Monday, June 13, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/13/15


I love joining Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers each week to share my reading life. 

I didn't get as much read this week as I had hoped, darn grad school began and took over my life. Here's what I did manage to make time for...


Out of all of these, let me focus on Wish by Barbara O'Connor. This one comes out this fall and you should absolutely put it on your list if you're looking for a fabulous middle grade book. Charlie's family has hit a rough patch. Her dad is in jail, her mom can't see to get out of bed, so she heads into the Blue Ridge Mountains to live with her aunt and uncle. She's sure she'll hate it there, she's away from home and surrounded by hillbillies, but she begins to see that there is more to this new home then she realizes. Between her caring aunt and uncle, a friend named Howard, and a new dog, Charlie begins to wonder what it was that she's been wishing for all this time. Such a beautiful story.

I had added my Summer Goals to a post a few weeks ago. I figured I will post then on Monday posts and hold myself accountable. 

Summer Goals 2016 (day 19 of 81):
  • Run 100 miles. I'm cheating a bit, my boys are doing this for Cross Country, so I thought I'd join them. So far I have four miles done. I walk a mile daily, but then I drop Rosie back at the house and head out on a run. I am out of shape and this needs to change. Currently at 20 miles. Need to step up the distance to equal 100.
  • Read a book a day. By my calculation this would equal 81 books. Currently at 24. 
  • Journal 2-3 times a week. I've completely stopped journaling and want to add it back in. Dismal failure. Haven't journaled at all. 
  • Blog at least twice a week. Close - six times since we got out, but only because I posted four times in the past week. 
Progress! This week the reading might be light. I'm headed for two days to a writing retreat. I need to work on my presentation for the Scholastic Summit next week. And then, there's this:

This is my homework for my two grad classes I'm taking online so I will have a middle school endorsement (and can teach 7th grade) in the fall. I'm plowing through, the bold items are done, but wowza. I'm a bit overwhelmed. Here's hoping I get some great reading done anyway and you do too. Have a great week!

Oh, and if you didn't see these two posts this weekend, please check them out --> Censorship and Helpless