My First Week of 2013...

What an incredible first week of 2013.  There are times when I still can't believe where I am both professionally and personally.  If the beginning of 2013 is any indication of how my year is going to go, I can't wait...

I experienced two BIG events this past week.  One included my life as a 4th grade teacher and the other included my life as a member of the Twitter community. 

My 4th grade class had the opportunity to Skype with the prolific author Dan Gutman.  My "Breakfast with Books" book club was reading his book The Genius Files #1: Mission Unstoppable during the month of December.

I had experienced a couple of Skype visits with Stephen McCranie and Kim Baker and I thought wouldn't it be cool to include Dan in our book club discussion.  I have found that Twitter is an amazing way to connect with people that you normally wouldn't be able to.

On Thursday, January 3rd, fourteen of my 4th grader gathered in our classroom to discuss the book and Skype with this incredible author.  To say we were excited is to put it mildly.  We spent about thirty minutes with Dan talking about the book, asking questions, and enjoying his company.  He didn't disappoint.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our year:  So far...

That same day I had another life experience that I never thought would happen.  I had the opportunity to participate in the first #ABCT (Adult Book Club for Twitter).  You can read an earlier post to read the details of this newly created book club.

Many Twitter members joined me reading Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach.  Because I am getting better at taking risks, I also contacted Bill via Twitter to see if he would like to join our online book club discussion on Thursday, January 3rd at 7:00 PM.  He agreed.  Wow!

The first #ABCT was bittersweet I must say.  It was sweet because I was so proud of myself for creating this book club, making it happen, and actually having an online book discussion with some of my fellow Twitter friends.  It was bitter because the only readers that showed up were myself and the author.

I tried hard not to be too disappointed, but there was a little sadness in my heart.  I also felt bad for Bill Roorbach because he made the time to join us and I know was thinking there would be many members online.  We both made the best of it with questions asked by me, answers provided by Bill, and a nice hour long discussion about the book between the two of us.  He seemed like a great guy and I really appreciated him giving an hour of his time.

I did hear from other readers after the book club that they were sorry they couldn't make it.  As my wife said to me afterwards, "If at first you don't succeed, try again."  I'm happy to say that I'm not going to stop with the first #ABCT, but will be announcing our second book very soon.

Looking back on the first week of 2013, I have a smile on my face, a warm feeling in my heart, and a satisfaction knowing I'm doing exactly what I was meant to do in my life...

The Genius Files #2 - Never Say Genius by Dan Gutman

How I Heard About It:   I had read about the first Genius Files book on Mr. Schu's website (http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/) a few months back.  I read the first book and loved it.  I loved it so much that it was our December's "Breakfast with Books" selection for my 4th grade students.  I enjoy picking the first book in a series because it is my hope that the readers will continue the series on their own.  I read this book on my own and I'm so glad I did. 

What It Is About:  This second book continues the summer road trip adventure of Coke and Pepsi with their parents.  They make their way from Wisconsin to Washington D.C. with more crazy, dangerous, and unique adventures on the way.  It is a face paced journey and one that keeps you turning page after page.  The story concludes at The Museum of American History with an "explosive" ending.  The last page leaves you hanging and looking forward to the third installment of this series. 

What I Thought Of It:   As you can probably already tell, I loved this book.  It is not realistic and includes some crazy and over the top plots, but that is what I (and my students) love about this series.  It is fun, fast-paced, and full of many unique situations.  I think it is so cool that Gutman includes many road side attractions that our country has to offer.  He even includes Google map directions throughout the books so that readers can follow these two awesome characters.  After reading the first two books, I want to take a cross country road trip and see these quirky attractions. 

Who Should Read It:  If you love children's literature, you will love this book.  I don't know how you couldn't.  This is also the type of book (series) that is perfect for our young readers.  I believe the books would make for wonderful read alouds for grades three and above.  Independent readers could handle them easily from grades four and above.  I know my students (4th graders) were thrilled by reading the first book in the series, have already started the second book, and are looking forward to the third installment later in January.  Read this series!  You will NOT be disappointed.  Thanks Dan...

The Daring Escape of the Misfit Menagerie by Jacqueline Resnick

*So excited to post the first book of 2013.  I actually finished this book at the very end of 2012, but I loved it so much, I wanted it to be my first book post of 2013...

How I Heard About It:   I always love looking at lists of books that are recommended to readers.  One list I always check is the Best Books list that Amazon puts out each month.  This book caught my eye, the premise sounded interesting, and it had gotten some wonderful reviews.  I went to the local book store, bought a copy, and started reading. 

What It Is About:  This story is about Smalls (a bear), Wombat (a wombat), Tilda (a rabbit), and Rigby (a dog).  They are living the good life until their owner sells them off to an evil (and he is mean) circus owner. Their lives change, and not for the better, and things will never be the same for these four furry friends.  While performing at the circus, they meet Bertie, a wonderfully sweet boy who has been living with his uncle who is also the circus owner.  These new "guests" of the circus form a bond with Bertie and they decide they have had enough and begin to play their "daring escape."   

What I Thought Of It:   I loved this book.  I loved it so much that I selected it for my January book club selection for my 4th grade "Breakfast with Books" book club.  I loved it so much that I Tweeted the author to tell her how much I enjoyed the story.  I loved it so much that I asked her if she would Skype with us after we finish the book during our book club.  Jacqueline said, "YES."  I could not put this book down and I feel in love with all of the characters in the story.  Well, almost all of them.  I'm so excited to announce this book to my class on Thursday, January 3rd. 

Who Should Read It:   This book is the perfect book for any young reader and also any adult reader.  The story is engaging, full of action, suspense and has an incredible cast of characters.  I think it would make a great read aloud to students in grades 3-5.  I believe independent  readers in the fourth grade and up could easily handle this book.  I'm so thrilled to use this book with my students and I'm also excited for the sequel to come out in the fall of 2013.  It will be awesome to continue reading about the adventures of the Misfit Menagerie. 

Looking Back at 2012...

I haven't been blogging lately.  In fact, it was the end of November when I blogged last.  I think the month of December got the better of me.  It frustrated me at first, but then I gave myself permission to do just what I can do and that it is OK that I can't keep up with fellow bloggers.

As I look back at 2012, it was a full year personally and definitely professionally.  I know many bloggers are reviewing the year with their favorite books.  Many of those titles are my favorites also.  I wanted to wrap up the year by reflecting on my top ten professional moments because it was a year of such grand change. 

The events listed below are in no particular order.  They are the moments that come to mind as I think back over the last six months or so...

Number Ten: While sitting at my son's soccer game in June, I tweeted about the book Fake Mustache, and Donalyn Miller replied to my Tweet.  This started my journey in the world of Twitter.  My career will never be the same.  Thanks Donalyn! 

Number Nine:  As the summer rolled along, I started to follow more and more educators, teachers, and librarians.  To a great surprise to me, many of these same people started to follow me. 

Number Eight:  Learning about Colby Sharp and John Schu through Twitter.  It was so refreshing to find two male educators that were as passionate about reading and books as I was.  It was fascinating to follow their tweets and their incredible blogs.  As I mentioned above, I will never hit the blog status of these two guru's, but they are truly role models to me. 

Number Seven:  I tweeted about the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  The Oprah Book Club saw it on Twitter and messaged me to ask if I wanted a signed copy of the book.  A few days later, a copy of the book was at my house signed by Cheryl along with a note signed by Oprah.  This Twitter thing was becoming pretty darn cool. 

Number Six:  I prided myself on the amount of books that I read and exposed my students to.  The one "genre" that I was not aware of was graphic novels.  Because of Colby and John, and of course others, I was exposed to graphic novels and fell in love with them immediately.  It has been one of my teaching highlights this school year introducing many wonderful graphic novels to my fourth graders!

Number Five:  Again, through Twitter, I was introduced to Stephen McCranie.  He was offering Sykpe visits to classrooms across the country.  I quickly Tweeted him that we would love a Skype visit.  I got my students reading the Mal and Chad books and couldn't believe the excitement that grew because of the books and the Skype visit.  We had a great visit and it opened the world of Skyping with authors to me.  His books are still be circulated around my classroom.

Number Four:  I came across the book Pickle and the author Kim Baker.  I took a risk and reached out to her via Twitter to ask if she would Skype with us. She of course said yes and my class was in store for another Skype visit with another author.  It was so exciting to see how a book and an author can come to life via a Skype session.  The excitement is palpable. 

Number Three:  At the beginning of December I had the opportunity to meet a professional role model to me.  Years ago I had read the book The Book Whisperer.  It became my "bible" of teaching.  I thought she wrote it just for me because it was exactly how I thought reading should be taught to children.  It was amazing then to become Twitter friends.  It was even more amazing when I found Donalyn Miller would be conducting a workshop right here in the Twin Cities.  What a career highlight to meet Donalyn in person, hear her words, and be validated for what I know is true in my heart. 

Number Two:  During the November #TitleTalk with Colby and Donalyn, an idea struck me.  We all spend so much time reading children's books, but wouldn't it be great to read some adult books and talk about them via Twitter.  I started the #ABCT (Adult Book Club on Twitter).  The first book that was picked was Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach.  We will be discussing this book on Twitter on Thursday, January 3rd at 7:00 PM.  I'm excited to see where this book club will go. 

Number One:  Taking another risk, I decided to head into the world of blogging.  I'm not sure why, but it sure scared the heck out of me.  I didn't know if I could measure up to all of the other bloggers that I had been following.  On July 18th, I took the leap and began this blog called ReadWonder.  The title was in honor of my love for reading and my love for the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  I'm proud of the blog, want it to be better than ever, and am excited for the next chapter for the blog in the year 2013! 


*For me this is a great wrap-up to the year 2012.  I'm not going to worry about the Mondays I miss for "What Are You Reading", or the books that I don't blog about after I read them.  I need to let myself be where I am and continue to use this blog to record the happenings in my reading and professional life.  I'm excited for the year 2013 and all that will come...

*Happy New Year fellow blogger, Twitter friends, and all of you who truly have made a world of difference in my own life! 

Announcing ABCT (Adult Book Club on Twitter)

How ABCT Came About:   While on #titletalk on Sunday, November 25th we were chatting about book lists and books for our students.  As I was watching the tweets come in and adding my own thoughts, I had this flash of an idea.  I thought wouldn't it be fun to create a book club for all the adult twitter members.  I know we all read a lot of "kid" books.  I also enjoy reading books written for adults.  Hoping other teachers, educators, authors, and readers would feel the same way, I decided to take a leap into something totally different for me...

The Invite Sent Out:  I took a risk and threw out the idea of creating an Adult Book Club on Twitter (#ABCT).  I wasn't sure what response I would get.  It was amazing to me when I saw a few tweets come back with readers saying they would love to join this new book club.  It was surprising to say the least.  I must say that one of the greatest moments during this tweet "a-thon" was when @donalynbooks tweeted stating she would love to join this book club.  What a moment!  More and more tweets started coming in with more and more people on Twitter saying they were interested in this idea of a book club. 

First Book Chosen:   Since I was about to start a new book after #titletalk on Sunday night, I decided to throw that out as our first book club selection.  We are going to read Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach.  I had read some great reviews of it and was hopeful it would be a great book to start with.  What was so fun to see was how many people either downloaded the book or looked into the book on that first Sunday night.  For me, the excitement was growing!    

Who Should Read It:   I'm hoping to get as many Twitter readers reading this book during the month of December.  The possibilities of this book club are quite exciting.  I've also contacted the author (via Twitter) to see if he would like to follow this online book club and discussion.  I have scheduled our first #ABCT for Thursday, January 3rd at 7:00 PM CT.  Won't it be interesting to see how many people log-in this night to have the book club discussion.  It is my hope that we also "Tweet-talk" the book while we are all reading it.  Please spread the word about the book, the new book club, and spread the excitement about giving ourselves some time to read an adult book in between all the books we read for our students and young people. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (11/26/12)

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to their site...

                

                 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

With conferences on Monday, November 19th and then the rest of the week off, it was a great week for reading.  I almost felt like it was last summer and was able to get through several books.  Everything I read this past week was great...

Books I Read this Past Week...

We the Animals by Justin Torres (My ADULT Book - 3 Stars out of 5 Stars)

Mr. Terupt Falls Again by Rob Buyeau (My KID Book - 3 Stars out of 5 Stars)

The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford (My KID Book - 3 Stars out of 5 Stars)

Sidekicks by Dan Santat (My KID Book - 5 Stars out of 5 Stars)

The Genius Files:  Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman (My KID Book - 5 Stars out of 5 Stars)

*I will be picking The Genius Files for my December book club selection for my "Breakfast with Books" book club with my 4th graders.  I know they will LOVE it and will rush to get book #2.  I'm looking forward to reading the second one. 


Books I Will Read this ComingWeek...

Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach (My ADULT Book)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to their site...

                

                 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/


Books I Read this Past Week...

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (4Stars out of 5 Stars)
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (5 Stars out of 5 Stars)


Books I Will Read this comingWeek...

Mr. Terupt Falls Again by Rob Buyeau (My KID Book)
We the Animals by Justin Torres (My ADULT Book)