ah, I love a good battle – although, it’ll be unfair at first with the sixth grade basically writing “I write pretty – and mr. Mayfield is mean to me – and I can read big picture books!!!”

yeah, i’m thinking “the talk” about actually posting content vs. just random whatever will take a while to sink in – for some – obviously, there are at least two already that probably could survive schs English – except for the grammar part…

oh, I started my corbo story today – part II – before the first graders came in and I went brain dead…

“the last watch of the night” – high school BOB – should be a middle school BOB – would work well – anyway, it’s in our library – highly recommendable to you – the POV thing is pretty good – even though I can’t stand titanic b/c it reminds me of a very very bad movie:)

“the best American sports writing: 2013” – wow, what a book – great for middle school boys – my middle school boys – and good for the girls as well – like all top selection books, there are things that my kids will like more than others, but just some great writing in there – great writing selections that we’ll even look at in class – b/c as the editor says at the beginning (in paraphrase), we write about sports because it lets us write about life

I know, you thought band was life… well, YOU’RE WRONG!!!

maf

happy first week!!!

no bailey, no journals first week – just a ton of paperwork – and i’m sorry for that as well – but there is good news for my eighth grade – and some of my seventh grade – which i’ll try to announce tomorrow if I remember

“driven” by Donald driver – green bay packer and dancing with the stars great – book about his life – from homelessness to super bowl to DWTS fame – great encouraging read – very recommendable for my middle school guys

“(something), girls, and dangerous pie” – third BOB – I can’t remember the first word – it might even be girls – I remember the dangerous pie part – anyway, so I read that one in a day – that was the good part – the bad? well, let’s say it’s serious – seems to be a trend in this year’s list

“ender’s game” – fourth BOB – so I have one to go – this one took a while – and I really can’t write much on this one except to say that i’m curious – out of all the books – how this one is received – it’s a good book for adult gifted teachers, i’ll say that – and it is going to be a movie soon – but if you’re one for language, this one won’t sit well with you…

happy first day – everywhere

maf

sometimes I even amaze myself, and last week was one of those weeks – despite being trapped for days on end in boring meetings, I managed to read…

“the 14 fibs of Gregory k.” – this is a great book – highly recommended for my sixth graders – and billy:) and honestly, the rest of my gifted class that that struggles to find its place in families in matters of their talents – for Gregory, it was being a writer in a math family – good read

“prisoner b-3087” – second BOB of the summer for me – sad, sad book – historical fiction – much sadder than between shades of grey – which I thought was pretty rough for middle school – i’ll obviously be curious for BOB feedback once ya’ll get into it – but to be clear… I DID NOT PICK THIS BOOK!!! 🙂

“Friday night lights book companion” – for my easy read of the week, a book about my favorite TV show – drama – of all-time – Dillon, texas, and Columbiana, Alabama are so, so, so very alike – just no band drama – but great book about the series – texas forever!!!

maf

busy last week – meetings are so much fun…

“Mister Max” – great book for sixth grade, my audience, and certainly below them – would make a great elementary book competition book – and even better, first of a series so those that get hooked can keep going – I liked probably most the early 20th century history that was mixed in – well, that and the ice cream mentions

“Homeless at Harvard” – compelling story of a Harvard graduate-to-be and the summer he spent purposefully homeless with the group at the Square – having been to the area – it was where I stayed for the Marathon – it just made the people that more interesting – I thought the book did a great job balancing its purpose – which wasn’t to solve the problems of homelessness or tell us what to do or how to fix it – the author just really tried to tell about his summer and the people he met – which left us to form our conclusions – very accessible book for my middle school gifted

“Write Out Loud” – works well for my middle school gifted – a book on the personal essay – what most colleges use in some way to admit – there were a few activities in the book that we’ll do in the classroom – just a great book on good writing principles – and clearly, something my kids can use in the future as they leave me

“cinder” – um, spoiler alert – BOB for this year – I was NOT happy as it is a romance – I’m sure Sarah Elizabeth will be thrilled with the selection – Billy, you must promise to hate this book…

Maf