so the cooler weather this weekend made for some nice running…

“My Best Race” edited by Cooper – great concept for a book – great to use with my middle school students – for budding runners, budding people in general, to read that no matter the age or the distance, there’s always the chance that the next time you do something – good or bad – that it will be the most memorable – certainly makes you think, if you run, what your best race was – so the interactive feature with the reader is an added bonus – very recommendable for my students

“linchpins” – when one of your bosses recommends a book, it’s always good to try and read the book:) and this one wasn’t that bad at all – the author’s basic point was that you should make yourself disguisable – in a good way – in your company – I guess we disagree in the sense that he thinks this is new to business – I think it’s always been there – obviously, we don’t always think that way – the condemnation he has for public school and its attempt to enforce a “sameness” is apt – and well put

“i’d like to apologize to every teacher I ever had” by tony danza – this show was great – this book is even better – danza’s year in a philly public school – he just has some great insight into the system – I guess one thing I carried away was that he was told teachers often have adoption fantasy – they end up wishing the kids they work with were in better homes – and the older I get and the more students I see, my heart often goes out and I wish they had better places to call home

that said, orphan Amanda can keep her box b/c I don’t want to adopt her – just the loveable kind:)

maf

ah, another week teaching first grade… 🙂

“the simpsons and their mathematical secrets” by singh – great book for my middle school mathematically talented – really, for all my gifted kids – because part of the book, beyond the math complexity (which was great to learn – or be reminded) was that most of those early writers were actually great math guys – so the whole idea that you’re gifted at only one thing goes out the window with this book – great reminder – and great book for my students

“the champion’s mind” – great for my students in middle school – book about the mental aspect of athletics – and how the choices we make in our minds often determine the results on the field – accessible for my gifted kids – again, great read and I will pass along some of the tidbits to my kids – along with the book recommendation

“the girls of atomic city” – got this one from the public library – fascinating read about the nuclear, secret facility that the government built in 1943 to enrich the uranium used in the atomic bombs – the author did much of the research first hand – through interviewing the women that remain – and that was a gift from her to us – because those stories are dying out – and so while most of the country looks back at atomic warfare with negative feelings, the book describes a lot better just what went on in the 1940s – and so it’s a great reminder that one shouldn’t judge other time periods very harshly

i’m back to reading “trash” now – my own running books I have – so i’m happy and all is right with the world

maf

big thanks to Ms. Blount who gave me something productive to do during TV timeouts from yesterday’s football games… 🙂

“the geeks shall inherit the earth” – this would be the book I showed you last week for dialectal journals – that the sixth grade freaked out on when they saw “bad” words later in the book – shockingly, sometimes high school kids use bad words to describe other kids – I know this came as a crushing blow to most, but I knew that – what I found interesting – I found lots interesting in the book – was that the author thought teachers were just as cliquish as the students they teach – that b/c they live in an adolescent world, they are adolescent-y – honestly, I don’t think teachers are less mature than other adults – I think lots of adults have petty fights – but I do think teachers should show a better example so the book made me question whether mr. scott and I should let other teachers sit at the cool table…

“the missing girl” – BOB – last one I finished – I put it before the Jobs book for reasons that will come below – missing girl is in a word, creepy – on the flip side, it’s a great “how to” for abducting 13 year old girls and trapping them in your house – again, creepy factor was way high – however, it did fit my BOB rule from a year or two back which was that I could stand any bad book so long as I could read it in a day – and I sped through this one – so mission accomplished and it could’ve been worse – I’ll obviously be curious what the feedback is when ya’ll read it

“steve jobs: the man who thought different” – now, this is the way to close BOB – wonderful book – sad book – jobs was highly gifted – he was a flawed genius – if we had the time, i’d love to discuss in class whether it’s better to be average – and good – in life or to be a flawed genius – I would think the answer is that it depends – but we definitely need those that are brilliant to give our daily lives a richness – I think probably all my kids should read this book – and even better (for you all), it reads quickly:)

reading goals for next week – I have a book on advanced mathematical principles and “the simpsons” – can’t wait…

maf

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

dearest students,
I hope this week is good to you – apparently from some e-mails I got this week, some of you are just realizing summer reading has started:) for the rest…

“follow me” – by david platt – my pastor – book that basically makes the case that while other religions of the world tell you to do certain things, Christianity tells you to follow a person – which then means that there’s not a “right way” to do things necessarily in all things – and his ideas are fleshed out in the remaining chapters – that part was a bit different – or I read it or understood it – differently than I have previously – the rest was just what ms. blount and I – seat buddies – have heard for the past few years – obviously, I enjoyed the book:)

“Rumsfeld’s rules” – former secretary of defense, chief of staff, and probably a billion other things, Donald Rumsfeld wrote a book that probably recaps what he tells businesses when he makes presentations today – it was a good book – any book on advice, wisdom, learned from a man at 80 can’t help but be good – it did tick me off after reading it though when I had a meeting Friday that basically violated all the rules in the book:)

so I’ve heard from billy, fred, annMarie, and some sixth grader named bailey that i’m teaching this fall – I guess – b/c that named didn’t ring a bell – anyway, happy band/football/reading days

maf

so last week was a blast – managed to survive a 17-mile run this morning in about 95 percent humidity:)

you’ll notice reading is way down – still reading sports illustrated, runner’s world, and the like – but with media days last week, I read some of the football media guides – which i’m not counting – unless I lose to annMarie on the book count

“the poverty of nations” – great book for the middle school classroom – particularly my gifted one – because it’s an understandable (to the reader) look at what makes nations better off – and what some nations in poverty can do to raise their standard of living – the fact that the authors included a defense of their Christian faith made it all the better for me – but again, it’s definitely something my students could follow and I thought that was outstanding for an economist and a theologian

okay, so has the countdown for summer begun yet? that’s hard to do with days like today – although, I wish summer would go away… 🙂

maf

so tune to ESPN this week for your favorite teacher making cameo appearances – hey, after this year’s championship game with Georgia, you just never know…

“!nnovation” – wonderful book my gifted bunch could both understand and get a lot out of – much less myself – the author, an innovator herself, interviewed many other successful creative people on how they’ve become who they’ve become – I saved a few activities for us to use this fall – most interesting a brainstorming activity one group uses

“better” – study through the book of ecclesiastes from a pastor in LA – los angles – not lower Alabama – very accessible book for my middle school kids who often search for many different things – rather than be content with where they’re currently at – and definitely good food thought for their teacher

“the reason I jump” – we should do a summer book – everyone at school – and all read this book – at 115 pages, it could be done – basically, it’s an autobiography of a 13-year-old with autism – the book is an amazing gift to us into the mind of autism – and how we relate – and what we could do to understand and better appreciate those with it – just tons of ideas to use in the classroom with this book

“the odyssey” i’m guessing this is the third time I’ve read this book – probably the second time on the blog – first time was summer 10th grade year – just a classic story of a guy coming home – I guess the setup – the structure – of the story is what got me this time – just the formalities people go through in that culture with guests

“journey to the center of the earth” – the amazing thing about reading is that your next favorite book is often right around the corner – and I think that’s one reason why I read – the hope I have that something i’m going to read is just going to be great – and Verne’s classic really was great – probably second to 80 days now to me – and I can urge the sixth grade to read this one over 20,000 leagues – I have no idea why someone bought those books for middle school – center of the earth is much more understandable

have a great week

maf