News Junkie

I don't know what it is, but I love to read the news. My obsession with news reading began in my early 20's. The rise of the Internet (no kids, I didn't have access to the Internet in middle or high school) gave me access to a plethora of news outlets. Every morning, I would get up before work and check all my news sites--CNN, Fox News, The Dallas Morning News (before it required a paid subscription), The Corpus Christi Caller Times (I grew up there), Yahoo News. I know, I know, sounds kinda weird, but I just feel like I learn so much from reading the news. News sites just don't carry "the news." They also carry lifestyle stories, scientific advancements, entertainment buzz. The list goes on and on.

Anyway, during my daily news reading, I found this article "At Some Schools, 'Big Brother' is Watching." The title had me intrigued. What are they watching I wondered? The article described a school district where the school is monitoring kids online interaction. It is normal for a school to monitor a student's activity when they are online at school, but in this case they are monitoring students activity at home. There is much debate over whether or not a school has the right to monitor and dole out discipline to students based on things they do when they are not in school. With several recent suicides linked to cyberbullying, it seems like a good idea for schools to know what is going on outside of school hours between students. Personally, I have mixed feelings on the issue. Why should students get in trouble at school for incidents that occur off school property and not during school hours? At the same time though, the social media provides an opportunity for constant contact between students. In the past, students who were being bullied could at least escape their tormentors when they left school. But today, that's not the case. Students have constant connection through the Internet.

Even after reading the article, I'm not sure how I feel about the issue. What do you think? Read the article and let me know!

Check Out This Blog

This week, I have really enjoyed reading all of your blogs! I learned what many of you are interested in or are passionate about and also what kinds of books you like to read (which, if you ask me, says a lot about a person). Hopefully you have all been checking out each other's blogs. Check out the blog below. This student has totally embraced the blogging concept. Way to go!

 

Jone H.'s Blog

Cast Your Ballot!

Did you know that today is election day?  None of you are old enough to vote for a mayor or city council member, but you can vote in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2013!

At the beginning of the year, we all set up an account on Goodreads. This site is a great place to keep track of the books that you are reading as well as a great place to find books that you may be interested in reading. If you haven't looked at your account in a while, you need to go check it out. Right now they are asking people to cast their votes for the best books of 2013. Check out your Goodreads account and vote for your favorites!

Books Change Lives

Today I stumbled upon this article on CNN about books that changed your life. I started to think if one particular book had changed my life. Growing up, I always enjoyed reading. It started with the Little House on the Prairie Series, and then I graduated to Nancy Drew Mysteries. Through middle and high school, I had to read A LOT for school. It seemed that there was little time for pleasure reading. This was especially true in Advanced Junior English. My teacher Ms. Pete made us read at least 10 outside reading books a six weeks (I swear I'm not exaggerating). Countless nights I stayed up into the wee hours of the night trying to finish a book for one of her "book talks." The "book talk" consisted of students and teacher sitting around discussing the book. There might have been 40 people in the room for a book talk, and she might never call on you, but I knew if I didn't read the book in its entirity, she would know, and she would call on me! So I always read no matter what. That year, I read more than I ever had and was truly challenged. So would I say that a book changed my life? No, probably not, but an amazing teacher did make me love literature!

Can you think of any books or teachers who have shaped your view of reading? Let me know by posting in the comments below.

From Book to the Big Screen

Great Young Adult Books become Great Movies

So the other night I was looking at Pinterest for YA literature suggestions. I'm always looking for more great books to read and to buy for my classroom library. I happened upon a pin that lead me to a list of awesome young adult books that are being made into feature films. Below are the movie trailers for some of the books. Check out the trailers. It might inspire you to read some of the books!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

 



 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 



 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

 



 

 

All of these books are available in the Shadow Ridge Middle School Library. For a more comprehensive list of 60 young adult movie to book adaptations click on the link!

 

 

Why Blog?

Many of you are probably familiar with blogs, a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, stories, links to favorite sites, etc. This week, each of you will set up your own personal blog. Some of you are probably thinking why is she making us start a blog? Well there are many reasons but check out a few below:

Reason #1 Blogs help writers find their voice. A blog gives you the opportunity to write about things that matter to you. We will be writing about things that we are learning about in class, but we will also write about things we are passionate about, wonder about, question. Your blog will allow the potential for your voice to be heard all over the world! That's pretty amazing!

Reason #2 Class blogs provide an archive or record of the things that you have learned in this class. Just like a digital portfolio, a blog can provide evidence of learning. The evidence is forever available on your Google Blog. That's alot easier than keeping up with a bunch of papers, folders, or binders.

Reason #3 Blogs provide an authentic audience for you as a writer. How many of you agonize over your ideas, words, and sentences when you are writing a paper to be turned into a teacher? Probably not too many. It seems counterintuitive to put that much effort into something that will be read by one person. Not only will your blog be seen by me, but it will also be seen by your classmates. We tend to do a better job as writers when we know people are going to be reading the things we write.

Reason #4 Blogs give you the opportunity to practice writing. Just like riding a bike or playing a sport, you will never become a better writer if you don't practice, practice, practice!

I could give you many more reasons why blogging will be beneficial to everyone in our class including me, but instead I want you to look at some examples of blogs written by kids.

Links to Student Blogs
Katrine's Blog
This and That