Month: April 2013

Magic!

- librariantiff Leave a comment

One of the many hats that I wear at school is that of a Beta Club sponsor. This is my first year as a sponsor, and it’s a role I took on because my BFF and ELA teacher has been a sponsor for several years. Every year, our Beta Club takes a trip to Orlando at the end of the year. This trip is a CMS tradition — in fact, the last time I went to Orlando and Disney World was when I went on the Beta Club trip as a 7th grader at CMS! So obviously I was very excited to attend this trip again as a sponsor this year. Anyone who has taken a group of students on a trip before knows how much planning, stress, and anxiety come with such a thing, but it was definitely worth it all! A total of 52 of us (38 students and 14 adults) took the trip, visiting Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot.

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The thing that I was obviously looking forward to the most was visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, so I could hardly contain my excitement in the weeks leading up to the trip. I read so many articles and blog posts about how to make the most of my visit, and I knew everything I wanted to do there and the order in which I wanted to do it. Walking into this area of the park is literally like walking into the world of Harry Potter that we all know and love from the books and movies. It was everything I hoped it would be and more! Seriously, I got emotional as I entered Hogsmeade.

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The first thing I needed to do immediately upon arrival was to head to Ollivander’s for my wand. Obviously, this is what every young wizard needs! I NEEDED to be selected as the person to get fitted for the wand in my group. I had two other teacher chaperones (including my BFF) and three of my awesome Beta students cheering me on as we entered the shop. They faked us out for a minute, telling my group that they ruined things for me with their over-enthusiasm (I think we all almost cried at that moment), but I WAS the lucky wizard who was selected!! I had to talk myself out of bursting into tears the entire time — I know it sounds crazy to anyone who isn’t Harry Potter obsessed, but this was one of those moments in life that I will NEVER forget! I still tear up and get chills just thinking about it. AND my amazingly fabulous friend videoed the whole scene:


AMAZING! This was my most magical moment of the trip, by far. Naturally, I purchased the wand that selected ME…along with tons of other awesome HP accessories! Next, we rode the Forbidden Journey, which was incredibly amazing as well. You work your way through Hogwarts, hop on your “broom” and feel like you are actually flying around with Harry and friends.

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We saw the rest of the sights in Hogsmeade, had a frozen butterbeer, rode the Dueling Dragons coaster, and saw the Hogwarts Express!

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This place is a must visit for any and all Harry Potter fans…it really was indescribable!

The rest of the trip was great as well. Lots of walking, lots of roller coasters, and we were unbelievably lucky to have lots of very short lines! It was a great time to visit and a great time was had by all. We had such amazing students and parents that attended the trip, which really made it all the better.

I have to share this awesome picture on my favorite coaster (and I think we rode them all!!) — Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios:

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And I have to give a great big shout out to my awesome BFF Alaina for being the best trip master and coordinator EVER! Here we are waiting for her magical moment, the parade, light show, and fireworks in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom:DSC_0616

And if you’re interested in seeing the hundreds of pictures I took (what can I say, I love our Beta Club camera!!), you can see them here on Flickr.

Spring Break Reading!

- librariantiff 2 Comments

Today is my last day of Spring Break and it’s time I force myself back into reality. I’ve been soaking up some sun and doing LOTS of reading. Here’s where I spent my week on the beautiful Gulf coast:

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There are lots of productive things that should have worked on ::COUGH COUGH National Board Reflections::, but I opted to read instead. So today will be my day of responsibility — grocery shopping, laundry, and writing (okay, so I’m also thinking about going to see The Host…)

In case anyone is curious about what I read over break, here’s a quick run-down:

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This book was very Australian. I guess I’ve never really read anything Australian before? It was just okay for me. Typically when I read, I think of a person who would LOVE that particular book. No one came to mind for this one.

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I think this was my favorite read of the break! I definitely have a book crush on Jase! It’s definitely an Upper Grades read (as are most of the books I read this week). It’s a great summery love story. The author did a great job of portraying life with a big, loud family, and you can’t help but fall in love with the Garretts — especially little brother George!

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I love Lauren Barnholdt! She’s written some middle grade novels, but of course I love her YA stuff more. One Night That Changes Everything is my favorite of hers. This is a good one too, although I think my BFF liked this one better than I did as she LOVES a road trip story.

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I was obsessed with the first book in this series, The Unwanteds, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one! It was good, but I will admit that I put it down and came back to it later. And it left me just kind of hanging…which series like to do, I suppose. I’m recommending this series to my fantasy readers quite often.

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This is a beautifully written novel! I love that Gayle Forman’s books don’t fit the typical girly YA formula. Lots of Shakespeare weaved into this story, which is fab. And lots of European travel, which I’m dying to do! But this is another one that just left me hanging…although I’m much more anxious to get my hands on the next book of this series!

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I cannot wait to get this book into the hands of some of my boys! I think that this will appeal not only to kids who love Hatchet, but also to those who enjoyed The Juvie Three, which I recommend all the time! I’m always excited when I get something new to add to my frequently recommended list, and this is one for sure!

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Wow, talk about some messed up situations. This book has high drama written all over it. And not lame girly YA drama. Serious messed up family drama. And this is DEFINITELY a YA novel, no middle grades business going on here. I eyed this for a while before I bought it, but the Simone Elkeles blurb on the cover is what kept me coming back. So I finally bought it, read it, thoroughly enjoyed it.

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I found this one at BAM on the sale shelf (I love a BAM sale!), and picked it up because I loved How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. This one was a quick read and good to go on the library shelf, which made me happy. There were tons of very dramatic things going on in this story, but I felt like it still fell a little flat for me. I’m anxious to give this to one of my avid readers and see how they feel about it.

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Yikes! This book was something else! When I first started it, I was thinking it was feeling a bit Summer I Turned Pretty but from a boy’s perspective. Not so much. I think I liked it, despite the fact that it’s one messed up story, disturbing, graphic, etc.

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I am a reality TV fanatic. I still watch Real World from time to time and also watch every version of Real Housewives that’s on the air. So this book definitely appealed to me! As I said before, I love Lauren Barnholdt, especially her YA novels, so I really enjoyed this one. Predictable? Sure. Fun? Absolutely!

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Throughout my novels, I read a bit of poetry as well, as it was one of the books I needed to finish my Spring Book Challenge (which I did finish this week!). I love Billy Collins and this one was available on Overdrive through my public library, so I took my time and enjoyed this one over the course of the week.

And now, it’s time for me to put the obsessive reading away so I can be productive and work through my many to-do lists. Lots of exciting things coming up as this school year goes into the final stretch! Including…

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Join my awesome friend Nick Provenzano and I next Monday for our TL Virtual Cafe webinar — The Connected Concierge!