Eating to Live not Living to Eat

I finished reading Dr. Fuhrman's book called Eat to Live on Friday. There was a ton of information. It took me about three days to finish reading it, in between everything else going on in my life. This book made sense to me. It was like someone turned on the light switch. I told my hubby that back when I was eating less meat and more veggies (5 years ago) I felt better. Then I took a nose dive and began eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. So I joined Weight Watchers. It has really helped me stay on track. I love our leader, Lynn. However, the stress from this past year at school made me lose track of myself again. So I wanted to do something to recommit myself to getting healthier. That's why I picked up the book Eat to Live. After reading this book I'm ready to eat healthy once again. Not to say I won't have a cheat day NOW and THEN. And it's okay to have a cheat day as long as I get back to eating healthy the next day or sooner.

In a nutshell, the Eat to Live plan says I can have all of the raw and cooked vegetables that I want. Dr. Fuhrman wants me to shoot for a goal of one pound of each a day. As far as fruit goes . . . wait for it . . . I can have as much fruit as I want each day, a minimum of four servings. I've never been told I can have as much fruit as I want. Usually, diets say to limit the fruit intake. Following the Eat to Live plan is what's known as being a nutritarian, getting all the nutrients my body needs from nutrient rich foods. 

Here are the Daily Guidelines:

Eat these as much as I want:

• all raw vegetables (goal 1 lb.)
• cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables (goal: 1 lb.)
• beans, legumes, bean sprouts, and tofu (goal: 1 cup)
• fresh fruit (min. 4 daily)

Limit:

• cooked starchy vegetables and whole grains (max. 1 cup)
• raw nuts and seeds (max 1 oz.)
• avocado (max 2 oz.)
• dried fruit (max 2 tbsp.)
• ground flaxseeds (max 1 tbsp.)

Do Not Eat:

• dairy
• meat / Animal products
• between-meal snacks
• fruit juice
• oils
• added salt

Yesterday was the beginning of eating to live for me. I have to admit I was a little nervous. Could I stick with it? Would I want to snack in the afternoon? If so how would I handle it? 

I began my day as I normally would with my cup of coffee and sitting on my back porch. I'm not usually a breakfast eater. By the way, Dr. Fuhrman says if I'm not hungry I don't have to eat. All though I do want to try making overnight oats in a jar. I'll talk about that later. 

For lunch, I fixed an enormous salad: a mix of greens, carrots, cucumbers, celery, sunflower seeds, and poppy seed dressing from Panera Bread. I'm not supposed to have the dressing, but according to Weight Watchers, it is only 1 point for 2 tablespoons. The sunflower seeds were 6 points. It was difficult to get through the entire salad. However, I did feel full afterward. Not stuffed - satisfied. 

For a snack, I made a smoothie in my blender. I had been outside weeding in my flower garden and thought an icy drink would hit the spot. In my mind, this replaced my breakfast since I'm not supposed to be snacking. I blended one cup of frozen blueberries, one medium banana, and one cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I sipped my smoothie while I sat in my chair enjoying the sunshine. I wonder if I got ANY vitamin D since I was covered in SPF 30. My smoothie was delicious! As far as Weight Watchers points go I only counted the almond milk. One cup is 1 point. So far so good. The hardest part of my day was yet to come.

Sitting in front of the television is a trigger for me. In other words sitting on my couch mindlessly watching my show is when I want to snack on a whole bag of chips carrot sticks. Seriously, I watch an afternoon soap, General Hospital. I usually watch my show right when I come home from school where I teach ninth graders. Today, I watched my show and nibbled on some delicious cherries. It wasn't easy. I so wanted some a whole bag of tortilla chips with hummus. I had one cup of cherries. So far I've had a banana, blueberries, and cherries. One more fruit to go for the day and I hit my minimum. Notice I haven't had any cooked veggies yet.

For dinner, I cooked some green beans and fixed another huge salad. Pretty much the same salad as lunch minus the sunflower seeds and celery. My hubby had pizza. The turd! I ate all of my green beans and most of my salad. I was feeling kind of stuffed. So I stopped eating. What a concept. 

While watching the Cavs game I wanted something to munch on so I had my fourth and final fruit of the day, cantaloupe. Yum! 

I made it! I actually did it! I know. I know. It's only the FIRST day. But I feel good. Not as nervous as I did when I first began this morning. I only used 9 WW points for the day. 

P.S. When I weighed myself this morning I lost 2.1 pounds!!! WOOT!

Books & Wine a Book Club

amazon.com

I love my book club. We are seven women strong and started our first book discussion on July 7, 2007. For our first book we read Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner. Seventy books later we finished The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison this past Friday night.

We meet once a month and generally follow the same hostess order: Aimee, Kristen, Kate, Amy, Me, Amy, and Heather. Yes. We have lots of Amy(ee)s in our club. Aimee is the one who started things off. If I remember correctly, some of her colleagues from work wanted to begin a book club. From those first inklings of a book club Aimee is the only one who went through with the idea. Thus we became Books & Wine/Wine & Books.

As I was saying, we meet once a month. In our first year we came up with some rules thanks to Amy. She's not just another pretty face.

Rule #1: The person who hosts the next month's book club must email the other members of book club about possible dates. Right. This rule hasn't really been followed. All though we do send reminders about book club on Facebook.

Instead we follow Rule #2: The future hostess should select two dates for members to choose. The future hostess brings the dates with her to the current book club meeting. This works well for us. Believe it or not we've been pretty good about meeting once a month. Even with all of our busy schedules plus our kids' and husbands' schedules. We make it happen!

Rule #3: The future hostess brings the book of choice to the current book club meeting to share. In the beginning we all purchased books. You know a cover and a back with pages in the middle and words on the pages. It began with one member buying a Kindle then slowly but surely every member purchased a Kindle. It was tough going with two English teachers who wanted the comfort of holding that book in their hands. ( I was one of the hold outs, but I love, love, love my Kindle.) Now we can read the description using technology. Wow. We're cutting edge.

Rule #4: There is no guilt involved when choosing a book and no one ends up liking it. Well, I can't seem to help feeling bad when one of my selections is a stinker. Like this last selection The Silent Wife. More on that in a minute.

Rule #5: Base your ratings on personal experience with the book. In the beginning we thought of the ratings as grades (teachers will do that) and kept comparing books to each other rather than holding the book up as an individual. We've since changed to judge the book based on our reading experience with the book. Here's our rating scale: 5 stars = one of the best; 4 stars = very good; 3 stars = good; 2 stars = made it through; and 1 star = couldn't make it through.

Rule #6: Book club begins at 7 p.m.

Whoever hosts the book club provides tasty treats and refreshments. It's extremely important to have delicious food and wine to stimulate conversation about the book.

So this last book club I served Asian BBQ meatballs, lemongrass chicken spring rolls, naan, ginger chips, and wheat thins with spinach and artichoke dip, sesame seed cashews, and lemon cake with lemon icing. For the wine selection I selected a Tuscan red called 1967 and from Pancake Cellars Big Day White as well as Project Happiness Chardonnay.

The book The Silent Wife (not a manual for husbands) was touted as being similar to Gone Girl. The only thing similar was the way in which the chapters were divided, Her and Him. It was supposed to be a psychological thriller and in one way I think that description fits. Kate said it was interesting to be inside Todd's head to listen to what he was thinking about Jodi. Many of us disagreed but Kate said, "I'm okay with the book being labeled as a psycho thriller. I'm standing by it!"

There was supposed to be a murder, but that didn't happen until just about the very end. I kept waiting for something to happen. There was no real cliff hanger to speak of and it just wasn't what I expected. The average rating of the book for the girls was 3.2.

Our next selection is called A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy.

Have a wonderful week.

Hugs, 

HopeAnn

Another Summer Comes to a Close

I can't believe I'm actually saying this. I'm happy to be back at school. This is the first time I can remember being ready for summer to be over and school to begin. Maybe it's because I had such an awesome time with my freshmen last year. What a fun and energetic group of kids. I will miss them. All though many have already come to visit me in my room. Several have asked if they can still check books out of my classroom library. YEAH!

Reading is so important to me. As you know last year I had my students keep a reading notebook. In the notebook they tracked all of the books that they read as well as wrote about their books. They read 10 minutes each day at the beginning of class. I tested the kids each nine weeks to see if they were growing as readers. I'm excited to say that the majority of reading scores went up, up, up. In fact the largest jump was four grade levels. YES!

Well this year I'm sticking with reading, but also adding more writing. Instead of just a reading notebook, students will be keeping a Reading and Writing Notebook. Here's how I changed things up a bit.

Students are still reading 10 minutes each day of a reading week. They also choose any book at their reading level that they want to read. They record their book on their reading log when they begin a new book and when they finish they write the date completed as well as E for easy, JR for just right, or C for challenging. They may still abandon a book if they don't like it. This is still a difficult concept for kids.

Some new things that I'm trying are tracking how many pages students read rather than counting the numbers of books. This week I had students count how many pages they could read in 10 minutes. We then multiplied that number by 6 to see how many pages they could read in an hour. Then we doubled that number to see how many pages students could read in two hours. From there students created a simple book mark with the days of the week listed down the front. Each day they read they write their beginning page number for that day. At the end of the week, actually Monday in class, we'll calculate the pages they read for the week. If they read for two hours then they should easily reach their page goal for the week. I'm taking this as a homework grade. The only way a kid will receive a zero is if he/she didn't read at all. If they at least read one page, then they will receive half of the points.

I'm placing an enormous amount of trust on students' shoulders. I explained that I can't possibly sit with all 144 of them and watch them read every day. I also didn't want to have parents sign off each week saying that their child read. My students are freshmen now, young adults. I explained that I'm trusting them. It's common courtesy which is my number one rule in my classroom.

Students have a page tracker glued into their Reading Writing Notebook for the first nine weeks. On Mondays they simply transfer their page numbers from their bookmarks to their page tracker for each week. I send my classroom page tracker around the room each Monday and students transfer their page numbers read each day with their total for the week. This is what I will place in my grade book.

We're also placing all notes on reading like our short story unit in our Reading and Writing Notebooks. This week students will be working in their notebooks on character, setting, plot, tone, etc. It should be review. On the left hand side of the page they taped or glued the notes I gave them. On the right hand side of the page is where they will reflect on what they have learned. For example, on the right hand side of the page next to plot notes students will write major events from the story on post it notes and arrange them in a plot diagram. I got this idea from researching interactive notebooks. Learning on the left and reflection on the right. We'll see how this goes.

The idea is to alternate between reading and writing every week. So far we've spent a ton of time setting up our notebooks and reading. We'll finish our first short story this week and then we'll move into some writing. I'll keep you posted on how things go. Hopefully we settle into a routine soon.

Hugs,

HopeAnn

 

Bringing Home Memories

If you recall, I told you that I received MomMom's fountain. This fountain has been around since 1969 according to the stamp on the bottom of the bowl. MomMom and PaPa sold these fountains at their floral shop, Switzer's Holiday House. 

This fountain sat in a place of honor in the center of MomMom's formal garden in the backyard. Since MomMom passed it's been living in the shed in the backyard. Until last summer when I helped PaPa put it together and place it in the front flower bed. At that time he reminded me that one day this fountain would grace my flower bed. He just wasn't ready to give it up yet because it reminded him of MomMom. About a month ago, the fountain came home with me.

Two weekends ago Matt and I set up the fountain to make sure it works. We had a difficult time getting the bowl to balance in the pedestal. It seems that an animal, maybe a raccoon or squirrel may have clawed up the bottom of the bowl making it a little tipsy. We placed it on the concrete stoop just outside of the garage. Matt used several shims to get it level. But at least it works.

Matt and I cleaned the fountain up as best we could. I began with Soft Scrub. That didn't work at all. Then I went to Magic Eraser. The Magic Erasers lasted all of five minutes each. They did take off some of the gunk. Mostly the plastic material of the fountain was covered in rust stains. Probably from the well water at MomMom and PaPa's house. 

We purchased spray paint and decided to give it a fresh coat. I chose an off white. We sprayed two coats on each piece, the pedestal, the bowl, and the cupid. (At least I think it might be cupid. He is carrying a quiver at his side, but he doesn't seem to have any wings.)

Ta-dah! Doesn't he look fantastic?! We ended up purchasing a stone slab to help the fountain balance. I learned how to use a level. WOOT! We ran electric out to the back flowerbed and filled it up with water.

We sat and listened to the gentle splish splash of the water as it poured from the leaf Cupid holds in his hands. We sat back in our chairs to admire our beautiful fountain. While we were sitting there all tranquil, Jack our black lab went up to the fountain to get a drink. Grrrrrr. If he thinks this is his new water bowl, he has another think coming. This dog has a mind of his own. 

Do you remember the other new addition to our family? This is the goose that used to sit on MomMom and PaPa's front porch greeting everyone who came for a visit. She used to dress in the most outlandish outfits depending on the holiday. My family used to joke about what the goose was wearing whenever we got together. MomMom and PaPa purchased her somewhere up here by the lake on one of their many Sunday drives around Catawba and Marblehead. 

Matt used Scotch Brite pad to sand off the old dusty paint. This was definitely not a job for me because of my asthma. Dust drives my allergies and lungs crazy. Sorry I didn't get any photos of Matt sanding.

This is the goose after the second coat of white spray paint. She used to be a tan color, and I thought white would really brighten her up. I'm thinking of coloring the edges of her feathers with a touch of grey. Paint not the Grateful Dead song. Although I love that song and that band. So sad Jerry's been gone for ages. It's just not the same. I ramble.

Yesterday after we finished the fountain Matt and Michael went off to football conditioning. I decided to paint the finishing touches on my goose. I gave her a yellow bill with matching yellow webbed feet. I painted her eyes blue like MomMom's eyes. Next weekend I'm going to paint the base either a green to match the grass or a grey as if she's sitting on a rock. Still pondering that one.

The goose's name is Penelope after a character in the book called The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. The story is set in modern day and flashes back to WWII. The story reminded me of the time when MomMom and PaPa were young. MomMom stayed home with her newborn baby (my mother) while PaPa went off to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.

Now Penelope sits in the grass just outside of our back door greeting us as we come home each day.

What have you been working on in your neck of the woods?

On a Wing and a Prayer: My Students WILL Get to Take Their Exam in the Blue Exam Booklets Like I Promised

I came home early from school today in the pouring down rain and boy did the temperature drop. Chilly and damp. I'm NOT complaining because my flowers so needed a drink and a break from the heat. But then so did I. My classroom can get quite stuffy and stinky with sweaty freshmen boys who just came from gym class. Eeeeewwww.

Anyway, I texted Michael to bring in the mail so it didn't get soaked by the rain. See, we haven't replaced the old mailbox yet (it's been almost two years since the siding was done on the house, and the mailbox was removed at that time) and when it rains the mail tends to drown to the point where I have to get out the blowdryer. You get the picture. My point is that I was expecting a package from Amazon, and I didn't want it to get wet.

Michael brought the mail in, and when I got home he brought the package to me. It was a thin tan envelope. I thought to myself: How in the world did Amazon fit 25 Blue Book Exam booklets in that thin little envelope. Well, they didn't. I opened the envelope to find not 25 booklets, but ONE. One. Booklet. I have 25 students in my Honors English class. 25. They cannot share ONE booklet.

This is the second time I have placed this order. The first time the booklets came the pages were grids. I donated them to the math teacher on my team. I figured he could always use graph paper. He kindly thanked me for my contribution.

Panic squeezed my throat. My kiddos have been preparing for the essay exam this whole week, and I told them they would be writing them in Blue Exam Books like students use at the college level. Their exam is TOMORROW. It was now 4 p.m. Where was I going to find Blue Books by tomorrow morning?

Google. I googled Blue Exam booklets and found them all over the internet, but I would have to order them and have them shipped. I needed a store. A place I could drive to and purchase exam booklets for tomorrow. Staples. No. Office Depot. No. Walmart. No. No. No. No. There wasn't one store that carried them. I had to order them from the online version of the store. I sat there staring at my computer screen wracking my brain for an answer.

Then it hit me. The bookstore at Bowling Green State University Fireland's campus that is located in Huron. Just 12 miles down the road. It was now 4:35. I called the bookstore before heading out. The young lady said yes they did have the Blue Exam booklets. I asked if she had 25 booklets. She said yes. I asked her what the hours were for today. She said the bookstore closed at 5 p.m. I told her I was leaving now from Vermilion and coming there to purchase 25 of the exam booklets. I thought I could make it.

I grabbed my purse and keys and ran out the door yelling to Michael over my shoulder that I was heading to BGSU and would be right back. At 4:42 I pulled out of my driveway. Once I got to Route 2, I literally flew down the highway. I asked God to send an angel to make sure I made it there in time, safely, and without getting picked up. It was still pouring down rain as I frantically drove the 12 miles to Huron. I also asked God to send an angel to the bookstore to make sure it was open when I arrived.

At 4:58 I pulled into a parking place, shut off the car, popped open my umbrella, and made a mad dash in my red dress and white high heeled sandals for the bookstore. When I got to the main door I pulled it open and thrust my umbrella through. Right. I didn't even put the umbrella down.

The girl, a college student by the looks of her, stood just inside the doors of the bookstore speaking with someone. I ran to the doors finally putting my umbrella down. The young lady behind the counter said "Can I help you?" Huffing and puffing I told her I was the woman who called about the exam booklets. She said "Oh. Yes. They're right over here." She led me to the shelf and asked me if I wanted the smaller version or the larger. I chose the larger.

We walked back to the counter. My breathing began to quiet. She told me she hoped I hadn't rushed too much. She said, "After you called I decided to keep the store open for a few extra minutes to make sure you got the booklets you needed."

"Bless your heart!" I beamed at her.

God answered my prayer getting me safely to the bookstore in time and without getting a ticket. He also answered my prayers in the form of a lovely young lady who was kind enough to give me some extra time. Talk about wonderful customer service. I'm writing a letter to BGSU to thank whoever hired this young woman and sing her praises.

I walked out of the bookstore with my orange BGSU bag filled with 25 exam booklets in hand. Unlocking the car door, I placed the bag on the passenger seat, put my umbrella down, and sat behind the wheel. I thanked God over and over again. When I turned the key in the ignition the low fuel light came on. I hadn't even realized how low I was on gas. I couldn't tell you if it was on while I was driving to the bookstore or not. A sense of calm came over me, and I just sat and breathed in and out. Smiling from ear to ear.

Thanks to God and this young lady, my students will get to take their exam in the Blue Exam booklets I've been telling them about.

I just had to share this with all of you because usually you hear people complain about poor customer service. Not this time. What a nice surprise.

When's the last time you received great customer service? Please share.

Reader's Notebook Turned Blog - A Teaching Moment

Back at the beginning of the school year, I wrote about The Book Whisperer and The Reading Zone. Both books inspired me to incorporate more reading into my classroom. Reading books that students chose as opposed to teacher or curriculum selected books. If you recall, my students read for 10 minutes a day, five days a week which adds up to 50 minutes a week. Not bad for high school. Side note: their reading scores improved! YEAH! More on that later.

They also created Reader's Notebooks. You can see the post on Reader's Notebook here. In their notebooks they listed the books that they were reading or had finished, including the name of the author, date finished, genre, and if it was easy, just right, or challenging. They abandoned books that they didn't like. Yes. They didn't have to stick with a book that they hated. The notebook also contained a section for someday books where students listed books that sounded interesting. Another section contained notes on genres, and the final section housed the letters they wrote to me about their books. Now that I've summed that up, let's move on.

Here at Perkins we're a pretty techie district. Students in grades six through twelve have their own laptops. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate technology into their curriculum maps. With that said, the Reader's Notebooks have been sitting in my classroom in their designated crates on top of my bookshelf, taking up much needed space. I decided to try blogging the Reader's Notebook. My honors English class was more than happy to play the guinea pigs if they received extra credit. Go figure.

Each student, voluntarily, created a personal blog through our school gmail account and blogger. They created a theme, personal profiles, cute animal widgets, number of hits, . . . - the whole nine yards. The home page was designated for posts like the letters they wrote to me about their books. They also created pages to house the Reader's Log, Someday Books, and Genre Notes. I gave them a week to create their blogs and write their final book review (letter) to post. Wow! . . . Wow!

Many of their blogs were something else! Plus their writing improved, immensely. You know why? Because anyone in the world could read their book review. Oh my gosh! How excited were they when they checked their stats and found out someone from Germany had visited their blog.

They decided that I just HAD to have next year's freshmen keep their Reader's Notebook on a blog. But not only that, they want me to have students write more of their assignments on the blog rather than turn them in the "old fashioned" way, typed. I was a little hesitant so they reassured me and suggested they post their final paper, a memoir, on their blog. Strictly voluntary, only those people who want to since writing a memoir is so personal.

We went back over the idea of how a blog is public.  We also spoke again about the power of words and that once we write them and send them out into the wide world of the internet, we can't get them back before someone reads them. No problem. We can handle it. And they did.

I'm so pleased with their enthusiasm for the blogs,  and the writing of their memoirs. With a "real" audience (I guess I'm chopped liver) they took extra care to make sure everything was perfect. You should have heard the conversations on revision and editing going on in this room. I wish I could share their blogs with you. Maybe some will say yes and I can post their links in the near future.

I'M THRILLED to say the least! Definitely a HAPPY teaching moment!

Have you used blogs in your classroom? If so please share what you've done and how it worked for you. Thanks! Have a blessed day.

Reader's Notebook

We're going into our fifth week of school. Believe me my mind and body feel it. I'm excited though because this year I'm trying the Reader's Notebook with my kiddos. Just before the end of summer vacation, I reread the Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and The Reading Zone by Nancy Atwell. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE both of these books.

In a nut shell, kids need to read books of their choice in order to improve in reading. I always wonder when the love of reading stops. I've been watching my son who is in the seventh grade now to see when he will begin to dislike reading. So far so good, but he doesn't seem to read as much as he used to. I tack that up to how busy his life has become with football practice and games, school, homework, church youth group, and family. However, there were times last year when he would come home and tell me what a boring story they were reading in English. He would do well on the tests, but some of the stories just weren't grabbing his attention and keeping it. I think our children begin to dislike reading when they have to read a story, answer questions about that story, and then take a test about the story. Is that fun?

I understand that with high stakes testing and grade level curriculum that most of us feel we have to teach reading this way. This year I'm expected to teach The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, To Kill a Mockingbird, Night, and Left to Tell. And I will teach them. But in addition I'm trying something new - for me. The Reader's Notebook.

Each student purchased a composition notebook for the year. The notebook is divided up into the following sections: Table of Contents, Books I've Read, Someday Books, Genre Notes, Guidelines for Reading Workshop, Letters to Mrs. Wallace, Book Recommendations, Other Important Information.

In the books I've Read section students list the number of the book (whether it's their first book or their 20th), title, author, genre, date completed, and if it's Easy, Just Right, or Challenging. I had them begin their list with the summer reading book. Each student had to read either Quicksilver or Quiver by Stephanie Spinner. I'm setting the bar at 18 books for the year that each student must read. That's nine each semester. Breaking it down even further that's four books the first and third nine weeks and five books the second and fourth nine weeks. I think we can handle that. Yes. I said WE. I'm reading too and have my own Reader's Notebook.

In Someday Books students write the title, author, and genre of books that sound interesting to them, and they might want to read some day. Each week I give a book commercial about two to three minutes. Brief. Students will be doing book commercials as well beginning the second nine weeks. If a student hears about a book they want to read they add it to their Someday list. This way when they finish with their current book they can refer to their list and select their next book.

The Genre Notes are just that. Notes on different genres. Here are the genres I chose to use. Traditional Literature, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, and Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir. I chose these because most of the books on my classroom shelves can be easily distributed among these genres. After we discussed the different genres and they wrote the definitions in their Reader's Notebook, I had each class take the tubs of books off of my shelves and categorize them by genre. They had no idea that they were putting their notes into practice. They just thought they were helping me organize our library.

The Guidelines for Reading Workshop was a handout that we cut apart and glued or taped into our notebooks. This is information about reading requirements, how to choose a book, how to write a friendly letter, how to proofread, suggested topics for their letters, due dates for their Reader's Notebooks, and the rubric for grading their Reader's Notebook.

At the completion of each book my kiddos will write me a letter. It must be three paragraphs in length. It must also tell me something important about their story; not just plot development. I've given them a huge list of ideas to write about their book. Here a just a few examples: How did the main character change throughout the book? Describe in detail the setting of your book and how it fits with the story? Who was the culprit and explain how he/she was a good choice. Explain how the book reminds you of yourself, people you know, or of something that happened in your life. Do you agree with the point the author is making and why? ... Some of these I thought up on my own, but others I begged and borrowed from other teachers.

In Book Recommendations students will obviously write a book recommendation about each book they complete. They will initially write it in their Reader's Notebook, but then they will also type it up and print it out so we can add it to our classroom binder of Book Recommendations. This binder is just one more place students can go to find a good book to read.

I'm keeping the Reader's Notebooks in containers by alphabetical order in my classroom. They sit on the bookshelf. Students may get their notebooks at any time during independent class time to work in them. The containers also make it easy for me to carry the notebooks home since they have a lid with a handle.

So how are we going to read all of these books? We read for the first 10 minutes of class each day. On block day once a week we read for 20 minutes. So that is 50 minutes each week. My students know when they come through the door that they have entered the ZONE and must quietly sit down, get out their book of choice, and READ. They also read whenever they complete their assignments, quizzes, or tests. Plus I ask them to try to read for 30 minutes each night of the week. After I take attendance, I read with them. This coming week, I'm going to begin circulating around the room each period and ask what they're reading and where they are in the book.

So far, just through my observations the majority of my kiddos are reading and in the zone. I have a few that read for awhile and then stare at the wall. I've placed several different books into their hands, but as of yet nothing has hooked them. I'll keep trying to find just the right book for each of them.

What I like about the Reader's Notebook besides all of the reading is that students will also be writing. Writing letters to me about their books is like writing a literary analysis. Writing book recommendations is persuasive writing. They're writing about their reading. LOVE IT! Of course this won't be all of the writing they will do this year. I also like the conversations that have already been happening in class. My kids are talking about and sharing their books! Can you believe it?! "This is such a great book. You've got to read it." "I'm at the part where..." "Can I read it after you?"

I pray this works. I want my kids to fall in love with books all over again or maybe for the first time. I want their reading to improve. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Update: Reader's Notebook Turns Blog - A Teaching Moment

No Place But Here

I belong to a book club in which we are reading No Place But Here A Teacher's Vocation in a Rural Community by Garret Keizer. Our book club holds discussion on a wiki. We read a couple chapters and pose questions for discussion. This past week we read a chapter entitled "Sex and Faith." I wanted to share the post I wrote with you.

Kaizer struck a note with me in the chapter on “Sex and Faith.” I have not had many a young pregnant woman walk through my door.  But the first one that did made me look at her, really look at her and wonder how difficult it was to walk in her shoes.  I wanted to do everything I could to help her, whether that was extra time in her studies or offering advice on parenting, or just listening. Not that I’m a perfect parent, in fact at that point I wasn’t a parent at all. When I looked at her I saw my own mother, my biological mother.

When Tish was pregnant with me in 1967, I wonder what kind of support she had from her teachers? Not much I think. In that time being an unwed teen mother was still shameful, like wearing a scarlet letter on your bosom. Is it still as bad today? Tish was just a sophomore beginning her second semester in school, and my birthfather, Gary, a senior. Anyway, as soon as she found out she was pregnant and shared this with her mother, she dropped out of school. Her mother suggested it herself. When Tish began showing, she was shipped off to live with an older sister in Huron where no one knew her.

Tish didn’t like school, especially not English.  Oh the irony of finding your daughter is an English teacher. In both her freshmen and sophomore years she made cheerleading. However, she never cheered because she didn’t have the grades, which is sad because sometimes an interest in sports helps a student to do better in their studies. I’ve asked her about her teachers. She’s said she felt that some didn’t care about her. She tried coming back to school once I was born, but she was a year behind all of her friends since she took nine months off.  Suffering with the loss of a child and not having anyone to talk to about it must have been difficult. She eventually dropped out all together.

Kaizer said, “Dealing with a student who is pregnant or a mother is, for me, like offering condolences to the bereaved; it is something that I shall never do well,” (30).  Are any of us good in dealing with this situation? How difficult was it for Tish’s teachers in 1967 to come forward and help her? Upon answering the call to teach do future teachers understand that on any given day they will not only be teacher, but also mentor, coach, counselor, mother, friend,… Where was this in the job description? This is truly a profession of service in which most of us are called.

My student, a young mother, came back to finish school and graduate. She became a nurse. But at one time she was a young sophomore walking the halls of her school wearing a badge of shame on her chest like my own mother once wore. Like my former student, Tish went back to school and earned her GED. And in my humble opinion, both are warm and loving mothers.

Mid Week Confessions

In July we renovated our bathroom, new tub and shower, new walls and ceiling, and new floor. We still have to put up the chair rail, base board, and mirror. We have procrastination down to a science.

I have a bad habit of coming home, eating dinner, and parking my butt on the couch to watch television. I don't even watch current shows. I watch reruns of NCIS, Cold Case, Law and Order, and Criminal Minds. Can you tell I enjoy crime and mystery stories. Maybe I was a detective in another life.

I finally broke down and purchased a Kindel. I never thought that I would because I love the smell and feel of books when I read. But I LOVE it! In one click I can purchase a book, and it downloads instantly to my Kindel. Maybe that's not so good for a book junkie like me.

 Since I purchased my Kindel, I'm addicted. I can't seem to wait to get home and read my book. I do think I'm reading more since I'm able to carry my Kindel in my purse with me. If I'm waiting somewhere like the doctor's office I just pull out my Kindel and read my book.

I'm eyeballing a Vera Bradley bag for my Kindel. Yes I know I'm obsessed! However, the bag is a little big for my Kindle Touch. But it's so CUTE! So far it's still sitting at one of my favorite stores in town, Decidedly Different.

DId I mention I bought a Kindel Touch? Just asking.

How do teachers get their students to do the required reading?

Getting students to complete the assigned reading is becoming more and more of a problem for teachers these days. Teachers spend hours creating a fantastic lesson around the assigned reading only to find out that over half of the class didn't read it. This has happened to me to often to count. How am I supposed to complete a lesson with my students when they don't even read the assigned chapters in the novel?

For example, during the second nine weeks I taught To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to both my ninth grade regular and honors classes. The majority of my former students have loved the story about Scout, Atticus, Jem, Boo, and Tom Robinson. I tried to create some interesting activities to go along with the story in hopes to get them to read.

• At times, students met in small groups to discuss their reading, other times we discussed the story as a whole class. 
• We mapped out the town of Maycomb using clues we found as we read and learned how to properly cite the information. This was one way that helped curb the urge to copy the map from the internet. If they did not have the clues to back up the placement of a particular location then they did not get the point for that location. 
• Students researched information from that time period, Jim Crow Laws, the Scotsboro boys, the Great Depression, the Dustbowl, to name a few. 
• Students created their own questions to try and stump their classmates and me. 
• Finally, students participated in a Socratic Seminar, which they loved and want to do again. YEAH! 

The honors class spent about three weeks on the novel, reading, writing and discussing the story. For the most part the majority of my honors students spent time both in the classroom and outside the classroom completing the required reading assignments. They had much more to read each night than did my regular classes, and they came to class prepared. This didn't surprise me out of honors students who care about their grade. Not to say that my regular students don't care about their grade. Some of them actually do care.

My regular class spent roughly seven weeks reading, writing, and discussing the novel. Well, not much discussion took place because my students did. not. read. I began the novel by reading out loud in my best southern accent while they followed along in their own books. At first there were some giggles, but my twang southern charm got their attention and they listened. I would stop periodically and ask questions to make sure they were paying attention and understanding. No problem.

When they began reading independently, I assigned questions for them to answer while they read, thinking this might help them continue reading. I'm not crazy about using study guide questions because anymore anybody with half a brain can find the answers online. When I give study guide questions as an assignment, I only give completion points for the grade because I also believe the little darlings love to share their answers with each other. During discussion my students were fantastic at answering the questions I gave them, but when it came to extending their answers or discussing something that wasn't on their study guide most of them did. not. have. a. clue. Gee. I wonder why.

I then resorted to pop quizzes, which after awhile were no longer "pop" quizzes because they knew they were coming after each reading assignment. These quizzes were pretty easy if one read the assignment. Many of the little darlings' grades sunk to extremely low levels. Even then, they. did. not. read. Instead they asked if I was going to offer extra credit. ARGH! Pirate speak for frustration.

These kids are on the internet 24/7 reading Facebook, Twitter, email, and on their phones reading their text messages. Why won't they read a BOOK?

The next novel I'm teaching is The Count of Monte Cristo.  Holy Cow! If they didn't read To Kill a Mockingbird which according to them was a "fat" book. How am I going to get them to read about the count, which is in FATTER? And how can I teach the lesson if they do not come prepared? What do I do with those kids who did not read?

What are your thoughts? Does anyone have ideas that have worked for you? Please leave a comment and share how you get kids to read their assigned reading.

Books I want to Read in 2012

I started this list by browsing the books I've read in 2011 linky on the nesters blog. I'll be adding to it as I come across other interesting finds.

If you have any suggestions for me please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks! Happy Reading!

One Thousand Gifts

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Sarah Morgan The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Organized Simplicity

Welcome to the World Baby Girl

The Owl and Moon Cafe

Juliet

The Winter Sea

In Cold Blood

The Tiger's Wife

Red Mist

Then Again

Books I've Read in 2011

This idea came from a blog called Nesting Place. The Nester posted a linky for this.

These are the books I read in 2011. The list is in no particular order. I did not include books that I've read to my class.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake

The House at Riverton

French Lessons a novel

Skinny Dip

Clara and Mr. Tiffany

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

The Hunger Games

The Forgotten Garden

An Object of Beauty a Novel

Just Kids

Twisted

After

Unwind

The Distant Hours

Winter Garden

The Help

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

The Sugar Queen

The Book Whisperer

Drive