Our Great Beginning To A New Year!

We have both started our new school year.  Our students are back in the libraries and ready for another exciting year.  

And we can't wait either!  

One of the things we are most anxious about.....connecting our students in Illinois and Iowa through new projects and learning experiences.  

Today, we connected our 1st graders.  Last year, when they were kindergarten students, we connected for "Read Across America Day"with a birthday party for Dr. Seuss.  They were so excited to see their friends again.  

John showed the video from his Reading Road Trip over the summer.  All of our students loved watching as John traveled throughout the United States with Eric Wight's adorable book character Frankie Pickle.  

The first graders in Van Meter were especially excited when Frankie Pickle showed up in Van Meter (even though Shannon is still sad she missed John and Donna on their journey back to Chicago). 

Right around the corner on September 15th we will celebrate FableVision Learning's  International Dot Day.  On this day, the students and teachers within our schools will leave their own personal mark on the day and on the world!  We cannot wait to spread creativity, fun, and friendship on this day......and throughout the year.

Thank you, Peter H. Reynolds for being so inspiring and bringing us such wonderful writing and creativity.  

And just a week after #DotDay on September 21st, we are heading to Washington D.C. for the School Library Journal Leadership Summit.  This week on the SLJ Blog, Tech Trends: SLJ Summit 2011 Preview was posted by Kathy Ishizuka.  This gave a preview of the amazing lineup for the Summit.

Our presentation entitled Networked Librarians Take Reading Promotion to the Next Level will highlight the work that we do together with our students, school communities, and throughout the world. 

We are not only excited to present at the School Library Journal Leadership Summit, but we cannot wait to meet all of the authors, presenters, attendees and others.

Thank you SLJ for inviting us to be part of such an incredible event.

And one more thing!  For two days after the Summit on September 24th and 25th, we are going to attend the National Book Festival together.  Neither one of us have ever been, so this will be a fun experience.

So as you can see, we have a very busy month.  But this is only the beginning of the best year yet!