2014 has already come and gone and I have yet to share with you my favorite reads of the year. For those who don’t follow me on social media, the answer as to why is simple: I was dying of the plague. Okay, not really. I REALLY had the flu. And not just one. I had TWO different strands. So for my Christmas vacation, I spent 16 days in bed. Sleeping. Barely moving. Barely reading—which is the real tragedy. But now that we have enjoyed a full two weeks of 2015, let me share with you my favorite reads of 2014. First, I met my Goodreads goal of 115 books. As a matter of fact, I didn’t meet it—I spanked it. By year’s end I read 144 books (mostly YA and mysteries). I really like rounded up numbers, so I am bummed I didn’t reach 145, but hey, since I spanked my original goal, I will take it. Of those 144 boys, below I am sharing with you 15 of my favorite tween/YA reads in no particular order. Enjoy! ‘The Impossible Knife of Memory’ – Laurie Halse Anderson I did...
Happenings in Hodgensville is me sharing myself with you - not reviewing a book or discussing what I am reading, but sharing what I am doing in my classroom and/or in my life. This first post is a classroom post, and I hope you find value in it. Last week I did a post titled YA in the Classroom? YES You Can! In that post I mentioned an outside reading project I have my AP students work through as their final reading assignment of the year. I want to share it with you, getting your thoughts and ideas on how to make it even stronger. The project itself came out of desperation of an AP teacher who felt the grading overload on her back. Spoiler alert: the “her” is ME. I wanted to do something new and different with my students where they would not have to complete another dialectical journal or DIDLS assignment. (Actually, I was convinced that had I given them one more, they would have taken me up by my pinky toe on the flag pole in the front of the school.) I sifted through reading...
