Teacher Man vs. The Whistling Season

I was completely unimpressed by Frank McCourt's TEACHER MAN. The only saving grace was that I listened to it, and got to hear his wonderful Irish brogue.

Now, if you want a great story that also gives insight into the making of an inspired (and inspirational) teacher, read THE WHISTLING SEASON by Ivan Doig. It's set in 1957 and the state superintendent of schools in Montana is faced with having to close all the state's one room schools because of Sputnik. He himself is a product of a Montana one room school, and the book is an extended meditation on one formative year in his life and the teacher who made so much of a difference to him and his family. (That's a huge exaggeration, but you'll have to read it to find out.) Doig is a master story teller -- there's an interesting plot turn on page 327 -- and gifted in his use of language and creation of characters. Plus, you can read it with a teacher's eye and find differentiation, discipline strategies, integration, state standards, school board politics, and playground subcultures. You'll get a refresher/beginner's course in Latin, as well.

STUDY DRIVEN and Response to Comment

After RETHINKING RUBRICS IN WRITING ASSESSMENT, I went on to read Katie Wood Ray's amazing new book called STUDY DRIVEN: A FRAMEWORK FOR PLANNING UNITS IN THE WRITING WORKSHOP. LOVED IT TOO! Katie is always brilliant but this book was another one that was exactly what I needed. She reminds us that we are the professionals, the people in the classroom who know our students best. She helps us to see how to bring inquiry back to the writing workshop while still having rigor and making sure we teach what is required by our districts/states. So often, we are losing the authenticity of our reading and writing workshops. My favorite thinking was about kids needing vision. I have really been struggling with writing workshop for the last few years. Trying to figure out how to make it work but with more rigor. Like Katie, I have a bit of an uncomfortable feeling when I assign a certain genre. So, I avoid it. But, I think I am uncomfortable because of the way it has been done and what I am seeing come out (published) lately. But STUDY DRIVEN clearly shows how to have the energy that a workshop should have and keeping the kids empowered and balancing the process and the product.

Someone on the blog asked me to expand about my comment about RETHINKING RUBRICS when I said I was happy to see this book because: "I worry that lately we have had lots of books that tell us what to do. But, this book really gets us back to the professional roles that we have--really thinking about what matches our beliefs about students and learning--the conversations that seem to have become lost over the last few years." I guess I am saying that so much of what is being published lately is very scripted or very planned and the teacher decision making is taken out of it all. As a profession, we are losing faith in what we know, afraid to question things that seem to be "what we are supposed to be doing". I am excited about RETHINKING RUBRICS and STUDY DRIVEN because both of these books open up conversations that need to happen. I don't think it is important that we all agree on practice. But I think it is critical that we talk and process and are free to question so that we can make the best decisions for our students. It seems that with the standards and testing and No Child Left Behind...teachers have less of a say about what goes on in our classrooms. So, I am glad to see books like these two that are helping us (teachers) to rethink some practices that may not necessarily be the best for our students and to give us better options.

My favorite book of 2006

My best book of 2006 dates clear back to April: THE BOOK OF STORY BEGINNINGS by Kristin Kladstrup. Nothing else has come close since then.

3 children's books

I just finished 3 2006 children's books. I finally finished WEEDFLOWER by Cynthia Kadohata. I had started it a while ago and seemed to have lost it on a pile of books. So, I finished it yesterday. A good book. I loved the character in this one. I also read VICTORY by Susan Cooper. I think this one is worth a read. It is told from 2 perspectives and the stories come together. One character is a girl today and the other is a boy in the 1800's. I really liked it. The other one I finally finished was LISTEN! by Stephanie Tolan. My class had chosen it as a read aloud and we never had time to finish it on the last day. It is a good book--a dog story with depth. I liked all 3 of these but still don't have that "I LOVE IT--HOPE IT WINS THE NEWBERY" feeling yet. The girls at Cover to Cover suggested BLACK DUCK so I hope to read that in the next few weeks. It sounds like a good one.

Finally-Reading Again!

Okay, so you have been reading far more than I have! I am finally getting into a routine that includes lots of reading time again. It took me a while to settle into summer mode:-) I just finished FAIRIES OF NUTFOLK WOOD by Barb Bentler Ullman. I really liked it. It was a sweet story with characters that I loved. It got a starred review from Booklist and I think it was well-deserved. It is one of my 06 favorites SO FAR. A possible read aloud, depending on the class I have this year.

I also finished SKINNY DIP by Carl Hiaasen. It was OKAY. Everyone I talked to loved it so maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind. It is a fun book. I liked it okay. Just not a favorite.

And I just read RETHINKING RUBRICS IN WRITING ASSESSMENT by Maja Wilson. LOVE IT! It is a bit of an uncomfortable read--making me rethink some things about my writing assessment that I was pretty comfortable with before I read the book. But Maja Wilson seems to be a brilliant new voice in writing. Can't read it without thinking hard about practice and assessment. As Randy Bomer says in a blurb about the book, "This book will create the conversations educators desperately need: about accurate assessment, quality writing, and informed teaching." I worry that lately we have had lots of books that tell us what to do. But, this book really gets us back to the professional roles that we have--really thinking about what matches our beliefs about students and learning--the conversations that seem to have become lost over the last few years. I'd highly recommend this one.

So, I read a children's book, a professional book and an adult fiction book. I am feeling almost balanced!
I'll put the Sisters Grimm on my stack of next reads. I keep hearing about it and your last post convinced me!

I am debating reading the whole Series of Unfortunate Events. I am not in the mood but I don't want to miss the fun of reading the last one this fall. What do you think? Is it worth of week or two of my reading?

I'll be reading VICTORY by Susan Cooper and the new book by Carolyn Parkhurst called LOST AND FOUND: A NOVEL (same author as DOGS OF BABEL). They are next on my stack. I'll keep you posted!

Belated Reviews

FLY BY NIGHT by Hardinge

I'll borrow from the UK Amazon.com for a synopsis, but not because I'm lazy. I want to make sense. This is a LONG (500+ page), complicated book. Some of the time I wasn't sure I knew what was going on. Because I have a hard time following the ins and outs of politics and religion in our world, it was doubly hard to follow in Hardinge's imaginary world. But just like the end of WICKED, the end of this book made it all worth while. Here's the synopsis:

"A fantastic adventure story set in an alternative historical world that launches the career of a uniquely talented children's writer. In a fractured Realm, struggling to maintain an uneasy peace after years of civil war and religious tyranny, a 12- year- old orphan and a homicidal goose become the accidental heroes of a revolution. Mosca has spent her life in a miserable hamlet, where her father was banished for writing inflammatory books about tolerance and freedom. Now he is dead, and Mosca is on the run after unintentionally setting fire to a mill. With a delightful swindler named Eponymous Clent, she heads for the city of Mandelion. A born liar, Mosca lives by her wits in a world of highwaymen and smugglers, dangerously insane rulers in ludicrous wigs, secret agents and radical plotters. She is recruited as a spy by the fanatical Mabwick Toke, leader of the Guild of Stationers, who fears losing his control over the publication of every book in the state. Mosca's activities reveal a plot to force a rule of terror on the Realm, and merry mayhem soon leads to murder... FLY BY NIGHT is set in a re-imagined early-eighteenth century England, where kite-powered coffeehouses take to the river, and citizens lay offerings at the shrine of Goodman Blackwhistle of the Favourable Wind. Funny and surprising, stuffed with wonderful characters, at its heart it contains an inspiring truth - that the power of books can change the world."

As challenging and rewarding a read as FLY BY NIGHT was, THE SISTERS GRIMM: THE FAIRY TALE DETECTIVES by Buckley was just plain fun without too much work. I love books that allow young readers to discover the joy of understanding literary (albeit fairy tale) allusions.

And then we can fall clear off the literary map into cotton candy made of words with BABY MOUSE: BEACH BABE. Sugar is good occasionally, in small doses.

I thought GOSSAMER was a very sweet "explanation" of dreams and nightmares, woven into a story of a screwed up mom, her angry boy, and a lonely old woman and her long-suffering old dog.

CORYDON AND THE ISLAND OF MONSTERS is the first of what appears to be a trilogy of novels based on Greek mythological characters. But if you squint, you're reading Harry Potter. Boy hero has a goat leg instead of a lightning scar. He's away from society -- literally a scapegoat living with monsters instead of away at boarding school at Hogwarts. There are journeys, battles, a magic staff, honor, and lots of allusions to/inclusions of stories of myth, heroes and legend. The list of sources in the back includes movies, TV programs and PS2 games.

Two More

While waiting for the fuel pump in the VW Golf to be replaced (warranty/recall) for the SECOND time, and I probably shouldn't count either one:

Too short to be counted, but I will: Baby Mouse: Beach Babe, by Holm and Holm
#21 Children's

Skimmed it enough to know I haven't trained right for next week's open water swim at Alum Creek: Open Water Swimming, by Dean
#12 Adult

I put "Random Books From My Library" back on, but I got it at the bottom of the sidebar where it's not so annoying.

Mid-Year Reading Goal Report Card

YEARLY GOAL: 52 children's books
MID-YEAR TOTAL: 20 books
In the last week: The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives, Buckley
Gossamer, Lowry
Fly By Night, Hardinge

YEARLY GOAL: 20 adult books
MID-YEAR TOTAL: 11 books
In the last week: We Are All Welcome Here, Berg
Teacher Man, McCourt, audio

Thoughts, comments, and reviews to follow.

Whew!

From a review in the New York Times Book Review of the book DOING NOTHING: A HISTORY OF LOAFERS, LOUNGERS, SLACKERS, AND BUMS IN AMERICA. This reviewer (Dave Barry) obviously doesn't know what it's like to be a teacher:

"I suspect that most people -- like me and the Federal Reserve Board -- think they work pretty hard. But it isn't always easy to tell the difference between working and slacking, especially in the modern American "information" economy, where relatively few people do anything that is inarguably work, such as going down into a coal mine and coming back up with pieces of actual coal. A lot of us would have to admit that if we skipped a day or two of "work," or even a couple of months, or maybe even three or four years, we might miss our paychecks, but the impact on society would be minimal, or in the case of some professions (consultants, editorial writers, Paris Hilton) nonexistent."

As for me, I know without a DOUBT that I've worked hard for the last 180 days and that my impact on society is SIGNIFICANT and if they want me to come back and do it all over again next fall, I better have a couple months off to rest and recover!

Let the summer reading begin!

Desperate Housewives

Okay, so on the Desperate Housewives final episode last week, Susan states she "writes children's books". But, in fact, she is a children's book illustrator. I know this because I am a big Desperate Housewives fan. I guess the general public sees no difference in people who write books or the ones who illustrate books. They should know this--at least the writers should. UGH! And, since we are talking about desperate Housewives, I so hope that Mike didn't die --I hate having to wait until fall to see if he is okay:-)

Just finished DIGGING TO AMERICA by Anne Tyler. LOVED IT. It was exactly the book I needed. I love all of her books but I think this may be one of her best. As always the characters stay with you. I highly recommend this one.

On my next read list: WEEDFLOWER and maybe THE GIRLS.