While I was at the TIES technology conference on Monday I went to a session about the Iditorod. During the session Gary Paulsen, my favorite author of all time, joined us via SKYPE. He was at his home in New Mexico. Gary has written many books about his experiences as a musher, but retired from running major events in the late 1980's due to heart disease. Much to my surprise and excitement his name was on the 2006 Iditarod roster. He had a blog which told about his preparations. And then, he scratched. And nothing else was posted to his blog. And I have wondered for 2 years what happened. So, during the live video session I asked Gary what happened. His first question was, "How graphic do you want me to be?" and his next question was, "Are there any kids in the room?". So, he told a group of teachers what happened. It involved a fence, a deep cut and blood. That's all I'm going to tell.
Yesterday, we started reading "Woodsong" an excellent children's novel by Gary Paulsen. The kids are doing this project as a book circle, with each child having a specific role.
