Saturday, February 28, 2026

That Was Fun & It Made Me Proud to See Three of My Students Able to Share Their Brilliance on a National Stage #YASUMMIT2026

I didn't know what to expect while presenting via the online YA Summit conference, as our team never had a chance to practice or plan. Dr. Susan James of University of Western Florida pitched a plan and we followed that. She introduced me, I introduced the students. It really was a remarkable celebration (Brown School influence) of what might occur when you trust students to be brilliant and you give them choice to explore what interests them. 

Midway through the semester as we were working through themes of young adult literature (for the most part, I run the class like a library with choice texts), I have students pitch ideas to showcase what they are interested in doing. I didn't anticipate three digital projects that ran in very cool directions. As they began to share drafts with me I was like, "Wow. I feel like I'm back working with my students at the Brown again." There was so much creativity, mental muscle, and purpose behind these projects and I love that they ran with their own thinking (and selection of books). 

I made the above flyer to contain and constrain Susan and me, because we can go on for hours. I know I wanted to highlight a critical friendship, the National Writing Project, our meeting at the YA Summit, and the use of Padlet. The rest was on the Fairfield University students: Ava Hricko, Emmi Lawson, and Kathleen Morris (there projects can be found here). As you scroll, you'll see Ava created a website, Emmi worked on a teacher source, and Kathleen made a multimodal poster for discuss female strength. 

I'm still applauding their brilliance and the warm reception they received by all in attendance. There are times when you feel really good about the work we do. This was one of them. 

Let's See If We Wake Up to Restored Internet When We Wake Up. Curious What Went Down with Spectrum. Ick-phrases #VerseLove26

Ate Varsity Pizza again after a long, long while. I'm happy to see it is still open on the hill, and it was nice to meet Melissa and her...