I'm Ready!

OK, kids, you can come to school now! I'm ready!

New-to-Me Blogs and Update

Here are two blogs I've been reading lately:

Nitty.Gritty. Jody's life has been marred by terrible tragedy, but her faith and joy are an inspiration.

Jonalyn Grace Fisher. I just heard of this woman in connection with her new book, which I haven't yet read, Ruby Slippers. It looks intriguing.

I've spent the last week working in my classroom. I've filed all the loose papers I just chucked in a box at the end of last year, entered all my new classroom library books on the computer and shelved them with the help of my daughter, and put up most of the stuff on the walls (still have a couple of bulletin boards to do). I've written parent letters, thought through how I'll handle several matters differently this year, cleaned out my cabinet and all my desk drawers. I still have more to do, but I've accomplished a great deal already. On Monday we start teacher meetings, but I'll still have some time to work in my room. The main copy machine is broken but it's supposed to be fixed tomorrow - I hope it will be!

Summer is almost over.

Reading Update

I'm working in my classroom, going through cupboards and desk drawers, getting rid of junk from three or four teachers ago. I need a break.

So, here are the books I've read lately:

Book #53 was Portrait of an Unknown Woman, by Vanora Bennett. It's told from the point of view of an adopted daughter of Thomas More. This is a time period I enjoy reading about, and there were some characters I knew a bit about already. In all, an entertaining read.

Book #54 was Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine. I didn't like it as much as Ella Enchanted, but it was good nonetheless. I read this one because my daughter wanted me to. (A character or two from Ella shows up!)

Book #55 and book #56 were Dreamland and This Lullaby, both by Sarah Dessen. A student of mine had been recommending Dessen for a while so I wanted to try her books. I enjoyed both of these, probably the first one a bit more.

Book #57 was the long-awaited Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer. These books were also recommendations from a student. Somehow, I had it in my head that this series was a trilogy. I kept thinking that somehow everything was going to be wrapped up, and the closer I got to the end, the more I saw how impossible that was. Sure enough, I visited Meyer's site, and she wrote that there was no way she was stopping with three books. So I'll have to wait - again - for the next book!

For book #58 I went back to teacher books - this one was Boy Writers: Reclaiming their Voices, by Ralph Fletcher. I've been wanting to read this since I first saw it advertised, and it didn't disappoint. It's one of my long-term goals to make my classroom, and my teaching, more boy-friendly. Fletcher offers some great ways to do so. I think any teacher could benefit from reading this, particularly those like me, a female lit major who loves Jane Austen. It's a challenge to see things through the eyes of boys, but I'm working on it. (Having a son helps a lot, I'm finding!)

And now, back to the mess...

Their Past is a Foreign Country

Here's an interesting article on a series of British documentaries.

Fixed

Several people wrote and told us they were praying that the city power in our neighborhood would get fixed soon, and clearly, praying is a better strategy than calling the electric company. After four to six weeks (depending on which neighbor you ask), on Friday night when the zone got electricity, ours in our little neighborhood came on, too. Hooray!

Good thing, too, because yesterday when my husband was starting the generator, the starter cord came off. So now we are truly relying on the power company. Last night they gave us four and a half hours of electricity and we were thrilled! A friend told me today that when she talks about 24/7 electricity, she's just hoping for 24 hours out of every 7 days. That would be three and a half hours a day, which would be OK by us.

Rats

I'm a bit behind on my blog reading, so I hadn't seen this photo posted by Eric a couple of days ago on Paris Daily Photo. I warn you - don't go look at it if a photo of a dead rat hanging in a window is likely to sicken you. It's a pest-control business in Paris...

You have been warned. Here it is.

By the way, our internet at home works in the morning. It's a satellite connection, if that explains anything (it doesn't to me). Also, we're running the generator. So there's a lot of racket but I can get online!

Home

I flew home yesterday, and I'm adjusting to being back here. There's been no city power at our house for FOUR WEEKS. Nobody told me that until I got back - I think my husband was afraid I would stay in the States if I knew (he's been here a couple of weeks already).

Last night I went downstairs to get a drink and heard a funny noise. I turned on the light and saw a huge rat disappearing into the living room. The person who stayed in our house this summer told me she killed three very large ones with poison and our dogs killed another.

Probably the biggest adjustment is going from wireless internet practically everywhere I was this summer to no working internet at home! (Poor me - I guess in the scheme of things this isn't such a big problem!) I'm in my classroom catching up on email now. There is so much work to do in here, but I'm trying to ignore it for today. There will be plenty of time in the next two and a half weeks before school starts.

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week...

...take a look at this video about the founding of La Leche League.

Theme Day

It's August! As always on the first day of the month, the Daily Photo bloggers are holding a Theme Day. This month, they are posting photos of a typical breakfast where they live. The link will take you to Sharon, CT, and from there you can go to the other 98 sites participating.

It's getting to be that time again...

Last night I read this post from Graycie at Today's Homework. Maybe that put me in the back-to-school mode, because last night I had my own back-to-school nightmare. I was standing in front of a class trying to teach a lesson, but I couldn't find what I needed, and I was going through box after box on my desk. I think I even went through the trash. The kids were getting restless and I was getting frustrated, but I didn't give up - oh, no, I kept hunting that handout.

I'm still in the States but I'll be headed back home soon. I've been thinking about school and buying stuff for my classroom, but soon I'll be dealing with the real thing again.

Meanwhile, to get me in the mood, here's this week's Education Carnival.

Reading Update

Book #49 was the new one by Nancie Atwell, The Reading Zone. As expected, I liked it very much. Mostly, I got plenty of encouragement to keep doing what I'm already doing, but I also got some new ideas, mostly about how to handle things in the classroom and with parents. Atwell goes to bookstores every weekend, she says, and buys books for her classroom library, with particular kids in mind. She doesn't buy basals, and she apparently has quite a large budget for books. (It helps that she has her own school.) I don't have the luxury of going to bookstores every weekend (don't I wish!), mainly because we don't really have bookstores with English books where I live. I have, however, been able to acquire quite a few books for my classroom library on this trip to the US.

Book #50 was Second Honeymoon, by Joanna Trollope. Nancie Atwell categorizes the books her students read as Challenges, Holidays, or Just Rights. This book was a Holiday for me. Some of Joanna Trollope's books seem that way - just brain candy - and then turn out to have much more to them. I don't think this had any more to it than appeared at first glance, but it was still a fun read. Trollope is very good on vagaries of emotion in all kinds of characters.

Book #51 was The Double Bind, by Chris Bohjalian. Here's a book that's more than meets the eye. I don't recommend finishing it, as I did, right before you want to go to sleep. You'll be awake another hour mulling it over in your mind, trying to figure out what clues you missed and what was really going on at different points in the story. Warning - the violence is quite upsetting.

And book #52, ta-da, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! It's a rather unusual experience for me to be reading what everybody is reading! I got my copy on Saturday morning at Wal Mart. There was no hoop-la, just a pallet of books on the floor in the middle of an aisle. They were selling them for $17.99 - did anyone charge full price? Of course, I'm not going to give anything away, but I loved the ending. Rowling wrapped up all the loose ends in a highly satisfying way. In my opinion, each book has been better-written than the one before. This one was mostly fairly grim, but there were some wonderful comic lines as well. I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone else who's read it yet, but I look forward to some good conversations.

Seven Types of Food

Amy tagged me over two weeks ago for that meme where you're supposed to tell seven random facts about yourself. Since I just recently revealed eight random facts to my adoring readers, I have had a bit of trouble coming up with seven more. I finally decided to write about seven kinds of food I like. Of course, there are more than seven, and the ones I'm including here aren't in any order.

1. Ethiopian food. If you haven't tried it, you should. It's delicious - very spicy.

2. Indian food. I think this is my favorite - that was one of my eight random facts, so it may be cheating to bring it up again. If so, I apologize to the meme police.

3. Caribbean food. Beans and rice, delicious ingredients like plantains, mangoes, avocados. Yum.

4. Japanese food. Both my children mention yaki soba when asked what their favorite food is. We also really like katsu don, tempura, and many other dishes. And, of course, sushi. Nothing like the combination of smooth fish and the way the wasabi blows off the top of your head.

5. British food. I realize the British aren't really known for their food, but I still appreciate boarding school favorites like toad in the hole, bubble and squeak, everything on toast. It has nostalgia value, anyway.

6. Italian food. I love pasta in all its forms, and practically any kind of sauce on it.

7. Thai food. Wonderful mixture of savory and sweet (lemongrass and coconut milk).

As I said, I like many more kinds of food. In fact, I've hardly met a food I don't like.

I'm not tagging anyone specifically, but if you'd like to do this meme, please feel free to do so, and let me know in a comment so that I can come and read.

La Leche League Celebrates 50 Years

Here's a great piece from Chicago Public Radio.

Education Carnival

Here's this week's Education Carnival.

Saturday

I'm really going in for the inspiring titles lately.

Here's today's Saturday Review of Books. Hope everybody had a happy quatorze juillet (Bastille Day). Here's the parade in Paris.

Wednesday

Today we went to the zoo, zoo, zoo. We all had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful drive, too. They have been working on the roads around where we're staying, though they looked fine - OK, wonderful - to us before they fixed them. Not a pothole in sight. No goats in the road. Boring, in fact, according to my husband, who really prefers third-world driving, he says. Also, there's supposedly a drought going on but everything is wonderfully green. It's never this green in Tecwil even when we've been having lots of rain.

Here's today's carnival.

International Book Project

It's time for my yearly plug for the International Book Project. (Here's last year's.)

This is a wonderful organization that promotes literacy around the world. We were able to visit again today and I got many books for my classroom library.

The IBP gets many gifts of books - and they are always grateful for them - but few donations of money, which is needed just as badly. They use financial donations mostly for shipping, though as you can see on their site, they have some needs at their facility as well. If you're looking for a good organization to give your money to, I recommend this one highly.

Snow in Buenos Aires

It snowed in Buenos Aires! This is the first time that's happened since 1918. The BBC posted some photos sent in by readers. Here's an article about it.

Happy Fourth of July

Would you believe there's an Education Carnival today? Teachers are so dedicated, aren't they? They don't even take time off for parades and fireworks!

We had a wonderful small-town Fourth, with the fireworks still to come this evening. I hope my American readers enjoy the celebration.

Migrants

I'm fascinated by people who migrate, who move from one country to another, for whatever reason. Today, the BBC is featuring stories about some African migrants.