Books & Proudosity

Yesterday I finished Charlotte's Web (some good examples of true friendship in that book) and The Giver. The Giver was a bit odd, but I could see how it could bring up some good discussion if used with students who are old enough. I also kept thinking to myself that I would love to hear what kids had to say about Templeton the rat. He comes across as such a selfish character, yet when he points out all the ways he has helped the others out, you realize he really did do a lot for others...yet do you want to have the kind of friend who feels the need to point out what a good friend they are??? Interesting character for discusssion!

I now have the next group from the list which includes:

• The Secret Garden
• The Hobbit
• The Phantom Tollbooth 
• The Westing Game
• Anne of Green Gables (I got a copy with LARGE print and it's so funny, but I feel like that will make it seem like it goes by faster than the tiny print in the other copy)

I have a three day weekend because there is a German holiday on Monday and Mr. Sneaker leaves tomorrow for a week in Paris (lucky!), so in addition to writing a paper this weekend, hopefully I will have lots of time to read! Would you be super impressed if I read all of those books in one weekend? Don't put it past me! If I didn't have the paper to write, I bet I could finish them all, but considering I have not even started it yet, I am thinking it will take a good chunk out of my weekend. I heard a rumor that we might actually see some sunshine this weekend, but I can't exactly picture it given that it has been SO long since I have felt a warm day or seen the sun shining in the sky!

I also have to share that I did some reading assessments with an elementary friend today and I am so freaking proud of her progress (hence the word "proudosity" in the title--that is like being proud times 10!). This friend of mine has dyslexia and makes a lot of visual errors when she reads, easily confusing words with other words that look similar. She had a solid self correction rate today and the best part was that even though she felt the book was hard, she answered all of the questions correctly and gave insightful answers to the critical thinking questions. Yay! Since we use the leveled readers from ReadingA-Z for assessment, I asked her if she wanted to try a more challenging level and she actually scored better on the harder one! We didn't get through all of the questions, but she made fewer mistakes and self corrected once for every two miscues instead of once for every 6 on the previous book. She has gone from level L to level O and she scored so well on O that it would be her independent level, so her instructional level would be even higher. She is such a sweetheart and has been one of my favorite students to work with this year. Yes, she struggles, but she is so motivated and sweet and really tries her best. Sometimes I feel like she remembers more about the stories than I do!

I am off to take my Thursday afternoon nap since I was up this morning at 2:30 for my skype class. I am skyping with my professor again tonight to go over my idea for the paper I have to write, which relates to my idea of research I might want to do for my dissertation. I hope he likes the idea because I am pretty happy with it. Also, I am visiting a dentist for the first time since moving here at 4:00 today and I am not too excited about it. I need a new mouth guard because I am a teeth grinder at night and my guard broke recently. I am not really looking forward to getting fitted for another mold, but I can feel myself clenching my teeth and grinding at night and that is not good. My dentist in the US said that teachers are often grinders because of the stress involved in our jobs. I believe it! 

PS I am craving peanut butter like nobody's business today!

What are you craving today?

Have you ever been to Paris? 

 I haven't, but I definitely want to go at some point while living in Europe. I am jealous of hubby's travel, but in June I get to go to Rome for my friend's bday!!