Reading Journey

Student computers were collected a little early this year, so our final assignment for Language Arts needed to be analog. Below is what we asked students to do and a picture of some of the results. Imagine that the books that you've read independently this year have been part of a reading journey. Perhaps you …

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When the Goal Gets in the Way

I've decided to drop part of my goal for 2013- reading 10 big books. Over the past several weeks, I've realized the goal isn't working for me for several reasons. I never clearly defined what big books were. I imagined books weighty both literally and in ideas, but what I've realized is that was a …

50 Hikes, 50 Books

I'm not usually one for resolutions, but like Zac, I'm feeling that this might be a good year for them. Publicizing your resolutions and goals is apparently a tricky thing because your brain derives satisfaction from telling people about your goals, which may actually make you less likely to achieve them. But it's possible to …

Converted Skeptic

The following are books I was initially skeptical about, but which turned out to be some of my favorites of 2010. Shaun Tan Tales from Outer Surburbia I initially read a  few pages of this book and abandoned it, but I'm so glad I picked it back up. It beautifully weaves text and illustrations to …

The Danger of a Single Story

In World Cultures class, we are grappling with the complicated history of the Middle East. We've been looking at the history from as many lens as possible- creating drawings, spinning analogies, organizing information. Students are thinking hard AND synthesizing difficult information. Occasionally, a student will pop up, "So, it's all about oil, right?" or "The …

Talking Back to the Teacher

Although, I blog primarily about my Language Arts classes, I also teach two sections of 6th grade History (World Cultures). We're studying the Middle East right now and going through some pretty complicated material. Today students were reading a summary of the World War I peace settlement. I'd asked them to highlight the important information in …