7.30.2009

Boyfriends.


Hmpfh. I get it. Boyfriends are a big deal when you are 14, 15, and so on. It's troublesome ground. Some girls, many girls actually, find comfort, friendship, and loyalty in their boyfriends. The relationships of their adolescents play an important role in teaching them how to navigate dating and relationships as they grow up. However, other girls only find more reasons to grow more self-doubting and dependent. Like I said, shaky ground. So, this topic- boyfriends- is a topic that usually generates too much adolescent angst and drama when I bring it up with my students. However, I know the topic is a big, big part of being a teenage girl. That's why I read E. Lockhart's book The Boyfriend List.

While it's no Disreputable History , it is an interesting book that portrays a realistic peek into the psyche of teenage girls and their struggles with friends, boys, and boyfriends. I love a series. I like the lessons the Ruby (our protagonist) learns.

Just make sure you read Disreputable History too.

Keep reading.
-stenson

p.s. The picture above is from e. lockhart's website.

Free Photos


Copyright rules and formatting trouble always leave me wondering how to add images to my blog and podcasts. I never have the right answers for my students when they add images to their work. However, this Technology Kit 2.0 promises to deliver us from our troubles. Among other tools, there is a list of sites where one can find free photo. Most helpful, don't you think?

Check it out!

Thanks to the National Council of Teachers of English (more evidence that English teachers save the world in too many ways to count)!

-Stenson

7.21.2009

Farewell, Teacher Man.


-photo from trashotron.com

I would have loved to have a teacher like Frank McCourt. I had good teachers, but this guy told a story like Picasso painted. He was one of the best. Plus, I fondly remember lying next to the proud-to-be Tall Guy while he giggled as he read the last of the three auto-biographies Teacher Man. I hope we left this world smiling; Mr. McCourt died on Sunday, July 20 at the young age of 78. He will be missed.

Read on.
-Stenson

7.10.2009

Reminds me of Hemmingway


I just finished this book called The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin. I'd recommend it for 8th grade and up- it was even hard for me to read through some of the stuff. That happens when you love a character, and our main character, Matt, is easy to love. Vulnerable, tough, smart, kind, caring, and courageous. His family is in crisis thanks to his unstable, abusive and violent mother. Matt makes some tough choices to protect his younger sisters, choices that no teenager should have to make. The story is suspenseful, tender, and, in the end, hopeful.

I liked the significance of two guys, well, they are really gentlemen, in the story. Two men join together with the children's aunt to try to save the kids. These guys are gentleman who are strong and brave, yet unafraid to admit when they are wrong.

When I book the book down (I read it before going to bed one night, put it down to get some sleep, but had finished it by 9:30 a.m. the next morning), I was reminded of one of my favorite Hemingway quotes.

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places."

Ernest Hemingway


Keep reading,
-stenson

7.01.2009

Who is Puckett?


She is one of my best friends; she's my old lady black dog. I love her like I love breathing.

Here's a picture of Pucky just hanging around. She's a constant presence, keeping the whole family company. But apparently, while Pucky is lounging around enjoying city life with her family, there are some amazing dogs working hard.

Take these Dogs on Deployment for example. Dogs are defending peace and justice in Afghanistan. My heart goes out to the soldiers who work with the dogs, and the all the military men and women who are safer because of the work of these dogs.

Click here to listen or to read about these dogs are their masters.

Here's to Lode and Leddy. May they return home safely and quickly with their soldiers by their sides.

Keep reading (online newspapers count!)
-Stenson