“long road to boston” – this one came in maybe the day after the attack – a fiction book from 1988 – weave of the 1978 (fictional) boston marathon and the story of why the guy that finished high (again, fiction – he didn’t exist) was an unknown competiting against bill rodgers – the best part was about the race – just a great glimpse of what that race was like back then – i could’ve done w/o other things in there – particularly with how quickly the guy got over his dead wife…

“off-balance” what do you do when you’re a gold medalist at 14??? i think i have eighth graders near that age – anyway, this gymnast, now 30-plus, had gold at 14 – and had adults that made her life awful – so rather than the tale of a self-destructive teen (although she did become this later), it’s a story of how adults can mess up youth sports so very often – and the way olympic teams are picked in gymnastics defies logic – except that we do it through centralized, undemocratic control (there would be a rebellion in track and field and swimming if teams were chosen based on one family’s control – grrr…)

by my watch, maybe two weeks left of journals – make them count
mafeld

nothing like “myspace girl” as lightening pops across the sky as you finish another sunday long run…

“the victory season” by weintraub – story of the 1946 baseball season – it inspired me to write tuesday’s poem on the blog – and it would be a great read for middle schoolers – gets jackie robinson’s first season in (white) professional baseball – the story of returning vets from war – as they restart their lives on the diamond – and much more – so it fits well with what you’re reading in history class – as for me, it was enjoyable – lots about the season i needed to be reminded of

“sum it up” by patt summitt – we’re journaling on the book this week – she’s an amazing woman – a great coach – good encouraging read for teachers – for people who care about Alzheimer’s and those it affects – one trivia bit i could throw at you is that Pat wasn’t Pat until college – she was Trish

“running the edge” by adam goucher – i guess i needed goucher’s first name b/c his wife’s the famous one now – anyway, running/psychology book – it worked in areas – definitely a fresh read from the “couch to 5k” books – the part about running after tragedy, i’ve done that and it was a much better recap of the experience than i could write

“moon over manifest” – not only do i assign summer reading, i even occasionally read it:) anyway, this was the second time for me with manifest – it’d been three years and i’d essentially forgotten it – i could tell last year when i was grading my eighth grade papers – the book held up much better than i thought it would – so i was more impressed this time around than previously

hope you have a great patriot’s day tomorrow

mafeld

wow, so i think the pollen count is high today…

“the secret race” by hamilton and coyle – hamilton was a famous cyclist during the “Lance” era – coyle helped him research and write – wonderful book to study with my kids – we’ll journal on some lessons beginning this week – basically, how long could you, could anyone, survive in a sport where doping becomes accepted? again, there a lot of angles we could explore – that we won’t have time for in class – but i think my sporting kids would love reading this and putting themselves in tyler’s position – as an endurance athlete myself, it makes me question things – and it obviously fits with all the material i’ve read from armstrong and others from that time…

and so that was it last week – which isn’t really true – i just haven’t finished another book – i’ve got three i’m working on – 1946 baseball year-in-retrospect, pat summitt’s biography (WONDERFUL), and one direction’s “biography” – i was about done with that one when i donated it to an unnamed – but very lovely – fan of 1D – who wonders if i’ll ever be able to finish the book and learn whether the z-guy – i forget his name – likes boxers or briefs (yes, one of the many “tough” questions the book tackles – i could ridicule it more except that it reminds me of my boy band books i have on the new kids on the block – who – by the way – released a new album this week – which made last week AWESOME)

i’m starting to write in all caps – like my kids – this is bad…

maf

alright,
so hoping this sunday morning finds you all well…

“good girls revolt” by povich – great example of a misidentified book – it’s found in the “business” section of the north shelby library – but it’s a story of the women who sued newsweek for sexism in the 1970s – so it’s really non-fiction – if anything, historical – not “business” at all – particularly when those books are 90 percent of the team targed to white guys who rule companies – of course, this book is written in part to change that – 40 years later, and still not much changed…

“the symptoms of my insanity” by raf – another misidentified book – it was under “children’s fiction” – i’d definitely go “teens and YA” – and probably go “YA” all the way to upper high school – but that said, it’s a great, positive book for upper high school girls – the voice of the main character is true – and her doubts and insecurities are what i would guess girls that age go through – the hazing part the guys go through is definitely true – and, as an added bonus, the musical “oklahoma” was performed!!! 🙂

happy reading – i’m ticked at billy right now b/c he hasn’t reported on our fantasy baseball teams – if he makes us late to post our teams, he’ll never pass my class… 🙂

maf

yes, wait for it… the return of the blogs!!!

yippee – fourth quarter time – it’s our time – it’s winning time – to quote bama’s strength coach that appears on the jumbotron to start the quarter:)

i hope all had a wonderful spring break – it looks i read more than i did…

“pilgrim theology” by horton – this book was what slowed my pace the previous week – thick – heavy – but a really encouraging read – obviously things i learned that i didn’t know – the encouragement was much of it was review of things i’ve been told since i was your age – one interesting note i found was the author pointed out that there are two current strains of thought in society – those that say we can reason our way to anything – and those that say we can’t know anything at all for certain

“twerp” by goldblatt – oh, i was excited when i was invited to read this one – it comes out in may – and it’s really good – i’m sure a bazillion people will compare it to wednesday wars – and do it in a good way – but this book adds some complexity that WW doesn’t have – and all through the eyes of a sixth grade boy – and for our class, it’s worth noting that it’s a highly perceptive, very gifted little sixth grade boy – read the book in a day – and i’ll be curious to get feedback when my kiddos read it

“the future” by al gore – in short, the future is dark – we’re not taking great proactive steps right now as a country to lead and solve some of the long-standing problems we have – in the environment, in banking, in democracy, in aging, in science – in a about six areas – gore outlined the problems with much thought and had interesting solutions – but on the scale of dark to light, dark book…

“teaching advanced learners in the general education classroom” by smutney and von fremd – i think this book’s title basically describes what i do:) anyway, it’s good to read books about teaching when i’m not teaching – otherwise, the students (yes, i’m talking to you anna) just make me too mad to keep reading about teaching – so this was a good break book and i have some ideas to try for the fourth nine weeks – which is what it’s all about

maf

i know, you’re green with envy…

“theory of everything” by luna – i’m curious for my kids to read it and let me know what you think – for an old man teacher:) it reads well enough – i couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t in the teen section – it might be considered “too innocent” for that age – but i’ve got plenty of high school girls that fit that category so i think the book reads well for 7th-11th grade – again, maybe more for girls just b/c guys like to read about themselves – anyway, the basic plot is a girl who sees pandas and thinks they relate to her father’s leaving so many years ago – and her quest to figure out what’s real – the title relates to string theory – physics term – not music:)

and that’s it – i’d write more but i’m on the disabled list right now with a right hand that doesn’t want to work (b/c i sliced three fingers off at the county dump yesterday – oh, the fun with microwaves)

stay safe,
mafeld

figured i’d give an extra credit boost to those of you that read before monday’s final:)

“intentional walk” by raines – book on the faith and the story of the st. louis cardinals 2012 season – it fits the “Christian testimony” genre, if there is one, but the book went well into what you would expect – it greatly encouraged me, and i’m sure my baseball/softball kids would enjoy reading about professional athletes that intentionally try to make their walk match their talk

“see to play” by dr. peters – durham eye doctor’s lifetime work of theory and exercises for the eyes – how the eyes affect play – how you can train your eyes to help your performance – he recommends starting early – i would think, again, my baseball and softball – not to mention those of you that have sports coming in the fall – would gain from getting the book and doing the exercises – i think the theory stuff at the front is a bit beyond you, but you’d enjoy the results behind 10 minutes of practice every day

“the redsox years” by francona – tito was manager of the barons when dad and i first had season tickets – he was a great, great manager – he was here when jordan played his one year of baseball – i enjoyed reading his story – and what happened with the redsox during his reign – lots of lessons can be learned – just from tito, like as a teacher, how you manage personalities in a classroom – how you get everyone on the same page – how you get the king of dinosaurs and the queen of waffles to quit eating chicken in the clubhouse during games (this was a problem with the pitchers in 2011)

happy test week
maf

so we have a week left before finals – which means one week left of journals…

“kings of the road” new book about road running in the 1970s – i ran saturday in tuscaloosa and felt nothing like the main characters because i was way, way back in the pack – great book that wove the story of three US runners in the 1970s – and how they helped create the running boom that exists even today – great stories as well of how a strong work ethic can overcome quite a bit in the sport of running – and the amateur ties the book addresses are things that college football is currently having to figure out (see johnny football)

“the ghost runner” by bill jones – British runner commits one “crime” as an amateur in the 1950s and spend the rest of his life paying for it – amazing story of a guy that often ran without a number – without the proper okay – again, issues with amateur running are things that college football is currently trying to figure out (how much money can you make off someone before you owe it to them to share) – so i enjoyed the book

“steve scott: the miler” – so a triffecta of running books this week – strange how that works sometimes – i’m balancing with a baseball book this week:) anyway, scott was a talented miler in the early ’80s-’90s – good description of that time period – that culture – scott’s story of how running affected his marriage was revealing – and brave of him to include

hope we all celebrated seuss day yesterday in proper fashion – as i mentioned at the top, i was on the road running – with sister – nearly froze:)

sincerely,
mafeld

so i think this week will be one of two left that you have to blog until finals…

“church zero” by jones – a book written for pastors about how to hit the reset button in the way that church is currently done – and that to hit the button, you have to go back to the way church was done in the past – ironically, the author comes to us from the future b/c he’s spent the past years in europe – where he thinks the US church is headed – there’s Bible in there – there’s also Star Wars – and Voltron – which i’d forgotten as a kid – done a good job of forgetting as a kid until the reminder:) anyway, for a pastor book, it reads well for the rest of us

“losers in space” – book i got from hearing about it at a conference – the language makes it high school – well, that and the fact that the protagonist destroys the antagonist – slowly, after getting to the guy’s father first – so probably not a good lesson for ya’ll to learn yet about revenge:) anyway, now that i think about it, the pink elephant that was actually called a horton probably also made it too mature for you – i was ready to give it up myself after 50 pages but i plowed ahead through the space terms and finished the other 400 pages – even though i never did figure out why one kid had to die for being stranded on a space repair – meanwhile the aunt was blown apart from the ship and survived – i’ll have to reread the book more closely when it’s a high school BOB next year (which i would hate:)

“hills, hawgs, and ho chin minh” by kardong – running book – collection of essays – like and then not like his first book 10 years before – still about aging – still about racing – less about running fast though – more about the odd experiences one can run through – my favorite essay was on shriving tuesday – which is also mardi gras day – i have a new holiday to celebrate:)

maf

okay, first up – i did finish – thanks to mr. couch, i have proof:)

http://photos.al.com/birmingham-news/2013/02/mercedes_marathon_66.html

next, my major task was finishing a 600 page book on…

“antartica” by puccim – for a continent, it’s pretty unexplored – definitely so until the last 100 years – very detailed account of the battle for the continent – even though no one really knew why it was important for the longest – good example as well of how things done in the name of science aren’t typically always done in the name of science:)

“running on air” by coates – book about breathing – and running – i tried it today, and of course, that was why i ran superfast:) the interesting part i think was that coates has been a runner and a coach for 30-plus years – so he has the wisdom to speak of things that made the book good – and would make the books ya’ll read from experts in whatever you enjoy good as well

“just call me jock” by semple and kelley (younger) – library book from 1981 – came from florida – was actually AUTOGRAPHED – which was amazing b/c semple passed away years and years ago – great book about how the boston marathon director used to run things back in the day when several hundred runners ran the thing – next year, there will be 25,000 plus – and i’ll be there too:)

hope your journaling is great – moreover, that your reading is good

maf