What are you reading?

I just finished these two novels :) 

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral
Razorbill, 2012

  Chopsticks is a story told through a flashback of 

  pictures, letters, photographs, and other obscure 

  clues.Young love, a boy falls in love with a female 

  piano prodigy who mysteriously disappears. The 

  reader pieces the mystery together by becoming 

  engrossed in the uber-creative way in which 

  Anthony and Corral tell the story.

The Downside Of Being Up by Alan Lawrence Sitomer,
Putnam Juvenile, 2011

Sitomer's young adult novel is absolutely hilarious! I was in stitches the entire way through. Bobby Connor is to navigate his way through the trials and tribulations of adolescence and middle school, but it seems there is always someone or something standing in his way. I often caught myself laughing out loud and wondering what life would have been like as a teenage boy trying to deal with... well, you should just read the book.

Currently, I am reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson
by John Green & David Levithan 

I am only on page 19, but the characters who have already been 

introduced seem to be worth reading about, and the conversations 

between them are classic John Green.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan,
Dutton Juvenile, 2010

"Those" kids

I've been doing a lot of reflecting on my vocation as a middle school teacher lately. My introspection is fueled by the fact that I will teaching at a different school next August. Although the students will be the number one thing I will miss about my current school, I have to be honest and admit that there are students who I will miss more than others. These particular students are not necessarily the smartest of the bunch or the ones with perfect behavior; they are the students who have kept me on my toes, day in and day out. These particular students have probably endured my wrath more than others have, but every single one chooses to stay in my classroom during recess to hangout and "talk story," so I guess they realize there IS a point to my madness. :)

Prior to the start of the school year, my homeroom had already received the dubious distinction of being the worst-behaved class in seventh grade, maybe the entire middle school. Year after year, I see the same patterns occurring in the class placement. All the "behaviorally challenged" students are sent my way. I could either be upset about this or take it as a compliment. I choose the latter. In fact, these students are actually the very caring and compassionate to each other; they just struggle with self-control. Typical 21st century middle school students. Or any century, for that matter. 

And that is where my struggle lies. lays? Saying good-bye to this unforgettable group of twelve and thirteen year olds; not knowing when or where I will bump into them again, wondering what they've been up to and how they are doing. Will their eighth grade teachers accept them as they are and work with their strengths, while strengthening their weaknesses? Or will they look at these kids with scorn on their faces and sarcasm jumping from their tongues? I hope, with a little time and lots of patience, they will discover what I adore about these kids even if they need to dig extra deep to let these lights shine. 

I zig, you zag.

I zig

  You zag

                    And no one else

                          knows our pattern

                                    We figure it out

                               Moment by moment 

               Remembering

        How

and

        Why

               We fell in love

                          Working hard

                                    to keep it alive

                          Uphill, downhill

               no other

       can replace

If you ever

       were to go

               My heart

                          an empty space.

                                                You zig

                          I zag

                Like a puzzle

         piece

not all will

         fit

                each day

                          discovering

                                                two halves

                          a whole!

                We zig,

          We zag,

but still intwined

           by fingers

                 heart,

                          and mind.

                                                The End.

                          

                           

We Are Young

Every school year, my middle school students seem to gravitate to one particular song that they feel defines their generation. Most times, I am somewhat confused as to why they consider certain songs "defining" of their generation, but regardless of their reasoning, I am always pleased to see their enthusiasm boil over when "their song" is played. Yes, most of the time, my students miss the underlying meanings of some of the song's lyrics, but I appreciate that they can create their own understanding from what they hear and know. Currently, the song that gets the most hits on my students' ipods is We Are Young (band: Fun featuring Janelle Monae). Below is the video for the song.

                                                                 

We Are Young

                                                

Tonight

We are young

We can set this world on fire

We can burn brighter

Than the sun

I was reminiscing and thinking back to my good ol' days and trying to remember what songs defined my generation. Since the list was long, I thought of a song that had that "damn the man!" attitude, so I settled on the New Radicals' You Get What You Give. They were probably a one-hit wonder because I can't think of anything else they sang. Oh well.

You Get What You Give

If you feel your dream is dying
Hold tight
You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget you only get what you give

I like to think back to my days in middle school (Junior High) and high school and compare my experiences to those that my students go through each day. There are both similarities and differences, but the one thing that definitely surpasses generation gaps, is the connection young people can make with music. 

eXpanding the ideas

Good thing I have a list of places! Now I can expand on one, two, or three of them. A place that has really been on my mind lately is Vernazza, along the Mediterranean coast of Italy. Maybe it will be a future setting for something I write or a good way to "encourage" my husband to take an international family vacation.

Vernazza, Italy -- where art thou?

Writer's Notebook

A peek into my Writer's Notebook... not exactly a treasure trove of writing ideas, but I'm working on it. I am trying to be more consistent with putting the ideas in my head onto a piece of paper, preferably paper in my writer's notebook.
A kick in the arse Some motivation from other talented writers/teachers is always appreciated! (Thank you, Ruth Ayers!)

Place. Setting. Location. Surroundings. Destination. 

Where are you? 

VlogBrothers

I'm not a big YouTube user; I mainly use it to stay abreast with the latest talk circulating my seventh grade classroom. But, I am a big John Green* fan! (not to mention, I also have a secret crush) So, besides using YouTube to keep me "in the know" with my students, I also use it to view John and Hank Green's (they're brothers) VlogBrothers channel. 

If I had to describe this vlog in three words, it would be: 

Genius + Hilarious + Awesome. 

According to the Green Brothers, the mission of their vlog is raising nerdy to the power of awesome. There are so many topics covered; from current events, YA lit, "How To," debunking misconceptions, the list goes on. Basically, they are here to teach us the stuff we don't know. And boy, it is quite an engaging learning experience!  If you still aren't convinced to click on this link and visit VlogBrothers, then maybe some of their vlog titles will convince you.

"A Surreal Descent into Madness: Reviewing Children's TV"

"Disgusting Cookies: The 2012 Hunger Games"

"5 Worst Typos of History"

"Can I Be Space President"

"Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy"

"Springtime Hunger Games Zit Bully Walk"

"On Cuties and Cooties"

"2011 Presidential Anagrams!"

*John Green is a New York Times Bestselling Author of Looking For Alaska, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines, Will Grayson Will Grayson, and most recently, The Fault in Our Stars.