Reflecting on #TheWonderOfWonder

 Just before Easter break my students and I finished our third read aloud of the school year: Wonder by RJ Palacio. Each book we have read together as a class has had an impact on them, but I think Wonder has had the biggest impact.

After we finished the book, I made this poster to hang outside my classroom:

But then some of my students made this poster as well to hang outside the library:

But I have also made sure that Choose Kind is not just something that is shouted at students in the form of a giant poster. I also have left subtle reminders around the junior high hallway and in my classroom:

At the drinking fountain...

...On our book quote wall

...even our classroom light switch reminds students of the importance of being kind

Another way I've noticed the impact Wonder has had on my students is their amazing reflections they've written about, particularly the question I wrote as follows:

Many people who criticize Wonder say the ending is too perfect and that real life stories just don't end that happily. What do you think of how the story ended?

Naturally there were a few students who agreed with the critics, but on the whole, I received responses mostly like these:

 

 And then there is my favorite response to the question, how do you personally relate to the characters and situations in Wonder?

So my only question to you is: if you haven't read this book yet, what are you waiting for?

"I forgot that I might see so many beautiful things"

My students and I have been reading Wonder by RJ Palacio as our class read aloud since January. This week we came to a very pivotal moment in the story that brings out a lot of emotions, within the characters and also within the reader. Communities of readers are built on moments like these.

And despite the fact that my future in the classroom is uncertain right now, and despite my perpetual exhaustion since our Spring Forward on Sunday, it's weeks like this one that reaffirm my vocation and tug at me, reminding me why I'm here in the first place.

Besides the emotional catharsis of reading Wonder together, a couple other reaffirming moments happened in the classroom this week:

Moment #1
Earlier this week I had a dream that one of my students was single-handedly responsible for getting one of my favorite authors/illustrators, Adam Rex, to visit our school. When I told her about this dream the next day, she had this look on her face like she was blown away that she could manage to not only infiltrate my dreams, but that she was also able to carry out such an amazing feat as to get a rock star author like Adam Rex to visit our school. Her reaction to this new knowledge was, "Really? I was in your dream? And I got Adam Rex to come here? I could do that. Do you want me to do that? I'm on it."

Then the next day, this same student approached me and said, "Guess what Mrs. Shaum? You were in MY dream last night. Adam Rex did come to our school and for some reason you were wearing a big curly rainbow wig. But then you got mad because he poured caramel sauce over himself since he didn't want to repeat himself by doing chocolate syrup again, but he got it all over the carpet in the classroom so you were not very happy."

So Adam Rex, I apologize if you get a random email from a 6th grader in Michigan. My dream, accompanied by her own, apparently gave her a mission she feels the need to carry out.

Moment #2
Today the 6th grade Skyped with my friend Kellie who works for Walden Pond Press. When I finally met Kellie in person at NCTE in November, we spent a wonderful dinner together and the one thing that really struck me when she talked about WPP's books is how enthusiastic she was about the titles her imprint puts out for kids. I immediately had the idea that what better way to get kids to want to read WPP's books than to have someone directly from the publisher book talk them.

My instinct was not wrong. Kellie book talked four titles today and by the end of the day, this was the waiting list:

Notice that one of the books has a shorter waiting list than the others. Why is that? Because I was the one who book talked that one. So clearly Kellie is a rock star book talker, but also, I was able to reaffirm that it helps if teachers branch out and find other people and methods to get kids excited about books instead of doing the same thing over and over again. I mean, I've had The Fourth Stall in my classroom library all year, but it wasn't until Kellie book talked it that I had kids clamoring for it. When I talked to the kids after Kellie's Skype visit, a large number of them said, just as I did, that she was an amazing speaker and that she knew how to get kids excited about books. That was music to my ears.



*Title quote from the song "Beautiful Things" by Andain, which is also quoted in Wonder.

a WONDER-ful breakthrough

I'm still amazed at the ways in which the book Wonder by RJ Palacio touches the lives of everyone who reads it.

I'm currently reading this book to both of my sixth grade literature classes, and while one class BEGS me to read everyday, the other class has remained stoic in their emotions about it. They listen attentively and answer questions with pinpoint accuracy during class discussions, but I have yet to really get any sort of emotional response from them.

Until today...

Today was the day I have been dreading because, you see, this was the day where we came to a pivotal part of the story that just happens to be really sad. Like "can't see to read through your tears" sad. And while I've read this book four times already, I still managed to let loose a torrent of tears while reading it in front of both sixth grade classes. My eager class who always begs me to read the book remained stoic in their emotions (or they were just really good at hiding them) while I sat there blubbering through the words on the page. But something magical happened in my usually stoic class: as I struggled to read my way through the sad part, I heard an accompaniment of sniffles and snorts to backup my own tears, along with a few students who got up out of their seats to grab tissues.

It was a moment I will always remember with this class because they allowed themselves to be vulnerable when most of them have spent a great deal of time building up their middle school armor of dispassion and indifference. The only time they generally show emotion is to declare something unjust, unfair, or just plain dumb. Who would've thought that a fictional fifth-grade boy named August Pullman could get them to open their heart and affix it directly to their sleeve.