Taking the Plunge

I'm in this picture somewhere.

3,700 of us jumped into the Atlantic for the 2012 Polar Bear Plunge to support the Special Olympics.

Reading Outrage

I normally avoid video cameras, but a teacher at a nearby middle school asked me to read a chapter from Outrage, one of my books, to play for her class.

Don’t pick on my facial hair; it’s for a charity No-shave November thing.

New article out today on Engage.

Every month or two, I write an article about teaching writing to my high schoolers for the International Reading Association’s online magazine, Engage.

This one’s about using Picasso and Dali. Just follow the link. You may have to register.

Warning

Luckily there was a warning on this part of my Halloween costume!

Ramtlesnird! Fear the Beast!

Today—Thirty-one years after I handed this drawing in for an eighth-grade art project— my eighth-grade son brings it home to tell me his teacher (who was also mine) just found this.

The teacher also said the paper it’s drawn on is from the 50’s. So this, ladies and gentlemen, is a true artifact.

Teacher Food

Scene: Superfresh parking lot.

J. (former student, current Superfresh employee): Hey, Mr. Varrato. What are you doing here?

Me: Buying food.

J: Oh. I thought teachers fed off the hopes and dreams of their students.

Me: We do, but the rest of the family gets hungry.

New Interview is up on Engage.

My teacher/writer interview came out today on Engage, the
International Reading Association’s web magazine.

However, you have to sign up to see the article. So…you could sign up and support international literacy. And you could see how I cleverly worked my favorite college poster into my classroom.

ALA Quick Picks

I just found out that One Last Scar has been nominated for YALSA’s 2012 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

I was doing so well today until I was visited by the Play-doh Procrastination Monster from outer space.

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A Good Vibe Day

Some days things all seem to come together.

I scheduled a school visit.

I found out Fakie was selected as an Honor Book for the 2010-2011 Golden Sower Award. I lost the top award to The Hunger Games. And I’ve gotta admit, Collins’ whole series is awesome.

And I found out I get to teach a senior AP lit class in the fall.

So all in all, a really good day. I’ll store up this mojo to take me through the stack of 75 research papers I am collecting tomorrow.