This was a superb one-day event put on by Scholastic. What sold me on this event was that Donalyn Miller was going to be there running two different workshops. If I had to pick one person/book/idea that has sparked my desire to grow as an educator it would be Donalyn Miller/The Book Whisperer/free-choice independent reading. I gladly paid my own way for the day and drove the two and a half hours one-way to the event.

I had no trouble locating the conference center and parking for the event. When I entered the building a lady asked my name and school and then said (I forgot her name), “Oh I’m Susan, I was your rep last year!” I thought she was mistaking me for someone else, so I politely said, “Oh I’m sorry you must be thinking about someone else.” More on this later.

The morning started off with Breakfast with Mr. Schu. He has a real passion and excitement for books that shines through with his book talks.

I’m not sure why, but at the same time I was enjoying Mr. Schu discussing books, I also had this uneasy feeling that I was in the middle of a corporate marketing scheme and that this day could go poorly fast. Did I just sign-up and pay money to sit through a Scholastic commercial all day? I was hoping I wasn’t going to regret my decision to come. (*This had nothing to do with Mr. Schu by the way, not even sure why I had this weird feeling- I blame my Sonoma/Bay Area college experience).

After the breakfast, I walked through the Book Fair they had set up and was excited to see they had Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes available and signed by the author herself. Anything 9/11 related I try to add to my classroom library- it’s important history, and the students find it fascinating.

Here are the books I ended up purchasing for my 5th grade class:

• Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes (signed)
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (signed)
• Josh Baxter Levels Up by  Gavin Brown
• Hilo by Judd Winnick
• Who Was Jackie Robinson? by Gail Herman
• The Hero Two Doors Down by Sharon Robinson
• Cheese by Sarah Weeks

And then I had to grab a couple for own children as well:

• Barnacle is Bored by Jonathan Fenske
• Duncan the Story Dragon by Amanda Driscoll

So after the damage was done, and furthering my suspicion that this was a ploy by Scholastic to make money (or maybe I just have a book-shopping problem), I returned to the main conference room and took a seat for Newbery Medal Winner Kwame Alexander’s keynote about bringing more poetry into the classroom.

This guy has so much personality and talent. His books The Crossover and Booked are hits with my 5th graders as well. Having Kwame Alexander read sections of The Crossover out loud to all of us was a neat experience.

After Kwame wrapped-up his session, I headed off to my first of two workshops that day. I signed-up for Book Talks with Steve Black, a product manager for Scholastic.

This past school year I attempted to do a book talk every morning for my students. A book talk is basically a 60 second commercial. I usually introduced the title and author, gave a brief summary, then threw in a hook. Steve gave a lot of different ideas, modeled them for us, and then had us try some book commercials with each other. It was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to stepping-up my book talk game this upcoming school year. I’m thinking about throwing in some more “Thriller, Killer, Chiller” style talks as well.

Lunch time was next, the standard PD at a conference fare of salad, meat, side and iced tea. I killed some time window shopping in the Book Fair when I heard my name called- it was the lady from this morning. She came up to me with a big smile and said, “Here is your rep for this year!” Introducing another Scholastic employee to me. I still looked at her puzzled- I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. “You’re the librarian- right?” she asked. I replied that I was a teacher and she said “Ohhhh no wonder you are looking at me crazy.” That was when the other lady spoke up and said, “Cheryl is your librarian!” I was floored not only did they remember my name from the brief interaction this morning, but they knew my librarian’s name from my school site. I complimented them both on their customer service, it was really nice.

After lunch it was time to head over to a session titled “Independent Reading: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going” which was set up as a panel discussion ran by a moderator. I got to the session early, snagged a front row seat, and then had a good five minute conversation with Donalyn Miller.

Now I’ve met some people in my life, and this may sound silly, but this was the first time I was really stumbling over my words and trying not to gush about how cool I think she is. I had to admit that I was a big fan and thanked her for all that she has done for my teaching. *Bonus! She’ll be at California Reading Association’s Conference in Visalia (15 mins from my house) keynoting this year so I’ll get to see her again.

It was great hearing the experts talk about the importance of free-choice independent reading in the classroom. They talked about the importance of surrounding the kids with good books, creating a reading culture, and breaking away from levels and accelerated reader.

The day ended with a heart-felt keynote from author Jewell Rhodes Parker, who had a challenging upbringing and books were her only escape at times from a tough reality. Scholastic Book Fair President Alan Boyko ended the day about how lousy book publishers are at advertising the importance of books and it was up to educators to do the jobs for them.

This was a valuable day. I met a major mentor in my teaching life. I was on the receiving end of some excellent customer service. I was also reminded of the power of free-choice independent reading and how that can have a tremendous life-long impact. Scholastic truly wants more kids reading with less strings attached.

So was this just a money-making ploy by Scholastic? Yes, you in the back.

Yes, they are a corporation. You spent $150.00 for a ticket, they wanted you to come away with fuzzy feelings towards them so you would continue to spend your monthly allowance from your wife on Scholastic Book Orders- dummy.

Uhhhh, how did you know about my monthly splurge on Scholastic Books? Go ahead- you.

They also had a store set up and you blew cash there. Of course they wanted to turn a profit off a bibliophile like yourself.

Okay….good point. But these books weren’t even out in stores yet! And they are awesome. And my students will love them.

So sure, I guess Scholastic wanted to make money but it was completely evident that they were there for the benefit of children first and foremost. It was a well-run event that was worth my time and an amazing experience for the price of admission. World-class literacy experts, authors, and great people to network with. Next years won’t be in San Jose but it I would attend again if it is a car ride away.