It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/4/2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? --From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

This was a very interesting winter break for me. I did not really do as much reading as usual. I am not sure exactly why, but I don't really feel bad about it. I think I have just been focusing on other areas in my life lately and not spending so many hours reading. That is not to say that I am not reading...I just am not reading as much as usual. 

Books I finished this week:

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was a great book for our road trip. Both my husband and I were very interested in the story. The backstories of Rachel and Megan were both so tragic. I did figure it out before it was revealed, but I was entertained by this mystery. 

The Miracle Morning is one of those titles that I just ran into. I was doing some research into bullet journals before setting mine up. I saw one person had a whole bunch of references to this routine and I bought the book so I could read about the routine. I will definitely be doing this routine. I had already started to transform my morning routine and I love the structure that Hal Elrod shares in this book. 

That's it. See? I usually would have finished at least a few books during a vacation week. Oh, well. 

What I am currently reading:

I am listening to Around the World in 80 Days, which I got for free this summer through the Sync Audiobook giveaways. I also am more than halfway through Dorothy Must Die. I am plugging away at 1Q84 but that one will take me a LONG time to finish. I also just started Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle that Set Them Free. I am supposed to have this one finished by Thursday for my book club. I am pretty sure that isn't going to happen, but I will make an effort to do so. 

What's Next? 

I have a pile from the library that I might dig into next. However, with the books I am reading now, I am not sure if I will really get to anything else. 

2015 Reflections and 2016 Goals

What I loved about 2015:

    A new principal who has been working to facilitate big changes in our school. She is not always appreciated by everyone, especially those who would like to dig in their heels and stay where they are, but the changes are needed and I am excited about the direction we are headed.

    The opportunities I have had this year for traveling and spending quality time with my family. It is so fun to watch my niece develop and learn.

     My new kitchen! It was so worth the headaches of construction and the cost of the remodel.

      So many opportunities for learning! I attended All Write last summer and loved it! I also went to Summer Spark, which is a new conference started in Milwaukee last year. This fall, I was able to attend a workshop with Lucy Calkins. I love being able to learn new things and solidify the understandings I already had.

    There are so many other things, big and small, that I had to celebrate in 2015. I love the Celebrate This Week blog posts because they helped me to focus on the positive.

My goals for 2016:

     One of my biggest stressors is the way I am not as organized with my financial picture as I would like to be. I have to be better at this. I plan to have a budget and stick to it. I have a couple of apps that are helping me with keeping better track of things and I know this will be much better from here on out.

     I want to write more. I really got lazy with my blogging this fall and I would also like to do some more writing of stories and possibly a book. Daily writing is my goal. I have some plans for some structures that will help me make the time for this.

     I set my reading goal at 130 books. I like that I was less obsessed this year with finishing a ton of books. I have given myself permission to do other things and have taken some of my reading time back. I still am a voracious reader. I just also have other things I want to do.

     I am excited to be participating in the Whole Life Challenge starting January 16th (if you are interested in joining my team, click here). I need to be healthier and lose weight. I think the fun online game way of doing this will be motivating for me. I am looking forward to eating cleaner and really focusing on some healthy habits each day.

    I am using a Bullet Journal for the first time in earnest this year. I did a variation of this for a couple months in 2015, but I had a planner and felt guilty that I wasn't using it so my bullet journal practice fizzled out. I am excited to use this system because I think it will really help me with productivity and keeping track of some things that I should be keeping better track of. I am looking forward to a small bedtime reflection routine which will include this tool.

    While looking around the internet at some different bullet journals, I stumbled upon a description of The Miracle Morning. The small description of this routine intrigued me, so I bought the book and read it. I had already been starting to rethink my morning routine and this book came into my life at just the right time. I am excited about implementing the Life SAVERS routines into my mornings. This is a great way for me to be able to incorporate a daily writing time. I am also happy to think about a structure in which I also will develop a meditation practice and do some exercise every morning.

I know that this all sounds like a lot. I just really think this is the time for me to take the bull by the horns and focus on some self-improvement. I hope I will be able to stick to the routines that will help me to do so.


Happy New Year!

Celebrate 1/2/2016

It's Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres' blog to read others' celebrations.

This week I am celebrating a nice two weeks of relaxing and rejuvenating. I have had a fabulous winter break and am ready to head back to work on Monday. I celebrate fun family times. We drove down to Savannah, where my sister and her family are now living, for Christmas. Then, we came back to Milwaukee just in time to drive through a winter storm and enjoy almost a full week relaxing at home. Here are some pictures that capture our days on the trip. Happy New Year to everyone!

My niece was super excited to ride on the trolley through Savannah.

My husband, Ramon, with the kid's menu hat and our adult beverage at The Pirate's House restaurant. Fun times!

Sometimes you end up with hilarious pictures when you try to force a pose. My mother did get a nicer picture with smiles for everyone, but this one is too funny! (And I am celebrating the smile on my mother's face. It is hard being recently widowed during the holidays)

Someone is quite pleased with her Christmas haul, without even really understanding what is going on. 

 

This is the best picture to sum up how yummy is the ice cream at Leopold's Ice Cream 

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready for a fabulous 2016! What do you have to celebrate? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/28

Here are some books I have been reading in the last couple of weeks:

A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin is the fourth in the Mistress of Art and Death series. These are murder mysteries set in the middle ages when a woman doctor was thought to be a witch. The main character of this series was from Sicily and therefore received medical training and has learned to perform autopsies to determine cause of death. However, this must be done in secret in England or she will be shunned for being a witch. I really have enjoyed all of the books in this series. In this one, the main character is in mortal danger herself as she accompanies the princess on a journey across Europe. Fans of mysteries and historical fiction will enjoy this book for adult readers.

I have had Bluefish by Pat Schmatz on my shelf for years. I finally brought it down and read it. What an amazing story. I love the way the teacher in this book helps the main character to learn to read. It is a beautiful story about perseverance in the face of life's challenges and the struggles that some people have to find family. I highly recommend this one to grades 8 and up.

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick was a tough book to read. In a lot of ways, I was glad I read it while I was sort of distracted and not able to fully immerse myself in the story. It is an important story about the true events that happened to a young boy in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge took over and there was awful genocide. This is an important story to know about, but really tough to read. I would recommend it for grades 8 and up, but with fair warning that it is quite graphic in parts.

I also have been reading with my ears this week. We did a road trip from Milwaukee to Savannah to visit my sister and her family for Christmas. On the way down, we listened to the first Harry Potter book because I love Jim Dale as a narrator and it was an entertaining reread for both my husband and me. We also listened to the first season of the Serial podcast. So intriguing!

What I am Currently Reading:

I started to read IQ84. That seems like it will take me quite a while to get through, because it is so long. I also started reading Dorothy Must Die because my sister had it on her shelf and I wanted to see if I would like it. I have requested it at my library and will hope to be able to continue reading it soon. I am also listening to Girl on the Train during our road trip back to Milwaukee. It was a great choice for a book that keeps us both intrigued.

What's Next?

I will be reading Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free for my book club. Otherwise, I will have to see what comes up this week.

What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great reading week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/14

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? --From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

I didn't get a chance to do much reading this week. It is so busy at this time of year with all the holiday preparations. I would much rather be at home reading than in the crowded stores on the weekends, but alas, I have had to be in the shops. 

Books I Finished This Week:

I really enjoyed Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs. I picked it up because I have some boys who would be interested in this type of story, but I wanted to make sure they would be able to handle the storyline. This is a great adventure book that really highlights the challenges of immigrants and the real struggles of families in Mexico. I am looking forward to sharing this title with the boys in my class. I would recommend it for grades 4 and up. 

Books I Am Currently Reading:

I am almost finished with A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin. It is one of the books in the Mistress of Art and Death series. I really like these books about a woman who is a doctor in medieval times but has to hide it in England because it is seen as heretical for a woman to be practicing medicine. Her specialty is doing autopsies, which is also unseemly in that time period. 

What's Next?

I will choose from my shelves according to my mood. That is about the best plan I can come up with right now. 

What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! 

Celebrate This Week 12/12

It's Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres' blog to read others' celebrations.


My biggest celebration is just a fantastic week at school. Our classroom just seems to be clicking into place. We did the things that matter this week. My students sustained their independent reading and are finishing more books and thinking deeper about them. Our math times went well. Our writing times are fun and productive. We are all enjoying our days at school. Does it sometimes get crazy? Yes, of course. Do the students still manage to drive me nuts some days? Yes. However, the majority of my day is a pleasant and enjoyable experience. This is such a nice situation and it doesn't always work this way. There are two things I did in the last two weeks that I think made a big difference.

First, I changed our morning schedule a bit to start our day with morning meeting instead of starting with quiet work and then doing the meeting. I think this focus on starting with our community has helped some students to center themselves during the day and to work on our shared goal of learning. This little change in our timing seems to have given us a more productive day each day.

Second, I have been working my way through the first Unit of Study for Teaching Reading. I am adapting it slightly since I already had my workshop pretty much set up. However, the language of the unit and the lessons about reading intensely are definitely helping my readers to focus. I need to improve in making sure readers in my classroom have goals that they are working on and keep track of. I also need to improve my record-keeping routines. The Units of Study are helping me with this because they give me the coherence in my teaching to help me get there.

The other fun thing at school is the holiday celebrations. We are doing some fun things as we approach the holidays, including a door decorating contest. It was really fun to brainstorm with my class and to come up with our idea. Yesterday, we spent a lot of the afternoon making the snowflakes and toys and presents and candy canes to put in our North Pole scenes. We also made some elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus. The students are so proud of our efforts and confident that they will win the hot chocolate party. It is a lot of fun!


What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/7

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? --From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Oh, my goodness! It has been so long since I last linked up! This Fall has been a tough one, but I am hopeful that the rest of the year will be a little more sane and normal.

I have been doing some great reading during these few months! There are so many fabulous books out there and I happen to have a bunch on my shelves. I am just going to highlight a few of my favorites because it has been so long.

Books I Finished:

I reread Throne of Glass because I had my Kindle with me while staying with my mother and I had it on there and needed a good distraction. I knew I wanted to read the rest of the series and thought this would be a good time to read it. I also was mistaken thinking that it was a trilogy. I devoured these three books and got to the end of Heir of Fire and was really surprised that the story did not get resolved. Now, I need to go seek out the fourth book which, luckily, came out this Fall.

I highly recommend this series!

I read The Martian for my book club. It is not a book I would usually pick up to read, but I enjoyed the story. I did study engineering for a few years, so the scientific sections were fascinating to me. My husband, on the other hand, could not handle that stuff and gave up on the book. The people in my book club said they just skimmed the technical parts and ended up enjoying the story. This is a book I recommend. Just know that you might have to give it a little longer to hook you than usual.

I loved The Water Castle. It is a great middle grades story that I know a lot of kids will connect to. I thought a lot about how this story would be great to read along with Tuck Everlasting because of the idea of the fountain of youth and water that might make you immortal. I think kids could really sink their teeth into the deep ideas presented here. I highly recommend this book.

I love, love, LOVED The Mark of the Dragonfly. It is a beautiful and intriguing story. I was hooked from the beginning and could not put the book down. I highly recommend this one as well.

Learning to Swim was a fast-paced mystery that I read in one day. I was caught up in the story and trying to figure out what had happened. I did figure out some of the mystery, but it took so many twists and turns that I was not fully sure until the very end of the story. I recommend this one to adults who like a suspenseful story.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am reading Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs.

What's Next?

I have The Heir sitting on my desk. I will probably get to that one soon. I am not sure what else I might read. I have been very spontaneous about book choices lately and will probably go with whatever strikes my fancy.


What are you reading? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great reading week!