so i’m at the bama game yesterday – and their team elects to punt near midfield on fourth down and short – rather than go for it and try to get back in the game – basically, the classic move that says “we give up, let’s run the clock out – despite what cbs says – and get out of here”

and i look over – and the obnoxious two hog fans (complete in hoggie shorts) were on their way out too – very, very quietly…

in other news…

“the longevity project” – read this one last week and forgot to review it – stanford scientists took a 1922 gifted survey and looked at what clues to helping you age could be gleamed – the gifted project (by terman) followed the subjects over the course of their lives – which is rare – anyway, the book had some advice that went against conventional wisdom that you must exercise all the time, have a great social group, be married – oh, and be religious – anyway, good to read – funny enough, it was in large print edition at the public library – like, if you’re old and reading this, why do you care about delaying age anymore???

“molasses and glasses” – by ron clark – educator – founder of ron clark academy (for a creative, dynamic teacher, an interesting name choice for his school) – basically, he cares more, teaches more, raises more money in a day than i’ll ever do with my class – so i read with a HUGE guilt complex

“the olympian” by craig t. williams – WONDERFUL book – i harbored hopes it could be a BOB – maybe for high school – but a few details, language, probably keep it from academic competition – but a must read for all runners – a must read for all lovers of history – enjoyed the book – basically, a historical fiction about the details of the first African-American to medal for the US Olympic team – the book hits on contemporary issues for ’08 with great clarity – again, many audiences would enjoy it (young to old)

“battle hymn of the tiger mother” – marj gift to me for the weekend – better than i figured it would be – an account of raising daughters to be extraordinary – good exploration of how much to push children and how much to coddle to their every wish and desire – the first option isn’t nearly as popular, but it is the path to greatness, typically – however, few ever do great things – i guess i should say it’s inspired me to bring the hammer down in my classroom:)

read a few english prep, gifted ed, books as well – always looking for ideas

happy parade week – i’ve never been – does this one throw candy or is it just an excuse for high school kids to be themselves and for everyone else to get out of school??? i’ve always been curious

maf

so reading…

“geek girl” – YA book coming out in december – i think – good – more upper middle school – so 8th grade-ish – story of a high school girl who attempts to lure a “geek” to the dark side – and ends up converted herself – until the geek finds out why she originally went out with him – clever moments at times – i think most of you would enjoy it

“runner’s devotional” – combo running log/scripture/testimonials – one for every day of the year – probably best for beginning runners – most verses addressing “hanging in there” and “keeping on” – not so much the things advanced runners go through – plus, they left out cool verses like in jeremiah where God talks about running with horses – or rather how you can’t if you can’t beat your competition in footraces

also read “seize the story” and a couple of english lit books for class – nothing dramatic learned – unlike my espn the mag that told me about the security measures the nfl are taking at games post 9-11 – some good pieces in there for the 10th anniversary

have a great week – enjoy the fair – say hello to my mom (she should be working the front for kwianis)

mafeld

merritt’s view…

so i’m blogging this morning – instead of sunday – in my defense, i finished “colonel roosevelt” by edmund morris – that 971 page book i mentioned this week in class – that i started wednesday – that i was 200 pages into on friday (so, in other words, outside of going to church, cutting grass – all three yards – and watch bama – oh, and running – i didn’t do much else but read this weekend)

the book was awesome – morris, the author – started the series – a trilogy – back in like ’81 – i read the first book – getting teddy roosevelt to the presidency – about 10 years ago – when the second book – about TR’s presidency – came out – the book came out on hardback last year – it’s in paperback now – what i found interesting is that there are very few books about a president’s post-presidency life – outside of carter, most do very little – other than die:)

TR certainly had a hand in our nation’s politics for the 11 years he lived after he left office – including making a successful run at a third term – with just like 90 days – anyway, absorbing read – love reading about gifted indviduals (TR could deliver lectures on science, religion, literature, poltics…)

the other book i read early last week was “swing your sword” by mike leach – former successful texas tech coach – another gifted individual – great thinker – unusual coach (few are lawyers before coaching:)

well, off to teach – need “twilight” twins for wednesday (yes, i’m over to the dark side – complete with striped socks to match…)

mafeld

happy labor day!

so i read the media notes for the SEC, kent state, and bama this past week – over 100 pages of reading in pdf format – none of which answered to me why kent state didn’t bring a cheer squad – only an eagle (falcon – bird??? anyway, the bird watched the game with the players – i think he/she saw more than most of the college kids – that seemed to leave at halftime – whimps…)

as for books…

“julie of the wolves” – 1970s reprint – good book – sort of gary paulsen with a female protagonist – so “hatchet” before hatchet was written – girl surviving in the wilderness – the question of how to return to society – the larger question – was good

“through my eyes” – tim tebow –  great book – glad i’m adding it for the eighth grade summer list next year – good to read while waiting for commercial timeouts at the bama game (which, due to the humidity, seemed to take forever) – more of the inside story of his time at florida – his faith is genuine – and that was good to know as well – great encouragement when you begin to think all athletes are jerks

also read some teaching books – ap guide to midsummer night’s dream – literacy tools in the classroom – perfect 800 verbal – some ideas for the classroom – all in addition to continuing the trek through the old testament (ezekiel is taking forever) – and magazines – got espn the mag now in addition to economist, sports illustrated, and christianity today

just three journals this week – in case you’re sixth grade and confused (don’t want you to pull a journal muscle by doing more than necessary)

sincerely,
mafeld

read a bit this week – it was fun – yep…

“playing with a purpose” – i think i finished this book sunday of last week – but didn’t blog about it because i wasn’t sure if i’d finish it in time – anyway, mike yorkey is the author – book about NBA stars and their faith – that’s right, just in time for the lockout, i bring you this bit of news – there ARE basketball players who try to walk with God – who knew… 🙂 anyway, good encouraging read – you don’t get these types of stories in sports illustrated or espn the mag (and i should know b/c i read on both this week – sports illustrated did include a fictional piece that’s going to be published soon – that was sort of interesting)

“popular clone” – sixth grade, this is the book you heard me read from – and so many of you wanted – you still have to wait until january 2012, but the good news is that the book is good enough to wait for – pretty impressed with it – i think it’d be a good BOB for elementary – good book for you, sixth grade, in a class set – i’ll work on that in the second half of the year – cute book – won’t give away the ending – good book about figuring out who you are

i’ve got a couple of gifted ed books now that i’m working on – so no advance stuff that you can’t get – but nothing that you’d be interested in – still, few good ideas for the classroom – and that should interest you

sincerely,
mafeld (currently returning to work on an essay to NBC about why i need to fly up to NY in september to read an 800-word essay – wish me luck)

might as well have an “all preseason band” edition if the b’ham news is going to ignore such important matters…

No. 1 – Olive-A – you made my day with last week’s post – please know i’m currently finishing every run M-F in columbiana – and I pray for you and the rest of my GT alum every day – not that any of you wonderfully brilliant folk need it…

(oh, and the not perfect middle school experience was just that it was like everyone else’s – very, very awkward for most of the time – highlighted by roles at edmund in “the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe,” charlie in “charlie and the chocolate fac,” and the gardener in “the secret garden” – all in my drama class)

No. 2 – St. K – nah, she’s not blogging this month so I’ll bump Julie up to No. 2 – although, I can’t figure out if she’s marching, an aid, or just being awesome this fall (by the way, potter is always a wonderful read)

No. 3 – Cailea – your job, should you choose to accept it, is to get the knuckleheads in your class to “grow up” – all my best in that endeavor (the graveyard book is awesome, by the way – did you know it’s by the guy that wrote “why books are dangerous”???)

now, on to the reading..

“Random Thoughts…” by Steve Russo – the title is much longer – but it’s a teenage devotional – we used the first lesson for first priority this week – consensus was that it was a great devotional to read for the year – hope more of you can get in there to hear some of the lessons – the book itself will be published this fall

“Jacob T. Marley” by R. William Bennett – okay, so it’s not Christmas yet, but this book would be a wonderful read for those of you that have read or are familiar with “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens – it does help if you’ve read the book (and it’s a pretty quick read) b/c you can appreciate how Bennett mimicked the tone and style of the original – at least, I thought so – really enjoyed the book – good points about using our time on earth to help others

“Heart of Iron” by Kyle Garlett – I read some of this – or rather told ya’ll about it – last week – to some of my classes – Garlett was the first heart transplant to compete in the Ironman Triathlon – great book about overcoming – and dealing with adversity – and failure – with resilliency

well, that’s it for the week – do hope ya’ll have a wonderful week

maf

so it’s back to journaling for you all – which i think means you all have to start reading again – oh, the insane torture… 🙂

remember, four by friday – and a perfect nine weeks gets you a week off (and an unperfect nine weeks gets you what best is described as my junior high experience…)

as for my reading…

“God and football” by chad gibbs – b’ham guy – au guy – went to all the SEC stadiums (currently 12 – if texas a&m is added this week, then please amend) in 2009 and then to a church the next day – all in a “quest” to find out how Jesus and football mix – to me, if you have to ask whether one is more important than the other, then there’s no question that it’s not JC… the book was cleverly written, although didn’t scratch the surface too much (i had a hard time believing the author at the end that he somehow learned a lesson – b/c i couldn’t trace one through the road trips and he didn’t point one out – of course, he may have thought the lesson was obvious) – worst part was that the guy was raised a bama guy, went to au for three years and was still a bama guy, then met his future wife and became an auburn guy (or family or all in or whatever they do there) – and if he’d admitted that was why he changed, i would’ve been fine with that – but nooooooooo, he had to suggest that the conversion was some sort of other experience – whatever… 🙂

“the last icon” book about tom seaver – comes out this fall – by steven travers – great, great book about a neat guy (tom seaver – baseball pitcher – hall of fame – 1967-1986 era) – lots of lessons to learn – even if you hate baseball (and shame on you if you do:) for ye gifted and talented out there (that would be you) – how you can develop your talent through the years – seaver didn’t make his high school team until his senior year – but he grew physically – and he worked exhaustively – through the years to get better – and was considered the best for a long time – i enjoyed the book also b/c it took me to another era that i didn’t live through (sort of like wednesday wars and okay for now)

i read another book about filling fridays with fun things – but the fun things were from the 1990s and included worksheets so i sort of ran through that book quickly – i’m now in the book of jeremiah in the old testament – and i got through sports illustrated and the economist this week (SI has a story about the alabama guy that killed the au trees)

hope your return to journaling isn’t too painful

sincerely,
mafeld

so we interrupt this book review to bring you a music review – “the afters” –  who had a song i used to play in the classroom – have a wonderful new album out – “light up the sky” – go ahead, look for it at itunes or wherever you go music shopping – i’ll wait… 🙂

okay, so this is the week we “come” back – the quotes b/c i was there last week – i’m sure you’re all not very excited about it – but i am – good things coming in my room this year

as for books…

not sure the title, but i read a book by herschel walker – former uga running back – former NFL player – walker talked about multiple personality disorder – a disease he struggles with – learned much more about him that this though – he’s a scholar – he loves God – he was a jerk (to his wife) – great book – good football book

“the Bible in world history” – nook book – good refresher for me – considering i’m years out from studying ancient civ – learned some things that explain why things were the way they were in the old testament – like darius’ reign in the persian empire that helped judah survive

“guys read: thriller” – by jon sciezka – collection of contemp YA authors (even female ones) writing “thriller” stories – short stories – pretty good – like most collections, some are better than others – i liked the one by walter dean myers – made you think what character in the story was most admirable – there wasn’t anything particularly “guy-ish” about the book though – one interesting thing to me was how each author seemed to have a different definition of thrilling – as i guess my classes would too

“the NEW right brain way to learn to draw” – something like that – anyway, book by betty edwards – a book about how to draw – as someone who quit getting art lessons at briarwood in, oh, about sixth grade, it was a book i learned a bunch on – particularly the chapter at the end of the book on handwriting – started working on my cursive – something i haven’t done in years – while outlining the pastor’s message today – i like trying new things i know absolutely nothing about – occasionally – so it was a great read

well, off to throw the tax-free supplies i bought in the car for the trip to CMS tomorrow – see you all thursday – you’re already in my prayers

mafeld

it’s days like today that make me thankful i haven’t adopted my orphan child from africa or europe or china yet so that i have to take that child to office supply stores and fight people over penny buys (b/c after spending my money on adopting, i’ll have no money left to spend on school supplies:)

so a huge thanks to all who have shown up to my room to help so far to get the room ready – ya’ll are great (yes, even you “imaginary trey”) – still time for those of you who want to make an A this year to drop by and lift heavy stuff…

and as for the books…

“growing up colt” – by the mccoys (father and son) – great book – read in a day it was that good – you might remember young colt as the starting QB in bama’s championship win at the rose bowl (he was knocked out on like the third play) – i suppose in the midst of hating the opposition:) i didn’t quite catch the full story of who he was – who his dad was – and so their story was amazing – great, great read for my football fans out there (st. k???)

“how lucky can you be” by olney – story of a south dakota coach who was dying of cancer – and knew it – the last two years he coached – good story about what matters in life – like letting the people around you know that you love them (and then sending them on wind sprints up and down the court until they puke:)

“five minutes on monday” – nook book – little odds and ends devotionals – i’ll probably use a few of the lessons this year – one was on paradoxes – that all of the great truths in life are paradoxical – had never thought of it before

“How to develop your child’s creative mind” – by renzulli and reis – found a few good quotes for the classroom about creative kids – i wish i had a few in the classroom

i finished “last hero” too – and read the player bios in my bama media guide – guess those are most of it – hope you all have a wonderful week where you try not to think of the nightmare that awaits you the following week:)

luv,
maf