Blog Reflection

I really enjoyed blogging as I have in the past. I love reading and believe I am a good reader. I think having to do these blogs as even strengthened my reading skills. I usually read a lot in the summers, but then in the school year I get caught up in the homework and everything involved with school and don't feel like I have time to read. Having to read as homework keeps me reading. I know some people didn't like blogging, but I still think is something that should be done. I would not stop having your classes do them. I think they are beneficial for everyone and can help the not-so-good readers stregthen thier reading skills. In the future I plan on continuuing to read. I love to read right before bed and think that I will feel like I have more time once I don't have homework all the time. I think that I may even use this in my classroom. I think it would be really neat if I could have my students read and then write about their reading in a journal. I would not grade what they write, but I would grade it for participation. I think it would be useful for helping my students improve their reading skills and their feelings about reading. The reading blogs have really taught me a lot and I hope I can do the same for my own students.

Week 13

This week I read for about two hours from the book, The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood. The book was so good! I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. It was about a girl named Delrita and her Uncle, Punky. Punky has Down syndrome so Delrita is always trying to hide him from the world. She loves her uncle so much, but she is also ashamed of him. Together they go through a lot of life changing events. Delritas parents, which are punky's sister and brother-in-law, die instantly in a car accident so they have to live with Punky's brother and his wife. This is a big change for them and they have trouble adjusting to it. In the end Punky also dies just months after Delrita's parents died. Delrita was very upset, but learned a lot after his death. At the burial site a parade of people came to grieve over Punky. They showed Delrita that there are people who saw Punky as more than a man to make fun of. She realizes that Punky opened his wings and made a life for himself and now she needed to do the same thing. There were parts of the book that made me want to quit reading, but I never did. When Delrita's parents died I cried and thought to myself that this book is depressing and that I didn't want to read anymore, but I could help but read on. Then, at the end of the book when Punky died, I felt like that was the end of the book. the story went on though, so I too kept reading. This is a book that I am going to buy. I think it would be a good one to add to my class library even though not all the students in the age group I want to teach will be able to read it. I think it shows that there is more to a person than how they look on the outside.

Week 12

I read for about 3 hours this week. In the reading, many changes took place. Macy still hates the library job, but is loving working for Delia. She helped Delia make a bunch of sandwiches when Delia was in a bind and found out all about how the company started. Delia's sister, which was Bert and Wes's mother actually started the business, but Delia took it over when her sister died from Cancer. So, Macy found out about the boys' mother and about Wes's past problems. He was a troublemaker until his mother got sick and then completely turned around. Macy has a major crush on Wes so I think it was good for her to know she can relate with him because they both lost a parent. She hadn't told anyone about her father, but everyone found out one night. Macy was always invited to go out with her coworkers from Wishbone Catering but always turned them down. One night she decided she needed change and went out with them. They went to a popular hang out and she ran into a girl from her highschool. This girl blabbed about Macy's dad so everyone found out. Nobody reacted weird though which is something Macy isn't use to. She always gets the "poor thing" look and nobody gave that to her. Later it's just her and Wes and they both talk about the deaths of their parents a little. I think this is good for macy. She has always felt like she couldn't talk about her problems, but has now found people she could talk to. She even told the girls about her and Jason and they made her realize he wasn't all she thought he was. She really needed some good friends and I think she has found some. She relied on Jason and all of his friends, but never had any of her own. i have seen people like this and I just feel bad for them. I don't really understand how a girl can be so dependent on a guy and basically revolve her life around him. Next week I will probably take a break from reading The Truth About Forever so that I can read the book The Man Who Loved Clowns. I have to read a novel about an exceptionality for class and last year I was told that this book was really good and put it on my reading list, so I figure now is the perfect opportunity to read it.

Week 11

This week I read The Truth About Forever for a little over two hours. Macy had started her job at the library and hated it. The other two girls who worked there treated her poorly and acted as if she could only answer questions about nonsense. May emailed Jason telling him about this and he got defensive and said her problems were juvenile and that she needed to work her problems out, not tell him about them. She emailed him back saying she understood what he meant and at the end she said "I Love You." They had never said this to each other before, but she really felt like they said in nonverbally. When Jason emailed back he broke up with Macy. Macy didn't tell her mother about this and pretended like everything was okay. Macy was really upset and decided to go driving and she rain into the Wishbone Catering van. Since Delia, the owner, had previously offered her a job she decided to follow it. Delia put her to work that night. This was fun and out of the ordinary for Macy. She began workning more often, while still working at the library. I left off with Macy's older sister visiting and trying to convince their mother to fix up their dad's beach house. It had been sitting unoccupied since their dad died. I didn't find out a decision, but I am hoping to find one out in this next week. I think Macy's mom is way too absorbed into work and Macy is too absorbed into studying that it would be a nice break for both of them. I really enjoy how this book is so realistic. All of the things can and probably have happened to real people somewhere. I think it is neat to think about that as I read.

Week 10

So this week was a little interesting when it came to reading. Lasto t week I started the book Along For the Ride but I left it in Wichita when I went home. I didn't read at all Monday through Friday because I didn't have my book. When I went home on Friday, I couldn't find my book. I asked my husband, DJ if he had seen it and he said he thought he might have packed it. We are getting ready to move out of our apartment in Wichita since he is getting deployed and he packed up the book case and all the random books around the apartment. I decided I would just open the box and get it out, but then found out he had taken a small load Park City, which is where we are storing our stuff, that day. So that left me in a bind. It was already Friday and I hadn't read for the week, so I went to Borders. I bought a new book, also by Sarah Dessen, and the name of it is The Truth About Forever. I only read for the required 90 minutes this week since I wazs on a time crunch, but I am enjoying the book so far. It is about a girl named Macy. It starts off with Macy telling how she had trouble communicating since "it happened." She could barely read and write anymore and she even got the letters mixed up in her own name. Then she met Jason who broke Macbeth down into terms she could understand. From there on out the became good friends and are now dating. Jason was leaving for camp and Macy was taking over his job at the library for the summer. She talks a lot about how perfect Jason is and how she too is striving to be perfect. Then she talks about what had happened that was so traumatizing to her. Her father died in a race that she and he were running. She saw him die and her life changed after that. I have never experienced a traumatic death in my family so I can't even begin to imagine what she is going through. I have had a grandpa die and a couple of great aunts, but nobody in my immediate family. It really makes me feel bad for her even though she says that everyone looks at her in a "you poor thing" way. She doesn't want people to know her as the girl whose father died. I didn't get real far into the book, but I remembered to bring it back to Winfield with me this week. I will have to check Along for the Ride out after I finish this book so I can read more.

Week 9

I finished the book Gifts this week and started a new book called Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. I read for an hour and a half this week. Gifts was pretty much more similiar stories, so I don't really have a lot to say about it. I haven't gotten very far in Along for the Ride, but it is interesting so far. It starts with a girl named Auden as she is reading an email from her stepmother, Heidi. Her stepmother is about to have a baby and invites Auden to come visit. Then it goes on to talk about what her mother thinks of Heidi and her marriage with Auden's father. Auden's mother seems to be bitter about the divorce still. The divorce is what lead Auden to become an insomniac. Her parents would be up fighting really late and Auden didn't want to listen to it so she would slip out and go to Ray's Diner and have coffee. This became a habit and now she is an insomniac. I really liked the part in the story where she talked about how she had seen many of her friends' parents split up and all of them handled it differently. My parents are going through a divorce right now and I look at my two sisters and myself and we all are handling it in our own unique ways. Auden really didn't feel anything when her parents split up. She wasn't surprised and was almost relieved. One day a girl show's up with a gift for Auden and it turned out to be her brother's girlfriend. He had gotten her a frame that said "Best of Times." She had just graduated and this gift encouraged her to go to her dad's for the summer. That was about all I had read so far. It seems pretty good though. I like that Sarah Dessen's stories are always about someone people can relate to in some way.

Week 8

This week I continued reading from the book Gifts and read it for about an hour and a half. Many of the stories are pretty similiar, but they are all pretty interesting. I like that they are real life struggles because it makes me feel for the parents of these children. They talk about the financial burdens, losing faith, the thought of abortion, and many other things that go along with having a child with Down syndrome. Before reading this book, I didn't realize all the health problems that are common along with Down Syndrome. This book tells about these problems and all the time and money they take. The book also addresses how others react towards these children and sometimes its not always positive. Some schools and programs even refused children because of their disability. I think this is horrible and would hate that feeling if i were the parent. I use to have a misconception about people with Down Syndrome, in that they couldn't do the same things that I could. Reading this book has taught me that they can do things just as I do, it just may take them longer to do it. I am glad I am reading this book. It has really taught me a lot. I plan on finishing the book this week.