The Literacy Corner – Update #6

It sure feels good to be back! Missed you all a lot. And, there have been some things happening behind the scenes that are getting me quite excited this ’24-’25 academic year. Yes, I seem to be working off of “academic” years now that I’m full force into all things education.

As a matter of fact, here . . . let me tailgate off of my last update from The Literacy Corner – Update #5, dated July 25, 2024. Wow! It’s really hard to believe time is blasting by like it is. I mean . . . I didn’t even touch an update in August; and we find ourselves approaching the end of September with a quickness. 

And even with the usual whirlwind of my beginning of the school year, this year (in particular) has gotten off to a slow start — in all of the educational areas I’m currently residing in. And that’s been quite alright. I’ve had some personal business that’s taken priority, and I’ve needed that “extra” time to manage those priorities.

So, slow is welcomed with open arms over here at Degrees of Maternity. Nevertheless, here’s what’s been going on over this month and last.

Tutoring, Tutoring, and More Tutoring

Okay, so the heading (above) is a little misleading if you’re thinking there’s been a whole lot of tutoring going on. Or, perhaps you’re thinking there hasn’t been a lot of tutoring just yet, based on the “slow” report I just gave you. If you guessed the tutoring has been slow, you’re absolutely right. Well, about 99.9% right.

In fact, there’s been NO tutoring at all as of the posting of this update. I mean . . . I’ve had some tutoring training and meeting sessions as prep, but no actual work with the children has occurred. But, guess what? We’re going to remedy that real soon. I’ll start my first tutoring sessions with my elementary and middle school students next week.

I’M SO EXCITED! I hope my students are excited, too. It’s going to be a fantastic year of learning with my young readers and assisting them in getting to where they desire to be in their reading journeys. Fantastic!

Book Reading Challenge

You know how I brought you along for my summer reading challenge of reading one book per month during the summer? Well, if you didn’t know about it, now you do. Hee. Hee. Anyway, I completed the challenge with flying colors. Whoo! Hoo!

So, I know there’s really no way for you to know if I truly completed the challenge or not, since there weren’t any concrete accountability measures set in place for a check-in. But, I promise I did the THANG. So, you’re just going to have to take my word for it. 

Here’s what I read:

• Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger (completed by the end of June).
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg (completed by the end of July).
• Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen R. Covey (completed by the end of August) – This book was a reread (last read several decades ago). But, goodies never get too old to read over and over again.

I definitely feel “changed” for the positive in some ways by reading these books for the first time and again. Definitely feel changed. Mainly because, I’m putting into play some of the action items from their playbooks. Knowledge is Power! But what’s the point of getting the knowledge if you’re not going to use it to better your situation? Well, I’m not one to waste an opportunity to do better; so, I’m taking some of that rich knowledge I’ve gained through reading and I’m acting on it.

Oh, and the challenge continues. But just like the tutoring was slow to make its appearance in this school year’s day-to-day, the reading sat idly by for two whole weeks into September before I started to pick it back up again. Just remember though: I didn’t actually set a challenge for this month. The challenge ended last month. However, I just thought to myself, “Why not get edumacated a little more? Reading another book can’t do anything but help, right?” Definitely! And boy, do I have a whopper of a book that I’m reading this month.

I just started this new book on the 16th. It’s 409 pages of reading (not including the “Index” and “About the Authors” sections), and I’m on 208. I think it’s safe to say that, at this rate, I’ll be done with this book by the end of the month. 

And, the reason I’m moving through it like butter is because it’s on a topic that I’m aggressively schooling myself on right now — GRANT WRITING! Yes folks, I’m reading a book about grant writing. I want you to ponder on why I would be reading a book about grant writing. Just think about it for a minute . . . Just think about it.

Oh, and here’s the book: The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need (Fifth Edition) by Ellen Karsh and Arlen Sue Fox. For anyone wanting to learn about grant writing, I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s an excellent book! Very comprehensive. And it meets the needs of the novice as well as seasoned grant writer. You can click on the image below to take you to more information on the book.

(This post contains an affiliate link.  As an Amazon Associate, I can earn from qualifying purchases if you choose to use the Amazon.com link above.  Please read my full Disclosure for more information).

The Degrees of Maternity Newsletter

As promised, I did make some changes to the Degrees of Maternity newsletter. The name changed from DOMinators News to L.I.T. News. L.I.T. stands for Life-Improvement Training (which is what you get a lot of in the newsletter) and for my love of literacy. And, the wonderful subscribers to the newsletter are no longer referred to as “DOMinators Family” but are now known as “DOM Family” with “DOM” as an acronym for Degrees Of Maternity.

The overall layout/format of the newsletter hasn’t changed just yet. But, be on the lookout for changes soon to come. And if you haven’t subscribed to the empowering newsletter that is sure to give you some positive, encouraging, and action-oriented intel to read up on, you need to sign up — like right away. I’ll even make it easy for you. Just click on the link below and follow the prompts and you’ll be signed up to receive the next issue of L.I.T. News, distributed every 4th Sunday of the month. 

Link to Sign Up for the Newsletter

Degrees of Maternity TPT Store

Things have been a little slow at the TPT store, as well. I was certain that the end of August through this month would be popping at the storefront, but it’s been a little stagnant. However, I will say that there’s been one product that stood out far above the rest in sales. It was one of my easier, simpler products to create, but it seems to be the current one that educators are requesting more of from my store. It’s the . . . 

Go figure! If you’re interested in taking a closer look at the journal inserts (essentially, writing templates), you can click on this link right here. All I can say is that, sometimes, the simpler things in life are the most requested and needed. Ain’t that the truth! 

An Educational Opportunity

Well, the educational opportunity that I alluded to in the last update hasn’t come to fruition yet, but never say “never.” The fact that the opp hasn’t panned out yet may mean “not now” not “not ever.” We’ll see. However, something else has seemingly popped up in its place (mentioned a teeny tiny bit in the “Book Reading Challenge” section). Reread it for the hidden message.:)