MissTeacher's Not So Wild Stab at 10 10 10

My last thread was seriously ticking off my OCD, so much so that I thought my man-friend was going to have to wrap me in blankets and coo softly in my ear, "It's ok...the 'This message has been deleted by its author' notes don't look that bad!" So here is my more orderly, more thought-out and less tic-inducing 10 10 10 challenge. (As you may remember, I live life by threes so I'm doing ten categories with ten books in 10.)

So welcome! If you have any recommendations (for any category other than the 'Recommended' categories, ironically enough), please leave them for me!




Link to my Books Off the Shelf Challenge: http://www.librarything.com/topic/88964#1904629

Link to my 75 Books Challenge: http://www.librarything.com/topic/88107#1885666

Link to my ABC Challenge: http://www.librarything.com/topic/89011

Books Recommended By My Students: Books that students have expressed a sincere interest in, books that had them coming to me and saying, "Miss Holt you HAVE to read this!", or just books I see them reading that look interesting.

1. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
-Recommended by Daisy. No review yet.
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Candidates
Among the Imposters by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Books that Will Help Me Be a Better Teacher: Anything that will help me in any aspect of teaching.

1. What to Look For in a Classroom: And Other Essays by Alfie Kohn.
-Gave me some issues to think about but no real attempts at any solutions. No review yet.
2. The Portfolio as a Learning Strategy by Carol Porter
-I had a brilliant idea while reading this and can't wait to take it to the classroom! No review yet.
3. Teaching With Love and Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom by Jim Fay
-The research that went into writing this book was interesting, but the application made me cringe. Gave me good ideas of what not to do.
-Review below.
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Candidates
I am a Pencil: A Teacher, His Kids, and Their World of Stories by Sam Swope
Whole Language: Literature, Learning and Literacy: A Workshop in Print by Lou Willet Stanek

Books I Might Possibly Read With My Students: This is for the books I think would be fun or enlightening to read with my students in class. Books we could work into the curriculum and which would be of interest and benefit to the students.

1. Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
-Might read this with 6th grade Sheltered English.
-No review yet.
2. Quest Atlantis: Two Worlds, One Fate by Karalynn Huffman Brower.
-Will read this with 6th grade Sheltered English and possibly other classes who will do QA.
-Review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/9779924/reviews/58528363
3. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
-Start it with 7th graders on Monday. I think they're as psyched as I am.
-Review below.
4. The Book Without Words: A Fable of Medieval Magic by Avi
-Read it for one 6th grade class assignment, but could definitely work it into the curriculum at the beginning of the year.
-Review below.
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Candidates
Zane's Trace by Allan Wolf
Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes

Books that Have Been Sitting on My Wishlist: I have a feeling my LT wishlist is about to start growing exponentially. This category is for books from that list.

1. Peony in Love by Lisa See
-First encountered on LT, on Wishlist for about a year.
2. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
-First encountered through film version, on Wishlist since college.
-Review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/7135/reviews/46692920
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Candidates
City of God by Paulo Lins
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Books I Want to Read for No Other Reason than the Title Sounds Cool: Plain and simple.

1. The Devil's Toenail by Sally Prue.
-Saw at the Durham County Library.
-Review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/720794/reviews/58676510
2. The Haunting of Hip Hop by Bertice Berry
-Saw at the Durham County Library
-Review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/615260/reviews/58352060
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Candidates
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios by Yann Martel

Books In a Series: This could be a single book out of a series or the entire series.

1. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
-First in the series. No review yet.
2. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
-First in the series. Review below.
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Candidates
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

Books Set in Places I Have Been To: I'm talking specific towns, cities, neighborhoods or sites.
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Candidates
uhhh...I could always read The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty again...

Books Recommended to Me in Random Situations: These will not be recommendations born of literary conversations, but rather authentic "aha" suggestions, a la, "Did you see what just happened?! It was just like in that book...what was it called...but it was really good! You should read it."

1. Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel
-My best friend, when introducing me to her dog years ago, twirled in a circle and yelled, "Ayla!". I promptly thought she was crazy--she informed me that it was the heroine's name in her favorite book, Clan, a book my mom also enjoys. Sat on the back burner of my mind since then. When the same friend took me to get large-print books from the library after suffering a concussion (I was banned from reading??), she stuffed this into my hands.
-Review below.
2. Cold Tom by Sally Prue
-Once again, a random recommendation by my best friend Amie. Actually, once again, Amie stuffed a book into my hands and said, "Read this!" after I had picked up another Sally Prue, The Devil's Toenail, for my "Wow This Sounds Cool" category. She didn't know what it was about, but it sounded cool to her. We did a mini bookclub on it.
-Review below.
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Candidates
I think this one is going to be the hardest category to fill.

Books that Will Teach Me Something Completely New: Whether a new language, how to budget effectively, or the best way to tie a knot that my dog can clamp down on and swing from a tree with. Just something I didn't know.

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Candidates
None yet.

Books I Should Have Read by the Time I Graduated High School...Much Less College (I Mean, I Was an English Major for Heaven's Sake!): This category would include an embarrassingly gargantuan number of "Classics", as in Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, anything from Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, or half the required reading of traditional English programs. Yes. I was a rogue English major from the start :)

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Candidates
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I could go all day...

Teaching With Love and Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom by Jim Fay.
Finished 4/10, **.

Perhaps it isn't the book I disagree with so much, but the philosophy itself. Though this handbook is set out in an easy-to-follow format with plenty of real-life situations and tips, I all but hated how these situations were addressed. Posing a complete 180 from what the title suggests, the adults in this book seem to treat the children as objects to be manipulated. It was actually recommended that teachers make the students be the ones who go home, worried and fretful about their school day, so that the teachers could rest easy. How is this loving? Though the systems which went into creating the philosophy were well-researched and well-expressed, the outcomes were completely contradictory. How is this logical? I took the bare bones, the foundation Love and Logica was built on, and left the rest for the educators who still treat their students as vessels to be filled and directed, not unique individuals to be helped on their path.

Hi! Since you visited my thread on the 75 challenge, I thought I'd hunt up your thread. I really like your categories!

I appreciate your review of Teaching with Love and Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom. Fay doesn't sound like my kind of teacher.

Thanks! I just typed a fairly lengthy response which was promptly eaten by my computer when I tried to see if I had actually made up the word "quaffle". Here is the I'm Sleepy condensed version of that response:

-Fay let me down
-principal talked up the system of L & L
-guess that's 1 reason why I don't get along w/ (soon-to-be-ex) principal
-disrespects are subtle
-may be overlooked by skimmers or those receiving professional development
-some things are ok (like giving choice in classroom)
-even mucked that up by implying choice is not a student's right, but a privilege to be weilded
-responses are sarcastic and cynical
-sarcasm might go unnoticed (on the surface) by young students, especially English learners
-sarcasm would eventually chip away at student's confidence and self-concept
-it's these subtle disrespects that get me quaffled (use your context clues to discern meaning of made-up word) :)

Maybe I'm too much of an idealist, but I see my students as individuals to be treated with respect, and that drives my practice of classroom management. I don't really have any problems, apart from too many students trying to share their ideas at once. One of the best problems in the world.

#14 Oh, those response-eating computers! Don't you love them? Your "I'm Sleepy condensed version" was fine!

-sarcasm might go unnoticed (on the surface) by young students, especially English learners

Good point. Add, also, students on the autism spectrum. My son does not "get" sarcasm at all, or any speech that is not literal at face value. (One suggestion for teaching kids with autism to learn idioms and other non-literal speech is to use books that teach these things to ESL students!)

I am not a teacher, but I have seen first-hand the difference made by teachers who respect the individuality of the student. My son has been blessed with fine teachers who have treated him with respect, and have even been willing to learn from him regarding his (dis)abilities and what he can do.

I applaud your approach. (There are enough places in young people's lives where disrespect is modeled for them!)

ETA to fix typos.

The EC students were one of the other groups I had in mind when I said that. I try to model for my kids that differences teach us rather than hinder us, something that is quite hard to accomplish with a gaggle of thirteen-year-olds. That subtle disrespect would also be very detrimental to the other group of students I tend to interact with a lot...the "problem" kids. These kids can pick up on stuff like this faster than you can say it, and they'll shut themselves off in the same heartbeat. If there's ever a child you can't afford to let fall by the wayside, it's the one that everyone else has.

Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel. Finished 4/24/10, ****.

This thick prehistorice saga did seem daunting at first, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I think, more than the story, I was actually interested in the interpretation of prehistoric life. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the work involved, the pictures painted of flora and fauna, and the geographic explanations. I liked trying to figure out what landmass they lived on, and exactly where they might be. I found it fun to think about the differences between the Clan people and the Others, knowing where evolution would take us. There were some fantastical elements in the story, but the only part that truly made me cringe was when Ayla had a glimpse of modern life--skyscrapers, cars, roads and airplanes. That was completely out of place, but it was soon over. Definitely a feminist book, but I believe there are sequels and I wouldn't mind seeing where they take me.

I remember loving Clan of the Cave Bear when I read it some years ago. Of course I quickly devoured the rest of the series and enjoyed them as well. But I do remember that the series became more and more like a historical romance as it went on.

Hmmm...interesting to know. I never thought I'd like romance, but I adore the Outlander series (thanks to LT and my sis-in-law). So, if the historical elements are as intriguing, I think I could really dig them.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Finished 4/24, *****.

This was a re-read from last year, but it was still as great as ever. This time I was taking notes on it in preparations to read it with my 7th graders, and I still devoured it in one day. I only hope the kids like it as much as I do. They seemed excited the other day when I mentioned it, and asked for a "sneak preview". Here's the review from last year: http://www.librarything.com/work/9219228/reviews/50115594

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
Finished 4/27, ***

Alright... I was very excited about adding this book and then immediately seeing it at the library. I thought perhaps I could use it with my 6th grade class towards the beginning of the year when they study mythology. I wasn't really thinking about myself and my love of Arthurian legend and secret quests--and therein lies my problem. I approached this book in the mindset of a 6th grade ESL student just learning about mythology and the Dark Ages and the wider world out there... and I found it incredibly dull. There was hardly no action--only when they found a cave was my interest piqued, and even that was a pretty bland climax. And it seemed as if the entire book lead up to a step of the quest the characters probably could have completed halfway through the rising action. And I'm not sure how the dialect is written since I listened to the audio version, but that could be a major hazard to English Language Learners.

So in short, I hope with all my hopes that the next books in this series are more exciting and actually delve into the fantasy of Arthurian lore. As a stand-alone book, I couldn't even call Over Sea, Under Stone fantasy. Just a very slow mystery. There's promise there, for me at least. As far as my students are concerned, unfortunately, this is a big pass.

The Book Without Words: A Fable of Medieval Magic by Avi.
Finished 4/27/10, ****

Let's just call this the Middle Schooler's Philosophical Primer. Burdened by an extremely dreary beginning, the last third of this short "fable" really popped with imagery, suspense and enough Meaning-of-Life posturing to bring anyone back from the dead. Just before the book faded like a wisp of alchemical smoke, I found myself biting my nails, screaming "No!", and asking myself just what does it mean to live and live well. I could see myself having some very good discussions with the students about some of the issues raised. If you have a few minutes to spare (some to be bored, and some to be thrilled), read this book.

Cold Tom by Sally Prue
Finished 5/8/10, ***1/2

A very sweet, sometimes confusing story about the bonds any strong emotion can create, Cold Tom is a quick, interesting read that will keep you on your toes. I'm not going to say too much about the plot, because one of the things about this book which I wholeheartedly delighted in was trying to figure out just what Tom was. It isn't hard to figure out--nor to discover what the demons are--but it is captivating nonetheless. A good story about how not wanting to belong can draw you in even closer, and how hatred can bind you to a person just as muc as love. Read it if you have a minute. Sally Prue does not play around!

The Haunting of Hip Hop by Bertice Berry
Finished 5/9/10, ****

A beautiful, and yes, haunting, story of the power of love and music, The Haunting of Hip Hop draws the reader in for a journey from slave ships to Harlem nightclubs and stops to hear most of the stories in between. This is mostly a novel about listening to your heart and your history, and the supernatural element does not hinder this in any way. It isn't a spooky story...it's a love story. A story about the love between husband and wife, father and descendents, mothers and grandmothers and sons, playmates and grown professionals, spirits and their lives, a people and their music, a people and their history, the need for expression, and I could go on and on and on. This is a phenomenal read, sad yet hopeful. And quick. Do yourself a favor--take a few hours to lose yourself in this beat.