Week #4

Week 10/24 through 10/30/2011

Tuesday (10/25)             8:05-8:15pm  The Mystery of the Missing Peanuts

Wednesday (10/26)        8:15-8:25pm   The Bike Lesson

                                      10:05 -10:45pm The Education of Little Tree

Friday (10/28)                8:00 – 8:30pm Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Total = 90 minutes

This week’s pleasure reading took a turn towards childhood.  With a hectic schedule, my two sons were put in my charge outside of our regular routine.  My oldest son (10) reads from 8:00 to 8:30mevery night.  I read to my youngest son on two nights this week.  He has a craft in choosing the lengthier books in our collection.  It was enjoyable because I seldom seize the opportunity to do the nightly reading.  I used to have to ask whether I should do the “voices” or not.  It’s become expected.  In the Mystery of the Missing Peanuts, Donald Duck is hired as a private investigator to determine why peanuts are going missing from the zoo’s shed.  Those innocent chipmunks, Chip and Dale, end up being discovered after the many failed attempts by Donald.

I was requested for reading the following night for The Bike Lesson by Stan and Jan Berenstein.  The voices are much easier as this story occurs between the father and the son, great story of a father attempting to provide lessons while unintentionally providing examples of what not to do.  It’s amazing how this echoes what often happens in real life.  The experience was extremely gratifying and a realization of how little I read to my children.  I’m thinking my wife (a first grade [reading] teacher) too often hogs the experience. 

I finished The Education of Little Tree on Wednesday night putting aside schoolwork.  It was mostly cruising through the anticlimax (not the best when you want more from the story).  Little Tree was pulled out of formal education through recognition that it wasn’t supportive of his spirit.  Sadly, grandpa dies and grandma commits suicide.  I really like Forrest Carter’s other book (even more), Watch for me on the Mountain.  Unfortunately, Carter has been recognized as somewhat of a fraud in his credibility as having Native American ties and historical knowledge.  Both books are quality works in my opinion.

On Friday night, I joined my son during his reading time and began the first Harry Potter book.  He is in fourth grade and is beginning the fifth book.  I’ve been impressed to watch him read so diligently.  Recently, he has seemed to have lost motivation for the larger books and took a hiatus to less challenging readings, so we agreed that I would join in and see what it’s all about.

Week #3

Week 10/17 through 10/23/11

Tuesday (10/18)   10:10 – 10:45pm The Education of Little Tree

Sunday   (10/23)   7:05 – 7:30am      The Education of Little Tree

                            9:30 – 10:05pm    The Education of Little Tree

Total minutes=95 minutes

This week was hectic (to put it lightly) in terms of finding time to read for pleasure.  I thought that I had got off to a good start early in the week.  After classroom observations all day Monday and an overnight trip to Wichita for student teacher interviews, I had little time to read outside of completing class requirements.  In fact, I was pleasently surprised that I had actually finished all my work with extra time to complete my pleasure reading.  It was a nice alternative to decompressing in front of the television, which is the normal venue.

It’s interesting that I chose to continue with the reading of The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter.  The independent reading level taxes the brain much less than my normal informative reading.  I always think of myself as a slow reader, but find I can cruise through text when I commit specific time dedicated to non-required reading.

I absolutely love the imagery of the Kentucky wilderness presented in the book.  The relationship between the grandfather and Little Tree is something I often reflect on.  I hold the same respect for my grandfather as some sort of sage in regard to knowledge about the outdoors and human behavior.  Although my time with my grandfather has been much more limited, these shorter periods of leave lasting memories.  It makes me want to pursue a more simple life, even within the general population.   In many regards, I suppose I do.

My wish for my two sons is to offer them experiences that seem insignificant at the time of occurrence, but are extremely educational in retrospect.  You realize the sage grandfather understands teaching opportunities.  It is interesting how the author presents such natural everyday occurrences in the text, but in the mind of Little Tree they form his entire interpretation of life, insightful!

Week #2

Week 10/10 through 10/16/11

Wednesday (10/12)        8:15 – 8:40pm – The Education of Little Tree

Thursday (10/13)           7:50 – 8:00pm – School Law

Friday (10/14)                7:45 – 8:00am – S.J. Gould

Saturday (10/15)            10:05 – 10:20pm – The Education of Little Tree

Sunday (10/16)              9:05 – 9:38am – Scholastic Magazine

Total minutes=98 min.

My readings again this week were limited to few sources, but I paid closer attention so that I can provide a simple reflection.  I recognize that I do a lot of reading for information.  This reduces my pace as I’m mostly reading at an instructional level.  Reading the Forrest Carter novel is much more in line with an independent level of reading.  I find it enjoyable, but I can tell it is a much more passive process.  I intended to read longer on Saturday night, but couldn’t stay alert enough.  Ready was like sweet lullaby that had be fumbling for the light switch.

In the School Law book, I covered Search & Seizure.  Again, this reading was for information only.  The 4^th Amendment protects all citizens from illegal searches and property seizures.  There seems to be an emphasis on the semantics of the word “reasonable”.  A reasonable search cannot be done without reasonable suspicion.  A student has property rights in terms of their desks, lockers, book bags, automobiles, and person.  I also read a short section on pagers and cell phones.  Although my book is slightly dated, at the time of publishing 2006, no lawsuits have had any legal challenges or rulings.  Schools can set guidelines based on ‘disruption of a learning environment’.  The suggested guidelines are for schools to consider equal treatment on the issue.

I broke out some of my many unread books by Stephen Jay Gould.  He has produced several texts which are compilations of essays written as reflections in natural history.  He is an insightful writer and will surely increase the vocabulary of many a reader. From The Panda’s Thumb, I read a “Biological Homage to Mickey Mouse.”  In this essay, Gould uses the evolution of the famous cartoon character as an analogy to progressive juvenilization as an evolutionary phenomenon called neotony.  From the small eyes and narrow build of Steamboat Willy to his present form with large eyes and over-sized ears (to name a few of the features discussed), Mickey mouse has evolved in form and character.  Early Mickeys were much more violent tendencies than later versions.  Gould also reflects on Lorenz’s major thesis that we don’t perceive the Gestalt, or whole person, but develop our perceptions based on few characteristics, whether cartoon or real people.  In the cartoon analogy, protagonist Disney characters always possess juvenile features while villains appear more adult.  If you think about it, I think you’ll find it to be true.

Of the several articles read in the recent edition of Scholastic’s Instructor magazine, Creative ways to Use Whiteboards and Ten Reasons Nonreaders Don’t Read were interesting.  The latter article was focused mainly on beginning readers who are still learning to read and not reading to learn.  The first reason was that reading makes the eyes or head hurt.  Of course this is related to discovering vision problems in the early grades.  The rest of the reasons (2-10) were all related to fears and insecurities.  Practical solutions were offered for teachers to try.  At first I thought maybe this was one of my wife’s magazines, but sure enough it was addressed to me.  There wasn’t much in the way of secondary school information.

Week #1

Week 10/3 through 10/9/11

Tuesday (10/4)            7:25 – 7:35pm – School Law

Thursday (10/6)          3:20 - 3:28pm Dropkick Murpheys (Wikipedia)        

5:40 – 5:50pm – School Law

Friday (10/7)               11:00 – 11:30pm – The Education of Little Tree

Saturday (10/8)           7:30 - 8:15am – The Education of Little Tree

Total minutes=103 min.

                While School Law doesn’t immediately appear to be  for pleasure reading, I read it regularly when I have short periods of time such as when one of my sons in the bath.  This week I covered sections on religion in school.  I am a proponent of separation of church and state.  It’s informative to know that teachers cannot post religious items such as the Ten Commandments in their classroom, nor can they distribute religious materials.  The same is true for organizations. However, the school is limited in its power if students choose to distribute materials.  School choirs can sing religious hymns during the holidays if it is deemed for entertainment and not worship.  I agree with this as long as it suits the demographic.  In the pledge of allegiance, the words “under God” are upheld by court rulings, but teachers cannot force students to stand or recite if they so choose.

                I did a quick informative online research on the Boston-based Celtic Rock Band the dropkick Murpheys.  The band has multiple members and a wide array of Irish and world instrumentation such as tin whistle, banjo, mandolin, and bagpipes along with traditional rock instruments.  The Wikipedia website chronicles the changes in members and instrumentation roles.  I would characterize the band as having roots more closely aligned with punk rather than rock.  They are loud and rough; not for those easily annoyed.  I find them interesting because of their instrumentation and interpretation of classical Celtic sounds.

                I began a reread of the Forrest Charters short novel, The Education of Little Tree.  This is an interesting book which meshes with the type of pleasure reading I like to do.  It has good natural imagery.  This story is a fictional memoir of a little boy, who at the age of five, is adopted by his grandparents after the death of his parents.  His grandmother is full-blooded Cherokee and his grandfather half.  They give him his Cherokee name Little Tree.  The story takes place in the Tennessee Mountains.  I like that the story setting is a place of solitude and wild. Little tree is learning about his life as he encounters new experiences learning how to live off the land.  The mystique and reverence for grandparents guide Little Tree as begins a new reality.