85. Writing Makes Perfect

This was an interesting book.  I have to do a "book talk" on it with a partner for a class, so i don't want to spend too much time on it here, but it was a worthwhile read.  it is definitely in the pile to keep for future reference, and i think i will actually reference it at some point, which is saying something.  gallagher has an innovative perspective on actually customizing your teaching to include as much writing as possible and also to cater to what the students need at that moment in time.  for instance, if you notice a lot of students are having issues with run-on sentences, teach about run on sentences then and not later on as a book or curriculum dictates.  also, something i didn't know before, don't make notes to correct every little nitpicky thing..... that wastes your time and they don't even look at it if there are marks everywhere.  i totally didn't know that.  instead, note only a few things that pop up in that students' paper several times and let them fix it.  ah the things i am learning..... i'm learning about learning! ha!

63. yep, i finished another one

To be fair, half of the books that I am finishing this week have been in the process for the past month.  but i would still like to recognize the fact that i am finishing them all!  :)  This was an interesting read for future english teachers..... there were some new ways of explaining the importance of alternative media such as comic books and political cartoons.  this would be great if you ever have to give a solid reason why you are using the particular medium in a class to a nosy parent or principle.  i'll copy a few lesson plans out of here.  i will not, however, be reading story books to my older students.  i mean really?  reading the leaf man did nothing for me, even though i am trained to pick up on literary cues.  i'm just sayin'. 
Teaching Visual Literacy, Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher

kid lit- #26

Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key, by Jack Gantos
I don't have much to say about this piece of fiction, other than that i am terribly sorry for the children and parents that have to deal with children with developmental issues.  this book was written from joey's point of view, and i'm pretty sure his condition is adhd, but it never comes out and says it for sure.  i suppose they do this so that every child that reads the book can properly relate to joey, even if they have a different problem, and also so that every hypochondriac in the making won't go home to their parents and claim that they have joey's affliction.  (i know i might have done this- in fact, as i was reading it, i was thinking about my own hyperactivity as a child during time tables, but i'm a bit of a melodramatic over-emphasizer, so pretend i didn't just say that).  anywho, this book is written from the perspective of this kid with adhd or whatever it may be, so it jumps around a lot, and to be honest, it kind of gave me a head-ache.  but it was good because it helped me to step into the shoes of someone with this sort of learning disability.  thank God i am able to step out of it at the end of the day and relax without zipping around the room, getting made fun of by my peers.  books like these make me realize just how lucky i am and have been.  they also scare me into thinking that my teaching career will involve children running with scissors and accidently lopping off somebody's nose, but i think that is an entirely different matter altogether.

#22- Ed Department Strikes Back

Really???? On Spring Break?????  i guess this is what i get for putting off homework and/or doing it a month before it is actually due.  this is how i operate.  i'm not sure why.  right now i am writing because i am a strange mix of emotions- im "trapped in a glass case of" them, if you will (and you should).  its this strange and diabolical mix of angry, sad, confused, excited, and lovey dovey.  (i told you it was a weird mix).  but that has absolutely nothing to do with this book i just read:
Classics in the Classroom: Designing Accessible Literature Lessons
by Carol Jago- that's Mrs. Jago to you

Alright, well, this is going to be a short one.  i have to do my nails, and typing isn't exactly the best activity to accompany wet nails.  basically i have the same review for this education guide as i do for all the others i have read...... useful if i were actually in the classroom, trying to pull together activities for lesson plans for these particular classics, but as of right now- not so much.  blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. 

i'm out.

#17 (suuuuccckkkk it!)

Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher

my I just say that this was a good read for future English teachers..... 
and may i also just say that i am getting more than my fair share of 'this is how you teach, because this is how i taught in allllll my many years of experience'.......

livin' the life
xoxo molly

#16: another from the school of ed

Engaging Readers & Writers With Inquiry, by Jeffrey Wilhelm

another day another dolla.... another snooze fest, although this one wasn't as bad as some of the others that i have read and have yet to read.  something about someone telling me how to teach is a major turn off.... i feel that they shuold just be teaching us these lessons, as more of a demonstration, rather than telling us how to teach without teaching it.  does that make sense?  perhaps not, but it's how i feel, so i'm sticking to it.  i had an awesome weekend, i checked out another cosmo-sponsored blog with my darling friend emily and am delighted to say that i gave some of them a whirl, and they are good.  good suggestions, cosmo.  now you, reader, get your head out of the gutter, we could have been reading beauty tips blogs...... -wink wink-

so thank you renne library, for forcing me to stay in one spot and soothing me with fountain noises so that i could finish this bugger, which, regardless of how much i don't like reading books about teaching, still taught me how to be an enthusiastic teacher! YES!

#5: school days are here again

Teaching Poetry in High School

by Albert Somers

Alright, i hope you are guessing that this is a required reading selection. oh yes. it was my first dry and boring read of the year! hell yeah! ha ha it was okay- i would recommend it to a future english teacher, but that's about it :) but i guess thats why they made me read it.... it definitely gave me a new outlook on why we teach poetry and some new ideas of poems for students beyond the traditional haiku about snow falling... there were some great "guideline" sections and lesson plan ideas, which kind of make me excited. i can't imagine. woot woot for these english teachers in the making. oh man