Well, I certainly cannot speak of either experience because I never leave
Nebraska, but . . . I cannot miss the opportunity to speak of my friend,
Lucy Calkins. Lucy and I first met, so to speak, when I read Lessons from a
Child many years ago and our friendship deepened with Living Between the
Lines. Our friendship has continued through the years through her other
works and I've recently met her on DVD.
When I open a book of Lucy's, I'm transported to another time and place.
She and I pull together our leather chairs and spread an old well-worn down
comforter over us both. We draw up our feet so we can sit Kriss-Kross
Applesauce until one of us becomes so inspired that we throw off the
comforter to lean forward to speak our well-chosen words with conviction.
We laugh a lot; we cry a little. We affirm, we argue, we articulate the
thoughts we never even knew we had. We pull out our family photos. We tell
our stories late into the night. We drink hot chocolate in huge, cracked
mugs and turn up James Taylor as loud as we can. Sometimes I nap a
minute--and when I awake, we take up right where we left off. We share our
children, almost a thousand of mine now, and tens of thousands of hers. We
speak of our beliefs eloquently and shout our outrage at the attempts to
dumb down our professional roles. But nothing can spoil the purity of her
vision and we once again arrive at shared optimism and excitement for the
morrow.
So, my friend Lucy, whom I will never meet, has changed my life in ways few
could only hope. She's been my trusted friend and confidant for years. To
quote a cheesy movie, Lucy "had me from hello" when she first taught me the
lessons from a child.
How could you miss meeting Lucy? Go.
Bev
Lucy Calkins is a dynamic speaker and unbelievably talented author who can
appeal to ANYONE's mind. She is funny, smart, experienced, and she uses all
of her
life experiences and puts them simply into teaching form. The best of the
best. If you get a chance to hear her, she could very well change your
teaching
life.
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