ENKA International School, Istanbul

First chance for us to hand deliver copies of our new book: Dreaming BIG and Small!

Our contact in Istanbul – George the librarian was one of the most thorough poet wranglers we have worked with in a long time. He had everything spinning in time with the whirling serenity of the Dervishes we saw turn-tabling just before we began our week at ENKA International School.

Celebrating our love of reading and literary characters. That’s George on the right there patiently waiting.

Sara and I worked with the Middle and High Schoolers while the elementary was visited by our friend Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (You know she’s important because she has three names.)

Amy talks writing with short ones.

We were all there to celebrate I Love Books weeks at the school, a duel curriculum Turkish and International. We kept on track after having assemblies for the the Middle and High by visiting the classrooms for writing instruction based on our new Scholastic PD book – From Striving to Thriving Writers. We also had a teacher session which included a translator for the Turkish teachers – good instruction works no matter what language is being used as long as the folks receiving the message are engaged and receptive.  They were.

Waiting for our teachers to show for an after school PD session.

Our trio of poet/teachers Amy, Sara and I took turns coming down with a stomach bug which tried to put a damper on our time at ENKA but George and the elementary librarian Weston kept us hydrated and rested and we all powered through the week.

Version one of a personification framework in progress.

Pun intended – I’d have to rate our time in Istanbul as a Turkish delight.

Seeya next time Istanbul