My current problem, however, at almost a week out, is a condition that two of my friends call slide OCD. See, I created my slides for my portion of the presentation two weeks ago. Possibly I was too ahead of the game because that gave me time to think. And wonder. And decide I needed to add just one slide, and then another, and another, until I'm currently looking at 79 slides for a 90 minute presentation. Ugh.
But beyond the slide issue, and the fact that speaking in public makes me unbelievably nervous, I'm happy with my presentation. I ran through it tonight to see how much I needed to cut and I began to tear up about four times. I doubt that would happen during the presentation, but I'm just so proud of these kids. It's been three weeks since I last stood in my classroom with my students and I miss them. Don't get me wrong, I still have many days of summer left and no desire to speed it along, but I love my seventh graders. I like the people they are and the people they are becoming. I'm excited to share our journey into connecting through audience as readers, as writers, and what impact that has on my students. I can't wait to share the tools we use to make those connections. And I'm also excited to learn from the people who attend - to find out what ideas they have and apply some when I see my new group of students next fall. I'm already thinking about them and getting excited for the new adventures that await.
And most of all, I'm excited to talk books. I always bring a few books that connect to my presentation, share my love for them, and give them away to the folks that were kind enough to come spend the morning with me. After much deliberation, here are the books I'm sharing this year:
If you are in the Chicago area, there is still time to register for the Summit if you haven't. Just head over HERE. And if you aren't in the Chicago area, no problem. There might be a Summit near you. Hope to see some of you in Chicago!
