My Space

My favorite place to read is in a hammock under the trees in my backyard. As a child, I loved to read while lying in the grass under the trees. It is a wonderful memory to think back on. Just like then, my backyard hammock allows me to be alone with my thoughts. Sometimes my dog Zane is with me, but he never says much. My husband is an indoor person so I know I won't be interrupted too. There are always a lot of birds singing to each other above me and I find it comforting rather than annoying, as their chatter sounds friendly. I always read using my Kindle because I can adjust the brightness of the pages and the size of the font. Unfortunately, I am getting older so this is now needed. When I read good books I find there are passages that make me stop and think and my hammock is a good place to close my eyes and ponder over what I just read. I admit that sometimes come close to falling asleep. I believe my backyard hammock is my favorite reading place because it is very peaceful and I find a lot of peace in books. I feel that books help me understand more about the world, the good things and the bad, and I am always looking for more understanding. 

YA Timeline

  http://www.epicreads.com/blog/the-age-of-ya-a-timeline-of-historical-fiction

I think historical fiction should complement the social studies curriculum, as the books bring characters to life who were alive during the time that is being studied. It's similar to having a primary source, albeit a fictional one. I think ELA and SS teachers should collaborate to bring historical fiction books and the SS curriculum together. I know it would have helped me understand more about history and what the people were like during that time. My interest is piqued more by personal experiences and human interactions than what can seem more like isolated facts with no context. I'm sure there are many students who feel the same way. 

The notes at the bottom of the list caught my attention, especially the sentence that stated the majority of the books on the list were published after 2005.  I find it a little odd that the creators of the list would not fill each decade with books as I'm guessing many more books exist. The 1890s, 1940, and 1980s were the three most popular decades on the list and I would say most historical fiction books that I have read are set in the 1940s as the Holocaust and WWII were such monumental events in recent history. I was a teenager in the 1980s so it struck me as funny that this decade is popular, especially when compared to the 1940s. It also makes me feel very old! I am not sure what was so compelling about the 1890s and the books on the list look to be more like fantasy than historical fiction. 

When reading over the list I noticed that women were featured on the covers of almost every book on the list. It would seem the "lesser" sex is actually more interesting! Surprise, surprise! Kidding aside, I think women play such important roles throughout history and I feel that their underdog status makes their stories more appealing. 

It wasn't until recently that I realized historical fiction is my favorite genre. Previously, I had always contended that I did not have a favorite. Perhaps, it is because historical fiction seems to hide within realistic fiction. For me, historical fiction has helped me understand on a deeper level the events that have taken place in history. I find it has also opened the door to me reading more nonfiction and memoirs. I believe access to many interesting historical fiction titles would bolster its popularity with students. 

Holden Caulfield— I. Can't. Even.

 

Holden Caulfield, from The Catcher In The Rye, is the most annoying character in fiction.

It’s like Caillou grew up to be a teenage boy attending an uppity prep school in the Northeast. No one thought Caillou could get any more whiny and annoying, but he did. The book follows Holden as he's on holiday from his prep school in Pennsylvania and journeys to New York City where he bounces around from person to person telling the reader how horrible and annoying everyone else is. After several chance encounters with various interesting, yet annoying people, he reconnects with a girl he’s dated before, a girl he describes with disgust and describes as being a phony. They go out on the town, only he acts like a creepo, ranting about the ills of society and then suddenly asking her to run away with him. Only that’s her cue to run away “from him” and naturally, he thinks she’s the problem. Later he hires a prostitute who arrives at his hotel room assuming she’s there for sex when he just wants to talk. He doesn’t understand what her problem is and ends up getting in a dust-up with her pimp, who ends up punching Holden in the groin—I was totally rooting for the pimp at this point. I remember this being the part of the story when I looked up and questioned my life choices. The Catcher In The Rye was not the book for me. I think it is the first book I ever quit reading. I eventually could not continue with Holden, so I ran away like his date did. 

I initially chose to read the book because I wanted to read a teen classic. The character of Holden Caulfield is well known in literary circles as the quintessential rebellious teen and he is always described as being depressed. Though I am not a psychiatrist, I would not give him that diagnosis. Holden is just an incredibly difficult person to be around. I'll throw out "oppositional defiant disorder" and if critics agree they should update their diagnosis. 

Despite my disdain for the book, a part of me still wants to know what happened in the end. An ever-present dramatic cloud over the story is that when Holden left his prep school for a school holiday he was failing his classes and his parents did not know about his academic woes. His parents are always MIA in the book. Perhaps they moved and left no forwarding address for Holden. That seems like an appropriate end to the story. 

Fifty Alternatives to the Book Report

   

This week I read the book Everything Sad is Untrue and I found the character of Daniel so endearing. He reminded me of many of the young students that I have had in my middle school book clubs. I truly enjoyed selecting books for him.    

          

My Five Book Selections for Daniel

Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli  

Daniel is a sensitive boy and many of his stories center around love and relationship and he has a crush on a girl in his class. I feel that he would enjoy a book like Stargirl because he himself is different, just like Stargirl. She wasn’t appreciated for her free spirit and uniqueness and at the end of the story everyone learned the hard lesson of having let a truly unique and valuable friend go. Perhaps Daniel would see himself as that special and unique person that should be celebrated. 

Reading Ladder

 I decided to create a reading ladder that would develop from simple to complex. I have found that many students, especially male students get hooked on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and cannot branch out from there. I have high school students who still check out Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and I can see the series as starting point for middle school classroom teachers (specifically 8th-grade teachers) who want students to move up the ladder from there. The books I chose are in a variety of genres, but they share a similar memoir-type style.

Simple

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney—Currently there are 16 books in the series. Most students start reading the books in elementary school so they should finish the series in middle school and be ready to move on. 

2. How Angel Peterson Got Nis Name, Gary Paulsen—This book is a collection of funny stories about the author's childhood experiences with his friends. The book is similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in that the male character and the stories are relatable and the tales are humorous. The format is different in that it is a traditional book, typeset, and in chapters, with no drawings. It is a fairly short book that I feel is less intimidating to reluctant readers and it is a great way to introduce readers to Gary Paulsen books. Hatchet would be what I would recommend next. 

3.  American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang—This is a graphic novel told from the perspective of a young Chinese-American boy. His story is intertwined with a Chinese fable which makes for a creative and fun tale about growing up in a culture very different than one's own. It is a funny book and the graphics bring the tale to life. It is a great combination of memoir in graphic novel form. 

4. Everything Sad is Untrue, Daniel Naveri—I just read this book for Unexpected Perspectives and I feel that it is a great middle/high book with personal anecdotes and stories that have a greater depth to them than the previous books. Told by a young Iranian male, some of the stories are funny, some are fantastical legends, and others are quite personal and thoughtful. Many of his tales are Persian myths and they introduce readers to the author's culture and his experiences as an immigrant to the US. The book opens up a new world to young readers. I can see many students wanting to read more about Iran after finishing this book so I could easily add it to the ladder.

Complex

5. A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park—It seems like a huge jump from Diary of a Wimpy Kid to A Long Walk to Water, but I feel that it's doable.  The book is about two 11-year-olds, a boy and a girl, from Sudan. Salva is a "Lost Boy" in search of his family and Nya is a young girl who must walk eight hours each day to carry water to her family. The book tells of their separate but equally dangerous lives in Sudan and eventually, their lives intersect. The subject is much more powerful and mature than the previous book, yet it is a story about two young people of a similar age to the reader and it offers a glimpse into the lives of young people who must endure extreme hardships in order to survive. 

Post #4— Ripp reading response

    I spent the first part of my summer thinking, reading, and writing about identity with the Red Clay Institute, which naturally led me to think about reader identity so I loved the first part of our reading this week! I identified with Ripp's experience as my own reading identity was developed outside of school.  I don't remember reading being much of a focus when I was in school. I was just fortunate to love reading on my own. I have been thinking about doing a lesson with my ELA teachers this fall and I think the ideas that Ripp offered will be very helpful when I design the lesson. I'm sure there are many teachers that already do many of the things that she outlined, but I'm sure there are many that do not and I cannot think of a more important lesson than one that focuses on creating a reading community. I could have cried when she told the story about her students wanting to visit the school library because the school librarian was a reader and they found his recommendations and book discussions helpful. How I hope my students see me this way! 

    I read chapter 5 with great interest as Ripp laid out so many ideas that she had learned as a teacher of reading—things that didn't work and things that did work. This is my area of weakness since I have not been a classroom teacher. I want to learn from those who've been with a class daily.  Also, I  have seen so many things in my role as a librarian that perplex me and I want to understand why teachers have the opinions about reading instruction that they do.  The obsession with reading levels comes to my mind first, but also the reliance on computer testing is one area that I don't understand. Though I did not learn the answers to these questions in the reading, I did learn a lot of valuable information from Ripp's "then" and "now" explanations and modifications of her classroom workings. 

    One thing that stuck out to me is that she used picture books as read-alouds for her older students. I have found that older students love picture books as much as younger students and I love reading them aloud to students. There is so much that can be gained from a picture book read aloud—through modeling inflection and dramatic presentation, observing the visual techniques and cues, and discussing the characters and story. It may seem simple, but I believe the experience is very worthwhile to readers. In fact, as I write this I'm thinking I will start my PL with my teachers by reading a picture book :) I love that Ripp had her own library of picture books that targeted strategies that she wanted to work on with her students. I see this a great opener for a class and she mentioned even doing a read-aloud on the first day of school. 

I think my biggest take away is the simplicity of what she said were the most essential components for reading success: choice time, access to books, and a supportive environment. Whenever I reflect on reading instruction in schools today this song comes to mind...

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Twitterchat Response

 This was the first time that I have ever participated in a Twitterchat. I do have a Twitter account and I use it to keep up with other school librarians and current events. After watching the class video, I connected to Twitterdeck too and I really like the format. It did take me a while to get the hang of Twitterchat as I kept roaming off to other areas, but Twitterdeck helped me get back to where I needed to be. After the chat was over I felt like it was a good medium to chat and it made me think about how I can use it in the future with students. I know that my high school students use Snapchat. I am not very familiar with it so I need to explore it more, as well. It definitely was a fun exercise and I'm glad I had the opportunity to take part in the discussion. 

Listicle for Children of Blood and Bone

Post #3—Book Love

I feel that Buehler and Kittle's opinions about reading instruction align with my own. They both focus on reading books, lots of books. As a librarian, the one thing that kept running through my mind as I read the chapters this week is the fact that teachers at my school do not send students to the library for books. I know teachers have classroom libraries, which is great, but there is no way that they have the selection that the school library has. I'm still new to the school so there is still much for me to learn, but it seems my number one goal for this year is to understand why teachers are not relying on the library for books. There is a disconnect that needs to be found and reconnected. I suspect that the over-emphasis on technology (Chromebooks) is one reason and somehow I have to push back. 

I enjoyed reading about Kittle's experiences with students in her classroom. The one thing she does not mention using is the reading and study programs that are prevalent in so many schools today. I recently got a spreadsheet listing the strategies for raising reading scores at my school and it was basically a list of software programs. The document will serve as evidence that the school is invested in improving literacy, yet that is not how I interpreted it. Kittle's methods of having a well-established classroom library, daily one-on-one conferences with students, goals that the students determine, and daily reading logs may seem basic and even "old-school," but I know that they work. 

Kittle mentioned having to play by the rules of her school system and I can relate to her admission. I find myself spending a lot of time trying to learn the rules and then navigate around them to do what is best for the students. I get frustrated working at schools where administrators talk about the importance of literacy, yet put money and time into other things. Library budgets are often seen as simply extra school funds rather than needed money to keep the collection current and maintained. Is there anything more important for literacy improvement than books? I always feel like I'm missing something...

Bitmoji Reader Manifesto

#uga_yalit

 

Post #2—My response to Buehler...

    As someone who has always enjoyed reading, I related to Beuhler's own experience as a reader and I feel our reading journeys have led us both to believe that adolescents should have a wide variety of literature to choose from. Her assertion that students who have been readers all along will be successful in English classes later really resonated with me. One, because it makes perfect sense, and two, because I fear many elementary teachers are not only beating the love of reading out of early readers but in turn, are setting them up for failure academically. I say this because as a media specialist I have watched teachers abuse children with reading levels and reading programs. Now that I am at a high school, I still see teachers controlling their students' reading selections with Lexile levels. I appreciate Beuhler advocating for choice and pointing out the benefits that YA literature offers to adolescents, not just as students, but as individuals who are in a period of personal self-discovery. 

    Beuhler contends that it is possible for adolescent students to become readers when they have not been so in the past. Finding out how to help with this process is exactly why I am now enrolled at UGA in the Reading Education program. Beuhler mentions the term "reader identities," which struck me because I have been studying instruction that focuses on students' identities and I had not thought about "reader identities," which seems silly considering what I am doing. I found Beuler's conceptual framework for YA pedagogy to be wonderful and I enthusiastically ate it up. My wheels are spinning now as I have been considering doing a PL experience with my teachers at the beginning of the year and I now feel like I have more direction thanks to this reading. Perhaps I can loosen the Lexile grip some teachers have on their students if I present them with their role as book matchmakers.

    The conversations between middle school and high school teachers that Beuhler retells made my head spin as I thought about all the different professional opinions at play when it comes to teaching literature. The one thing I do have a strong opinion about myself is summer reading lists and the crazy selections I see on these lists. Often times there are classics or other heavy books that most students do no naturally gravitate towards. It's summer...can't we let our kids have fun and read books that are popular teen picks?! Sometimes I think adults have lost their minds.

Post #1—Literacy & Adolescent Literature Defined

It seems that the word "literacy" is applied to so many more areas than the traditional association with reading. There is information literacy, media literacy, financial literacy, digital literacy, critical literacy, etc. I found some education websites that claimed that there are seven literacies, but they did not name all of the ones that I know about so more must have been named after publication. The word literacy is used to describe the ability to do something—whether it is finding information or balancing a checkbook. The term “reading literacy” is not typically used so it is a little confusing. Traditionally speaking, I would describe literacy as the ability to read and to understand what is being read. 

My experience with reading has always been positive as I did not struggle with learning to read and I have always loved to read. It is amazing to me that I never considered a career as a librarian until I was older as it has been a natural fit for me. I love being surrounded by books all day and the only negative is that I don’t have time to read them. Reading “Legendborne” this week has been wonderful because I purchased the book for the library this past spring and I figured I would not get a chance to read it. I cannot wait to suggest it to my readers! One of the best parts of my job is collection development and I have learned that adolescent literature covers so many age groups. There really is no cut-off. What I purchase for a library is based more on the school community and what I feel their needs are and this would vary from school to school. Many books that are in my high school library were also in my middle school library and even the elementary school libraries. There are also books that I have read as an adult and would consider them as mature reading.

    I do find that booksellers promote adolescent literature as books that are most often dystopian, fantasy, and coming-of-age stories. These are typically the most popular at the high school where I work too. Adolescent students at my school also gravitate towards biographies of popular celebrities or historical books. I feel that “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” is a book students would want to read, but it would benefit from having teachers promote the book. 

” 

Me...a nut in a shell.

I recently worked on my year-end review for my AP to evaluate my performance for the year. I keep track of what I do throughout the year because I like to see for myself what I am actually accomplishing. As I looked over my accomplishments, it easy to see why I love my job. Quite simply, it is because it allows me to do what I love to do best, and that is to help others. I'm not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, but I do get to help people with their jobs and that is rewarding.

The one thing that stands out to me the most from this year is the read aloud time that I started with our special needs classes. I'm not sure who enjoys it the most: the students, their teachers, or me. I usually choose silly books that are fun to read and I put a lot of my personality into the reading of the books. I know that if I read aloud to the regular ed classes that they would enjoy it too. So much of our entertainment comes from a computer or TV screen and not from live performance. Really, that's what reading aloud is--a live performance. One student in my special class is non-verbal and she recently started imitating me, saying the words as I read them. It was a welcome shock to her teachers and to me to hear her speak the words--using my intonation, as well. I was quite touched by the experience. Often times I have students from other classes working on computers while I'm doing my read alouds and I catch them watching intently as I read to my students. One time after I finished, a young boy said, "That was amazing. They were listening and laughing to everything you said." He understood the power to connect that reading gives to us all. Reading is "amazing, " and being able to share it with others is a gift to me.

A review of my work tells me that I am a very lucky person.

Anecdotes

My cat Aiden plays with this toy every day. He never tires of it nor does he realize that there is no end to the struggle. The ball will never come out.

Every time my husband puts on his shoes, Aiden arrives to play with the laces. No matter where the cat is in the house, he will come running whenever the shoelace tying begins. My husband thinks he's a pest. I think he has great powers.

To Infinity and...meh

The one thing that has surprised me since I have started reading teen fiction is the number of series books that keep coming out. It seems like I cannot read a book and be done with the story; I have to buy the next book and then the next. This would not bother me except for the fact that many times I think there is a lot of editing that could have be done to condense the book to one or two books. I end up feeling like I am being strung along and trapped into buying another book.

Last year I was on a committee to choose books for a county "reader's rally." One of the books that I was assigned to read was "Infinity Ring." As I started to read the book, I was quite unimpressed by what seemed like a contrived plot and silly dialogue. I felt it was almost insulting to my students to read such a condescending book. So I started researching the book and I learned that the author, James Dashner, also authored the book "The Maze Runner," which I absolutely loved. I wondered how he went from writing that book to this new one? Then I read that the following books in the "Infinity Ring" series would have different authors. I found this peculiar. It wasn't until the committee meeting was held that I understood the big picture. Another media specialist was also assigned to read "Infinity Ring." She looked upon it more kindly, however she noted that the series would indeed be written by different authors and she shared her suspicions that the series was simply a money-making venture. Her remarks about what seems to be a common practice in the literature world certainly left me troubled.

Perhaps it is my background in art that makes me view the act of writing in more artistic terms. I consider books to be the expression of an author's thoughts and ideas. I naively had the notion that an idea or story would come to a writer and they would then put words on paper as an artist paints on a canvas. I guess the act of writing is now more about business than the art of storytelling. Although I would never throw a book series out the window--there are MANY WONDERFUL ones out there--I am now mindful of this trend in writing. An inspired, well-written and thought provoking story that is told in one book may not provide great wealth to an author, but I certainly admire the talent of a great storyteller and I believe that talent and creativity are worth much more than money.

Quirkiness is moving on...

I will be starting a new job this fall as the media specialist at a middle school. I am excited to get back to my middle school roots. I know it is where I belong simply because I get middle school kids. In fact, I'm a lot like those nutso kids...full of insecurities and weird ideas. The media center that I will be moving too is pretty brown and blah at the moment. I have spent most of my time taking down some script letters that have been hot glued all over the walls above the bookshelves. The letters spell out names of authors and although I'm sure at one time it was cool, the faded construction paper letters just aren't doing it for me. I bought some canvases and I am in the process of making some "fiction" and "nonfiction" signs to put in their place. I need a lot more color though. The county that I am working for plans to have a new school built in two years, but that means two more years of brown and blah. Surely, I will be able to counter it with something. I better get to scouring Pinterest for some ideas!

Engagement Over

Or not...

Last week was Dr. Seuss' birthday. What an imaginative dude he was! But WHY did he make his books so long?!  Gee--you have a group of little ones and you are trying desperately to keep hold of their attention and you are doing it with a novel of complete wackiness! So my strategy going into my read alouds using Dr. Seuss' books was to read them with as much drama and enthusiasm as I could muster. And let me tell you it was quite a show. I had to start taking my hernia medication again just to get through the week. Seriously. Well one day I was kicked out of my own media center because testing was going on, so I took a group of first graders upstairs to a classroom to do a lesson centered around Seuss. Since we had our own room with the doors shut, I put on my best performance to date. I got to the part where this kid was singing in the shower with a Ying and I belted out the words like it was a song.. a crazy, nails-on-the-chalkboard type song. Suddenly, an AP opened the door and asked if I could be a quieter since mid-term testing was going on in another hall (I had to laugh because it was a funny moment to be caught singing like a Ying...perhaps I should call it Yinging). So I obliged and I finished with a much quieter performance.

Later, I began to ponder the situation and I started thinking about it in a more symbolic way. Education has turned into TESTING, TESTING, TESTING. The act of learning has strangely taken a backseat to testing. In my situation, I had a group of kids who were totally engaged in the read aloud. And all week the students have been checking out Dr. Seuss books after my read alouds, hoping to experience again all of that silliness that I had brought to the books. So we have an engaging lesson with students eager to learn more and it had to be squelched because it was interrupting the test taking. So many times I have seen meaningful learning opportunities be nixed because students have to be prepared for some upcoming test. As a media specialist I have been turned down time and time again when I have offered project based lessons, that fully support the curriculum, because there simply isn't time to do lessons such as these when tests are looming. It seems we must make our students be the best test takers possible so they will be prepared for the future...a future filled with test taking, I assume?

So I sing with my Ying
not over-thinking this education thing
Why stop to learn?
just test non-stop
Don't understand? Go ask your pop!

The Second Layer for the Other Half

When I was in grad school I did some research on the digital divide and the consequences students face when they have not been given equal access to technology. It was then that I first heard to the term "second layer." It refers to instances where schools have adequate technology resources, yet the resources are used for repetitive drills and point and click tasks rather then for instructional support. At the time, I bought into the argument that the second layer exists partially because there are teachers who have little or no experience with technology. Now that I am working in education, I have a front row seat to observe the second layer, and I have learned that I was wrong in my assumption. From my post-grad viewpoint, the second layer exists not because of technologically inexperienced teachers, but because of an environment that wants a quick fix to "cure" the ails of our underachieving students. Rather than addressing the needs of our learners and working with teachers to address those needs, money is thrown at the latest educational software and hardware with the belief that with money, comes success--let the computer do the instructing, assessing, and reporting and our students will learn like the little robots that we know they are!

It is quite painful to watch and it makes me glad that I grew up during a time that computers were not a part of education. I cannot believe that I am saying this considering how much I love technology! The truth is, I love meaningful teaching and learning experiences more. I am a believer in project-based learning. I love creative thinking and group discussions. And I love it when students use technology to conduct research, to learn new information and skills, and to complete classroom assignments. It makes me giddy.

As one might suspect, the second layer is found predominantly in areas where the "other half" live, with the majority of students being minorities from low-income homes. These students need personal attention and sound instruction, not gimmicks. Technology provides much needed instructional tools, yet it must be used correctly for students to benefit.

Turkeys in the Media Center

An innocent turkey call by me led to a symphony of turkeys...

Parents: Do you have a reluctant reader?

I have learned through my own experience as a mom of a reluctant reader that it takes extra work and perseverance to get a reluctant reader to enjoy books. When my child was in elementary school she didn't enjoy reading, yet she did enjoy being read to. So every night at bedtime, I read to her. Nightly read alouds became our special time. When I started reading chapter books to her, we both looked forward to reading the next chapters each night to find out what would happen next. I also took her to the local library and to bookstores to select books. I let her choose what to read and if she didn't want to continue with a book, I allowed her to choose another book. I did everything that I could to make her experience with books enjoyable. Now that she is in middle school she has been reading more on her own and she even refers to herself a "bookworm." I still read to her though, and since I work at an elementary school, I often share a picture book that is silly or one that has great illustrations. I feel that reading together throughout her childhood has been a wonderful experience for us both!