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Celebrate 4/5

This is a fabulous idea from Ruth Ayres in which we write about something to celebrate each Saturday. I love participating in this link up each week and hearing about the awesome things happening in everyone’s classrooms and lives.

This week I have a mixed bag of celebrations.  
Early in the week, I walked out to the hallway to supervise during our passing time and when I came back in, I found this “graffiti” on my Smart board.  It is so nice when students leave these little notes.  
This week we are doing the district writing assessment (as if we didn’t already have enough assessments).  Anyway, the prompt is a persuasive prompt and asks them to write an editorial recommending a school policy.  We have been studying editorials by Leonard Pitts Jr. in my writing classes so this was a great prompt.  Yesterday, I noticed one of my students deliberately using some style elements that we talked about in the mentor texts to great effect.  Yeah for mentor texts!  
The Badgers are in the Final Four!!!  Go Bucky! 
It is 50 degrees and sunny outside.  After this really long and cold winter, it feels amazing. Just the sunshine is enough to put a smile on your face in Wisconsin.  It actually looks like there might be some Spring coming our way.  
Another interview is finished.  I will find out early this week if any of the schools selected me for the coaching position I would like to have.  Fingers crossed!  
What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great week!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/31

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:

This is the fourth book I have read by Lisa Unger.  The last two books were much better than the first two in my opinion.  This one was a really gripping thriller.  I was riveted the whole time and really wanted to know what actually happened.  If you like mysteries, this is a great one to read.

I just finished listening to Sapphire Blue.  I love how these books have a mix of science fiction and humor.  I found myself laughing out loud multiple times while listening to this book.  I am really interested in reading the last book in the trilogy as soon as I can get my hands on it.  I highly recommend this one.

More Than This is a very complex and thought-provoking book.  As I expect of Patrick Ness, he really made me think about many aspects of life.  I don’t think I liked this one as much as I loved all of his other books, but I still liked it a lot.  I think I will be thinking about this one for a while.

What I am Currently Reading:

I started listening to Where Things Come Back, which is one of the Printz books.  So far, it is an interesting story.  I also started reading a netgalley of  The Body in the Woods by April Henry.  I love mysteries so I am sure I will like this one.  

What’s Next?

I might start reading another Printz book.  I have I Am The Messenger and The Monstrumologist on my shelves.  Other than that, I am not sure what I might feel like reading.  I have two weeks until spring break and I am really hoping the weeks will go fast!
What are you reading this week?  I would love to hear from you in the comments.  

Celebrate 3/29

This is a fabulous idea from Ruth Ayres in which we write about something to celebrate each Saturday. I love participating in this link up each week and hearing about the awesome things happening in everyone’s classrooms and lives.

First, I want to celebrate reading.  There were multiple times this week that my students begged for me to read aloud.  We are reading The Maze Runner and they are hooked.  We watched the movie trailer this week too which made them excited to hear more of the story.  I love that Shannon Hale had a picture of James Dashner in her photo essay about The Princess Academy, because she talked about him and The Maze Runner and got my students more excited about the read aloud.  I stop at cliffhangers on purpose and love it when students beg me to please keep reading.  Sometimes I indulge them and sometimes they just have to wait.  I am really proud of this community of readers that has been created this year.  So many of them found their passion for reading and I am really loving seeing the way they pass books around and talk to each other about the books they are reading.  
Second, I want to celebrate changes and new beginnings.  I don’t know yet what I will be doing next year.  I am applying right now for some coaching positions around my district.  It is a really cumbersome process.  I had an interview this week and hope to have more next week.  Whatever happens, I celebrate the opportunity to explore my options and reflect on my career.  
Third, I want to celebrate fun times with students.  We went on an incentive field trip on Friday to the local roller-skating place.  The students who had earned the trip had so much fun.  I did too.  It is so nice to be able to talk to students and watch them having fun.  Sometimes during the week at school it is easy to fall into the trap of negativity.  Working with middle schoolers is not a walk in the park.  It is challenging every day to keep them engaged and motivated to learn.  Having times like this to just enjoy the company of these adolescents helps me to remember to keep it positive and enjoy the company of these young people.  
Fourth, I want to celebrate stationary.  My new notebook from Erin Condren arrived this week along with fun colorful pens to use.  I love being able to use the stickers to mark up my calendar and keep track of my daily to do lists.  I also have started giving myself a gold star for every day I exercise.  It is a small celebration, but I love it.

Lastly, I want to celebrate cupcakes.  I bought some cupcakes at my favorite bakery on Thursday and indulged in some sweet cravings.  Yum!
What do you have to celebrate this week?  I hope you had a great week.  I would love to hear from you in the comments!  

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/24

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

March has turned out to be a lot busier than I thought it would be.  I had intended to participate fully in the Slice of Life Challenge, but soon figured out that there was more going on than I could keep up with.  I wrote about this and my tendency for perfectionism in this post.  
I have been working on some things and now I am thinking ahead to next school year.  I am applying to some positions in my school district that would be more of a support position in schools, like coaching.  I am ready for a change, but experiencing a lot more anxiety about the possible change than I thought I would have.  Reading is my go-to solution for angst.  Therefore, I read a lot this week, but didn’t write as much as I thought I would.  

Books I Finished This Week:

I absolutely LOVED Cress by Melissa Mayer.  This book really added complications into the plot of the series.  I can’t wait to read the other books and to find out what will happen for Earth in their battle with Lunar and Levana.  I highly recommend this series!

I met Shannon Hale this week.  My school hosted her for a school visit in her tour for Dangerous.  I was so excited to meet this author!  I watched Austenland last week and then read the book this week.  What a fun book!  I am a big Jane Austen fan and could absolutely relate with the protagonist.  So fun!

I love Matthew Quick’s books.  The characters are so real.  This one was a quick read and I was so wrapped up in the story right from the beginning.  I would absolutely recommend this one for adults.

The Shadow Throne was a great ending to the trilogy.  I enjoyed The False Prince and The Runaway King immensely and the story was wrapped up so well in this book.  I highly recommend this series for middle grade readers.

Books I Am Currently Reading:

I am listening to Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier. I really enjoyed Ruby Red and am loving this one too.  I am glad I got the audiobook.  I think I am enjoying the character more because of the narrator.  I also started reading More Than This by Patrick Ness.  I had no idea what the book was about so I was surprised when I started reading it.  I will be interested to see where the book goes from here.  

What’s Next?

I don’t really know what I want to read next.  It will depend on my moods.  Since I have no shortage of books from which to choose, I shouldn’t have a problem finding something great to read.  

Celebrations! 

I didn’t get a chance to write my Saturday post with celebrations so I just want to mention a couple things here.  First, on Tuesday, Shannon Hale visited my school.  She did such an awesome job with her talk.  The students were incredibly engaged and my school was buzzing about books all week.  Second, because she mentioned James Dashner in her talk, my students are much more interested in our read aloud of The Maze Runner.  Some of them even went home immediately to look up the movie trailer that she mentioned.  Lastly, I was happy to notice that my students are getting better at finding evidence in their reading to back up their thoughts.  We were examining some opinion pieces in writing class and, without prompting, students were picking up their papers and reading lines from the article to demonstrate their points.  
What are you reading this week?  What do you have to celebrate?  Any good recommendations for me?  I would love to hear from you in the comments.  Have a great reading week!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? St. Patrick’s Day Edition

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

This week was another kind of slow reading week.  I had parent conferences on Wednesday and Thursday nights so those were super long days without much reading.  I also was not feeling so great early in the week.  Luckily, I did have Friday off so I was able to have a few uninterrupted reading hours.

Books I Finished This Week:

A Red Herring Without Mustard is the third book in the Flavia de Luce series.  The protagonist of this series is so full of personality.  I love how she bumbles along and gets in trouble for investigating.  All of the characters are quite lovable.  I enjoy this book and recommend it to all.

I enjoyed Threatened as much as I enjoyed Endangered.  I learned a lot about Africa and chimpanzees in this book.  I loved the way the story was different, but the reader still comes away from this book with a deep appreciation for these amazing creatures. See my longer review here.  I highly recommend this one for grades 8 and up.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I just started Cress today and can tell that it will be one that will be hard to put down in the next few days.  I also started listening to Sapphire Blue.  I enjoyed Ruby Red and I am sure I will enjoy this one too.

What’s Next?

I am not sure what I will pick up next.  I have shelves full of books to read and just got another box from Scholastic full of goodies.  I will have to see how I feel this week.

What are you reading this week?  Have any great recommendations for me? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great reading week!

Review: Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

Title: Threatened

Author: Eliot Schrefer

Publication Date: February 25, 2014

Source: Netgalley (I also purchased a copy from Scholastic reading clubs)

Goodreads Summary:
When he was a boy, Luc’s mother would warn him about the “mock men” living in the trees by their home — chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night.
Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn’t mad. Instead, he offers Luc a job.

Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees. There, Luc finally finds a new family — and must act when that family comes under attack.

As he did in his acclaimed novel Endangered, a finalist for the National Book Award, Eliot Schrefer takes us somewhere fiction rarely goes, introducing us to characters we rarely get to meet. The unforgettable result is the story of a boy fleeing his present, a man fleeing his past, and a trio of chimpanzees who are struggling not to flee at all.

My Thoughts:
Threatened shows the plight of the chimpanzees as well as the struggles of people in poor countries like Gabon.  As in Endangered, the setting of this book acts almost as another character, driving the actions of the protagonist.  Luc is in a very precarious situation from the very beginning of the book.  Going into the jungle with a foreigner who is less aware of the dangers of the jungle is a difficult venture.  Luc is not sure about trusting Prof but has no choice once he realizes that he owes this man his hands and his life.  Chimpanzees are quite aggressive and Luc and Prof find themselves in a dangerous situation from the beginning of their adventures. As the story unfolds, the author manages to give the reader a much broader picture of the chimps and their habits.  I was enthralled with the story from the very beginning and I know my students will love it too.  Mr. Schrefer is planning to write a series of four books, each starring a different great ape in its natural habitat.  I love this idea.  I have learned so much about bonobos and chimpanzees from reading these two books.  Likewise, I have learned about living conditions in both Congo and Gabon.  Young adults should know about the way people live in many areas of the globe.  Threatened explores the story of a young AIDS orphan.  This is a situation that so many young people find themselves in, and I am glad that Eliot Schrefer is shedding light on this issue.  You will fall in love with Luc and his friends Omar, Mango, and Drummer.  I highly recommend this book to grades 8 and up.

5 out of 5 stars

Slice of Life: Celebrate 3/15

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

It is rather awkward on days when I double up on challenges, because this blog was created for my writing exercises.  Slice of Life happens here, and the writing I do for Teachers Write in the summer happens here.  However, I have a different blog that is my reading blog.  On Mondays, some Tuesdays, and Saturdays I participate in link-ups on that blog.  Today I have a post to share as part of the Celebrate link-up on Ruth Ayres’ blog.  I would love it if you would come over to see my post here.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Celebration 3/15

This is a fabulous idea from Ruth Ayres in which we write about something to celebrate each Saturday. I love participating in this link up each week and hearing about the awesome things happening in everyone’s classrooms and lives.



The first thing to celebrate this week is this community.  I had a busy, disappointing week this week and without looking for things to celebrate it could have been a very difficult time.  I usually try to look for the positive in everything, but looking for things to celebrate makes it so much nicer.  


I am celebrating the fact that we were able to get some pain relief medicine for my dog.  She was walking on three legs earlier this week and crying every time she moved.  We were able to get in to the vet for an emergency visit.  The vet thinks that her knee is giving out and we will probably have to do a knee replacement surgery soon.  I am glad for the medicine, which makes it easier for her to move.

Parent-teacher conferences were this week. I am celebrating the relationships that I have been able to build with families over the years that I have taught at this school.  I was able to have some good conversations with parents who are concerned about the progress of their 8th grade children. I am confident that more of my students will be practicing skills at home in order to be closer to proficient by the end of this year.  I want them to be able to be successful in high school, so I am glad they will be putting in this extra effort.

I had my students do two things in order to update our displays in the hallway for conferences.  I was so excited at how creative my students were with these displays.  For one, I asked them to reflect back over the books they have read this year and to make some sort of visual display to put up on a board of our favorite books.  I was astonished at their creativity.  I LOVE it!  The other display was a reflection about their progress toward the 40-book challenge.  I understand that not all students will get to 40 books by the end of the year, but I do expect them to read multiple books.  I was proud of the fact that so many of them are in double digits at this point of the year.

What do you have to celebrate this week?  I would love to hear from you in the comments! 

Slice of Life: Relaxation 3/14

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Today I had the day off after working Wednesday and Thursday nights for conferences.  I was able to just sit and read for hours this morning.  I also took a nap.  Since I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, it was really good to have this time to relax and rest up.  

I love also that I get to cuddle up and watch a movie with my husband tonight.  We chose Austenland, which is completely my choice.  I love Jane Austen and I love the premise of this story.  So far, I am loving this movie. It is definitely making me very interested in buying the book!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Slice of Life: Parent-Teacher Conferences 3/13

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I just arrived home after two long days of teaching followed by parent-teacher conferences.  On Wednesday and Thursday, we had a thirty minute break after school and then had to be there for conferences until 8pm.  I am beyond exhausted after the two long days and so glad we have Friday off.  
Conferences are always a mixed bag.  I wish every conference could be a glowing report of how each student is excelling and making great effort at school.  I care so much about my students and I wish they all cared about school and doing well.  Most conferences are good ones, because I choose to focus on the positive while bringing up things to work on.  However, I sometimes need to crack down and roll out the barest truth so that a parent understands exactly what is happening. I am still positive with these cases, but I want the students to understand their part in moving forward.  
Tonight, I had one of these conferences.  A student, who is in danger of being held back in 8th grade because of the strict standards in our district, needed to hear the dire truth.  He needed me to tell him that as of right now, he is not passing 8th grade.  He needed his mom to tell him that it is all up to him.  He is an intelligent boy that is capable of so much.  I hope that he heard our message and will start to put forth effort. I will cross my fingers and see how things go on Monday.  
For now, it is time to curl up with a good book and forget about school for a while.  There will be plenty of time this weekend for planning and working.  Now, it is time to relax.