Time to Celebrate the Week with Ruth Ayers and others who link up every weekend. Find more celebrations here.
This week I celebrate expanded time to find things I miss.
Email. I found wonderful thought provoking posts lurking in between the Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales. This weekend I celebrate the folks who give so much to our reading and writing community by attending conferences, presenting and sharing their knowledge on their blogs.
You may have seen these posts, but I’m a believer in repetition.
Books. 
I got The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming at NCTE and read it on my flight home. Devoured it. Sprinkled with primary accounts and photographs the well-written narrative brings multiple perspectives to the end of the Romanov’s 300-year reign in Russia.
I love holding a book, feeling my progression through it. Reveling in the pleasure of consumption without the worry of holding every bit of information it put forth.
Yay for narrative nonfiction.
Gravity Goldberg’s new book, Mindsets & Moves. For the past three years, I’ve attempted to move my students toward mindful engagement in reading. Student metacognition (the what and why they read) is also about me understanding how to support this work. Just wanting students to be agents of their own learning isn’t enough. I need to “mindfully” move them. Gravity’s book is moving me toward the goal of student ownership via her moves of mining (finding student processes), mirroring (giving feedback), modeling (my literate moves) and mentoring (coaching and support toward independence).
My notebook. Notebooking tends to go during the school year. This week I’ve gone back to it to reread, reflect and write. Paper and pen make for a different kind of energy and perspective.
Thanksgiving’s essential ingredients: family. We had all the cousins together. While I miss the stages of little people, it’s a great pleasure to be with these beautiful young adults.
To Read To Write To Be 
Thanks for sharing about Candice Flemings book. She spoke at my school a few years back and was so personable. Can’t wait to get her book!! And of course for the other links and reminders of what is important!! Enjoy this holiday break.
In between cooking and time with family, I have been reading blog posts, too. I guess if I could do this everyday there wouldn’t be time to implement any learning, but I love reading the people I know and love. (Like you!) Happy Thanksgiving! Missing you.
Thanks for including my post, Julieanne. The last two were real labors – they took awhile to process. I’m still amazed that we continue to add layers to our learning all the time. Today’s reading and writing is infinitely cheaper than shopping! I have both of those books on my wish list. Book budget for this month is SOOOOOOOO shot! LOL!
Hope your family time has been relaxing!
The Romanov book is fascinating, so glad you liked it, too. The posts that are the best are the ones that do make you think, apply, wonder. Moving your students toward more independence in their own learning through help with that book, and your own thinking sounds like something you will enjoy, Julieanne. You share so much that makes me want to hear more.
History, reading, writing, learning, family–what a perfect potourri of celebrations.
Great celebrations here! I enjoyed the Romanov book and I’m not usually a fan of nonfiction. Love seeing that cousin pic and glad you’re enjoying some notebook time!