Amazon's Top 100

My friend Sara knows that I am fond of lists, all lists, but especially reading lists. She found this list and posted it on my FB page and then she posted how many she'd read. I, of course, had to do the same. Thanks, Sara! 

Read red (54)

*Recommend (46)

Want to read blue (28)

Will never read green (4)

Not read normal (46)

1. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
2. Dune by Frank Herbert*
3. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks
4. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
6. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
8. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
9. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien*
10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
11. The World According to Garp by John Irving
12. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
13. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion
15. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
16. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*
18. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
19. Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
20. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins*
21. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
22. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared M. Diamond
23. The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne
24. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry*
25. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson*
26. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll*
27. Alice Munro: Selected Stories by Alice Munro*
28. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak*
29. The Shining by Stephen King*
30. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
31. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
32. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
33. Moneyball by Michael Lewis
34. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald*
35. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
36. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
37. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
38. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
39. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
40. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
41. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley*
42. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl*
43. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton*
44. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
45. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen*
46. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
47. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 1 by Jeff Kinney
48. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster*
49. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood*
50. Beloved by Toni Morrison*
51. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
52. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
53. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison*
54. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle*
55. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
56. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury*
57. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
58. Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
59. 1984 by George Orwell*
60. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote*
61. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) by Rick Riordan
62. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
63. The Color of Water by James McBride
64. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White*
65. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle*
66. The Stranger by Albert Camus*
67. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen*
68. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown*
69. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
70. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris*
71. All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
72. A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning: The Short-Lived Edition by Lemony Snicket
73. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
74. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
75. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
76. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt*
77. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain*
78. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
79. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein*
80. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
81. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro
82. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
83. The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
84. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
85. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
86. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger*
87. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
88. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
89. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway*
90. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
91. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
92. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen*
93. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi*
94. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
95. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
96. The Liars' Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr
97. The Giver by Lois Lowry*
98. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
99. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Dantica
100. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov*

Young Adult Fiction: A Definition...maybe...

[Source]

So, after thinking about the NPR poll yesterday and thinking more and more about a] our societies' current obsession with YA fiction and b] how NPR's reply to their poll just muddied the water considerably I thought I'd put in writing what makes YA fiction what it is. And, yes, for the sake of teacher's everywhere, it really does need to be a little more scientific than what NPR has given us.

First, how NPR classifies YA Lit

1. We don't care if it's adult literature, if a teen reads it than we can call it YA fiction, unless we didn't want to...see #5.
2. Young Adult means ages 12 to 18.
3. A book where the publisher says it's for ages '8 and up' or '10 and up' is automatically Children's lit, except, um, see #4.
4. If a book has won a Newbery Award it's too young...um, unless, our judges said it wasn't too young.
5. Books we deem 'rites of passage' should be consider YA even if we deem them too young (The Last Unicorn) or not intended for young adults to begin with (The Lord of the Rings, Dune, The Catcher in the Rye. Did Salinger really mean for his book to be for adults? I'll have to Google that later.)
6. If a book was meant for a teen audience and it has too many adult themes we didn't add it too the list (their examples: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Ender's Game...I guess they forgot all about how Tom Robinson was accused of rape, oh, not to mention the abuse aspect, in To Kill A Mockingbird and that The Hunger Games is set in a future society where 24 kids are forced to kill each other, in pretty gruesome fashion, until there is only one and the reason isn't survival, but domination in a post-apocalyptic/dystopic society)

Some NPR commenter highlights

(at the time of writing this blog post there are 54 comments)

• There should be a list of Middle Grade books.
• Where is Michael Cadnum, manga, Steampunk, Mark Twain, Scott O'Dell, Norma Klein, Cleavers, Jean Little, gender and ethnic diversity, All the Pretty Horses, Out of the Dust, Pride and Prejudice, Science Fiction like Heinlein, ERB, Moorcock, Baroness Orczy, Neil Gaiman, Alexander, McKillip?
• Do kids really like Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, The Chocolate War, A Separate Peace, and other 'classics' anymore? Read my answer to what I feel teacher's should be doing about this here.
• Why are some of the books so new?
• NPR you're being a little contradictory: Yes to LotR as being a rite of passage, but no to Pride and Prejudice? Yes to Catcher in the Rye, but no to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? Go Ask Alice isn't too mature? Yes to Twilight and The Hunger Games, but no to Ender's Game? If A Wrinkle in Time is too young so is Tuck Everlasting. 
• Thanks for the variety of genre and age ranges within the YA spectrum and for accounting for all taste...(I think somebody even used the words 'precious gems'). Thanks for your efforts.
• Remember this is a poll of readers.
• The fundamental question was flawed: Was I supposed to be selecting books I read and loved as a young adult? Was I supposed to only be selecting YA books? What is YA? Was I supposed to select books that make you 'well-educated' or are deemed 'classics'? Did I have to actually have read them all or just the ones I voted for? How was I suppose to choose only 10? (I can tell you I picked 10 books that I definitely read that I know moved teenagers in some fashion)
• How did Betsy-Tacy get in?
• Judges shouldn't use personal feelings to determine readership.

A recap of a brief discussion in Young Adult Book-Content Advisory

• Children's and YA should be separate
• Why do bookstores, publishers and librarians get to say what is Children's, YA or Adult?
• YA needs a rating system
• YA should mean 17-25
• An interview with Isaac Marion

My categories...based on Wikipedia, this article, my own brain and a post. These are followed by my 'two-cents', for what it's worth
(this can be found in the above discussion, as well)

There are actually three classifications

Children's
Age: 0-8

Description:
Picture books, early reader books, very simple language, use large print, and have many illustrations

Examples:
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales,
The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales,Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,Skippy Jon Jones Collection,Chicken Little

Middle Grade 
Age: 9-12

Description:
1. Middle grade novels tend to be shorter. (Though not always—the huge and intimidating Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is middle grade, while Angela Johnson’s brief-as-a-vivid-dream The First Part Last is quite clearly teen.)
2. Middle grade novels tend to have main characters who are the age of—or slightly older than—the target reader. (Though this, too, isn’t hard and fast: The girls in The Witch Family are younger than the reader who can fully appreciate the story, and even characters such as Mr. Putter or Frog and Toad are for all intents middle-aged.)
3. Middle grade novels tend to be more outwardly focused: Their plot of events, of things happening to the character, is more important over the course of the book than what happens within the character. (Though that matters very much to the climax of the book, when the outward events trigger an inner change.)
4. Middle grade novels tend to have a simpler vocabulary and a simpler sentence structure.
Middle grade novels tend to have a single inciting element—the thing that sets the comfortable, given world a-kilter.

Examples:
The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset,Charlotte's Web,
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (the whole series)


Young Adult/Teen
Age: 13-up

Description:
1. Teen novels tend to have a wider vocabulary and a more complex sentence structure.
2. Teen novels tend to give as much weight to the interior mechanics of character dilemma and change as to the outward mechanics of plot and event. That is, how a character feels about what is happening is as important as what is happening.
3. Teen novels tend to be less a simple-upsetting-of-a-status-quo (the world as it the reader knows it) and more the realization that the world is more complex than we suspected as children. (Its mysteries are legion.)
4. Teen novels tend to be longer and more demanding of the reader.

Examples:
Twenty Boy Summer,Divergent (whole series),Twilight (whole series)

I find it interesting that these descriptions don't really, directly encompass the amount of sex, cussing, violence et cetera in each book. However, I really didn't think much about it until I read The Hunger Games series. As an adult reader I could tell that I wasn't the target audience, I could also tell that most high schoolers (while they like the books) would find it any easy read, below their reading levels and easy to figure out. I truly had a problem with the amount of violence in those books. I'm not arguing with the tag of middle grade...mostly I'm arguing with myself about whether I would let my kid read those books or not. I've come to the conclusion that I would let her read anything that she was prepared (maturity etc.) to read. 

This is why classifying books in any other way, but the broad strokes above would be so tricky, as subjective attitudes, personal mores and our own morality come into play when wanting to classify books. I am positive that using our personal ideals is fine on a personal level at home, but on a broader level if we, as parents/adults/teachers, use these classifications to determine readership we are doing a subtle form of censorship, as what one person believes on a personal level is totally different than what another person believes.

It is no longer the day where a parent can just grab a book on a shelf, like the cover and let their kid read it. If we want to help our kids make appropriate (according to us) discussion we have to read the book too and not leave the determination in the hands of bookstores, libraries or teachers (as I promise I've been burned a time or two by 'letting' my students read a book that seemed just fine for a 15/16 year old to read). 

And, finally, it would seem to me that book stores and libraries and teachers that do not use these three distinctions are behind in the times and doing everyone a disservice, especially themselves.

A plea to adults everywhere
Read YA Fiction all you want, but leave its plots, themes and expectations in the hands of its appropriate readers; the youth it was intended to propel into reading in the first place. Do I think the Twilight Saga blows chunks? My adult brain says, "Yes" while simultaneously harboring an inappropriate crush on a certain undead vampire. Really, it's perfect YA lit and if we're lucky Twilight readers will find Sookie Stackhouse and then Anne Rice and, finally, the ultimate in vampire literature Dracula (yes, I feel vamp lit has a hierarchy. Heck! I believe all genres have hierarchies). We have to give those reader's time to grow and mature. Let's not impose our adult brains on what teens read either. There are some adult books that truly speak to the growth and maturity of youth, and it's OK that teens read them, but let's not call those books YA just because they do. And, in that same respect, we can read teen lit all we want, but let's not commandeer it as our own, OK?!

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 15

Last year I found this book challenge (since then I have seen many variations of it, but I like this one best!), and have been intrigued about how I would answer the questions posed. Obviously, I started this challenge over 30 days ago...I just wasn't inspired. It isn't as easy to write about books as I thought.


Feel free to comment with your own answer or post the challenge to your own blog.


Your "Comfort" Book
So, looking at this challenge reminded me of a reading-challenge (I committed to literally July of last year) Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book over at Book Dragon's Lair. She asked us to send her a list of our comfort books in the hope of compiling a list and from that list....ah...I'll just let you read for yourself, from the blog itself:

Guidelines:
Make a postlink up (coming)read 5 books from the list that you haven't read before
Reviews:would be nice but I'd be more interested in why you pick each book and what you thought of it. This can be added to your post about the challenge. (I'll be adding this in my reviews)

Here are the five that I picked to add to the list:

1. The Princess Bride...William Goldman

2. Alice in Wonderland...Lewis Carroll

3. The Phantom Tollbooth...Norton Juster

4. The English Patient...Michael Ondaatje

5. How to Make an American Quilt...Whitney Otto

If I shall choose one...hmmm...I suppose it will have to be...

This is, of course, assuming a comfort book is different than a favorite book!


And, here's the big list from the challenge with the five books I'm going to read in bold orange:
I've picked two books I've read before and three I've heard good things about.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce
The Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Anne Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowlings
The Hawk and the Jewel, The by Lori Wick
The Hobbit, The by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto
The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
The Irish Country series Patrick Taylor
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Key Trilogy by Nora Roberts
Le Grand Secret (The Immortals) by René Barjavel
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Mitford series by Jan Karon
The Negotiator by Dee Henderson
The Night Watch by Sergej Lukianenko
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Phryne Fisher Mystery series by Kerry Greenwood
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Princess Bride, The by William Goldman
The Protector of the Small quartet by Tamora Pierce
Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
Secret Garden, The by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Spy Wore Red, The by Aline, Countess of Romanones
Stand, The by Stephen King
Stone and the Flute, The by Hans Bemmann
Tangled Web, A by L.M. Montgomery
Time Traveler's Wife, The by Audrey Niffenegger
Venetia by Georgette Heyer
Westing Game, The by Ellen Raskin
Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce
Worthing Saga, The by Orson Scott Card

Day 01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)

Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Day 03 – The best book you've read in the last 12 months
Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 – A book or series you hate
Day 06 – Favorite book of your favorite series
Day 07 – Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 – Best scene ever
Day 10 – A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11– A book that disappointed you
Day 12 – A book or series of books you've read more than five times
Day 13 – Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 – Favorite character in a book
Day 15 – Your “comfort” book
Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 – Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Day 21 – Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 – Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 – Most annoying character ever
Day 24 – Best quote from a novel
Day 25 – Any five books from your “to be read” stack
Day 26 – OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 – If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 – First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 – Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 – What book are you reading right now?

Blogging from A to Z Reflections Post 2012 Edition

Of note:
1] The A to Z Challenge helped 24 new people follow and find me! Hello new followers!!! It's so good to have you around!!!
2] I found new blogs to follow and new friends on Goodreads and Pinterest, so excited for all the fresh new books and projects
3] I visited 738 of 1718...and, I plan to continue visiting blogs until I have visited them all.
4] To make room to follow new blogs, I stopped following blogs that haven't posted in over a year and realized a lot of the blogs I follow are not defunct *sadness*
5] Writing a few ahead...really worked! Thanks A to Z challenge people for inspiring me to blog more!

Favorite Post I Wrote During the Month
H is for How to Keep Your Daughter From Ending Up Like That Horrid Girl in Twilight
I is for Interracial
L is for Love
O is for O.S.C.A.R and Other Processed Foods We Eat At Our House
S is for Singing...As In We Love Ourselves Some Music

Favorite Post I read
A Alice Vs. Alice
B B-Baddies
C The Cardigans
D D is for Dr. Who
E E is for Easy Kitchen Accessories
F F is for Fathers
G Gattaca Movie Review
H "H" is for "Holiday Inn" (1942)
I I Love You More Than Chocolate by Melanie Milburn
J Joplin, Missouri
K K is for Kite
L L is for Little Miss Magic
M M is for Mommy
N The Notebook (2004)
O Onion Parmesan Butter
P P is for parasols
Q Q
R R-Rhett
S S is for Sex
T Tea and Toast
U U!
V V is for Vision Boards
W "W"
X X is for generation X
Y Y is for Yesterday
Z Z

Blogs I Found
I'm not going to lie, I found a lot of really cool blogs to follow and visit, but I didn't write them down or note them, but know that I found loads of blogs and blog post and spent every day of April learning more and making blog friends.

I'm definitely doing this again next year!!! Just need to keep better track of the post and blogs I find interesting! :D

The Makings of an Honors Teacher

A few weeks ago my department head was talking with me about our honors program. Next year we are going to incorporate another teacher at each of the grade-levels. This means that two of the programs will go from one teacher with the honors darlings to two. For one grade this will not be a change (seniors have both AP Lit and Comp and a dual credit class called Expository Writing) and for another grade it will be a blessing (two non-tenured teachers collaborating with two veteran teachers--thanks, Aimee--to build a strong freshmen foundation). For the other two grade-levels it will be a drastic change, as the sophomore and junior level have each had a teacher who's been at the level alone, relatively, for 8+ years.

I am one of those teachers.

Here's an excerpt of an email I sent to my prospective collaborator:

"Would you be interested? Know that I want someone to collaborate with, but I've been teaching that class for 12 years...um...er...so...I need someone who won't let me just railroad them..."

And, I meant all of what I said. I am opinionated, know my stuff and like my stuff, but really want someone who will challenge me and my way of thinking! Really, really...one, can, after all, get really stale...and, I'm so close to stale...

Which brings me to the conversation I was having with my department head. We were talking about how our department is young (in terms of length in this building I have 2nd place and I've been here 13 years) and with that comes some inexperience, but also many Millennial generation characteristics that annoyed us when they were students and that definitely annoy us now that they are our colleagues and peers. She said that she wanted the four of us (those of us who are old school...having been here long enough to be tenured) to come up with a list of traits that we emulate and hope to exhibit as honors teachers. Being Generation X, I researched, took notes, wrote in my journal, talked with my friends and came up with the following traits that I hope I possess and I hope that other honors teachers possess. Here is the umbrella from which I garnered these ideas, straight from my department head's brainstorm. She wanted us to focus on "Knowledge & Expertise / Craftmanship / Presence / Efficacy :) / Engagement / Relationships / Relevance / Rigor - what does rigor mean to us?"

Every Honors Teacher (or, as the articles will point out, any teacher for that matter)

1. "Love[s] their subject matter, and they need to love their students, and they need to love bringing them together."...these words aren't even mine, but they're soooo deliciously true. It's a given that teachers should love their subject, but many don't. A true honors teacher loves their subject, goes to conferences in the summer, seeks professional development and is always questioning--there's no such thing as a 'done' lesson plan/unit/activity.  If you love your students your students know. Even when you stop relating to them you go out of your way to find something that endears you to them...you get a Twitter account or talk to them about their music, movies et cetera, you read blogs. A student that loves you will do anything for you. You are honest with them, even if that doesn't always cast you in the most positive light.
2. Has high academic standards. You know what your subject is, you know what you want from students, never give up never surrender. If you don't know what these things are...take the summer before you start teaching to figuring it out. Yes, I said the summer, it will take the whole summer. What do you want to learn from your class (I found a love of certain types of non-fiction by teaching NF to my students)? What do you want your students to learn? Know this at all times! Be able to defend your high academic standards by citing your curriculum, common core, your own core...
3. Has created a world in their classroom that may seem at first intimidating, but is actually inviting and challenging. You are not your students friend, although they might think it and later in life you just might be. You know what rules are firm in your classroom and you know what rules can and should be bent. You understand that when kids say you don't teach is because you are teaching them all about #8. You live and breath the balance between intimidating and inviting and challenging. 
4. Plans and is always thinking about said plans. No plan/unit/test is EVER perfect and you get this. Nothing is ever finished. Part of the fun is the stress of it!
5. Can differentiate in the long term, in class at the spur of the moment and is willing to do so without 'throwing out the baby with the bathwater'. Read #4 again, now read it again and then read it one last time...drink it in. There are different levels of honors students...some will just want a grade, some will want to learn and some are just there because they're parents are making them. You have to teach and help and learn from all of these students. Be open to the learning and the challenge and the confusion.
6. Understands that the reward is not immediate or even noticeable. You understand that some students will never figure this out, you understand that some students will figure this out and credit another teacher, you understand that some students will figure it out late in life and write you the most exquisite email/letter/card. You live for these moments.
7. Knows when to let students do the thinking and they stand firm in this fact even if parents, administration and other faculty tell them otherwise. The goal is to make a thinker/maker/doer, not to please your community or to make sure that all of your students have perfect grades. You might see AP or common core as a guide.
8. Realizes that teaching honors is to teach students to: be self-reflective, reason, reflect, have a passion for learning, be independent and dependent...and this occurs all the time everyday. 
9. Is willing to risk. I've changed aspects of my class every year...I try new things, better ways to teach honors, teach a certain concept...I know that not all of these is always going to pan out, but I do them anyway.
10. Is willing to fail. I say willing to fail because if something doesn't work and you give up than no one wins. However, if you recognize where your failure lies and research and learn to do better than you and your students grow. It has taken me about 6 years to figure out how to teach grammar without losing my soul, I'm still tweaking the finer points and probably will be until I retire.

Articles from which I found ideas:
Teaching Honors
Teaching and Learning in Honors

Dear Sarah Ockler

Dear Sarah Ockler,

About a week ago I read your treatise entitled I CliffsNoted My Way Through H.S. Lit & All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.

I was disappointed.
I was appalled.
I wailed and gnashed my teeth.

Then I realized something. As an English Major who now teaches High School English, I was the anomaly, you were just being a normal teenager. Teenagers today are no different. I think they aren't as good at hiding it as you may have been, but they would prefer to do anything else besides read a book that doesn't interest them (ie. a book that they are being forced to read). As teachers get more and more frustrated, the kids pretend less and less. There are whole entire groups of people making money on this fact.

Still there is no answer.

Here's a list of books we read in my Sophomore English classes (those that are bold are taught in Honors only, the others are taught at all levels)

Of Mice and Men (moving to Seniors next year to be replaced with Antigone)
The Crucible
The Scarlet Letter
Ethan Frome
Our Town
The Sun Also Rises
The Great Gatsby
A Separate Peace
Julius Caesar

I think that most teens do not find these books interesting in any way. In most cases I feel this is the fault of the teacher who, for whatever reason, didn't attach the proper hangers for the students to grasp the book or gave too many hangers and the students became over-loaded with the work's meaning and didn't even see how good the book could have been. I know that I have been guilty of both. I know that I forget that I am an anomaly. You see I love to read and I will read anything, just look at my Goodreads list from last year to see I'm all over the map. I think there's something to be said for reading those classics of lit that may or may not be easy to read, but have in them themes and characters that are truly universal. It's important to read pieces of literature that have stood the test of time.

All of those books above have within them a hook (a character or plot point or theme) that really grabs the interest of a student. It's up to me to figure out what that is and to make it work. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not some sort of Book Whisperer who entrances her students to read and understand and love every book we read (I know several students who feel compelled to tell me that they didn't read a book all year like it's some sort of honor), but I do try to get them to do so.

Example One: There was a student I had who I knew wouldn't like or want to read The Crucible. I also knew that he had just gotten out of a relationship with a girl who definitely wanted him back. While we're reading the play aloud it was easy for me to assign him the character of John Proctor. He immediately identified with the character and in the end was really mad with the outcome. I had him hooked for the rest of the year.

Example Two: It's easy to get students interested in Julius Caesar, all you have to do is tell them the best part of the story...the fact that a man literally gets stabbed to death because of his best friend. "Et Tu Brute?" And, if that doesn't hook them, tell them that man's other best friend may or may not be the best guy in the world, and ask them to tell you why.

Example Three: Once students read Of Mice and Men, they get certain SNL parodies, certain Bugs Bunny cartoons and even an episode of "Friends". They get pretty excited about that. Then you can teach them all about allusions.

That being said, below you will find a list of books from your list that you MUST read.

The Scarlet Letter...if you are going to reference in your book, you really must read it and then watch "Easy A" and cry for joy about all the nuances you are now getting. There is this chapter where Dimmesdale and Hester meet again in the forest and it is so beautiful and romantic that I can't help but love it.

The Canterbury Tales...find a list that details each tale and read the bawdier ones first. Seriously, there's one where a guy with a hairy butt gets a hot poker in the bum, that's good stuff.

Shakespeare...the stereotypical high school ones are Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth and Hamlet. There's crazy teen romance, a mother that gets a little too close to her son and then yells at the Gods to rip out her womb, friendships that go a-rye, premarital sex, suicide (I mean a girl swallows hot coals, hot coals, I say! and another drowns herself in the reeds), sword fights and battles on the fields of war. Good stuff. Girl, get thee to Shakespeare I say!

The Great Gatsby...first Modern American novel. Ask yourself "What does it mean to be an American today?" This book will tell you. It also has a character (Daisy) that I love to hate. Gosh, she gets under my skin. Understand that you're seeing Gatsby through Nick's eyes and wonder if you have ever had a friend that was that good to you. Then, if you find that you like this book go ahead and read Ethan Frome, another book that has a character or three that I love to hate. Choose a side. Read it again. Choose another. It's so much fun!

Our Town...I flipping love this play. Read all about that here.

I can only hope that at some point in time my students also come to the realization that they would love to read the classics they skimmed over, and that they do so "all in the name of keeping an open mind, finding human connections, and cashing in on all of the wonderful lovey-dovey of books." I am afraid, however, that they will think the movie or SNL parody will suffice.

If you read the above and feel I haven't steered you too wrong, I've got a whole delicious list of about 100 books just waiting for you!

Sincerely,
Stephanie M. Hasty
Communication Arts Teacher

PS. I don't like To Kill A Mockingbird (but, I have read it all the way through so I can say that). I also don't like The Help...maybe one day I will be brave enough to talk to the blog-world in a serious tone about why...

S is for Singing...as in we love ourselves some music!

My friend Becky, the same one who had the idea for the topic for my A to Z, had a wonderful topic for the letter 'M', however, I already had an 'M'...I've moved it to 'S'. Here's what she said would be a good topic:

"Music you really have liked throughout the last 15 years and ones you think you would want to share with Lila. Everytime I listen to my U2 I think of you. Maybe you could share a few songs that happened during certain times in your life and what challenges you overcame at that time, or what the song meant to you...Or your first song you and Chris both liked, as well as Lila's first song."

And, here are my thoughts...

I can chart my life by music. I didn't realize how nostalgic this made me until I got old enough to have life moments worth remembering. Benny Goodman, Cliff Richards and "The Grease" soundtrack remind of weekends at my grandparents house. "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac reminds me of the moment I realized I loved this boy in high school; that song also reminds me of the huge fight we had that damaged our friendship. If I want to remember significant high school moments I just pop in the "Boomerang" soundtrack or listen to a little NKOTB or Ace of Base. Yesterday I was just talking about slow dancing to "November Rain". I can chart every moment of my college career by song; DC Talk and Jars of Clay, "The Reality Bites" soundtrack, Oasis, Tim McGraw, "Dare to Care" concerts and Mazzy Starr. I remember sitting in the living room of a house I shared with friends talking and listening to Sheryl Crow's, "If It Makes You Happy"...I remember this moment like it was yesterday...my cat Winnie is at my feet and the smell of a cake we just baked is wafting from the blue walled kitchen. I knew that Chris and I would get along just fine when we spent a night listening to music and talking about our memories we pretty much went through our own personal catalogs of music and events. I knew that our relationship was perfect, when we bought tickets for the opening U2 show in Chicago.

The thing is I think that every single moment of life is wonderful and marvelous. I think that they should not be forgotten.

It just makes sense that I would chart our lives with Lila in the same manner. For my personal baby-shower I made the following compilation for each guest. I wanted a list of songs that I enjoyed that were all about raising and loving little girls. We also had U2's "Vertigo Tour" DVD playing in the background.

Baby Girl CD

Sugar, Sugar The Archies                      

Gracie Ben Folds Five                 

She's Gotta Way Billy Joel                             

Where You Lead I Will Follow Carole King and Louise Gaffin                   

Never Grow Old The Cranberries                              

It Won't Be Like This for Long  Darius Rucker                  

Sweet Child O' Mine Guns and Roses                              

Amazing Janelle                

Intelligentactile 101 Jesca Hoop                       

Little Miss Magic Jimmy Buffet                   

There Goes My Life Kenny Chesney                              

Time of Your Life Little Steven                     

In My Daughter's Eyes Martina McBride                            

Seven Years Norah Jones                     

Songbird Oasis                   

Little Wonders Rob Thomas                     

Pretty Dress Rosie Thomas                  

My Little Girl Tim McGraw                    

Original of the Species U2                        

My Darling Wilco     

The other day I came home from being away for the whole weekend, Chris and Lila were just vegging on the couch watching the waving PS3 screensaver listening to Pink Floyd. One time in the not to distant past, Chris came home and we were watching the videos and dancing around to:

"Dog Days" by Florence + the Machine

"1, 2, 3, 4" by Fiest

For the most part, however, on her own Lila has pretty chees-tastic taste...I can only assume that all 2 year-olds are like this and would prefer:

Elmo and India Arie singing the ABCs

"10 Little Numbers"...and, if you sing it "10 Little Indians" she will freak!

Chris and I are both lovers of music and from an early age we have instilled that love into our daughter.
At 7-months she would hum along to:

"From Where I'm Standing" by Schulyer Fisk in the movie I Am Reed Fish

Music she likes and will seek out
Pop music, every kid goes through this phase and I can jam out to Justin Bieber, "High School Musical" and Selena Gomez right along with her..."I love you like a love song, baby"...try getting that out of your head.
The first song she every sang the words to was:

"Rhythm of Love" by The Plain White Ts...we just call this the Ba-Ba Song

The thing is our musical taste have seeped into her everyday thoughts. I know that my kiddo will have no choice but to like U2 and Coldplay and Michael Jackson, just as I know that I have no choice about liking Elvis and Abba and Michael Jackson. This is the kind of music that I grew up with and I have wonderful memories associated with every song. I hope that when Lila Jane turns 35 she can say the same.

For more about my life in music, check out my 30 Day Song Challenge.

"Music & Me"
Michael Jackson

We've been together for such a long time now
Music, music and me
Don't care whether all our songs rhyme
Now music, music and me

Only know wherever I go
We're as close as two friends can be
There have been others
But never two lovers
Like music, music and me

Grab a song and come along
You can sing your melody
In your mind you will find
A world of sweet harmony

Birds of a feather we'll fly together
Now music, music and me
Music and me

L is for Love

All of this talk of my preschooler and my love for her has brought me to a very important topic my love for Christopher and how hard it is to nurture that love when you've got a 2 year old around. For the last month-ish we've been working on that as a couple...

First, we've been reading the books For Men Only and For Women Only...I talk a little bit about that here.

And, I've been working on devising a year's worth of dates...

Chris likes playing games so there will be a lot of fun in pulling a date idea out of a basket or jar. I have many, many, many baskets just lying around and Date Night in a Jar by Life in the Green House gives such broad but entertaining topics, all of which are color coordinated in groups.

Examples include expensive, as in let's go out and spend some time and money dates:

• Dinner at a fancy restaurant
• Hotel stay for the night
• Concert and dinner (his choice)
• Concert and dinner (my choice)
• Weekend away

Inexpensive dates:

• Dinner and a movie (my choice and his choice)
• Laser tag and go carts
• Mexican night 
• Dessert only date
• Coffee Date

And,  let's stay at home dates (for us that would require a babysitter, who will take the kiddo with them to their home):

• Takeout and board games
• 1,000 piece puzzle and pizza (he would like this one, I would just die...painfully)
• Football game and nachos
• Popcorn and a chick-flick
• Make a dessert together
• THE MENTALIST marathon
• Homemade pizzas and an Italian movie

Chris and Stephanie sitting in a tree...

Finding Joy in the Journey's Let's Go on a Date are 12 dates neatly packaged and prepared. Love Actually: Creative Ideas for Romance On A Budget has so many wonderful ideas that I haven't even gotten to them all yet, however, they are wonderfully categorized under "Ideas". The topics are: Date Night, Day to Day Romance, Lovey Dovey Gifts, "Heart"y Foods, Romantic Home Decor, Holidays, Loving From A Distance, Students in Relationships, Couples Group Dates, Married with Kids.

I may document these I may not...some things are just better without pictures.

Final analysis: Lots of date ideas with the time and the means to have at least one a month as a gift when Chris will least expect them...the month of June.

Here's where I've been inspired and where I've gotten my ideas

1. Date Night in a Jar
2. Let's Go On a Date
3. Love Actually...so many good ideas so little time