I did it!

I finished & submitted the rest of my donorschoose thank you packages, and they've been processed and it looks like everything's caught up. Yey! Now I have TWELVE POINTS to spend. Six of those are probably going to go to a Julius Caesar workshop from the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern. I still hate that play. Maybe they can help convince me otherwise! ;D

I also do have a new proposal up already. HOWEVER. With donorschoose, I get new, which is nice, but not necessary. So if you know me personally and will see me before next school year, and you really want to donate to my classroom, it would be more cost-effective to give me a gift certificate to one of the used bookstores around here.

Yes, mom, that was directed at you. ;)

Over on the English Companion Ning, we're discussing Kelly Gallagher's book Readicide. It's great for discussion (I talk a lot!) but I think I like another of his books, Deeper Reading, even better, because it's more how-to, while Readicide is more issues-driven from what I remember.

It amazes me that so many active teachers like Kelly, Jim Burke, Penny Kittle, and others can examine & research good instructional practice - AND write a book about it! - while still being thoroughly involved in their own classrooms. It's both inspiring and intimidating!

Kelly's 50/50 reading idea (balancing academic reading and reading-for-fun) is part of what's behind this donorschoose proposal. Doing literature circles with books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 didn't work as well as I'd hoped, because the books were challenging enough that the students really needed more support than I could give them in small groups. So I'm hoping to choose a 'classic' for a whole-class book while doing lit circles with contemporary YA that's thematically related.

*crossed fingers*

We'll see how it goes. :D