It's that time again! We're already halfway through January. Seems a little mind-bendy, if you ask me. Here in Ecuador, first semester doesn't end before Christmas; it ends the last week of January. So we're busy doing end-of-semester things like report cards and mid-year assessments. And trying to keep our chins up amidst more online… Continue reading January 2021: Recent Reads
Watermelon Handles
Can you visualize it? If God dreamt up pockets in kangaroos and the weird fin-leg-things on amoebae, surely he would have thought of making watermelons grow handles. I can't help it: every time I pass that line in my quote book, laughter bubbles out of me. Because while I normally don’t think God makes mistakes,… Continue reading Watermelon Handles
2021 Reading Challenge Roundup
Oh my goodness. I started searching the web for y'all to see if I could pick a few challenges for you for the new year. There are SO MANY out there! I curated a list of six different reading challenges that looked good to me. Jump to reading Challenge List Some avid readers complete many… Continue reading 2021 Reading Challenge Roundup
Top Middle Grade Reads of 2020
Part 3 (of 3) Delightfully for me, reading middle grade books is part of my job. I suppose reading as many as I do is not *actually* part of my job description. But after reading about how one teacher knows all the books in her classroom library so she can better recommend books to different… Continue reading Top Middle Grade Reads of 2020
Top Nonfiction Reads of 2020
Part Two Ironically, I couldn't narrow my nonfiction reads down to just 5. I say "ironic" because I read so much more fiction than nonfiction! So I decided, "Why limit myself to an arbitrary number?" Books can often be a "top read" based on when you and the book find each other. What I find… Continue reading Top Nonfiction Reads of 2020
Top 5 Fiction Reads of 2020
As promised, here is my first installment of: My criteria for including titles on this list are a combination of most of these: I ranked it with 5 stars on GoodreadsIt stuck with me for a long time after reading itIt made me thinkThe writing itself was beautiful, the characters were well-developed, and/or the storyline… Continue reading Top 5 Fiction Reads of 2020
December 2020: Recent Reads
A piece of nostalgia...the nativity scene I grew up with. I'll be honest, after reading so many FABULOUS books in November, this past month was a bit of a let down. I guess I've been in a some kind of a slump. Makes me want to go read some Anne of Green Gables just for… Continue reading December 2020: Recent Reads
Friday Thoughts
It's a rainy, dreary afternoon here, and it's been a mostly rainy week. Pretty much sums up my inner state for this week as well, if rain were tears. An extended family member died unexpectedly this week, and several other things have weighed heavy on my heart. I spent last night curled on the couch… Continue reading Friday Thoughts
5 Books on Technology, Productivity, and Relationships
Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com When the pandemic hit this spring, I all of a sudden found myself in a very different position than normal: for the first time in pretty much ever, I had no set schedule. At that point, we hadn't created a fixed online school schedule. With an entire work day… Continue reading 5 Books on Technology, Productivity, and Relationships
Class vs. Teacher Reading Challenge
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com One of the things that has been killing me about teaching online is that I can't have my class do their 15 minutes of daily independent reading at the beginning of ELA class, nor meet for one-on-one reading conferences during that time. Last year, students read independently every day and… Continue reading Class vs. Teacher Reading Challenge
