the answer to the subject header is yes, of course… 🙂

“boston marathon” – started this week by finishing last week’s book – I made a copy of the map of the course to keep and use as I read a book about the city of boston – so, like last week, a productive book

“William Shakespeare’s star wars” – we read part of this in class – if you like one or the other you should enjoy the combo – good use of creativity

“2 Minute Drill to Manhood” by John Croyle – really enjoyed this book – Croyle’s daughter was at Alabama at the same time I was – and Brodie was after – but I have all the respect and admiration for the father – who has helped to raise 1,800 boys and girls unwanted – this book addressed teaching young boys what they need to become men – something we don’t do a great job of currently – so great, encouraging read – made me question how I lead my young guys (I take no responsibility for billy:)

“The Hinge” by Bell – very easy to read book about the mental discipline it takes to be at the top in sports – that to successfully compete, you have to take advantage of the good and the bad and treat the next play, the next mile – as if it’s your first – no history, nothing to hold you back – I thought I would use the lessons of this book in my 10k race this weekend – but when i’m racing, i’m not thinking about much other than hoping the next milemarker comes soon:)

happy novel writing this week – i’m off to watch more of the NYC marathon

maf

so greetings for the week from fred’s dino

currently, Nicole is busy playing Operation: Dinosaur – which is sort of like the game Operation except in this one you have dino bones and instead of a BEEP when you don’t get the object out, you get a ROAR!!!

Nicole isn’t that skillful at the game so I have plenty of time to write – sadly, little time to read – in fact, slacker now that I am, this is the first week in forever I haven’t finished a book…

“Boston Marathon” – so i’m like 470 pages in – 130 left to go – so I have failed to finish a book this week – and it’s ironically about something I actually enjoy reading about – oh well – sorry to disappoint all my fandom – in my defense, I am enjoying the book and I’ve been in no rush to get through it – I guess what I enjoy most about the book is every year since 1897, there’s been a success story – someone who pushed the edge, who worked and planned and hoped and dared – and it all fell together on one special day – and so I read every year’s story and think “how cool would it be to have a story like this when I run?”

the scrambled dino eggs were wonderful this morning reech-al – everyone knows you don’t have to eat “to go” outside – it’s just code for fast food workers to get your meal together quicker

maf

ah, sundays… 🙂

“to be a runner” – national news writer, current cross country coach, wrote a great book two years ago about the lessons we learn as runners – he tried to make the book appeal to a larger audience in that he said your “running” could be like “marching band” – aka, some other activity that you have to work at – that claim was a bit of a stretch though – people aren’t going to read it unless they run – so the book’s audience will always be small – and all activities aren’t the same – of course, maybe my metaphorical thinking is off…

“grave mercy” – ah, the book I told several classes about:) first, it’s a high school BOB – I just think I have to explain why I end up reading 500-page romance books about young girls who leave their convent to kill men – except when they fall in love – and then the guy gets poisoned – then, they have to unravel the French plot to overthrow their empire and save the princess so that they can leave the convent and marry their love – whom they rescue by kissing the poison out (that’s some kiss…) I guess from this book, to do a journal, I would tell the book from the guy’s POV – and learn how he can get such a great girl – in that way, this book could’ve saved my dating life:)

“rising tide: joe Namath, bear Bryant, and Dixie’s last quarter” – story of the 1962-64 Alabama football teams – and its quarterback joe Namath – and coach bear Bryant – and how that team and that player lived through a rather tough stretch in our state – as many books as I’ve read about Alabama football, I still actually enjoyed this book – I was leery going in – if you ask me to read a book about teaching sixth grade, i’d be like “why? I already know everything and you’ll just make me mad b/c the author’s won’t” – but in this case, the authors did a great job – and, as always with civil rights, I could go back and talk to my parents – who lived through Tuscaloosa and Columbiana’s 1960s

happy return to writing
maf

so there’s finals – sort of – this week – which is good enough an excuse to not have you turn in work – remember though, reading logs and the read six challenge for bama-au are due either this week or the following…

“miss peregrine’s home for peculiar children” – high school BOB – good book – read okay – if you want the recap, grandson goes back in time, falls in love with what might have been his grandmother, and fights off soulless vampire-ish things that want to destroy the peculiar children – all of whom have pictures included in the book – and somehow, that book worked:)

“jabba the puppet” – the new origami yoda book – jared is right – the books get better – in this one, the seventh grade kids try to overthrow standardized testing and its ridiculous “drill and kill” practices – while also surviving middle school drama from things like dances and such – always an entertaining series read

“college at 13” – authors from Virginia finished a study of women who went off to college early – what works – what doesn’t – I guess what struck me most about the book was how easy it was for most of the girls – you’d think a jump would be really hard – but for most highly gifted, what’s hard is surviving middle and high school – b/c it’s boring

i’m reading a running book now so live is good

maf

so it’s really, really dark now when you get up to run 17 miles at 4:30 on sunday mornings – just sayin’…

“newton’s football” – wonderful read for me and, more importantly, for the middle school kids I teach – basically, science questions about America’s favorite game – and very accessible for a middle school audience that might not know the reasons why things are they way that they are on the field – so great for gifted boys with math/science interests

“Bomb” – high school BOB – really should be middle school BOB – basically, a story of the atomic bomb – I’ve found adults that really like this book – which I don’t understand b/c there are better adult books on the subject – but none better for a middle school audience – with high school, eh, I just think they could’ve tackled something more on their level – or just with lots of cursing – that seems to be more high school BOB:)

“hate list” – wow, what a concept for a book – girlfriend of a school shooter having to return and piece her life back together – we all have those “face up” moments where we return to something we’d rather not – and the book is an excellent thought process of how you’d do that – so an “enjoyable” read

maf

trust me, you need to go back and read my poem and joseph’s response when you feel down – I laughed all Friday when I saw it:)

“different seasons” by Stephen king – apparently, this book was king’s effort to prove he wasn’t a horror writer – even though three of the four stories were horror, I thought – oh well, the positive was that I read the book – the negative was that it was entirely too long and I just didn’t enjoy it much – but I can now say I’ve read that – i’m not sure why people enjoy horror though…

“colin fischer” – cute book – not the best book of all time – but cute – colin is like all of us in many ways – we all feel disconnected from people at times – that we can’t read them – or we misread them – so I thought the introduction that pointed this fact out was good – despite the fact that I don’t think kids are this cruel any more (seriously, would an autistic kid get mercilessly picked on by teachers and students???)

“5th wave” – oh my, just when I thought high school romance books couldn’t get cheesier – classic twilight/hungers game combo – it’s the end of the world and we have a brave young girl who battles evil aliens – meanwhile, torn between her high school crush and a friendly alien – don’t worry though – the aliens get 7 billion of us, but true love wins in the end!!!

(yes, the last book was a high school BOB – sheesh people…)

happy reading – i’m sure you’re all out buying 5th wave now:)

maf

so full disclosure, I ran Talladega this morning – all 13 miles of it – so there’s no telling where this blog will go…

“the element” – basically, a book about doing what you love – and getting into it – that most adults give this idea up – there were some good moments in the book – the thing with the planets that the writer borrowed was ultra neat – basically, that the earth looks big compared to other planets – but compared to all of them – and stars, we’re like less than a spec on a picture – gives you perspective

“scene it, be it, write it” – I think this was the title – basically, a book that teaches you to teach kids writing prompts by having them act out the question – it obviously works well for stories – for a literary prompt, i’m not sure how well that would go – that said, i’d love to try it some time so remind me if you want to have acting/theater class some day with a quiz:)

“winning character” by tommy Bowden – former Clemson head coach – I enjoyed this book – I read it in a day – basically, just good advice about what it takes to be successful – to be a man – to be a leader – and a lot of that comes from the three priorities in your life – coach Bowden said that most people say 1. God 2. family and friends 3. something – but that the no. 3 is typically no. 1 – a realization that caused him to decide he couldn’t just give lip service to no. 1 having never read the Bible all the way through – so he started at age 40 and it took him three years – I thought that story was good

I finished fourth, by the way, in my age group – fourth is possibly the worst position ever:)

maf

second block unit 1 remember sixth grade, you don’t blog journals here – just blogs about how awesome the seventh grade is with all these really tough words to learn:)

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