ILA 2015 (when all the reading teachers took St. Louis by storm)

FIRST, a very important announcement! f you are here from Bibb's new teacher orientation....WELCOME! Have fun, poke around, and follow me here, on TpT, and on Pinterest (here is a link to my profile). So glad you found me and I hope you are PUMPED for the upcoming school year!

Now on to your regularly scheduled programming...:)

I am going to do a post-and-run today...I am in St. Louis for the last day of the International Literacy Association conference. It's been a whirlwind of a weekend (and yes, I know it's Monday)...but so much fun! Here are some of the highlights:

The first picture is of the gigantic (I mean gigantic) signs that are outside the presentation rooms...that first one on Saturday? Yeah, that was us! (SUCH a thrill to see something I wrote in the program!) Our presentation went well. It was fun to present and to make connections with other teachers and reading experts. I've had MORE fun, though, going to other presentations...there are lots of really smart people here and it's pretty cool to hear what they are working on.

St. Louis is not my favorite city (the nightly news is pretty scary) but it is neat to see The Arch! We ate last night practically underneath it.

And now...the best part. The FREE STUFF. This is the hottest freebie by far-everyone is sporting a new fancy Scholastic tote! I am kind of in love with the red and black (GOOO DAWGS!) and it's a nice size, too. The exhibitor's hall here is gigantic and every major publisher is here! I also got matching Pete the Cat t-shirts for Little Miss and me and a set of FREE books signed by the author. Also, more tote bags than one person could possibly need. If you know me, you know I have a little addiction with tote bags. Love'em, can't have enough...so it was pretty fun getting handed bag after bag after bag. Don't worry, though-I have a plan for them. I'm not keeping ALL of them. That's a post for another day, though. :)

Speaking of Little Miss...we have one more session to go to and then I am ready to get on a plane and head home! I won't get to see her until tomorrow because she is staying with her grandma, but I cannot wait to give her a big hug and a squeeze. I actually have to do work tomorrow-new teacher orientation!-so I'm not sure when I will get to recover from this trip. Maybe not at all, since I go back to work for real next week!