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Friday, June 20, 2014

And the Hits Keep On Coming....

My class was incredibly blessed this week! Our class won the Adopt-a-Classroom grant for $2500. Thank you so much to those of you who took the time to vote for us! We ended up with over 12,000 votes! Gotta love social media.

And the same day I heard about that, I found out another Donorschoose project was funded. This one was for art supplies, which I'm really grateful for as I threw out a lot of old paint, etc. when packing up this year. We are just so grateful for the generosity of people.

Anyway, summer blogging is hard for me. Not because I don't have the time-I certainly have the time. But normally I blog about activities or projects we do in class. Can't do that unless I get my German Shepherd Ruby to do some homework! :) I've been reading a lot of good articles and finding resources, but I know everyone else is probably doing that as well.

So I'll share what I've been reading this summer. The hardest part for me is choosing the next book when I finish one. I have a full shelf of books to read and it kind of depends what I'm in the mood for. Some of them are deeper and ones I have to think about more when I read. Some are lighter in their tone. I'm trying to alternate.


Finally read Harry Potter! I am not a big fan of fantasy stories which is why I avoided it for so many years. I run a student book club that is reading it this year, so I had to read it. I actually really, really liked it! It was exciting and creative. I may have to share it with a class one year.


This is what I'm reading for the kids right now. I am so jealous of the library in this book! I think if more libraries where like that, more people would definitely take their kiddos there!



My grown-up book choice. I'm trying to alternate lighter, maybe YA-type fare and books like this. This is a tough read, it's pretty dark. The reviews on Amazon were completely split; which I like because that means it was either a love-it or hate-it kind of story and usually that means I'll love it :). People complained about the ending-but I liked that part, I don't know how else you would realistically end it. They complained about how dark the plot was, hello?!-even just reading the summary you can see that, I don't know what they were expecting. It's about revenge, family and redemption--so it's definitely not a light read. Extremely well-written and characters that will stick with you for a while.


And what I'm reading now. Don't know why all my summer choices involve a snowy setting! :) But this one seems interesting. I just started it, so can't give any kind of review yet!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!


6 comments:

  1. My favorite read of the summer so far is Gone Girl. Have you read it? It's quite an interesting one, although I don't love the language. Great read though.
    ❀ Tammy
    Forever in First

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  2. Yes actually I have read that one. I LOVE twists, so I did like it. I hate that they cast Ben Affleck to play the male protagonist in the movie-not what I pictured at all! :)

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  3. Congrats on your grants! That's exciting! What are you going to do with it? Sara

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    1. Thank you Sara! Well, I have 2 student book clubs that we have a list of specific books we need-that usually runs about $800. Then, I'm not sure. Adopt-a-Classroom doesn't have the same kind of vendors that Donorschoose has-I'll have to wait and see what I can shop for. :)

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  4. I think you need to teach a class on classroom funding. Like those folks who teach people how to be Coupon Queens... I need to sign up for that class too.
    ~Heather
    The Meek Moose

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    1. Heather-that's sweet, but mostly I think it's good old-fashioned determination and plain old luck! :)

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