Paws for Great Books!

Hey, Bloggers! We (the blog team) miss you! Ms. James is visiting high schools and middle schools this year for the Missouri Reading Initiative. She's talking about reading and writing (big surprise).I haven't blogged in a long time, but wanted to leave you a post to let you know that we still check to see if there are any new posts to read. We hope you'll continue to post once in a while...talk about your new classes, new books, questions you have, writings you are working on...whatever...

In the meantime, check out our slide show. You might want to try one to post to our blog!

We miss all of you very much!

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends!

Hello bloggers! Can you believe that this time last week we were in school? I know this may sound a bit sappy, but I already miss ALL of you! You may be getting a chuckle out of the song I've linked this post to, but I do remember when this song first came out, and we (students) all loved it! Now I'm on the other end...although I'm currently enrolled in a summer writing workshop, so doesn't that make me a student, too?

Now that I've had a few days off, I thought I'd take a few minutes to reflect on my gratitude list and our year (semester) of blogging.

First, I owe great thanks to my blog team for all the times I made them pose for just the right illustration for our literature discussion. Some of you may remember the costumed blog dogs and blog baby, too. (Katie's profile picture was the toughest...) My blog team always willingly kept me company, too, during late nights in front of the computer and early mornings as well. Katie, Riley, and the cats (not pictured) took their jobs very seriously as blog models, consultants and editors. What joy!

But it was you bloggers - all of you - who truly made it a joy to be part of the Reading Great Books blog group. You willingly shared your insights about our reading, our school, and life itself. I learned so much from all of you. Though I read through all of the "final" blogs and gave credit where it was due, of course, Katie and I did not have time to sift through them as we would have liked, pondering and commenting as we read. We'll take time at our leisure this summer, and we hope you do the same.

Many of you created summer reading lists, and as you are reading, maybe you'll get back on and post your thoughts.

In the meantime, happy reading and happy blogging. I already miss all of you!

Reading Great Books and Great Blog Posts

As our final days draw nigh, Katie and I are both getting nostalgic. We have enjoyed getting to know all of you through your writing, and we will miss you. Over the semester as we read your posts, we learned so much about your views, the causes you care about, and the way you see the world. We sympathized with your losses and challenges, we chuckled at your humorous posts and comments, and we watched as you made connections, understood your differences, and shared with each other. In your hands, I believe the world can be a better place!

Tuesday's class will provide time to read, comment and connect to each other...the most important part of blogging. Katie hopes to make comments, too, as she reads over your "final" posts. Most of all, we hope these really aren't your "final" posts. Even though you'll be moving on from room 215, we'll all still be a part of our virtual classrooom! We can pass through these doors anytime with the click of a mouse. I know Katie and I plan on it. I hope you'll join us!

Happy reading and blogging!

Our Last Monday: Reading, Posting, and Commenting!

Hello, bloggers! This picture was taken from my car last summer on a stretch of highway between my parents' house and my sister's house in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The trees are old and moss covered, and they provide a canopy of shade to drive through. It's very cool (literally), and as I was thinking about my family today, I decided to share this picture with you. I hope to drive down this road again this summer.

I hope today's class gives you the opportunity to read and revise your beautiful blog posts we began work on Friday. Reading over your posts this weekend, I have noticed some wonderful reflections and connections with both your independent and in-class reading. Look for powerful lessons or themes in your reading and blog about it. I've noticed topics ranging from courage, prejudice, love, fear, fate and more. Have fun with this, and show what you've learned this semester! As you proofread your posts, look for:

• Readability...Provide line breaks
  between paragraphs so that your lines don't run together and make it hard to read.


• Proofread for spelling (use spell check, too), grammar, and punctuation.


• Be sure you've followed our blog rules you voted on by your class.


• Reflect and write about your reading. This is a literature discussion blog. You will be making connections with your reading, with each other, and the world.


• When you provide links to another site, don't just link. Reflect on the links and what you learned from them.


• Create a catchy title.


• Find a picture or two that illustrate something about your post.


• Comment THOUGHTFULLY to each other. Take time to "discuss" the issues.

Good luck! Have Fun! As always, today is also a reading workshop day. You will have time to read your independent reading books, read the blog, and thoughtfully comment to each other.

May the Best Blogs Begin!

Let's not be lazy bloggers today. We are going to start off with some online reading which may help give you some direction for your "best blog post." First, check out the NPR site of the radio diaries. These include fascinating stories/interviews from people who share challenges you may connect with your reading this semester. Likewise, the interviews included on the Face to Face site will reflect some of the issues we've read about as well. These stories can lead you to areas you'd like to ponder, read about, reflect on, research further online, and blog and share! Take time to read and connect and question what you know. When you blog, you should be able to link us to your readings. Have fun!

As always, happy reading, happy blogging, and happy Friday!

The Best Blog Post Yet...What To Do?

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words...
These pictures illustrate a conversation I had this morning. The first is picture is of Rodin's statue entitled "The Thinker," and it is famous enough that many people would recognize it with no label. The second picture, however, has an interesting addition that brings us to the 21st century and the topic of my conversation! What do you think?

This morning before school I met with my fellow English teachers, and I found myself talking about blogging...I accidentally said something that I thought truly summed up why I see blogging as a great avenue for teaching. Let's see if I can remember it........

........I believe that we are ALL learners: students and teachers, adults and teens alike. I don't want to insult anyone - ever - by telling them what they should think. Likewise, I don't want anyone to insult me by telling me what to think. The blog allows us the liberty to write about our thoughts, our views, our opinions, and to share (summarize and link) the information that led us to form those conclusions. Readers get to see why I think the way I do. In other words, I could write about UFO's (just as an example) and instead of simply telling my readers whether or not I thought they were real, I could link my readers to the outside reliable sources that led me to my opinions. You may not really care about the way I think, but you might be interested in knowing how I formed my opinion! This might or might not influence your opinion, but will allow you a glimpse of my view.

Real blogging is making those connections with each other, the texts we read, and the world beyond us all. In today's world, we are so influenced by the media that surrounds us that I think it's important to be able to evaluate our sources, understand our differences, and examine how and why we believe the things we do!

The other beauty about blogging is the ability to share ideas through commenting. It's, of course, nice to get validation from fellow bloggers who agree with our thoughts, but it's also a great opportunity to ask the right questions and explore a topic more deeply...This doesn't mean flaming about hot issues, but does mean reading other viewpoints and finding an understanding of how others came to think the way they do.

We'll be taking the citywide benchmark tests today and tomorrow, but Friday we'll return to classroom reading workshop time and blogging. Be thinking about the most profound reading you've done this year. Be thinking about a book that changed the way you see things, or a book that was entertaining, or a book that challenged you. Be thinking about how you might blog about that experience, about how you might research or link us to enrichment or other related material. As you are reading through our blog, please connect with other bloggers by looking for potential discussions you can participate in. This will also give you a chance to build your summer reading list!

Final Days, Final Project, Final Thoughts!

Our final days together really are a celebration of all we've experienced and learned on this journey through freshman English. The benchmark tests for Honors English I will be administered on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, and after that, we'll be working on demonstrating the best blogging yet, our thoughts on pleasure reading, which will include a summer reading list, writing publication, and goals for reading and writing.

On your last blogging self-assessment, you set goals for improvement, and you were also asked to think about a final blog project - something related to your reading that you could research and share on the blog. This is how we will spend our final days!

In the meantime, many of you blogged over the long weekend. Once again, there is very interesting reading on the blog. Anna at the Disco writes about her life goals; check it out.
Bumblebee has quite an extensive suggested reading list, and I think you'll find some great ideas there. Lastly, BlondeC8 writes about allusions to literature we've read this year! (There is also a link to what Shakespearean play you are...)

Thanks again to all of you for making my reading such a joy. As always, happy reading and blogging!