Mr.K'sBlog

 I have chosen to compare Love That Dog to three Samurai Cats.  as a child three samurai cats was a beloved picture book to my brother and I, for whatever reason its art style and theme delighted our little grade school brains. As I struggle with the recent loss of my childhood dog, Tallulah, Love that dog really caught me where I was most sensitive. I really did feel the love for that dog. Comparing how the books make me feel right now might be a little off script, But I feel the nostalgia and memories are a good thing to bring about with a book from my childhood, and a book from class.  

 Because of Winn Dixie: Candace Lehman vs. Those shoes: Meribeth Boelts and Noah Jones.  This exercise was interesting as I had read winn dixie as a younger man, and have only read those shoes fairly recently. Winn Dixie as a chapter book gets a much longer time to tell its story than those shoes, yet both stories have themes of friendship, otherness and loneliness. The covers of each book may feature a dog and a pair of shoes respectively, but the role of these subjects is our main characters journeys away from loneliness. 

 Tall tale:  The Tale of Paul Bunyan  Lori Houran (author) Luke Flowers (Illustrator) Cryptozoology: Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures that May or mAy Not Exist.  Kelly Halls (Author) Rick C. Spears (Author, Illustrator) Roxyanne Young (Author)  While Paul Bunyan is a book that sets out to entertain with a whimsical tale of folklore, Cryptids makes an earnest attempt to educate its reader about the various far fetched animals in its pages.  While both books are based on Folklore, each book takes itself very differently. Paul Bunyans book seeks to entertain with the adventures of the literally larger than life main character. while Cryptids focuses on the more believable side of folklore. While cryptids are perhaps more legitimate a field of study to some, the creatures of its pages are indeed sometimes as far fetched as Paul Bunyan himself.  The Illustrations are an interesting contrast, Bunyans are very much typical children's affair, but Cr...

      The book from my early childhood that has stuck with me the most is The Giving Tree. As an adult the books meaning has changed greatly, but as a child it was an early emotional experience that i've come to relish in my literature. As a teacher, I'll always have this book available, even if my chosen age arrange of students might be thought of as too old for it. As I've discovered, this book only improves with age, and will be a great quick read for my students that ask for something that'll make them think, and feel. 

 This is not my hat is a lovely whimsical story about a missing hat. Having read I want my Hat back before I was greatly amused by the continuation of Klassens hat based comedy. This book is a great choice for a library that will be frequented by small children, and newer readers. Klassens simple and lovely illustrations add a sense of comfort to the story that is simply sublime. A worthy winner of the caldecott for sure. It lives up to the awards insistence at its value as american children's literature. 

 We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. Ryan T Higgens New York Times Best Seller This story scratched a very old bit of nostalgia for me, and reminded me of the picture books I had as a Child.  Where The Sidewalk Ends  Shel Silverstein I believe This qualifies, tho shels style is a bit more minimalist that I expected Giraffes Can’t Dance Giles Andreae Guy Parker Rees Giraffes can’t dance absolutely qualifies as a picture storybook

 For my award winning book, I chose The Giver. The Giver is a Newberry award winner I saw many times on shelves as a Child, yet never actually read. Now having read the book, its interesting just how well it would have fit in among the other Books I read at the time. Given that I’ve always been a Dystopian fiction fan, its interesting to see a few Tropes that have permeated the genre work so well with the Givers Target audience. While it has no Harrison Ford with an origami unicorn, it does have an excellently crafted Sled ride to enjoy. 

 4/18 Bomer book Reaching into memory Is the first bomer strategy for writing to think. Memory is a strong part of every person, its very safe to ask a student to draw from memory to encourage them to think.  Thinking about a person also follows this trend, allowing a student to call upon the familiar. The separation of the journal from the negativity of school in a child's mind is very important according to what I've gathered from Bomer in Intentional strategies versus assignments. 

 Slice of life. Today a student was trying to conceal an injury, he was dead set on playing soccer on hairline fractures in his foot, Limping in pain he quiqly ditched his bandages and forced me to confront him about it. Perhas one of the more surreal moments in teaching, and he was very upset I made him tell the truth. But as a teacher his safety was paramount to my role. 

 Book Head Heart I'll go into something interesting about the book that got confirmed by the author himself in an interview.  In the book New Kid, I read about the bully character and felt he had a distinct role as a driving villain, and that the author wanted me to know that.  It would seem that the author really intended for me to think that as well.  In my heart I think I softened up a lttle to kids who havnt learned how to work out their toxicity. 

 Bomer questions page 52  My current book rides in my backpack, and in a digital copy on my phone. Having the whole series ready kindle style is beyond convenient. The times I read duing the day are on my breaks at work and before bed. the biggest challenge with any reading is my neck, Bad posture is killer, and positions that keep me from craning are key.  Im actually group reading my current book with an rpg group. as we need to know the lore of the world we are learning together, its actually quite community driven. If I wanted to challenge myself to read, it would probably be somethng dry but important like philosphy books.  

 Bomer Questions. Right now i'm getting immense pleasure from free reading genre fiction and rules relating to a tabletop game. the interaction from the text to the table to the miniatures I painstakingly build and lovingly paint is a feeling that's difficult to describe.The engaging speculative fiction engages and engrosses, and in my own writing, should I ever actually start writing my silly novel, wil probably emulate the 90's style of speculation. 

 Slice of life Today I walked into a new long term substitute teaching position. I could instantly tell from students that I was appreciated from both the students and teachers alike. Connecting with the kids was surprisingly easy, I simply applied some of what I've learned in the grad program at HBU and experienced a nigh turmoil free first day. Time will tell how the position will shape up, but I am optimistic that i'm ready for it. 

 When I was growing up, a major book in my 6-12 education was To Kill A Mockingbird. I had to think critically, and acknowledge some pretty heavy themes. the book itself actually stuck in my mind better than the teacher did. I could probably write a lesson plan from scratch if I wanted to actually. it may be a bit of a reach, but that book may have had a hand in my wanting to be a teacher. 

 Word of power. Consistency. I've chosen this word for the semester as its become somewhat of a lynchpin of my goals for the new year. It ties into my literacy journey in a bit of a roundabout way as it could be considered more of a classroom management skill, but i believe you must establish consistency with your students to build the relationships needed to begin the journey of learning with them. This semester, Consistency means success, every day, every assignment, every friendship, will be the best possible.