Rather than sitting on my rear all summer, I decided to apply to a writing institute that is part of the National Writing Project. The program focuses on improving our teaching, as well as providing us time to write ourselves. I was accepted, and class begins on Monday.
The first project is a literacy portfolio. The only guideline was to represent what makes us literate, which is basically what we read and write. I was inspired by a post on my favorite blog, Weddingbee (Yes, I still read it, even though my wedding was nearly a year ago). I decided to make my own twist on Monopoly, and Literacy-opoly was created.
Following the directions on Weddingbee, I found a Monopoly template in Photoshop. I renamed the properties after my favorite books, grouped by authors including Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Tyler, Amy Tan, William Shakespeare, Beverly Cleary, and Judy Blume. The railroads became magazines that I read. The utility company and waterworks turned into my two jobs in journalism. The community chest squares were renamed after the schools where I have worked. The chance squares became choices I need to make in the future. It took some figuring out, but I managed to replace the traditional images with my own.
A special thanks goes to Bee Kim of Weddingbee for the idea, Mark at Kinkos for printing it out so quickly for me (and for the lecture on compressing Photoshop files), and my husband for helping me glue it to a foam board. Actually, he came up with the plan and I did the work, so it's not exactly perfect, but I'm pleased with the final product.
On the board, I included the quote from Dr. Seuss' Oh the Places We Will Go. As a teacher, this is one of my favorite lines, and I found it completely appropriate for Literacy-opoly.
I am looking forward to sharing my portfolio with the class. Wish me luck!
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