I Just Finished Reading . . .

I just finished reading The Power of a Plant: A Teacher's Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools by Stephen Ritz. While researching best practices for school gardening last year, I stumbled upon a TED Talk by Mr. Ritz. His energy was contagious!

With a little video editing courtesy of EdPuzzle, I was able to make his talk kid-friendly. My fifth grade students, who were engaged in the daunting task of planning our school's first garden, were impres

sed by what Ritz and his students were able to accomplish. His enthusiasm was spreading like the weeds we were trying to avoid in our garden!

At the same time, we were focused on using Dr. Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexity Model to deepen our critical thinking skills. (For more information about the model, check out this post written by Ian Byrd from Byrdseed.com.) Following the first viewing of the video, I asked students to apply the Big Ideas, Details, and Ethics icons to analyze and defend Ritz's character. Overwhelmingly, the students' claims were positive. They defined Ritz as inspirational, hard-working, and determined.

​I hadn't given Mr. Ritz much thought recently so was pleasantly surprised to find his smiling face buried in the most recent Buck Institute Blog Update email last week! Suzie Boss was a featured blogger whose recent post entitled 5 Lessons for Greening Your Curriculum focused on the work of Stephen Ritz and mentioned his new book. I immediately ordered online and was planning to read it over the long weekend. However, the vibrant colors and his friendly smile on the front cover pulled me in!

Ritz narrates his teaching experience from start to finish. I found his open, honest accounts of his failures to be as refreshing and inspiring as his successes. He shares more than this reader expected! His over the top garden and plant metaphors make give me a chuckle while ringing true to my own overuse of growth metaphors. Like the TED Talk, it needs some editing to be kid-friendly - at least at the elementary level - but there are passages I plan to incorporate into next year's viewing of his talk and our analysis of his character.

If you are looking for summer read to re-energize your teacher-soul that isn't overflowing with buzz words, this book should make it to the top of your list!