Allegiant (2013 Read)

I suppose I am now at a place where I can write about this awful book.

So, this review is going to be chock full of spoilers, just thought you should know.

When I first learned that Divergent was going to be a series I was incredibly angry at the fact that I’d fallen for the YA trap again. I loathe when books carry on for decades so kids can buy more books/the book companies make more money and everyone feels so satiated. I loathe series of any kind and hate that I fell for this series hard.

So, when an ending like the ending this series has occurs I usually find myself ready to cuss at the heavens through my puddle of tears as I throw the book across the room or vow to burn the author in effigy. None of that has happened, why? Well, while a crap ton of people die and I MEAN A LOT of people die I felt close to none of them--I neither liked nor disliked them. That includes irrational, fierce Tris.

Yeah, I said it. I’ve never liked Tris. I looked at my old reviews to see if this was actually true and I noticed that I gush about Four and give accolades to Tris. From the first page of the first book her character never changes. Even in this last book, she’s still trying to prove that she’s right, she’s still trying to prove to herself that she’s stronger than everyone. I didn’t buy it. Even worse, I didn’t care...wait, I don't care. Hence, the problem with writing this review.

So, I’m reminded of one of my favorite post by Veronica Roth, Likable Schmikable in it she talks about how she doesn’t have to like a character in order to appreciate something. She said that she doesn't mind if characters aren't likable as long as they are "fascinating. Complicated. Believable" I realized at the end of Insurgent that she was holding to true to her word, she was trying to make characters that were fascinating, complicated and believable and there are aspects of these three tenets in her first two books. At the end of the series not only is she holding true to her word, but she must believe that the rest of the world feels that way too. Most importantly she thinks that she has given us enough fascination, complication and belief to make us buy the whole lot. In some ways I may be too old (ie. English major, English teacher, well past the years where YA fiction may be applicable to my life) and in some ways, I think she isn't an experienced enough writer to pull off what she needed to so I would feel vested in the story and her characters past the first book.

I joined this conversation on Goodreads so I could talk about it. The question and subsequent discussion can be found here, but here's the break down of my major points:

1] I have never been more disappointed in a writer, his/her story line or character development or lack thereof. The fact that Tris would die at the end shouldn't have been news to anyone, Roth sets us up with that from the very beginning.

2] The ending is deplorable in its execution and weak in its explanation. Her blog post only proves that...no good writer has to defend their book. A writer who's afraid of losing the money because there's a whole hoard of people who no longer want to watch the movie series does though. 

3] I think to rewrite the ending to suit a certain audience is just as bad as manipulating a series to suit a certain audience. There is no win. I wish this book would have come out after the movie. I wish I would have read this book after the movie. Veronica Roth already took away from her story the second she started this book without giving it a thoughtful conclusion. I will not be watching the movie. I am done with Veronica Roth...And, while I hate to bash someone who wrote a book and published a book and who is more successful at being a writer than I will be (writing is bravery after all), I like what one of my friends said, "Ok Veronica, you've had your fun. Now go back to Northwestern and get that degree. You still have lots to learn about writing." 

4] Veronica has lots to learn about audience and awareness...every good creative writing class does tell you to take the criticism, I'm assuming that also means "don't blog about it." 

So, I now have three books on my "I hate your guts out" List:

1] The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

2] Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackray

3] Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Trust me, this book doesn't even deserve that company, at least those books mean something in the canon of literature and the foundation of man. I hate those books because they are written so well they make me feel for the characters, the setting, the situations. They are made to serve a purpose. Heck, she isn't in the same league as Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, or, gasp, Stephenie Meyer. And, if I throw Stephenie Meyer in there, at least those books and its author are what you see and they perform in a way true to their genre/character development/audience awareness. Edward, Jacob, Bella and the crew are fascinating, complicated and believable and act within the confines in which Meyers places them.

I dislike this book because it doesn't seem to be as thoughtful as the other two, and, yet I'm supposed to believe that it is. Divergent is one less movie I am chomping at the bit to go see...I have to like my characters, to like my story and the tasty, conflicted Four won’t be enough for me to sit through it.

30 Day Writing Challenge: Write A Fanfiction

I haven't written creatively in years, not thoughtfully since I taught a creative writing class about 10 years ago and it wasn't until NaNoWriMo 2012 that I realized that I still had it in me. While the book that I wrote in a month is not anywhere near ready for publication (it doesn't really have an ending or a beginning per se) it did make me realize I want to write more. At My Creative Writing Challenge and Yellow Brick Road Fiction) I found creative writing challenges, I've messed them together and here's what I've come up with for my next challenge. I'm combining the best of these two challenges to let the creative juices flow.


Write a Fanfiction

I've been reading fanfiction trying to figure out how to pull it off. I've found that there are two types of fanfic writers (although sometimes they blend) those that just want all the characters to get it on with one another, even if that's not remotely possible (cue all that "Sherlock" fanfic-don't click unless you really, really, really want to, and don't even get me started on "My Little Pony"), or they know the canon so well that they bark at any fiction that deviates from this canon, so the fanfiction is meant to enhance, even if it blends all of these different stories together, (cue most X-Files fanfic) the story or creates the ending that everyone wanted, but the author didn't give. I am intimidated by Fanfiction. If I were to write it I will be showing you, the audience, how much I love a given show or movie or book and it may show me that I'm a little more obsessed than I thought. I'm afraid I might like it, it also feels a little bit like stealing while writing a very possessive love letter and I don't know where to begin as there are so many things (you've read the blog, you know) that I can get just fanatical about.

And, there's fan fiction for EVERYTHING!

Julia Child Doesn't Make House Calls
Ernest Hemingway Parody

And, here's a cite where you can find 46 more!

Want to know more? Click here or here.

Wikipedia Definition (totally intimidating!!!)

Fan fiction, or fanfiction (often abbreviated as fan fic, fanfic, or simply fic), is a broadly defined fan labor term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published. Due to these works' not being published, stories often contain a disclaimer stating that the creator of the work owns none of the original characters. Fan fiction is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe and simultaneously existing outside the canon of that universe. Most fan fiction writers assume that their work is read primarily by other fans, and therefore tend to presume that their readers have knowledge of the canon universe (created by a professional writer) in which their works are based.

Fan fiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They're fans, but they're not silent, couch-bound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.

—Lev Grossman, TIME, July 18, 2011

Here's my story (Ok, so for real this isn't my favorite part of the challenge):

Type: Drabble...although it's more like 150 words...
Genre: Cross-over
Topic: "Psych" meets "The Moonspinners"

I may like this...

"The Moon Spinners of...Death"

Gus saw the two on the beach first, but it was Sean who decided to go over.

"I'm Sean and this is my partner Aristotle Onassis Jones. I'm sensing that this hotel isn't just your regular Crete bed and breakfast, although the boygotsyou is quite good."

"Bougastsa," Gus corrected.

"I've heard it both ways." Sean continued, "The innkeeper's brother is lying and there is treasure to be found!"

Nikki looked up from the obviously injured Mark, "How did you...?"

"It doesn't matter," Sean continued, "It would seem that we're staying at The Moon-Spinners of...". He paused for dramatics, "...Death?"

Mark nervously laughed and held his hurt arm. Gus began to protest, "I said I wanted to go on vacation Sean, not solve a hotel mystery."

"Oh, Gus don't be the left-over milk in someone else's cereal bowl. Of course, we're going to help investigate!" He dashed off leaving the others to follow, baffled.

The prompts are:

Day 1: Re-write a classic fairy tale
Day 2: Write a fanfiction
Day 3: A story that takes place pre-1950
Day 4:  An important conversation, in the style of a movie script.
Day 5: A story revolving around an object in your room
Day 6: Start your story with: “He glanced at his watch impatiently…”
Day 7: Create a superhero. Have he/she save the day.
Day 8: Write a prequel to that Superhero. Pre-Superhero life. Maybe their childhood.
Day 9: A story in 250 words or less about your favorite city
Day 10: Start story with: “She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled…”
Day 11: A story where the characters go without power for a day.
Day 12: Describe a significant place, allowing the details to reveal why the place matters. Describe it from a tree or rooftop or from a hawk’s point of view. Describe it from the height of a dog or a turtle.
Day 13: Begin with “I thought I saw…”
Day 14: Choose a photograph from a published collection of black-and-whites, of humans in uncertain conditions. Write the story of one of the individuals or one of the groupings.
Day 15: Write about a stranger you see. Either their back-story or what they are thinking in the moment you see them.
Day 16: Go to iTunes, put your music on random. Write a story about the first song that comes up. (250 words or less)
Day 17: Use time travel in a story
Day 18: A story set in a ghost town.
Day 19: Describe a “first” (first apartment, first kiss, first time driving a car, first lie, first big success, first roller coaster ride, first time in this setting).
Day 20: Use these words in a story: grandfather, photo album, post office, and folder
Day 21: Write about your early memories of faith, religion, or spirituality; yours or someone else’s.
Day 22: Write a story based on a dream you had
Day 23: Describe/fictionalize a childhood memory
Day 24: Write a story that takes place 100 years in the future
Day 25: Write a story about a mythical creature.
Day 26: Write about the 30th picture on your phone or computer. Write about the story behind it, or make up the story behind it.
Day 27: Story taking place during a sporting event (any sport)
Day 28: Story on a ship. Past, present, or future. 
Day 29: Story about space
Day 30: Story or poem about ice

Winter Weather Cookies

My mother and I have a fondness for ginger bread cookies...or, maybe it's just me and she plays along. Whatever the case may be, when she comes to visit during late Fall/early Winter we always end up making/buying gingery items. This time around those cookies you buy in a tube were on sale, so we bought 2 rolls of gingerbread goodness and they sat in my fridge and sat and sat and sat...all throughout the Holidays until her last day here. I mean I meant to make them for Thanksgiving or for school. I meant to buy all that icing and crap so we could decorate them. I meant to...yada, yada, yada.

You see we had a two week Christmas break, which is usually par for the course (actually if we don't get two weeks we usually get pretty upset and kids start missing lots of school and so on and so on...), but then we added on three, yes, three, extra days because of snow. There was so much snow and muck that we had to reschedule my mother's flight...twice.

So, on the day we were supposed to leave, I opened the refrigerator door saw the cookies and thought...those would be great to make to go with lunch and on our trip to and from St. Louis. 

So we started out with the cookie dough. Lila helped me roll it out and make it into Gingerbread men...um, you can't have Gingerbread Cookies unless they look like men and women, so you can eat their heads and limbs off before tackling their delicious torsos (hmm...maybe I watch too much "Dexter").

We still didn't have the icing and stuffs so I was trying to figure out a way to make them tasty and delicious. Enter this recipe...I obviously didn't make the gluten free Molasses cookies (for another day, perhaps), but I did make the every so amazing, like I want to slather it on my face right now, salted caramel goodness. It's ingredients are simple: brown sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt. Note to you: when it says it firms up if you let it sit, what she means is like OVER NIGHT, not in a few minutes, or hours.

Modern Day cookbook: Chromebook in the kitchen.

The kiddo helped me put them on the pan and we baked about 24 of them.

She also helped by licking the salted caramel yumminess off of the spatula. "Hey Mommy, did you know this has a cupcake on one side and sprinkles on the other? I'm going to eat the cupcake side first."

Then we put the salted caramel in thick layers in between two cookies and then we ate the crap out of them.  She's putting her pinkies up so she can be 'danity' (say with a British accent), at least that's what she told me. I don't know where she gets her ideas sometimes *whistles, backs away* Um, yeah, we also got dressed...sure it was lunch time, but we also knew we had a long, long, long car ride (thanks Chris for driving) ahead of us...on roads that were still an icy mess. Ugh.

The kiddo also learned that when you leave the food on your chair the kittens swat it down (they're still in training  and it was too cold for them to be outside) and eat it. It was a sad lesson, but, um, did any of you know that cats like gingerbread and cream cheese salted caramel? I took this picture before throwing away what was left of the cookie and banishing the kittens (Lizzie and Katie) to their room.

Pecha Kucha

[Source]

Ok, so my honors kids usually do a literary timeline about a month into this semester. We do them on the Promethean board and the info and results can be seen here and here. We usually spend a long class period (hour and 28 minute class period) on it, I monitor their progress as they use their books, notes et cetera to label and move things on the board. The results are nice, but over the years the timelines have morphed into something that I'm not sure is helping the students as last year they used their phones more than their notes and they argued more than they collaborated. I spent Christmas Break (show me a teacher who doesn't work on school stuff when they should be having time off and I'll show you how that's not really the case at all) trying to find a way to square that circle. I found this-a Pecha Kucha presentation. I'd like to give credit to the person who created this gem, but alas I can't as their name is not on it...anywhere. I decided that Pecha Kucha would be the way to go for literary timeline discussion this year...it only took a little bit of research...the short of which can be found below:

Pecha Kucha A gathering of ideas where each presentation consists of 20 images (at the least 14 images) for 20 seconds apiece, for a total time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds, if you have all 20 slides or images.

Can't figure out how to pronounce it? Start here! 

The long of which can be found here. This is an excellent place to get everything you need and more. There's not only the history, but there's also:

Getting Started
General Design Tips
Practicing
The Big Event
Ingredients and Video Examples

And, in bullet form:

• The Pecha Kucha style comes from Japan; it means "chit chat".
• Pictures only, no bullet points...programmed to rotate 20 seconds per slide.
• Just because you have 20 slides doesn't mean you have to have 20 points...what are the five-ten essential things you want to say.
• In my case, because there are no bullet points the students listening get to decide what is essential.
• There's no one way to give a pecha kucha (hmmm...is that supposed to be capitalized?).
• Look at Youtube for examples...here, here or here...these are examples I like (Pecha Kuchas explaining Pecha Kucha *mind blown*).

I created my own version of the Pecha Kucha guidelines from the ones I originally found (calendar can be found here), eventually I will perfect this Pecha Kucha I made to present the idea to the students.

I can't wait to see the literary timeline results!

50 Books in a Year Book #4: The Sign of Four

The second novel starring the illustrious Sherlock Holmes is a mash up of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and The Moonstone. In it you will find many of the tropes of any awesome detective story. It's still a pretty darned amazing and entertaining book.

Things That Surprised me...although, I suppose, they really shouldn't have:

1] Mary is a pretty awesome character, she is more than Conan Doyle's Yoko (sorry, Yoko). I like that she is calm and patient. I like that she is reserved and understated and pretty. I'd never really thought of Mary as a character to be fleshed out, she doesn't ever seem to be much of the story and in this novel she is the story. She's so smart.

2] It's lovely the way that Watson talks about and to Mary.

3] I'd always heard about, but didn't really remember reading any drug references and this book starts and ends with casual cocaine use. I didn't really expect that.

4] How easy old Detective stories are and how much new Detective stories and procedural dramas owe to these inventive stories.

Why Sherlock Holmes is pretty cool (evidence from this book, of course):

1] He says what we are all afraid to say.

2] He does what we are all afraid to do.

3] He's pretty darned cocky.

4] He doesn't seem to need people, although he needs Watson.

And, a couple of notes on Watson:

1] He is a good friend, quite patient, kind and thoughtful.

2] I'm sure these qualities also make, in him, a good husband.

The only problem I had was the fact that I probably watch too many mystery shows and read too many mystery books for me not to know the ending (I mean I didn't get it all, but I definitely got the gist). I wish I would have read this the same year I read The Hounds of the Baskerville (I think I was in 6th or 7th grade), boy that book amazed me every second!

50 Books in a Year #3: The Lost Souls Companion

Ok, so the full title of this book is The Lost Soul Companion: Comfort and Constructive Advice for
Struggling Actors, Musicians, Artists, Writers, and Other Free Spirits and I received it for free from a lovely friend who was moving and needed to down-size.  She actually gave me a whole pile of books, but this is the only she said anything about as the author is from Bloomington, a town where she used to live and a place I'd been to visit with her.

At first, I wasn't really sure about this book as its chapters are filled with drawings and words that propel each point along and I didn't know if I should take it seriously and then there were times that the book got way too serious talking about suicide and anti-depressants for those who struggle with the day to day task of living.

And, then I found the part of the book that spoke to me directly:

1] You only have enemies if you allow yourself to have them.
2] Spreading positive energy around take effort, but the effort is worthwhile.
3] Have good movies to uplift you.
4] The best part of travelling is coming 'home'. You always return a little bit changed--a little bit more than you were before you left.
5] The Bad Day Box...just the idea that there is a box to help you get over bad days is such a pleasant idea.

While I can honestly say that I would never have picked this book on my own, I am glad that I read it, as some of the quirky advice spoke straight to my little lost soul.

This is an autographed copy and the inscription reads: "May you find inspiration in these pages." I suppose, without meaning to, I did.

30 Day Writing Challenge: Re-write a classic fairy tale

I haven't written creatively in years, not thoughtfully since I taught a creative writing class about 10 years ago and it wasn't until NaNoWriMo 2012 that I realized that I still had it in me. While the book that I wrote in a month is not anywhere near ready for publication (it doesn't really have an ending or a beginning per se) it did make me realize I want to write more. At My Creative Writing Challenge and Yellow Brick Road Fiction) I found creative writing challenges, I've messed them together and here's what I've come up with for my next challenge. I'm combining the best of these two challenges to let the creative juices flow.

Re-write a classic fairy tale
"Hansel and Gretel"

OK, so I've been trying to think of a way to re-write "Hansel and Gretel" ever since I watched "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters"...I'm still pretty disturbed.

Summary of the original according to Wikipedia
"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic witch living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children save their lives by outwitting her.

Here's my story:

Once upon a time there lived a man and his two adorable children. Their mother having died at child-birth, the man felt he had to have a mother for his children and he married the first woman that seemed interested. This didn't really work as the woman was evil and selfish. One night while the man and his two adorable children were asleep, she sneaked the children out of the house and left them in the woods to die.

When the children woke up they were lost and disoriented. Just when they thought they were going to perish from lack of food and sunstroke, they stumbled upon a house.

Thank goodness it wasn't one of those houses made of food, instead it was filled with every food imaginable, all they had to do was think about it and the type of food they wanted would appear. They feasted on tacos and biscuits and gravy and bacon and spaghetti with meatballs, ice cream cones, hot dogs, pot pies, salad and apple tarts. Sated they went upstairs to sleep but were excited to find that they could watch satellite television and check their emails on his and her laptops while relaxing on the most comfortable bed known to man. Gret sent an email to their father telling them what happened and Hans watched "X-Files" reruns on Netflix. Soon they fell asleep. This house seemed too good to be true, and it was.

Not long after they dosed off, there was a light tapping at the bedroom door and then in walked most hideous woman the children had ever seen. She had brownish green skin and warts and smelled like sewer, rotten eggs and cat farts. They knew enough to know that she was a witch and they began to scream, which made her scream and run away dropping the plate of warm cookies and glasses of milk she was carrying.

"A witch carrying cookies?" Hans questioned aloud. Gret looked at him skeptically.

They left the room to investigate, crept slowly down the stairs and found the smelly, brownish green skinned woman crying at a delightfully decorated breakfast nook. The smell of cookies blended with the smell of the nasty witch.

"We're sorry to frighten you," Gretel said. They crept closer.

"Have you had enough to eat?" croaked the lady, she really was frightful.

"Yes, thank-you," the two adorable children chimed. "Thank-you for your kindness," they whispered.

Hans, never one to mind smells and always the braver of the two especially when cookies were involved, gave the woman a hug and Gret, never one to be upstaged by her younger brother, did likewise. The smelly, brown-skinned lady turned and kissed them each on the forehead, got up from her chair, twirled three times and became the soccer mom of their dreams.

See, the witch wasn't really a witch at all and the love of the two children broke the curse that had been placed on her and set her free. She showed them the way back to their house, where she immediately fell in love with their father. Which wasn't a surprise to anyone as they were both so nice and good-looking. Their father had called the police and had their stepmother arrested as soon as he'd received the email message. The father and the now sweet and not so smelly woman were soon married and moved in to the house deep in the woods. After all breaking the curse didn't stop the perpetual supply of food and who doesn't love food?

They, of course, lived happily ever after.

Want to find a fairy tale for your own writing challenge? Or, just want to read all sorts of lovely fairy tales? Here's a list complete with links.

The prompts are:

Day 1: Re-write a classic fairy tale
Day 2: Write a fanfiction
Day 3: A story that takes place pre-1950
Day 4:  An important conversation, in the style of a movie script.
Day 5: A story revolving around an object in your room
Day 6: Start your story with: “He glanced at his watch impatiently…”
Day 7: Create a superhero. Have he/she save the day.
Day 8: Write a prequel to that Superhero. Pre-Superhero life. Maybe their childhood.
Day 9: A story in 250 words or less about your favorite city
Day 10: Start story with: “She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled…”
Day 11: A story where the characters go without power for a day.
Day 12: Describe a significant place, allowing the details to reveal why the place matters. Describe it from a tree or rooftop or from a hawk’s point of view. Describe it from the height of a dog or a turtle.
Day 13: Begin with “I thought I saw…”
Day 14: Choose a photograph from a published collection of black-and-whites, of humans in uncertain conditions. Write the story of one of the individuals or one of the groupings.
Day 15: Write about a stranger you see. Either their back-story or what they are thinking in the moment you see them.
Day 16: Go to iTunes, put your music on random. Write a story about the first song that comes up. (250 words or less)
Day 17: Use time travel in a story
Day 18: A story set in a ghost town.
Day 19: Describe a “first” (first apartment, first kiss, first time driving a car, first lie, first big success, first roller coaster ride, first time in this setting).
Day 20: Use these words in a story: grandfather, photo album, post office, and folder
Day 21: Write about your early memories of faith, religion, or spirituality; yours or someone else’s.
Day 22: Write a story based on a dream you had
Day 23: Describe/fictionalize a childhood memory
Day 24: Write a story that takes place 100 years in the future
Day 25: Write a story about a mythical creature.
Day 26: Write about the 30th picture on your phone or computer. Write about the story behind it, or make up the story behind it.
Day 27: Story taking place during a sporting event (any sport)
Day 28: Story on a ship. Past, present, or future. 
Day 29: Story about space
Day 30: Story or poem about ice

American Teacher: A Personal Perspective

So, below you will find sound bites from the documentary American Teacher, below each sound bite is my personal perspective or thought...um, I don't think these sound bites are in order. I think this documentary is more about what teachers do every day in the trenches and how the agenda of others politicians, local governments don't really matter when it comes to the lives of students and those who teach them.

If you haven't seen this documentary I suggest a view, if only for the fact that it's narrated by Matt Damon.

I have watched it 3 times.

I've also read all the comments on IMDB, I'm probably sorry that I read all the comments on IMDB. I don't really think this documentary had an agenda. I think the six words on the cover say its agenda in a nutshell. Teachers are dedicated, brilliant and inspiring. They are also underpaid, misunderstood and scapegoated. I promise you those comments are evidence of the latter.

"Reading is not something that you either do or don't do well. You can actually transform and do it better. Helping [students] transform from considering themselves non-readers to considering themselves readers was like a high better than any drug I've never tried."
I find it interesting that all teachers from little people up until high school graduation are in some way responsible for the literacy of the children who come through their classroom doors. And, it is fun when you find that hook that shows students that it isn't the fact that they don't like to read, it's the fact that they haven't found something interesting to read. It's fun to use that hook to help students to reach their full potential as readers. No book is too low, as long as the book is seen as a gateway to bigger, more complex reads that expand the minds of the readers. Oh, and I've never tried drugs. 

"It really felt like a calling."
"Felt" is the key word...

"Having great teachers is the very key thing."
The 'very key thing' to all things...everyone, at one time, had to be taught what they know now, the person doing the teaching deserves recognition and praise. 

"Without great teachers we do not have a democracy. Our students cannot be successful without having great teachers in front of them."
True. What is a great teacher? If you are a teacher, are you aspiring to be great?

"Teachers in the United States are routinely undervalued that's the problem in the American education system..."
I know that we are undervalued. How do we get others to see the value in teaching? I have a friend who started teaching as a second career, she said she didn't know how hard it was to teach until she started doing it. Sure, there are other jobs that are hard, teaching is hard too.

"We still struggle to provide the status, the salaries the respect and the training that teaching as a full profession requires and deserves."
Why? Is it because our values, as a nation are out of whack? Is it because teaching used to be just a woman's profession?

"Anyone can teach a kid who gets it right away."
True teaching comes in teaching those kids, who because of their situation, need to be taught. They are the most difficult to reach.

"A lot of people think that teachers go into the job because of the vacations or the short hours or because they like kids and I don't think they understand that it's the intellectual rigor that's involved in presenting information in such a way that a child can understand it."
While those may be reasons initially, good teachers stay because they love the challenge of reaching kids on a daily basis. 

"Teachers are constant active decision makers. They make thousands of decision a day and they don't do it about an abstract idea they do it about the life of a child in that moment."
I read somewhere that the only people who make more split second decisions are air traffic controllers. I don't know if this is true, but there are some day when it definitely feels true.

"By the end of this year, I don't care who you are, this is what you need to do, this is what you need to learn..."
What it all comes down to is this! Who cares if it's written down or typed out or put in it's proper form if it's not conveyed to the students who are doing the learning.

"Nobody would question a lawyer getting paid, or a doctor getting paid, or a consultant getting paid and I think that skill set required to be a teacher is at least as complex, if not more complex. I think teachers are quick to get defensive about that because we are professionals."
I know I am. I know that I am intelligent enough to have done something else, but there is freedom in being a teacher, even with all this baggage.

"When you have high teacher turnover it creates a chaotic situation where kids don't have continuity, where the knowledge base of the school is continually flowing out like a leaky bucket, where the school is continually pedaling just to stay in place because it can't build the system of education that it needs to have to really ensure that kids are learning from year to year."
Yes, but how do we retain good teachers? Especially when we can't pay them what they deserve and it takes about five years before teaching becomes less of a challenge.

"It was like a $20,000 raise for me to go into administration after being in the classroom for 25 years."
I don't care how much of a raise I could ever get. I never want to go into administration. I never want to be in charge of anything. I don't see myself staying in this profession after 25 years anyway, if I make it to 25.

"They're not asking to make $300,000 they're asking to buy a house, to own a decent car, to live in a nice neighborhood, to have some comforts to maybe take a vacation every once in awhile and when you have teachers who have to have second jobs, when you have teachers that are living at the poverty level, then I think there's something wrong with that. And, as a society we really need to change that culture we need to flip it around to say that being a teacher is the most important job in our society."
Someone I teach with said to me that she only made ends meet after she got married and had two incomes in her household.

"The best anti-poverty program is a world class education."
Yes, yes, it is.

Some numbers and fast facts from the documentary:

1. 20% of teachers in urban districts quit every year.
2. 46% of teachers quit before their 5th year...this cost 7.34 billion dollars a year.
3. Teachers spend their own money on supplies for their classrooms.
4. Many who don't understand teaching want to tax and vilify it.
5. Newest teachers get the most difficult and largest classes.
6. Teaches don't have a lunch hour.
7. Teachers work straight through.
8. Teachers stay late and come to school early.
9. None of these are enough.
10. Women who now become doctors et cetera could only become teachers or nurses.
11. Very few top graduates want to be teachers.
12. A good teacher has a $400,000 economical impact per class.
13. There are very few teachers of color.
14. 50 hours at school +15 hours a week grading (that's if you only spend 5 minutes per kid per assignment)=65 hours a week; for some teacher's recess is the only prep period.
15. For many years people assumed that the teacher in the family was female and she, yes, she, was the 2nd income and was not really needed.
16. Many teachers have to work a second job (31%; counting extra teacher duties for pay that's 64%).
17. Many teachers are single, in unhappy marriages or divorced.
18. 70% of college freshman would go into teaching if money were no object.
19. The problem with teaching compensation is that the starting salary is the ending salary.
20. A man can't support his family on a teacher's salary and now only 16% of the workforce is male versus 22% in 2002 and 34% in 1970.

Finland, Singapore and South Korea are tops in education, why?

• They make it tough to get into the teacher program, the governement actually recruits top college students.
• They pay for teachers to get trained.
• Purchasing power of 2.5 times the USA.
• Teachers buy nothing out of their pocket.
• Teachers have prestige.
• Teachers assume it will be their career.
• They rarely leave the profession.
• Teachers think of school as their family.

One answer, according to the documentary
Increasing teacher compensation lowers teacher attrition and raises graduation rate.

One model
TEP School
$125,000 a year using public funds that have been purposefully reallocated

65 Books in a Year: Book #17 Class of '88 Junior (2013 Read)

In an effort to review books that I've read in the past four years, but haven't reviewed I'm digging into my Goodreads archive and hacking away at it. If we're lucky, I'll be all caught up with the reviews by the end of the year. I'll be sure to put the year I read it in parenthesis in the title.

Here's a gem, that I've had sitting in the queue waiting to be finished up.

I've been reading With Rigor for All: Meeting Common Core Standards for Reading Literature. I feel like I could've written the book (if I'd ever had my act together) as Jago says things that I either do in my classroom or believe. In one of these instances she talks about the importance of reading literature true, but she also talks about the joys of re-reading.

One of my favorite quotes:

"Books ask readers to look inward, to examine our beliefs in light of new information, to consider the world through different eyes, to take time for reverie and reflection."

After reading that don't you want to just reread every book you've ever read as just the act of reading has made you look at the themes, characters and life in generally differently.

I'm looking at this series in two ways 1] as a piece of nostalgia and 2] as a how-to manual of sorts. I'll be talking about each book in this manner.

Class of '88 Sophomore

The Story

Allie comes back from New York full of piss and vinegar. I didn't care much for Allie's character from this point on. It's also during this book that Celia begins to show the worst of her true back-stabbing colors. Um, everything is out of whack, the guy that Allie is seeing starts seeing that chick from the Class of '89 series, Nick is dating Darcy and Meg is trying to be cool and popular and smart. The only good thing is that Sean gets a girl and Brooke is just lovely.

As A Piece of Nostalgia

Until this last year I didn't really care for this book much. Rereading it now, I realized that your Junior year is the hardest. Frankly, year three of anything is the hardest. But, your Junior year of high school is when you can't really be a kid anymore, but you aren't really an adult and oh, all of the decisions!

As A How to Manual

I've learned...er...remember that Juniors have a lot of crap going on and coming to class is only one of those things.

I'm not sure that Celia grew up to be all that nice. 

Looks Like I Have to Re-Read that Darned Gatsby

[Source]

There is a joy in teaching honors-level kids that are actually honors material (and, while I have a post talking about what it takes to be an honors teacher, I don't have one that talks about what makes a great honors student...hmmm, I suppose I should get on that). For now, let's just say that being a successful honors kid has nothing to do with how smart you are, but how willing you are to let your teacher push you to your limits, get you out of your comfort zone and how willing you are to learn regardless of what grade you will receive in the end. Each semester I have students transfer out of my class because they have Bs and don't want to hurt their GPAs, but I have kids who know how challenging, but rewarding it was to make a B or an A or even a C stay in the class for Round 2. I like what a kid said the other day, "I figured I made it through the first half of this class, I can make it through the second." Being an honors kid means having the right attitude and part of that attitude is this nerdy delight in all things literature.

Queue this post.

[Source]

I usually teach The Great Gatsby (GG) in a broader Modern American Dream unit where kids get to choose whether they want to read The Sun Also Rises (SAR) or GG, sometimes I teach SAR or GG, sometimes I don't teach GG at all, but give it as an option for an independent read. I was telling the kids this and so many of them were so upset...'what do you mean, we aren't going to read The Great Gatsby!?' and 'please can we read The Great Gatsby!' that I spent Christmas Break revamping my units to incorporate both SAR and GG. For those of you who want to see what my 2nd semester looks like you can click on my working calendars here (January is missing, well, because I didn't need to work on it, we're already doing it and it's Ethan Frome and Our Town and Small Town America), if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Sources for my GG unit (because, um, why reinvent the wheel):
The Great Gatsby 4-Week Bundle (I love TpT)
ShareMyLesson (free site for lessons and they have some delicious ones!)
Stuff from when I taught it in years past or want to add:

• The Center of Learning: The Great Gatsby
• "Ordeal by Cheque" (The American Dream/Death of the American Dream and Inference Skills)
•  The Great Gatsby Latitudes (linking fiction and non-fiction books to social studies)
•  "Richard Cory", "Lucinda Matlock", "Mr. Flood's Party", "Miniver Cheevy", "George Gray", "Fiddler Jones"
• Letter to Scottie

Aside from that little bit with the Age of Reason/Transcendentalism/Realism-Naturalism (we are a strangely American Literature based Honors Sophomore English class-don't ask it's a long story) and May as the all encompassing month for JC, the 2nd semester is pretty Modern, and I'm OK with that!

It's Better to Marry A Ben Over a Noel...This Does Not Hold True for Dylans, Paceys or Deans

The Intro

[The only time I ever wanted to work at a place called "The Peach Pit"]

First, I will be talking about the following shows: Beverly Hills 90210 (the one from the 90s not that crappy one from the CW!) , Dawson's Creek, Felicity and The Gilmore Girls. I could add The OC (Seth or Ryan?), but seriously, what the heck happened at the end there? Besides too many triangles and not enough time. And, this is the only time I will mention vampire infused love triangles via Twilight or The Vampire Diaries...as they are too idiotic to even contemplate as viable options! I'm also not going to be mentioning the delicious triangle in Hart of Dixie as I love both George and Wade... a lot.

The first triangle I ever noticed as a plot device is the Brandon, Dylan, Kelly drama...which eventually turned into a Brandon/Dylan venn diagram of awesome (and, began a lifetime devotion to Lord Byron), which eventually turned into a cluster of...I don't even know what and I stopped watching.

Every good TV drama will have some sort of love triangle and if there isn't an out and out triangle there will be two guys who form a great venn diagram of lust/love and awesome good looks that we, the viewer, must contemplate on a weekly basis even when the show is trying to tackle tough issues like teen suicide and alcoholism.

Watching Felicity in its entirety as an adult who knew the ending made me realize that I may always root for the bad guy in the love triangle, but truly Ben is the only bad guy with a genuine heart of gold...sigh...

Why I'd pick Ben every day of the week and twice on Sunday

Felicity is a pretty good judge of character and she realizes early on that Ben is a good guy. Sure she spends some time trying to reform him, she comes to accept him for who he is and he, in turn, grows to love the girl who is obsessed with him.

Bens
Character Analysis
Ben is not the best guy. He will tell you that. But, he also shows you that he actual is the best guy. He will tell you he loves you, actual once you break down that wall (and there is a big one...think Great Wall of China) he will tell you pretty much all about who he is and how he feels all of the time. Ben is the best guy friend, as he will punch any one who hurts you, and he will tell you like it is...even when you really don't want him to do so. I liked watching as Ben became more than this unattainable boy who Felicity didn't even know enough about to be obsessed over.
Pros
Tells you how he feels, isn't scared of you and your intelligence, he knows how to win your heart and is willing to learn from you how to keep your heart. He is a hard worker who learns from his mistakes, he has loads of friends, he will do anything for you and he will keep you on your toes.
Cons
Baggage...he, um, drinks and may or may not cheat on you, while he may tell you how he feels, he doesn't tell you what is on his mind, you have to be patient while he reforms, but he will reform and that's what makes him great marriage material. He will appreciate every moment with you and he will be honest with you, but he will still be that bad boy who first possessed your heart.

Noels
Character Analysis
Plays a mean game of boggle, and perfect RA material.
Pros
Bows out gracefully, finally.
Cons
Doesn't really know what it means to love someone, he does however, know what it means to be a wee bit obsessed about someone. This good marriage material does not make. I knew he wasn't the guy for Felicity the second he began to sabotage her relationship with Ben...if she really wanted him, she would have gone to him all on her own.

Why it doesn't hold true for Dylan, Pacey or Dean

"The right kind of love..." er...not really...

Dylans
Character Analysis
"Mad, bad and dangerous to know" I never understood why girls kept flocking to Dylan.
Pros
Drive a kick-butt car...um, is a good friend to Brandon most of the time...um...
Cons
Spoiled, trust-fund kid who throws money at problems. He will never understand why his money isn't buying your happiness.

"Whine, whine, whine..."

Paceys and Deans
Character Analysis
Pacey and Dean are the same character for the most part. Moon-eyed and love struck, they are kind of wimpy. I still don't understand why Joey picked Pacey over Dawson, well, that is I don't understand until I remember that Dawson didn't really like people or girls and had a pechant for being mopey and a wee bit selfish. Gosh, Joey really didn't have much of a choice. I can't believe Dean ruined his marriage to be with Rory and I can't believe Pacey pined for Joey...I don't know how long, one million years?
Pros
sweet, thoughtful, kind, patient, never say 'no', hardly ever get angry
Cons

"Could he be any nicer!?"

Their pros are also ALWAYS their cons, as all those traits make them so easy to be walked on...and, are the very reasons they don't make good marriage material. I remember reading/watching "The Joy Luck Club" and there is this scene where a wife confronts her husband about his affair and he says something about the fact that they used to argue and talk and contemplate things all the time and she began to always agree. No one likes to be told they're right all the time. No person with any self-respect likes to be followed without question.

More fun via...

FAB and FAN here

Wade and Zoe and George here

Joey and Pacey and Dawson here

If you have found more posts or want to talk about your favorite love triangle, feel free to convo with me in the comments below, I can totally geek out about this topic forever...

Books I've Read in the Past Four Years that Need to be Reviewed ASAP

This is just a place for me to keep track of the books that I've read and need to be reviewed...it's good to

[Source]

have goals!

2013

*Did I review any books at all this year? Lord knows I didn't really read very many!

1. The Cay
2. Kindred
3. The Prophet
4. Things Fall Apart
5. Nantucket Blue
6. Life As We Knew It
7. Dancing at the Harvest Moon
8. Fahrenheit 451
9. Allegiant
10. Quantum of Solace
11. The Painted Veil
12. Hard Sell
13. The Last Little Blue Envelope
14. Losing It
15. The Key to College Success
16. A Modern Girls' Guide to Bible Study
17. 13 Little Blue Envelopes
18. Workshops that Work
19. So, What Do They Really Know?
20. The Great Gatsby
21. Eleanor and Park
22. Image Grammar
23. Class of '88: Senior

2012

*Wow, only three! That's awesome!

1. Flapper
2. Infinite Jest
3. The Vincent Boys #1

2011

*It would seem I give up reviewing once the school year starts...hmmm...?

1. Midnight Cowboy
2. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
3. 22 Things...
4. A Repair Kit for Grading
5. Readicide
6. Vanity Fair
7. Horns
8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
9. Maisie Dobbs
10. Ragtime
11. Vanity Fair

Educational Ins and Outs

[Source]

So, my friend sent this article to a few of us and I jokingly (not really joking at all) said that we should cut out the traits and have any new hires put them in order of importance, 9 out of 12 equals a new hire, anything less gets the door. I thought I'd take this opportunity to give my 2 cents on the educational "Ins and Outs".

1] Learners vs. Content as the Center of Instruction
This the trickest one I think, as I think some people interpret this as 1] only use what the kids want and 2] only do what the kids want, when that really isn't the case at all. If we treat our learners as people, if build a relationship with them, they are more likely to do what needs to be done. We know this to be true right!? I know I work better for someone who allows me to be human than for someone who is always nick-picking and not allowing me to grow as a learner.  In my aspect of education I hear often, "Well, the kids won't do that." or "The kids won't read that."...um, of course, they won't they're teenagers who still don't understand the importance of keeping their clothes on before posting selfies, they don't want to read classic literature or do something that makes their brains work...um, it's our job to make them to figure out how to get them to get it, to (as my friend Amanda says) 'drink the kool-aid'. I think it's a Jim Jones reference, but it works! I want my students to buy into the fact that I am educating them and that independent thinking and reading [fill in the blank classic piece of lit] makes them better, well-rounded people. I think it's important to know when content takes the back burner to the learner and when content has to be front and center. We no longer teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (I don't really know why, it wasn't in my grade-level), I hate that people graduating from my high school will not have read that book going in to college.

2] Educator as Coach and Lead Learner vs. as Expert and deliverer of content
In a perfect world a student understands that he/she must learn what is being taught, will do what needs to be done at home and in the classroom to make it happen and will then show evidence of learning on a regular basis without testing and quizzing. In the real world testing will always be the most direct way to show evidence of mastery, how we approach that testing shows whether we are a coach or dictator in our classroom. In Rick Wormeli's book Fair Isn't Always Equal he addresses how differentiated instruction is a way to help students master standardized tests, it doesn't talk about getting rid of them entirely, but using the test as a tool, and Marzano understands it when he says in Classroom Assessments and Grading that Works, “The score a student receives on a test is more dependent on who scores the test and how they score it than it is on what the student knows and understands.” Many students and parents get frustrated with this concept, however, it is up to us, the teacher, to guide them to understand the difference between a teacher who doesn't teach and a teacher who is facilitating the learning...when the teacher is the guide, the student will struggle, but he/she will not be alone. When a student facilitates the learning, he or she better understands the assessments given. They are masters of their learning.

3] Pluralistic education via the internet vs. single textbook
I've bought this one from day one...when the internet was a new and shiny concept! I love the access that internet affords us. I use my textbook, the internet, old textbooks, and my colleagues as resources for my students. The internet has leveled the playing field of education, students no longer have to go to London, Paris or Cairo to see priceless works of art and artifacts they can assess these finds via the internet. It is our responsible as public educators to make sure that our students have this access and it is our responsibility to help students understand the internet as an educational tool.

4] Failure as part of the process vs. perfection for students and teachers
Um...if you fail in my classroom it is because you refused (yes, not can't...can't is something else entirely and it is my job to figure out how or why they can't and then figure out how to get them to be able to succeed) to do any work to show that you have mastered the concept. If you make a D, it shows even more that you have not done work to master the concept. In my classroom an F or a D can be seen as failure. While I don't want to put a percentage on mastery, I'll tell you right now a student who receives a 60-69 in my classroom is in part lazy, has a large amount of truancy and down right refuses to do what it takes to learn. They are not college or career ready.

5] Differentiated and Personal Curriculum vs. One Size Fits All Curriculum
Curriculum should be used to guide instruction. Instruction should be in the hands of the teacher and the teacher alone as he/she knows what's best in his/her classroom for his/her students. I know what I need to do to get there, I've been given the pacing guides, I've been given the formatives, the summative, now give suggestions and leave me alone to teach. By the way differentiation is quite hard and timely...don't let anyone tell you different. Differentiation is not a quick fix. It is, however, the best and true answer.

6] Ongoing, formative assessments vs. summative assessments for accountability of teachers and school
I don't mind summative assessments, as college and life in some way or another is all about culminating events of learning. I abhor the fact that these tests (especially the end of the year standardized tests) seem to matter more to administration as indicators of success than whether students have 21st century skills. It is this myopic view that got us into the educational mess we are in as a nation in the first place. Let's not throw these out entirely, as I can use the data to help me become better, but let's not base funding and the overall success of a school and my happiness on this one shot test!

7] Multi-sensory learning vs. learning with only the brain in mind may not be relevant
I would love to meet the 'teacher' (in quotes on purpose) who does not teach in myriad ways to address the whole learner. Skill and drill, train and drain teachers have no place in education, ever. Wow, um, I didn't realize that I felt that passionately about it.

8] Producing and consuming content vs. just consuming
The hardest part of teaching is getting students to understand that they are the 'masters of their fates'...they are capable of doing all the things that I ask them to do. In fact, they are capable of doing more. They are so used to just regurgitating information without computing that it's quite a task to get to this next stage.

9] Learners do most of the talking and working vs. the teacher doing more
Of course, this goes back to the teacher is teaching, but some may think that the teacher is not. I'd like to know how to get over this hump with some parents and students. If you have any suggestions that would be awesome.

10] Technology integrated seamlessly vs. as an afterthought
Show me the money and I'll show you a teacher who integrates technology seamlessly. 

11] Misbehavior as an opportunity for growth vs. just discipline
I've also believed this since day one. A student should not be punished so much that he/she cannot come back from that punishment to succeed. I've never understood OSS as a form of discipline and in my classroom I would much prefer a student to be in my classroom than be in ISS or ASC (alternative school suspension center) as a form of punishment. Don't do something right? You get to do it again. I say to students and I mean it, "As long as you are in my classroom you will not fail." Like I've said before students have to go out of their way to do so. Just in case you were wondering students do and can fail, or make a grade they aren't used to making.

12] Social emotional learning as an integral part of education vs. being viewed as minimal or not integral 
We have to build relationships with our students before we can teach them. This is the most important aspect of teaching. Being shown how to communicate with oneself and others in an atmosphere of learning and education is ideal. This cannot be mandated to teachers as is differs by class and by teacher.

Books and articles that may help you think about how you feel about these processes:

A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades-Ken O’Connor

Fair Isn’t Always Equal-Rick Wormeli

Formative Assessments and Standards-Based Grading-Robert Marzano

I Read It, But I Don’t Get It-Cris Tovani

Layered Curriculum-Kathy Nunley

Living Your Colors-Tom Maddron

P21 Skills (can be found at: p21.org)

Professional Learning Communities at Work-DuFour and Eaker

Readicide-Kelly Gallagher

Teach Like A Champion: Field Guide-Doug Lemov

“What is a PLC?”-DuFour

With Rigor For All-Carol Jago

What Teachers Make-Taylor Mali

And, if you are ready or want to dig in because you like forms and lists...feel free to make a copy of this Google Doc I created to record and solidify your own grading philosophy and core beliefs.