Back from Chicago

I think I have been neglecting this blog again.  Life gets busy and the blog doesn't get written!  The week after the musical included hosting a very successful  LOMCIRA event with Adrienne Gear in our nicely decorated gym and a walk up to our local high school with four classes to see A Midsummer Night's Dream, which the kids really enjoyed.  The hardest part of course of going away when you are a classroom teacher is trying to plan for four days and leave your classroom in shape for another teacher to take over.
The purpose of going to Chicago was to attend the International Reading Association annual convention plus I have become rather fond of Chicago.  I think it's a fantastic city.  The conference kept me rather busy but I did manage to see Billy Elliot at the fabulous Oriental Theatre and an amazing show, Hephaestus, at the Goodman Theatre, as well as having some time at the Chicago Art Institute  and a few nice walks.  Our hotel was amazing, the Hotel Burnham, the converted Landmark Building.

What about the conference?  One highlight has to be the opening keynote with Queen Rania from Jordan.  She was inspiring, informative, and charming.  To learn a bit more about her address at IRA here is a link.  She gave us some really shocking statistics about how if the money spent in a year in the United States on weight loss programs was spent on education we could send all the world's children to school. 

Another highlight has to be another general session with Al Gore, and I actually got to meet him and he took the opportunity to tell me he loved Vancouver.  He has a great book for young readers, Our Choice: How We Can Solve the Climate Crisis, that he was autographing for those who had purchased the book early like me!  I think sessions like this emphasize the importance of teachers to help educate the world to make the right decisions.

Much more to tell but I need to go to work.  I have been operating on Chicago time this morning but still time to get moving.  More to come!