amazing book that you’d like to recommend for kids 12 and under, please post it in the comments.
In fact, if you have anything to tell us, about reading, early literacy, or education, post a comment. We love comments, almost as much as we love books.
Have an wacky, wild, reading a good book, kinda day,
Lisa (aka The Happy Teacher)
PS: “Like” us on facebook, please. 🙂
“Let’s Talk Harvest”: Readaloud.org partnership grows young readers
Did you know there’s a 30 million word gap between children in this country, due to socio-economic factors? We need to do something about that. We can’t let our youngest children down like this. We need to nuture each and every one of our children to grow, blossom, thrive!
I’m excited to announce that I’ve been appointed a “Read Aloud 15” ambassador for readaloud.org. Many of you know that I am passionate about early literacy, books, and all things reading-related + the importance of educational opportunity, access & equality.
I was honored to be asked to partner with this national non-profit, and I’m excited to help spread this message. All month long, I’ll be posting here, and on our CollegeReadyCoach facebook page, about the “Let’s Talk Harvest” October campaign, encouraging parents to read aloud with their children for 15 minutes a day.
Please share these posts. Why? Because reading changes lives.
Peace, sunshine and books,
Lisa (aka The Happy Teacher)
Writing Like a Turtle
This is what I tell my writing students...
Every writer knows, that to make progress you have to take risks. To tell the truth and really leave it all on the page, you will feel vulnerable, like the turtle sticking it’s neck out.
Take risks.
But that’s the only way you’re going to get anywhere. Inch by inch. Little by little. Keep moving forward and you’ll get there. Your readers want truth and risk and all those messy bits of life on the page.
Happy Sunday to my collegereadycoach.com tribe.
xo, Lisa
Find your Summer
“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken.” ~James Dent
collegereadycoach.com
Writing Haiku in the Rain
On Wednesday, it rained in Northern California. This is something that hasn’t been happening very often. (See also: drought.) It was glorious & noteworthy.
And so, my frosh college comp students wrote haikus about the rain. Yes, it had to happen.
And it was good. To stop. To not rush. To listen. Feel. Connect. Discover. To Write. Together.
Here’s some of what they had to say. (All writing by English100 students, each space is a new writer):
RAIN~~
Rain is like wet peace
Cascading down my body
Piercing my very soul
Grey slippery drops
Renewing luscious hillsides
Quenching nature’s thirst
Joy Fills the Gray Sky
Dull Struggles are Dropped
Clouds filled with wet life
Sound of peace with sleep
The earth is renewed
Every time rain falls down
Water creates life.
Photo @ collegereadycoach.com by: lisalu22
~~~
Each line is a complete image in very few words. I compiled this one longer poem from various lines out of the students’ original work. Each one was lovely as a stand alone haiku, but putting it together like this connected writers’ ideas to a collaborative mosaic.
Do you teach poetry in your classes? If so, what do the students think? A few of mine were skeptical at first. They needed time to brainstorm, to think it out, and to really understand that there was no objective, and no assessment. If the haiku turned out well, great. If students weren’t happy with it, then they need not turn it in. Low risk and high reward, especially as students read their poems aloud. I hope you will take some time to notice the rain, or the snow, or whatever else is of interest in your part of the world. Make it noteworthy. Craft some poetry together. Share some writing. Make some connections.
~~
I happen to love the rain. Do you? I love the smell, the way the air feels. I love walking across campus in it. Here in California, we aren’t going to be making our way out of this devastating drought anytime soon, but at least we had a little sliver of silver lining on Wednesday.
Happy Friday,
Lisa (aka, The Happy Teacher)
Need a refresher course on Haiku? It’s a form of Japanese poetry made up of three lines. Lines are 5/7/5 syllables each. The first line consists of 5 syllables, the second line consists of 7 syllables, and the third line consists of 5 syllables. Haiku often focuses on nature. For more on how to write a haiku, click here.
Super Soul Sunday: Advice on living a happy life.
Good advice for a successful day & a happy life. Especially for us English professor/writer-types and creative people of all kinds. We need poetry, and song, and art, and connection, in all its forms. It’s good for the soul. It’s even better for fostering creativity.
I try to incorporate a little of each every day. How about you?
Make sure to take that little bit of time out to do some part of Goethe’s recipe for living a happy life.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
xo, Lisa (aka–The Happy Teacher)
College Ready 