I am so pleased that the title of this post is both cleverly appropriate AND the title of one of the Newbery books I have finished today! I finished The View from Saturday and The Midwife's Apprentice--I really enjoyed both of them!
I feel like I need to re-read Saturday because I know I missed some of the clever ways the author tied all of the little plots together...I was busy following the main line, and didn't pay close enough attention to the others! It was really enjoyable, and it was about (mainly) an Academic Challenge-type team made up of four sixth graders. The bulk of the book takes you through their matches and how they all ended up being on the team together. I did Academic Challenge when I was in middle school (oh so cool, VERY fun), so that's probably part of why I was so into the book! I read part of it while I was babysitting (during nap time for the little one, TV time for the older one), so I think that's why I feel that I didn't tie everything together in my head right. Interestingly, the author of this book (E.L. Konigsburg) also wrote From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which I also liked a lot. She tells a story and, at the same time, says a lot about children and their feelings and experiences, which is pretty cool for a children's book author. Usually you only find those kinds of layers (a normal story and a commentary on something else) in older books (for example: in The Mixed-Up Files, the main story is about a girl and her brother who run away to a famous museum, but it is also about a girl who doesn't think she is important to anyone and how she finds out that she is...not exactly high literature, but more so than some I have read so far). Also, her first name is Elaine :)
**trivia: E.L. Konigsburg is the only author to have won the Newbery Medal and been one of the honor book authors in the same year. The Mixed-Up Files won the medal in 1968 and Jennifer, Hectate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was an honor book the same year. I want to read the honor book, but I haven't yet!
The other book, The Midwife's Apprentice, is one that I think I will buy (I got it from the library to read today). It's historical, but tells a story that is actually really interesting, unlike A Gathering of Days, the last historical Newbery I read. It's the story of a girl who is homeless, and is taken in by the local midwife. She becomes an "apprentice" to the midwife, and she also makes friends with an animal, which I thought was one of the best parts of the story. I can't say much else about why I liked it without giving anything major away, but I really did...I read it in about an hour, it was that engrossing!
Erin and I went to Barnes and Noble today and browsed some of the Newbery winners they have on their shelves...Erin is a good sport. This is her shout out!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
another Newbery read, but...
I finished another book (Jacob Have I Loved), but then they had to go and declare NEW award winners for this year!!
This year's medal winner is called The Higher Power of Lucky, and it was ordered by all of the Jefferson-Madison regional libraries the day it was declared the winner (the 22nd, I think?), and I am 5th on the list for the whole region to get a copy. I know I can't buy all of these books, so I am working the library thing unless I think one is amazing. Here is the summary from amazon for the new winner:
Lucky, age 10, lives in tiny Hard Pan, California (population 43), with her dog and the young French woman who is her guardian. With a personality that may remind some readers of Ramona Quimby, Lucky, who is totally contemporary, teeters between bravado--gathering insect specimens, scaring away snakes from the laundry--and fear that her guardian will leave her to return to France. Looking for solace, Lucky eavesdrops on the various 12-step meetings held in Hard Pan (of which there are plenty), hoping to suss out a "higher power" that will see her through her difficulties. Her best friend, Lincoln, is a taciturn boy with a fixation for tying knots; another acquaintance, Miles, seems a tiresome pest until Lucky discovers a secret about his mother. Patron's plotting is as tight as her characters are endearing. Lucky is a true heroine, especially because she's not perfect: she does some cowardly things, but she takes pains to put them to rights.
Needless to day, this looks like it could be pretty darn good. One that I read that kind of reminded me of this one was a book called Everything on a Waffle. It was an honor book (I read it just because it looked good), and I enjoyed it...predictable in some spots, but enjoyable...kids like predictable sometimes!
While thinking about good books and how they could be used, I just thought about Missing May, which is a medal winner that I read awhile ago, so I haven't mentioned it here. This is a book that I think would be amazingly great to share with kids who might be going through a loss, like if someone close to multiple students (or even one) has passed away, or if there has been a death that impacted the whole school or class, or even the teacher. Check it out...I think it's a great book to own (my aunt sent it to me before this whole quest began...she's great about picking good ones, and I get a person note in each about why she picked it--it's great!!)
Jacob Have I Loved was good. I had heard it was like amazing, and I didn't think it was better than Patterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins, which was only an honor book. One sister feels trapped by her circumstances, and feels as though her sister is beloved by everyone while she is kind of unusual. She ends up finding her own happily ever after, don't worry! I would say it's one to read, I would recommend it to others!
**DISCLAIMER**
I am totally just giving my opinion on these books I read, because it helps me remember them and it also might make someone else want to pick one up...if you disagree with any of my conclusions about a book, PLEASE, by all means, share it with me. I totally want to give a book every fair chance, and maybe you see it in a way I don't!
This year's medal winner is called The Higher Power of Lucky, and it was ordered by all of the Jefferson-Madison regional libraries the day it was declared the winner (the 22nd, I think?), and I am 5th on the list for the whole region to get a copy. I know I can't buy all of these books, so I am working the library thing unless I think one is amazing. Here is the summary from amazon for the new winner:
Lucky, age 10, lives in tiny Hard Pan, California (population 43), with her dog and the young French woman who is her guardian. With a personality that may remind some readers of Ramona Quimby, Lucky, who is totally contemporary, teeters between bravado--gathering insect specimens, scaring away snakes from the laundry--and fear that her guardian will leave her to return to France. Looking for solace, Lucky eavesdrops on the various 12-step meetings held in Hard Pan (of which there are plenty), hoping to suss out a "higher power" that will see her through her difficulties. Her best friend, Lincoln, is a taciturn boy with a fixation for tying knots; another acquaintance, Miles, seems a tiresome pest until Lucky discovers a secret about his mother. Patron's plotting is as tight as her characters are endearing. Lucky is a true heroine, especially because she's not perfect: she does some cowardly things, but she takes pains to put them to rights.
Needless to day, this looks like it could be pretty darn good. One that I read that kind of reminded me of this one was a book called Everything on a Waffle. It was an honor book (I read it just because it looked good), and I enjoyed it...predictable in some spots, but enjoyable...kids like predictable sometimes!
While thinking about good books and how they could be used, I just thought about Missing May, which is a medal winner that I read awhile ago, so I haven't mentioned it here. This is a book that I think would be amazingly great to share with kids who might be going through a loss, like if someone close to multiple students (or even one) has passed away, or if there has been a death that impacted the whole school or class, or even the teacher. Check it out...I think it's a great book to own (my aunt sent it to me before this whole quest began...she's great about picking good ones, and I get a person note in each about why she picked it--it's great!!)
Jacob Have I Loved was good. I had heard it was like amazing, and I didn't think it was better than Patterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins, which was only an honor book. One sister feels trapped by her circumstances, and feels as though her sister is beloved by everyone while she is kind of unusual. She ends up finding her own happily ever after, don't worry! I would say it's one to read, I would recommend it to others!
**DISCLAIMER**
I am totally just giving my opinion on these books I read, because it helps me remember them and it also might make someone else want to pick one up...if you disagree with any of my conclusions about a book, PLEASE, by all means, share it with me. I totally want to give a book every fair chance, and maybe you see it in a way I don't!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Little update (very very little)
Taking classes sucks. I miss student teaching! I miss the routine of having the same times for doing stuff everyday! The first couple of days this week I kept feeling like I was skipping student teaching, because my back hurt. If I wasn't laying down, I kept having little twinges of guilt for not resting, then I remembered that no one cared that I was in my apartment for like two days without leaving!
I talked to C. about long term subbing when she has her baby--it's still on! I'm excited to start sometimes in April, although it will be an odd experience to be for real teaching, without someone else in the room always kind of keeping an eye on things. If an unhappy parent calls, it's all me! Ah!
Oh, what I learned about teaching from the hand experience: teachers are the best ever for rallying around one of their own. This happened to be at a school where I know a lot of people, but even people I didn't know were coming out of the woodwork to help when I got hurt. In fact, some people are STILL asking my mom how I am and checking up on me! So, it makes me feel really good to know that other teachers will always be there if something happens--I am/will be part of a community!!
It's been a slow couple of days for Newbery winners, but I did read a couple. One that sucked majorly was A Gathering of Days--I absolutely un-recommend it (whatever the opposite of recommending is). It's got a good time period and stuff, it's set in the 1800's (see list to the right for actual dates), but it was SO boring. A character dies (they tell the reader this in the prologue), and honestly it was the best part of the book, because I think it was the only time I actually cared about what was going on--not a good sign! So, in short, don't run out looking for this one.
*Going to go visit C. on Monday at school, so I'll know more about subbing and stuff then!
I talked to C. about long term subbing when she has her baby--it's still on! I'm excited to start sometimes in April, although it will be an odd experience to be for real teaching, without someone else in the room always kind of keeping an eye on things. If an unhappy parent calls, it's all me! Ah!
Oh, what I learned about teaching from the hand experience: teachers are the best ever for rallying around one of their own. This happened to be at a school where I know a lot of people, but even people I didn't know were coming out of the woodwork to help when I got hurt. In fact, some people are STILL asking my mom how I am and checking up on me! So, it makes me feel really good to know that other teachers will always be there if something happens--I am/will be part of a community!!
It's been a slow couple of days for Newbery winners, but I did read a couple. One that sucked majorly was A Gathering of Days--I absolutely un-recommend it (whatever the opposite of recommending is). It's got a good time period and stuff, it's set in the 1800's (see list to the right for actual dates), but it was SO boring. A character dies (they tell the reader this in the prologue), and honestly it was the best part of the book, because I think it was the only time I actually cared about what was going on--not a good sign! So, in short, don't run out looking for this one.
*Going to go visit C. on Monday at school, so I'll know more about subbing and stuff then!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
And another Newbery is conquered! (plus, a bonus story: why I still don't have full use of my hand)
Last night I finished another Newbery, yay! This is one that I had been pretty excited about, it was Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women. Since that is one of my favorite books and she is one of my favorite authors, and has been for much of my life, I was way excited about this one. The beginning was kind of slow, but it was very cool to read about her adult life and when and why she wrote all of the books I know and enjoy. Overall--read it if you like any of her books :)
And now, for the story of the hand. I was subbing in first grade in Va. Beach, and I had been in this one class for 3 and a half days (one and a half before the holiday break, almost two after). There was one child, we'll call him X, who was very emotional and, when he got upset, would hide under his desk or generally retreat into hiding. Well, almost at dismissal time on the 4th day I had been in the class, when we were about to draw weather pictures, he kind of slyly goes over to the door...I follow, and put my foot in front of the door. He tells me that he is going to quit school, and I tell him that I'm sorry, he can't do that, so let's go back and finish the weather picture, since it's almost time to go home. He is still not moving from the door, so I ask him what makes him want to quit school, and he says everything. I ask him for an example, and he is silent. I guess he realized that I wasn't moving away from the door until he did, so he went over by a table and got down on the floor. In my past experience with this kid, when he got hunkered down, it meant he was just waiting until HE wanted to come back to things, so I said, "Well, if you can't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you fix it. You can stay there until you are ready to come back and join us, but if you go out that door, I will have to call the security guard and you will be in trouble, you will have to go see the principal. DO NOT TOUCH THE DOOR."
So, I turn my back (well, my side...I could still see him, but I truly didn't think he was actually going to do anything) to get the rest of the class set up with this activity (because they had ALL been watching the X-situation). I am walking BACK to the door after I have finished passing stuff out, because I'm not sure about what this kid is going to do, and as I am allllmost there, he gets up and bolts. He runs toward the doors leading to the outside, so I sprint after him. There is a teacher standing in the hall, and I say, GRAB THAT KID, and she says, "Are you serious?" and makes NO MOVE to get the kid. So I say YES I AM SERIOUS and keep running at the door. A teacher in the hall apparently saw this and wondered what kind of game we were playing until she heard me yell NO NO NO. Then she ran down to try and help, but he was out the door. I run out the door after him, and I trip and fall. I slid on my face and my right side, and I was not able to chase the kid. At this point other teachers took up the chase, not even knowing what was going on, just that there was a kid running. It turns out that he lived across the street, and he ran home. When all of these adults came running in, along with her child, the mom was yelling, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" and they kept asking if she was his mom (since no one even knew which kid it was really, only I knew that and I was down). When she said yes, she was his mom, they all came back up to school to try and figure things out. I was trying not to cry, but I had to go back to my class, who had been alone for this like 5 minute incident. They were fine, and I told them to please keep working on their pictures, I needed to go in the hall for a second. I was shaking like crazy, and apparently bleeding on my chin, but I didn't know that yet. Another teacher gave me a hug and told me it was not my fault, and offered to let me use her room to wash my face while she watched my kids (she didn't have any kids then).
EPILOGUE:
I had to get my glasses replaced and my hand X-rayed. It wasn't broken, just "bruised or strained," thank goodness, although it still hurts, and this happened on the 3rd of January. since I am not a contractual employee, the school system would not pay for my glasses, which sucks, since it isn't like I walked into a wall or something, I was trying to protect a kid. X was suspended for two days.
Ask any teachers you know about their "children running away stories." I have found that most every teacher has one, and they are very interesting. One that I heard involved a child being gone for 24 hours, which made me feel better about mine, since we knew where he was the whole time (that child was found and everything was fine, BTW).
Look for the next post to tell about what I learned from this experience.
And now, for the story of the hand. I was subbing in first grade in Va. Beach, and I had been in this one class for 3 and a half days (one and a half before the holiday break, almost two after). There was one child, we'll call him X, who was very emotional and, when he got upset, would hide under his desk or generally retreat into hiding. Well, almost at dismissal time on the 4th day I had been in the class, when we were about to draw weather pictures, he kind of slyly goes over to the door...I follow, and put my foot in front of the door. He tells me that he is going to quit school, and I tell him that I'm sorry, he can't do that, so let's go back and finish the weather picture, since it's almost time to go home. He is still not moving from the door, so I ask him what makes him want to quit school, and he says everything. I ask him for an example, and he is silent. I guess he realized that I wasn't moving away from the door until he did, so he went over by a table and got down on the floor. In my past experience with this kid, when he got hunkered down, it meant he was just waiting until HE wanted to come back to things, so I said, "Well, if you can't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you fix it. You can stay there until you are ready to come back and join us, but if you go out that door, I will have to call the security guard and you will be in trouble, you will have to go see the principal. DO NOT TOUCH THE DOOR."
So, I turn my back (well, my side...I could still see him, but I truly didn't think he was actually going to do anything) to get the rest of the class set up with this activity (because they had ALL been watching the X-situation). I am walking BACK to the door after I have finished passing stuff out, because I'm not sure about what this kid is going to do, and as I am allllmost there, he gets up and bolts. He runs toward the doors leading to the outside, so I sprint after him. There is a teacher standing in the hall, and I say, GRAB THAT KID, and she says, "Are you serious?" and makes NO MOVE to get the kid. So I say YES I AM SERIOUS and keep running at the door. A teacher in the hall apparently saw this and wondered what kind of game we were playing until she heard me yell NO NO NO. Then she ran down to try and help, but he was out the door. I run out the door after him, and I trip and fall. I slid on my face and my right side, and I was not able to chase the kid. At this point other teachers took up the chase, not even knowing what was going on, just that there was a kid running. It turns out that he lived across the street, and he ran home. When all of these adults came running in, along with her child, the mom was yelling, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" and they kept asking if she was his mom (since no one even knew which kid it was really, only I knew that and I was down). When she said yes, she was his mom, they all came back up to school to try and figure things out. I was trying not to cry, but I had to go back to my class, who had been alone for this like 5 minute incident. They were fine, and I told them to please keep working on their pictures, I needed to go in the hall for a second. I was shaking like crazy, and apparently bleeding on my chin, but I didn't know that yet. Another teacher gave me a hug and told me it was not my fault, and offered to let me use her room to wash my face while she watched my kids (she didn't have any kids then).
EPILOGUE:
I had to get my glasses replaced and my hand X-rayed. It wasn't broken, just "bruised or strained," thank goodness, although it still hurts, and this happened on the 3rd of January. since I am not a contractual employee, the school system would not pay for my glasses, which sucks, since it isn't like I walked into a wall or something, I was trying to protect a kid. X was suspended for two days.
Ask any teachers you know about their "children running away stories." I have found that most every teacher has one, and they are very interesting. One that I heard involved a child being gone for 24 hours, which made me feel better about mine, since we knew where he was the whole time (that child was found and everything was fine, BTW).
Look for the next post to tell about what I learned from this experience.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Explanation of a List
I have added a list of the Newbery award winners I have read thus far...I decided over winter break that I would read all of the books that have ever won the award. Not because I think they are all wonderful--in fact, I think that The Tale of Despereaux is one of the most boring kid's books I have ever read. I want to read them all because I think, as Erin said, it will make me "a well-informed teacher." (or something like that) Really, it seems like it is a good representation of where children's literature has come in the past 84 years, and I have already discovered a couple that I really liked but probably would have never otherwise read (The Twenty-One Balloons and Lincoln: A Photobiography). Not that I think that everyone in the world, or every teacher (goodness knows there's not enough time once you're actually teaching, at least in the beginning) or even everyone who likes kid's books should be forced to read them all, but it might be fun to pick up an obscure one at a thrift store or a book sale, just to see what some people thought was the best children's book one year.
**trivia: Lincoln: A Photobiography is the only non-fiction book to win the Newbery medal in the last 50 years. (not counting the two poetry books that have won)
Something to mention while introducing my sort of quest is that I am not trying to read all of the books that have the little Newbery seal on them. Some of them are Medal winners and some of them are honor books. There is one Medal winner every year, but most years have at least two honor books....while I have already read a bunch of honor books throughout the years, and think some of them are great (The Princess Academy, The Little House series), that is waaaay too many books to try to read in any conceivable amount of time, so I'm sticking to only the Medal winners! Stay tuned to see how I do, and what I think of the books along the way!
FYI: The Newbery Medal is given to "the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year," while the Caldecott Medal is given to "the artist who has created the most distinguished picture book of the year"--someday, I might tackle the Caldecott, but not until I meet the challenge of Mount Newbery!
**trivia: Lincoln: A Photobiography is the only non-fiction book to win the Newbery medal in the last 50 years. (not counting the two poetry books that have won)
Something to mention while introducing my sort of quest is that I am not trying to read all of the books that have the little Newbery seal on them. Some of them are Medal winners and some of them are honor books. There is one Medal winner every year, but most years have at least two honor books....while I have already read a bunch of honor books throughout the years, and think some of them are great (The Princess Academy, The Little House series), that is waaaay too many books to try to read in any conceivable amount of time, so I'm sticking to only the Medal winners! Stay tuned to see how I do, and what I think of the books along the way!
FYI: The Newbery Medal is given to "the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year," while the Caldecott Medal is given to "the artist who has created the most distinguished picture book of the year"--someday, I might tackle the Caldecott, but not until I meet the challenge of Mount Newbery!
The Beginning of an Epic!
Even though I have already navigated who knows how many years of education about education, I decided it is time to follow in my good friend Chelsea's footsteps and have a little teaching blog. If nothing else, she will be amused, and my mom might like it too!
The first thing to address is the amount of years I have been going to school for my Master's Degree. I have been filling out applications for teaching jobs, and they all (well, all two of them so far) want to know what the years were that I have attended school for both my Bachelor's and Master's. The thing is, they overlap. Because I am in a 5 year Bachelor's/Master's program, I started taking my first education classes in the fall of my second year of college...so I was still very much in the Bachelor's period. So, do I list 2002-2006 as my Bachelor's years, and 2003-2007 as my Master's years? Will that make me look like I am not capable of finishing things in the normal number of years? I am guessing they will understand, but it's still a dilemma when actually filling out this one document upon which they will place judgment about my ability to teach in their school system. Applications in general kind of suck, since one serious typo (which you might not catch no matter how much you proofread) could sour the opinion of you as a candidate. AHH!
The first thing to address is the amount of years I have been going to school for my Master's Degree. I have been filling out applications for teaching jobs, and they all (well, all two of them so far) want to know what the years were that I have attended school for both my Bachelor's and Master's. The thing is, they overlap. Because I am in a 5 year Bachelor's/Master's program, I started taking my first education classes in the fall of my second year of college...so I was still very much in the Bachelor's period. So, do I list 2002-2006 as my Bachelor's years, and 2003-2007 as my Master's years? Will that make me look like I am not capable of finishing things in the normal number of years? I am guessing they will understand, but it's still a dilemma when actually filling out this one document upon which they will place judgment about my ability to teach in their school system. Applications in general kind of suck, since one serious typo (which you might not catch no matter how much you proofread) could sour the opinion of you as a candidate. AHH!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
