so one last day without the kids tomorrow – just another day crying, wishing they were here…

“solo” – read the book for Ms. Blount – she was right – the first 30 pages probably not good for a middle school library – but the rest was great – good read

“snake” – biography on kenny stabler – sad book – he died way too early – and from CTE damage

“blue monday” – cool book about the 1981 Expos – a team that is now in DC as the Nationals – i love baseball – most baseball history is about the Yankees – or Dodgers – so reading names and events from a place outside that metro area is fun – this book was informative even though i knew – or thought i knew – a lot already

“around the world in 80 ways” – great little picture book – i hope to use some of it in seventh grade in the coming days

j

so i got through…

“arthur ashe” – 800 pages – i say “got through” – honestly, it was a great biography – about a really good guy – great athlete – with today’s honors, i think sometimes he’s defied into someone who doesn’t seem human – this book was really well done

“how to fracture a fairy tale” – collection of short stories – hit or miss, like most collections

“discipline with dignity” – when you get punished this year, it’s b/c i read a book that all the teachers are reading this year – so, you’re welcome:)

j

so i’m enjoying a really long biography right now that will probably finish me for the summer – prior to that though, i was busy…

“superhuman” – book on the extremes of human biology – meh…

“next-level coaching” – here’s how you tell if i’m a good teacher next year – whether i use of these strategies in the classroom – i’m hopeful too – i bookmarked this book more than any other lately

“dc talk’s jesus freak” – book on one of my favorite albums of all time – probably shouldn’t have read it though b/c the authors were skeptics – i only read it to learn more about the album – yeah, that didn’t work

“simpsons confidential” – great book on a great show – did we all watch last year’s episode on testing with Prof. Frink? i’m thinking we need to devote class time to it:)

“here’s to you, jackie robinson” – learned a lot more about Mobile than i did – so that right there was worthwhile – i’m not sure the author tied everything together well – honestly, the book would’ve been great just discussing the fact that jackie played in alabama in 1948 – that was amazing to me

“city on our knees” – tobymac – great book – enjoyed reading his part

j

wow, lots of reading recently…

“The Good Neighbor” – book on Fred Rogers – great biography – very thorough

“Just Mercy” – adapted for a younger audience – wow, what a book – and lots of it set in Alabama – highly recommended for all high school students

“Rush” – book on one of the Revolutionary doctors – another thorough biography – and a good one

“Born a Crime” – Trevor Noah’s book – great book – but sad – good take on South African in the early 1990s

“The Writer’s Map” – great book on maps in literature – from Harry Potter to RLS and Treasure Island – just beautiful maps

“I’m Keith Hernandez” – baseball biography – enjoyed it, of course

“North” – great book on an ultrarunner – Scott Jurek – me turning 40 soon made this a particularly good book for me

j

“a star is born” – supposedly judy garland’s best work – but you have to watch the original 181 film – not what warner brothers butchered and sent out in 1954 – so i’m going to find that version on dvd and do that – i do love a classic movie

“the man i never met” – sad book – but a good one – by espn’s lead nfl guy – how he fell in love and married a 9/11 widow – so basically, what life has been like after 9/11 – really well done

“how schools work” – by our last education secretary – great book – some good insight – i would’ve read much more had he written it – very accessible – of course, 1/2 the country would write it off b/c it’s not republican – and that’s sad

“God’s library” – not what i thought it would be – basically on the oldest NT texts and editions we have – it was well done but very much out of my league – i was hoping it would help me read the gospels better – nope:)

beating the heat with some summer reads…

“through the language glass” – i can now tell you how other cultures learn colors – definitely not a book i thought that it was when i got it – sometimes, books do that to you – but, got through

“seeing Jesus in East Harlem” – since i’m running the NYC marathon this fall, i count this book as preparation:) it was good – a pastor in that area talked about community building and relationships – the parts about race wouldn’t fly well in most suburban, white communities – but he was right in his critique

“fearless” – eagles head coach – doug peterson – it was funny b/c i’d read a book earlier – like less than a week earlier – saying that doug wasn’t a great coach – and in this book, doug took that guy to task as not being good either – so back and forth:)

“munson” – north shelby library book on yankees legend – i knew a lot about him b/c of other books – the last 100 pages were on his tragic death

“gilgamesh” – the book i read for class this week was good – and quick – learned a few things i can use with eighth grade this year (apologies to all those who have already passed through:)

“gridiron genius” – the book that knocked peterson – it did have some good stuff on saban – and practically worshipped the patriots coach

“green” – one of the best of the bunch – white sixth grader at a boston public school in the late 1980s grows up a bit and learns some lessons through a year

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSXyA3m9d3TlVbU-KjOyEqmEmzlvyM7DHqpp_AUAem2E47sb5vNphDCSDnZxiJaOLLmuO5mKeCkb3uq/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

books read this week as i prepare to return to the roads to race again this saturday – first since boston:)

“don’t let the penguin drive the batmobile” – great book – working on adopting it for SE and my sixth grade

“african dreams in alabama” – new book at columbiana public library – last slave ship landed in mobile – i never knew – and i lived in mobile for two years – the book doesn’t read easily, but i enjoyed reading about a history i didn’t know about

“i was mickey mantle” – reminded me of my dad’s hero

“run forever” – great book about keeping perspective as you age:) the wisdom the 1968 winner of boston has culled from his years running

“mosaic” – amy grant – was okay – needed something to read

any recommendations are appreciated and are currently being accepted:)

j

so i took the first week to actually read some of the books i’m assigning – none of them took me very long – so i guess i’m going to be bummed by how “tough” this becomes for everyone else:)

“treasure island” – i remembered a lot of it from 12 years ago when i taught it to sixth grade – or tried to teach it – i need to watch the muppet’s version now

“the diary of anne frank” – i’d actually never read this book – would’ve been good to read when i was in the play – however, it wasn’t like i wasn’t busy back then – anyway, good to have read – should’ve read it earlier – the additional notes about the diary helped me too

“wrinkle in time” – another one i probably should’ve read a long time ago – meh – it was okay – i think i was expecting to be awed – and i wasn’t

“the game” – harvard-yale 1968 – 29-29 tie – remarkable game – great book – those players are getting old now so preserving their voices is a good thing

“unmasked” – andrew lloyd webber’s biography – only got to phantom – it was really long – could’ve been shortened and been a whole lot better – i did watch “love never dies” b/c of it – didn’t know it existed until this week

“night” – again, another book i should’ve read a long time ago – really excellent – powerful book – i believe it’s required at SCHS – it should be

hope everyone’s summer is off to a great start

j

that or a rap fest gone bad:)

“the hansens method” – book on marathoning – by the team that worked with the lady who won boston – good book post-Boston for me – they do some different things so it’s a good time to try different after a big race

“higher loyalty” – book by fired FBI director – really good book – surprisingly good – not a lot good to say about our current president – go figure – but a good book on leadership

“slave day” – reprint of a 1990s book – so it took me back:) the author is the creator of the veronica mars series – so that was a plus

“all about anne” – from the anne frank house – highly recommended – very good read – will try to get classroom copies this fall

j