KaaVonia's Learning

Writing Practice

2012-02-15T08:11:00.001-05:00

Before we get married I want to tell you this. You my wife before and after it. Life isn't easy; old folks still haven't mastered it. I changed, oh, I swear I changed. Sometimes you look at me like I’m still the same. Only myself to blame. I made mistakes, I bumped my head. I made a better Way to get ahead. Hope I don't sell out, lose the desire. Lose the fire. That burns as I write. When I'm all

Z's Corner

2012-02-13T05:20:00.001-05:00

I Know Why the Ambition Always Rings Walking the streets sometimes I Like to roam Often times because in the solitude of my room I feel alone. so I avoid this terror and continue to walk. it's dark no clouds in the sky. I keep on pushing keep on moving. sense of rights and wrongs never losing. bloodshot eyes I am tired. but yet I continue walking. I continue walking but I hear them talking.

"No Time, No Interest, No Way!"

2012-02-06T05:01:00.001-05:00

Remember Kylene Beer’s article, “No Time, No Interest, No Way! The 3 Voices of Aliteracy”? I’m the no time person. I want to read, but it’s hard for me to find time to read for pleasure these days. I now understand how my students feel. Z feels the same way. He says that between basketball practice and heavy loads of homework, he has little time to read. He has been reading for pleasure for

The Tidewater Writing Project is accepting applications for its 32nd Summer Institute!

2012-02-02T14:02:00.000-05:00

2012 SUMMER INSTITUTE June 25- July 20, 2012, Meeting Daily 9:00am-3:00pm Email Kaa (khintonj@odu.edu) for an application. To be selected for the summer institute, one must fill out an application and mail or e-mail it to: KaaVonia Hinton-Johnson,Director Tidewater Writing Project Old Dominion University Educational Curriculum & Instruction 166-11 Education Building Norfolk, VA 23529

St. Andrew's Nursery Assistant Needed

2012-01-27T09:46:00.000-05:00

"St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in the West Ghent area of Norfolk would like help in its nursery. We are seeking a creative, energetic individual who is going into or already has experience in elementary or Christian education. College students are welcomed to apply. Responsibilities will include caring for infants and toddlers along with planning and leading a weekly creative activity or lesson

"Ode to a Grecian Urn"

2012-01-25T05:06:00.000-05:00

Keats has been on my mind for days. I miss English literature class. Never mind that the last one I took was over twenty years ago. I read "Ode to a Grecian Urn" because I could not remember the famous line. You know the one: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty---that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

Golden Line from “Watch What You Teach”

2012-01-23T05:43:00.000-05:00

“There is violence in naming, because once people are labeled gay/ straight, black/white, or male/female, they can be controlled and limited. On the other hand, labels can be useful to give otherwise invisible groups, such as lesbians in the early gay movement, recognition and identification.” Sieben, N. and Wallowitz, L. (2009).“Watch what you teach”: A first-year teacher refuses to play it

Intellectual freedom

2012-01-20T05:58:00.002-05:00

Another thing I’ve been learning this week has to do with censorship and intellectual freedom. I read “Solo Librarians and Intellectual Freedom: Perspectives from the Field,” “Issues and Trends in Intellectual Freedom for Teacher Librarians,” and “What’s New Pussycat?” Each article was informative for different reasons. “Solo librarians and intellectual freedom: Perspectives from the field” •

Celebrating Bayard Rustin

2012-01-18T05:35:00.003-05:00

I’ve been reading a great deal about Bayard Rustin this week. He was amazing to me! I’m ashamed to admit that I was an adult when I first found out about him. As much as I tried to study black history on my own in high school, I do not recall reading about him. I watched Eyes on the Prize a dozen times after my high school history teacher made me a copy of his VHS tape of it, but I don’t recall

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2012-01-15T20:16:00.002-05:00

My favorite way to celebrate this holiday is to listen to music and to his speeches. My favorite speech by Dr. King is about the drum major for justice though all of his speeches tend to stir me. I was enthralled today in church when a lady stood up and urged us to remember Dr. King’s legacy. But not only that, she also urged us to think about his sister, Christine King Farris, an educator

Drummer Girl

2012-01-13T05:00:00.008-05:00

Has anyone read Drummer Girl? It has an interesting premise and an important message. A girl who is an excellent drummer finds herself in a dilemma. Here's what the publisher says about it: "Drummer Girl tackles the dangerous side of peer pressure and the politics of identity in high school, and ultimately, what it means to march to the beat of your own drum." Here's one blogger's view of it.

I’m probably not supposed to say anything about this but…

2012-01-11T05:44:00.000-05:00

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably noticed that I do not talk about Z much anymore. It’s because he no longer signs off on my posts. I said in the beginning that I would only post entries that were approved by him. He says the posts are too revealing. I understand him because, as quiet as it’s kept, I’m a private person, too. Have I stopped writing about him when he does

Reading Role Models

2012-01-04T05:44:00.014-05:00

I created this Wordle based on the picture book titles in my new article, "Reading Role Models," Library Media Connection, 30(4), p.44-45. The premise of the article? I discuss recently published books that feature characters that might give readers the idea that reading is entertaining, useful, and pleasurable. Teachers and librarians can use these books for storytime/storytelling, read-alouds,

Ruth White’s A Month of Sundays

2012-01-03T05:32:00.001-05:00

I want to share a review of Ruth White’s A Month of Sundays. I like the tone of this book. April Garnet Rose is unhappy when her mother leaves her with her with Aunt June and heads to Florida in search of work. At fifteen, Garnet has never met her father, August, or the rest of his family, but she slowly gets close to everyone, especially Aunt June as they travel to different churches each

Did you hear Maurice Sendak on Fresh Air last week?

2012-01-02T06:06:00.001-05:00

I’m still thinking about Sendak. At one point Terry Gross asked him about whether he regrets not having children and he said no because he likes to read and write. Gross said something like, “Yes, that requires a certain amount of self-absorption.” See? This is what I meant when I wrote Sh! I’m reading. Now, I don't think anyone is saying you cannot read and write surrounded by family, but

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T05:33:00.002-05:00

What was the best book you read in 2011?

Common Core State Standards

2011-12-28T12:39:00.001-05:00

I read “Teachers Seek Ways to Gauge Rigor of Texts” by Catherine Gewertz (Education Week, vol.30, No. 24 March 16, 2011) with great interest and concern. Context: I was snooping around the common core site to learn more about which states had adopted them (almost all of them have adopted the CCSS) and what the actual standards are and how I might discuss them in class. (I hadn’t looked closely

Shh! I'm Reading

2011-12-27T05:21:00.002-05:00

“Nothing in our culture applauds the desire to be alone. Being alone, in fact, is the great crime.” ~~Betsy Lerner in The Forest for the Trees Lerner is talking about writers, but she could just as easily be talking about readers. I often think of my niece, a tween avid reader, who sometimes pays a price for being so, or does she? My son, nieces and nephews, as I’ve mentioned before,

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T05:06:00.012-05:00

Thanks so much for subscribing to my blog and supporting my writing. Enjoy the season!

To the Mountaintop by Charlayne Hunter-Gault

2011-12-20T19:53:00.002-05:00

To the Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement by Charlayne Hunter-Gault Carole Boston Weatherford, the author of numerous poems and stories about American history, says after she shares poems and stories based on historical incidents with students, they often ask, “Did that really happen?” Weatherford says she uses archival photos and documents to help make history real for

How do you learn to LOVE to read?

2011-12-19T10:41:00.001-05:00

After a great Thanksgiving dinner, I watched as everyone in my niece’s immediate family walked out of the door clutching doggy bags. My niece couldn’t. This tween didn’t have enough hands. She was holding a stack of books to her chest so she wouldn’t drop them as she walked down the stairs. My niece, H, loves to read, and when I called her over to check out her stash, she had an interesting mix:

Z on Being a Writer

2011-12-15T08:49:00.004-05:00

I thought it was funny (OK, maybe I have a bad sense of humor) last night when Z and I had an exchange like this on the way home from a late night of playing *basketball: K: You should be studying more. Get serious. Get focus. Z: I am, Mom. I’m working hard. K: You want to make the best grades possible. Have the highest GPA you can. Z: I know, Mom. (Silence.) (Now with an attitude.) I’m

BH's Multigenre Paper

2011-12-10T12:12:00.001-05:00

B. H., A creative Approach to Tuck Everlasting The project is based on the man in the yellow suit. B asks, What if he didn’t die? She named him Steel Spring. The genres: Wanted Ad searching for the music box Business card for the man in the yellow suit. B says he opened a business called Perpetual Springs. Bottled water (She did research on when people actually started bottling water.)

LB's Multigenre Project

2011-12-10T12:11:00.001-05:00

L.B. focused on Toning the Sweep. L says she put things Emily collects while she is on the last visit to Ola in California in a yellow hatbox. Genres in the hatbox: Obituary Acrostic poem with Ola’s name Brochure about Little Rock, CA (She had to do research to come up with the brochure.) Picture of a Joshua Tree Note from Ola Flyer about a Supremes concert (L did

JB's Multigenre Project

2011-12-10T12:10:00.002-05:00

J. B. chose to do her multigenre project on Angela Johnson’s Toning the Sweep. J chose to create a memory box, something Emily might have maintained for herself. J.D.'s Genres: Map of park Diary Found poems Legend of the Joshua Tree Map of Joshua Tree National Park in California Montage picture of the grief that controls Emily’s family Invitation to the party for Ola Ola's will