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Okay everyone, today I\u2019ve been passed the digital baton in the blog tour<\/a> celebrating Meenoo Rami\u2019s<\/a> book Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t caught wind of the energy and momentum with which Meenoo\u2019s book arrived, I encourage you to look back at the various other digital stops of the online tour:<\/p>\n 4\/9\/14:\u00a0Teach Mentor Texts<\/a>!<\/p>\n 4\/10\/14:\u00a0Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn at\u00a0A Year of Reading<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/11\/14:\u00a0Alyson Beecher at\u00a0Kid Lit Frenzy<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/12\/14:\u00a0Kira Baker Doyle at\u00a0Kira J Baker-Doyle, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/13\/14:\u00a0Sarah Mulhern Gross at\u00a0The Reading Zone<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/14\/14:\u00a0Christina Cantrill at\u00a0Digital Is (National Writing Project)<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/16\/14:\u00a0Beth Shaum at\u00a0Use Your Outside Voice<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/17\/14:\u00a0Linda Baie at\u00a0Teacher Dance<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/18\/14:\u00a0Troy Hicks at\u00a0Hickstro<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/19\/14:\u00a0Joy Kirr at\u00a0Genius Hour<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/20\/14:\u00a0Tara Smith at\u00a0A Teaching Life<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/21\/14:\u00a0Antero Garcia at\u00a0The American Crawl<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/22\/2014:\u00a0John Spencer at\u00a0Education Rethink<\/a><\/p>\n 4\/23:\u00a0Kellee Moye and Ricki Ginsberg at\u00a0Unleashing Readers<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n That list, in and of itself, is emblematic of what I find so powerful about Thrive<\/i>. Meenoo\u2019s network of friends, colleagues, and collaborators helps generate and expand ideas that stemmed from the book. More than a parade of reviews, Meenoo\u2019s work is sustaining some deep thinking and powerful dialogue across these blog stops. For example, instead simply rehashing the praise that is found on the back of the book, Troy Hicks uses his tour stop<\/a> to encourage Meenoo to share her thinking regarding how digital writing affects her students\u2019 work. Thrive <\/i>encourages more than just reviews. There is a coming together of interested educators through this online tour that is a powerful meta-reflection of some of the key ideas in Thrive<\/i>.<\/p>\n To be honest, I\u2019m not entirely sure how Meenoo and I first met. It\u2019s possible that we met at one of many NWP functions we\u2019ve both been engaged in. It\u2019s equally likely it was while she was hosting an #engchat<\/a> discussion one night. Or perhaps it was at the NCTE annual conference. Or a NBPTS thing. Or a Connected Learning webinar<\/a>. Or Educon<\/a>. Or. Or. Or. Meenoo\u2019s networks run deep! Her interactions are meaningful and lasting\u2013both with her students and with her peers. And while this paragraph sounds mainly like I am gloating about being friends with such an awesome educator, I wanted to highlight how Meenoo\u2019s professional life exemplifies the principles of renewal and connection that are so clear in her book.<\/p>\n In fact, one of the strongest aspects of Thrive<\/i> is that Meenoo packs in the stories, voices, and ideas of so many of her peers. Whether it is sidebar profiles throughout, excerpts of Twitter discussions, or an integration of research in her own writing, Meenoo\u2019s book is more than just her own work; it is a bound compendium. It is the closest you can get to seeing <\/i>a living network breathe across pages.<\/p>\n Many of my students at CSU are reading Thrive<\/i> for my colleague Cindy\u2019s<\/a> class. It is clear that the ideas that have been resonating with me have been doing the same for my students. More than any other testament of the book’s value is hearing students\u2013often feeling burnt out as they prepare for student teaching next semester\u2013share sentiments such as, \u201cThis book is unlike anything that I have read before. \u00a0It is simple, accessible, and focused<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n I look forward to this dialogue continuing to unfold \u00a0at tomorrow’s stop over at edrethink<\/a>.<\/p>\nTell people this is awesome:<\/h3>