I attended a two-day summer institute for English Language Arts teachers during the last week of August (since I might be subbing in ELA classrooms this year).  Wow! I almost wish I’d stuck with pursuing an ELA teaching career, rather than staying home with my kids. The presentations were all great, but YA author, and AVRSB consultant, Don Aker, talked about using a writer’s notebook on the second day, and it was truly inspiring.  I often see or hear things while going about my life that I’m sure I’ll file away in my brain for future reference – guess what?  It never happens.  So, after seeing Don’s very funny power point, and hearing about some of the amazing things he’s recorded in his 17 writers’ notebooks over the years, I’ve actually started writing down some of the stuff I see/hear. CBC Radio is a great source and I heard several pretty interesting things on a series called The Hidden City by Nick Purdon (sp?) last week; food for thought.  My dad always carried a little notebook in his shirt pocket, although it was more to remember things he had to do each day, etc.  But I just may start carrying such a notebook in my purse since things have a way of disappearing from my head before I get to my writer’s notebook, which I’m keeping beside my bed. One of the pages on Don’s powerpoint showed a t-shirt a good friend had given him, with “Be careful – you might be in my next novel!” written on it.  So true…