Win: Autographed Copy of the Novel "Kindergarten Baby"

Look what I have today! An autographed copy of the novel, 

"Kindergarten Baby." 

One lucky winner is going to win my copy!

That's just how kind I am. The sharing kind of kind. 

It has been pre-appreciated, but is in very good condition. 

[Though the bookmark did NOT weather my travels.]

I'm not even going to begin to tell you about this read. 

I don't want to be accused of spoiling your fun. 

Let me just say, it is *PERFECT* for your summer. 

Do you have a beach in your future? 

A daily trek to the community swimming pool? 

A rainy week at your family cabin? 

PERFECT!

You don't HAVE to be a Kindergarten teacher to appreciate the nuance conveyed by character and setting, but if you've spent any time what-so-ever in a school building as an adult, this is your warning that you may forget all about laundry and groceries, until the last page has been consumed. 

What other novel is going to contain the two words: Dibels and condoms? 

There I go. Giving you a glimpse. I simply must stop right there!

{*I just didn't want you to think you'd earn Professional Development credit.} 

I had the opportunity to visit with author Cricket.

 I am very happy to share her 'back-story.'

1) Cricket. Teachers in the spotlight? Do you have a teaching background?

My very first and most memorable teaching assignment was with a group of 28 kindergarten students.  At the end of the first day of school, I went home and collapsed on the sofa. It took a week to build up the necessary stamina (physical and mental) to keep up with the students, but I loved it!

Other educational adventures included: 1-2-3 multiage classes, curriculum specialist, University of Arizona asst. professor, student teacher supervisor, and elementary principal.

The altar ego of the dog, Wendell, portrayed in "Kindergarten Baby" 

2) What is Kindergarten Baby about?

I like to preface the answer to that question with—Hint: it’s not about a baby!  It is a romantic mystery about an amazing kindergarten teacher, with a great dog, and a less than perfect love life. Actually, insert disastrous there.

About 20% of the story takes in or around her classroom.  But her quest for finding her very own happily ever after takes her to the Grand Canyon, North Dakota, and the Zuni Mountain wilderness in New Mexico.

3) What’s next?

Kindergarten Baby is Book One in the School Days-Grimm Nights series.  It is followed by Book Two, A Break in the Clouds. The reviewers at BookViral wrote, “They are in love, but murder is on someone’s mind and it seems everyone harbors a secret. If you thought being a teacher lacked excitement, then it’s time for a little re-education as Rohman turns up the heat.”

Book Three, The Road Trip, will be available the end of September 2014. All three books contain some romance, mystery, humor, school and student topics, and Lindsey’s lovable and talented mastiff, Wendell.

4) Do you miss the classroom?

Hmmm. I do miss the students, their humor, their interests, and their needs. Many of my friends are teachers, so I visit and even teach a lesson now and then to keep me “in touch” but my current passion is writing. I don’t miss the politics  I consider myself a full-time writer now.

5) Advice for those that are thinking about writing a novel?

Decide how much time you can realistically devote to writing each day. Right now that might only be ten minutes or perhaps it is several hours. Whatever you decide, stick to it. Write something every day. (Shopping lists or To Do Lists DO NOT COUNT.)

Just think.  If you write a page a day, you will have a rough draft of your first novel completed a year from now. Then, you learn to love revision. I revised Kindergarten Baby four times before sending it off.

Taking a break and gathering feedback from friendly critics.... all in a day's work! 

6) What is your typical writing day like?

I rise at 5:45 am to the smell of coffee and head for my desk and laptop.

Basically, I write until 4:45 pm taking short breaks to stretch or have some food.

I devote an additional hour to marketing-type activities including tweeting/facebooking, etc. I am constantly learning about the publishing business and increasing my knowledge about writing, too.

I do keep a handheld recorder with me at all times. I find that some of my most interesting ideas or details come to me when I’m away from my computer.

I have to admit that I have trouble sleeping sometimes as the current plot swirls and twists and turns over and over in my head.  (I wonder how the writers of horror or zombie themes ever get to sleep.)

I do love to hear from readers. You are my motivation, my reason to write. Feel free to leave a message or comment on my website. I will get back to you.

One final footnote. Cricket attended our first ever #TeacherFriends Twitter Chat. I am tempted to predict that she will attend again in the future. Want to rub keypads with her? Make plot suggestions? Tuesday nights. 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Twitter. 

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Connie's Guest Post: Part II

Thanks again, Connie for the great introduction yesterday. Now all of the educators in the reading audience are holding their breath as you share specifics. What insights & ideas do you have to share?

Tips for Teachers:
"Bringing creative movement into the classroom can actually help with classroom management! Through guided movement activities, children learn body control, balance, awareness of stopping and starting and how fast/slowly they are moving. They become more aware of their own personal space and also the shared space within which all the other children are moving. They are responding to verbal and visual cues, following instructions, contributing ideas in individual and group problem-solving tasks, taking turns, and developing a new form of self-expression.

Introduce movement little by little into your curriculum. You might want to start with a dance story: bring a favorite poem, story, book, or song to life through movement and music, with the children imagining they are moving like the different characters in the book. They might want to dance inanimate objects as well: the sun, the wind, an airplane, etc. It is exciting and surprising at how much movement there is in any book, if you look at it through that lens. One, Two, What Can I Do? is filled with dance story ideas."

Terrific. Do you have any suggestions for the "on-looker-child" the one who seems to observe from the side-lines?

"You can start with a very short activity, and add on to it each day. The book contains many short activities that require no materials, as well as longer themed ones that are designed around Debbie’s delightful songs, or one of her many lively instrumentals. The short activities are a great way to entice the reluctant child(ren) to join in, and repetition of the activity will also help to break the ice, as the children become familiar with it. Then you can gradually try longer activities, as the children become more comfortable with movement and the boundaries you have set for the children during these sessions."

All righty then! How about the opposite extreme? The child with LOTS of energy, enthusiasm, excitement? Suggestions??

"You may have a few very energetic children, and wonder how to control that energy so that the class doesn’t become unruly. I understand that worry, and offer ideas that have worked for me:

Always have a cue that the children understand means “freeze!.” It can be a drum or tambourine, or a sharp clap of the hands. Combine this with a visual cue (holding up a stop sign, etc.) as well. If the children are having fun with the activity but do not follow your instructions, stop the activity and try it again another time, reminding the children about the cues and any other rules you have set (spatial boundaries, etc.) before you begin.

I often ask the high-energy children to be the leaders (Let’s all watch Jimmy jump as high as he can), which both engages them and interests the other children. In addition, the energetic children are often the ones that jump right in to try to solve a movement problem (How would you make your body into a twisty pretzel shape? or What would it be like to slide down a rainbow?) which then inspires the other children to try the activity."

Great ideas, Connie. Any concluding thoughts??

"I would love to make these blog entries interactive. Readers, if you have any questions, ideas, or feedback for me, please send them along in the comment section and I will address them in my next installment.

My most important advice is: Keep on dancin’!"

Connie July 8, 2011

Well there ya go!!! Please post your Connie questions in the comment box. As always all feedback is a complete thrill and totally encouraged.

Guest Post: Connie Dow!!

Ladies & gentleman. My first blog interview!!!!
Drum-roll please.........................

Connie, please take a moment and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background.

"Hello Fellow Friends and Fans of Debbie,

My name is Connie Bergstein Dow. I am thrilled to contribute my ideas here in Debbie’s blog! I am a dance educator and author. I was the little girl who was scared of gym class and was always chosen last for any playground sports team. I also fell down a lot, and was clumsy and felt as if I couldn’t get the parts of my body to work together. My parents decided to try me in some dance classes, and lo and behold, I found out I wasn’t so much uncoordinated as just very flexible and needed to gain strength and body awareness. Dance was the gift that I needed to help me develop confidence and grace. I loved it so much that I never wanted to stop, and have been very fortunate to have a career in the field of dance.

I studied dance at Denison University, and then received my MFA from the University of Michigan. I was a professional dancer for 10 years, and have been a dance/movement teacher for over 40. For the last 7 years I have been writing about the art of dance, and particularly about bringing movement opportunities to young children. I have written two books and several articles about movement."

Thanks so much, Connie. How about starting off by telling our reading audience how the two of us were introduced to each other?

"I met Debbie through our mutual friend Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld during a moment of serendipity at the 2007 NAEYC convention in Chicago. I was telling Mim about the release of my first book (Dance, Turn, Hop, Learn! Enriching Movement Activities for Preschoolers), and explaining to her that I wanted to team up with a musician for my next book. She said, “Well, then you must get together with Debbie Clement!” Just at that very moment, Debbie appeared out of the crowd of thousands of attendees, and the seed was planted for our future collaborations. I have had the privilege of working with Debbie at OAEYC conferences, at the Ohioana Book Festival, and for the past two years, on our new book, One, Two, What Can I Do? Dance and Music for the Whole Day. Dance and music are natural companions, so bringing together Debbie’s music and my movement activities was a natural as well."

Great! Now I'm so eager for you to share what your goals were with the creation of your new book, our collaborative project.

"I had many goals in mind when I began writing this book. First and foremost, I wanted the format to be extremely teacher-friendly. Having Debbie’s music as a resource for the teachers would be a huge plus. The teacher can choose the activity based on the musical selection, or based on any number of other ways that the book is organized: the daily routine, available space, subject matter, etc.

The chapters in the book are based on the child’s day; the opening chapter offers greeting activities, followed by a chapter on movement for circle time. Successive chapters address lessons about language arts, math, science, and social studies, transitions, large motor skills, and quiet-down activities. The last section offers lots of ideas for creating dance and music presentations with young children.

Another goal was to help educators teach, reinforce, and have fun with age-appropriate movement skills. Throughout the whole book, there are tips for refining these skills in young children.

A theme running throughout the book, and another extremely important concept that I wanted to address, is encouraging and nurturing creativity in children. A child may try to respond to a movement prompt about making a letter shape in his body, for example. He may not even remotely resemble the letter in his attempt, but he is still learning. He is recognizing the letter, listening to and following movement instructions, and attempting to make the letter shape in his body, and thereby learning new concepts kinesthetically. The creative aspect of this exercise, making letter shapes in the body (it may be standing, jumping, on the floor, sitting, kneeling) is the child’s approaching a task through movement and body awareness. Many children who do not excel in other arenas might find their creative spark through movement."

***** Here ends today's installment: Part I with Connie Dow. I will work diligently to get the rest of our initial interview posted tomorrow, before I leave for SDE's ITK event in Vegas. In the second portion of Connie's interview she addresses "Teacher Tips" and I know that will be of significant interest. It is our intent to have Connie be a 'regular' feature here at RainbowsWithinReach, taking residence as our official authority on Dance/Movement. She is happy to address questions and concerns from readers in upcoming appearances. Please feel free to leave your questions in the comment section here on the blog.

[Aren't you glad I'm taking that 31 Day Build a Better Blog Challenge? You can teach an old dog new tricks, after-all.]