again, fred, marvelous job

billy, I appreciate the taunting of the Georgia runner:)

and annmarie, thanks for, um, NOTHING!!!

“the sports gene” – great book for my athletes and budding scientists – the author, a runner (so you can trust him), looks at how genetics, DNA, affect sporting performance – everything from sprints to jumps to throws to long runs – very interesting, informative, and didn’t make me run faster this weekend, but I now know why:)

“11 Rings” by phil Jackson – former Bulls and Lakers coach – story of all 11 NBA championships he led – classic book for me on how to motivate people – obviously with me, it’s teaching – several things Jackson talked about I can do with my kids this year – and I told that to several teachers I taught Wednesday and I think they only thing they learned from my presentation was to go buy that book:)

“Playing with a Purpose: Football” by Yorkey – story of football players in the NFL and their faith – this book is similar to the other books Yorkey’s done, funny how that works that way, but this one is also very different from them – Yorkey blends in more personal asides which make the book funnier, also more insightful when he follows the Chargers’ chaplain the weekend of the Chiefs’ tragedy this year – obviously, with Aaron Hernandez in the news, the NFL and its players have problems, and Yorkey’s book highlights the good that goes on

hope everyone has a great fourth – to follow up Liberty Day, I’m off to Oak Mountain to run in a race up and down the Mountain – 8.2 miles of fun…

maf

ah, liberty day – such classic Columbiana fun – fascinating Mayfield trivia – I was in the first two parades that were ever held

“good news to the poor” by chester – great book that addressed the degree to which the poor need just physical needs met vs. their spiritual needs – the best chapter was probably – ironically – the good news for the rich – lots of examples the author mentioned I will use with us in class this year – things like allowing students to make their own choices – having buy-in – vs. just telling them what to do

“John McDonnell” – biography on probably the most successful coach of all time – McDonnell won 40-plus track and field national championships at Arkansas – just ridiculous how great his teams were – how he built a program out of nothing – through basically hard work – the book had plenty of teaching times for me – coaching is like teaching – and it was good inspiration for running b/c what made Arkansas great originally was just athletes who committed to do doing the work – it wasn’t special gifts or talents – just work – and I think too often, people discount their abilities b/c they are afraid of working hard – desperately hard – for something

bonus if you’re out cheering me when i run by Saturday

maf

i had to start with the above title b/c billy apparently can’t spell Bibles – see previous blog comments from last week – so i figured maybe this would help lead him in the right direction if i used exclamation points

you can see from the below that i read a bit last week

“the dogma of cats for kids” by Snyder – wonderful small-ish book for kids about how to apply the learning of people to the learning of cats – good elem book – good one for my middle school when we work with special needs kids

“cat sense” by bradshaw – great read – I talked my sister to death on our run this morning about it – great for my middle school cat lovers – I wish i’d had this book at my students’ age – i’d have cared and understood my cats better – anyway, great practical book about cats – what makes them tick – what makes them unique from dogs (HINT: they’re not small dogs:)

“opera A to Z” by Lindsay – this should be on our required list for BOB next year – a book about the great operas of all-time – complete with a beginning to what the heck is opera in the first place and with an index in the back to help you go forward for more after reading it – from a non-opera person, I learned so much – my kids would too that I teach – great introductory book – really for all ages

“Birmingham then and now” – this was actually two books – a book on the shopping district and a book on the TV stations – read quickly – lots of photos – I enjoyed learning about the buildings I fly by for Mercedes

“Alabama legends” – mr scott’s book – interviews with Tide legends – i guess the takeaway i had from the book this time was that it really was an interview driven work – you could tell mr. scott didn’t spend his time in books for this book – he was on the phone talking to people – which is something i think most people wouldn’t have thought about his book

“Running Tide” – best named running book ever:) joan benoit samuelson was an elite marathoner in the 1980s – the book came out in 1987 – interestingly enough, she’s still elite at the 50-over female group – she could beat me in a marathon – so the fact that she’s remained so strong for so long, it made the book even better – from a teaching standpoint, she spent like a chapter on her junior high – which was funny – only biography I’ve read recently where someone did that

stay cool

maf

yeah nadal’s win at the French open (and sad that I can’t share this win with Julie:(

“death by living” by Wilson – wonderful humor – unique writing – definitely for my students – Wilson asks questions about life that my kids ask – that we all ask – and his efforts weave storytelling into making his points – the whole first part about stories just in structure would be a wonderful tool for teaching in my class

“facing the music” – by nick carter – Backstreet Boy – while my students are likely not BSB people, they relate to carter b/c nick was 12 when he became famous – crazy famous – so famous he couldn’t handle it – not that most people could – and his problems sort of led to the book – again, good things to share with my kids b/c his message deals with things my kids are soon going to deal with

“eighty days” – enjoyable read – I say that – i’m not sure any of you would want to read it – even at the high school level – but two women went around the world in 1889 – two journalists – and their bravery – in a world where women were supposed to be silent – was a great to read – and there were parallels with Verne’s tale

maf

oh, I was a busy reader this past week…

“the lieography of babe ruth” by katz – wonderful, creative story based on the life of babe ruth – a great baseball player – I’ve never heard of a lieography – so the whole concept – take a guy’s life and run with your imagination – and run with it, the author did – again, great, great idea that we’ll use some in the classroom this fall

“game changer” by cousins – former Michigan state quarterback – current redskins back up to RGIII – great biography – although, not so much a story of his life as much as encouragement for living – the game changer for cousins is Christ – He’s the one who makes everything you do take on meaning and purpose – the book didn’t fit the classic YA tale of the heroic lone ranger we should all live like – at his grand old age of like 24 – cousins book was different – and that was good – highly recommended for my middle school guys (they know who they are:)

“the wayward gifted” two authors collaborated on this one – a story about two gifted kids – highly verbally academically advanced gifted kids – who have a psycho mother – at least for now (I mean, this is book one so who knows what will happen to the mother:) in this book, the kids work to solve a mystery – and they do so in their inquisitive, humorous way – classic storytelling – great read

“the secretary” – got from Pelham library – BBC TV person wrote about Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State – great book – great not b/c Clinton is just super-awesome and so we must bow and worship – I feel like I always have to say that or someone thinks I’m playing politics – it was a great read b/c the author is not from America – she grew up hating the US for what it did to her country – so the book is about the author coming to terms with the US – as we come to terms with our foreign policy roles – really, really enjoyed this book – best book I’ve read in a long time

and finally…

“Cheetah can’t lose” – this book was awesome!!! It’s about a cheetah that wins at every race – and two kittens that try to sabotage the cheetah – the cheetah (spoiler alert) still wins – which proves that speed conquers all – it was an inspiring book that made me realize my life is worthless unless I’m No. 1 🙂

hope to see ya’ll out on the roadways of Columbiana this week in the midmorning – great time for some Boston prep…

maf