so i have to laugh – i guess – but the opening activity today with first grade – as suggested by my trusty teaching manual – was to give kids milk and tell them we’re going to learn about a lady who gave milk to someone today – from Judges 4 – and if you don’t have a bible or you don’t remember the story – yes, Jael does offer milk – but it’s sort of a trap (if driving a stake through your head is a trap:)

oh, how i’ve read this week…

“operation yes” – an elem BOB – it was good – again, elem BOB pulls ahead of middle school this year in choices – very impressed – and if memory serves me, “yes” and “3 times lucky” both involved middle school characters – i guess kids like to read about the grades just ahead of them and fancy a wonderful time to come

“a field guide for missions” – creative – looked for things to incorporate into class – mission accomplished

“1001 tips for writers” – surprisingly short – just quotes – b/c “everywhere is a quote” 🙂

“self-driven learning” – book on helping students see how to motivate themselves – good book – lots of pages i liked and will copy this week – the book emphasized the relationship over the information when teaching – that students will do a lot, learn a lot, when they enjoy a class – vs. just getting a bunch of info – the author’s background as a community organizer was a boost

“conversations with steve martin” – i have learned a lot – second book on martin in the month – he’s a really creative mind – great example of creative talent – b/c he went from stand-up comedy to movies to screenwriting to playwriting to non-fiction/memoir to novels to kid’s books to twitter to banjo song-writing – pretty cool talents he’s developed

nicole and the detective are at fred’s now in the book – they’re conversing over what happened at camp – fred is desperately trying to get the girls to see that the real evil isn’t tragedy bear – it’s ann marie and waffles… 🙂

maf