The Quest to Find My New Blog Title

Over the last few weeks, I have been admiring the many teaching blogs that I have found.  It is amazing how many there are and I am sure that I haven't even scratched the surface. The blogs that I have found, which I will link to mine soon, have been so inspiring. It has not only given me new ideas to use in my classroom, but it has also jumpstarted my creative juices to try some of my own ideas too. I quickly realized that there are so many great teaching blogs and so many fabulous ideas, that I couldn't keep track of it all.  That is when I decided to create my own blog, not only to have a place to store all the ideas that I find, love, and don't want to forget to use, but also to share my ideas with all of you too.

After I decided to create a blog, I knew the next step was to have an amazing blog title.  But, of course, the creative words just were not coming to mind.  So, I did the only obvious thing I could do, go to my fellow teaching colleagues to get insight and wisdom from them. Okay, let's be honest...I needed to beg, borrow, and steal any ideas that they had for my blog title.  I wanted the title to be representative of me and who I am as a teacher in my classroom. There are so many great blog titles out there, so I knew this was not going to be easy. Every chance I could, I would run across the hall between classes to Kaisa's office, our school counselor, and ask her if she came up with my blog title yet. We threw around lots of great words, phrases or ideas, but they just didn't feel right.  Even during my Chick Lit class, I told the girls about my blog and asked if they had any ideas for the "perfect" title.  Besides the fact that they laughed at me for working so hard on finding a title, they came up with some great thoughts too.  However, it still wasn't coming together.  It was kind of like trying to find the "perfect man," frustrating, time consuming, disappointing, and realizing that it may not exist. But if you know me, I am not someone who gives up. So, I asked my principal, Tammy, who knows me well and has seen me in the best and worst of times, if she had any titles for me.  Well, she did indeed have a title for me, but we both agreed, after some laughter, that it was not one that needed to go viral. :) My next victim, was our sixth grade ELA teacher, Sarah and I was convinced that she was the "chosen one" to reveal my title.  After she shared the title of her wedding blog with me, I knew the ideas she had would result in victory.  But again, we came up with some great ideas that still just didn't feel "perfect." It got to the point where we would pass each other in the hall sharing ideas or asking if new ones had come to mind. Finally, yesterday after school at Book Club, Sarah, Kaisa, Katie, and I were chatting about our week.  Of course, the topic of my infamous unnamed blog came up and many ideas were shared. Then it happened, like it was there the whole time I was looking and I kept missing it.  To be quite honest, I can't even pinpoint who said it or how it was said, but we all agreed that Teaching Reading Be"tween" the Lines was THE blog title for me. So, a huge thank you goes out to my students, principal, and my fellow colleagues on the Seward Middle School staff for putting up with me badgering them for their help on this quest.  I dedicate the blog to all of you!  Plus, I thought I would mark this significant moment with a picture or two of where the title was discovered and my quest ended.

Sarah, Kaisa, Katie, and I 

I needed to remember where it all came together, right?