I want to start out by thanking you for a great semester!  I don’t think I’ve had as good of an experience in an English class until now.  I loved the amount of reading we had to do for this class because it was more of a time to relax and read rather than a “homework assignment.”  The classroom environment for learning was positive, open, and a safe place to share ideas, thoughts, and become connected with other students with the same goal.  Setting up a positive environment made it easy to go to class and there weren’t any days I dreaded going to class. Looking back on my blog posts, I realized how much I actually learned about myself and the content we covered.  I don’t think I would ever have read the books that were required and I am thankful I was given the opportunity to read them.  This class has taught me techniques that I will hopefully get the chance to use in my classroom.  I know when I was in elementary school I would cry over having to do “sustained silent reading” and now I feel like I have more tools to encourage students to love reading.  Getting us to sign up for the different websites was a great idea!  Even though I posted only 3 times on my twitter, I am going to keep that account because of the teaching resources it put me in contact with.  I was completely oblivious to what goodreads was and I have found that I enjoy updating it and adding more books to my “read” shelf.  Thanks again for a great semester and introducing me to so many new books and resources.  I think this has been one of the most beneficial classes to my teaching career with all of the different resources that have become available.  I plan on checking back in on your website to find more ideas when I need them!  Have a great summer and school years to come!

 

I read Counting by 7’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.  I enjoyed the book but was a little tired of the amount of detail that was included about everything.  I did however like the main character, Willow, as she is easy for many students to relate to. Her awkwardness and inability to “fit in” is a common problem for many teenagers in middle school.  Because Willow lost her parents and was adopted, I think this book is also relatable to students that are coping with the same things.  I was amused with her vast knowledge of so many different things and her interest in plants.  I absolutely loved when it was her first day of school and she wore her gardening outfit.  The book does a good job of proving how difficult middle school is and it shows that it is a huge transitional stage in life.  You notice things like there are different cliques of people like Dell categorizes them into like “weirdo” or “genius”.

I think this book represents reality and wasn’t too “out there” where it would be considered fantasy.  I enjoyed reading this because it is realistic and completely relatable in different senses.  I think the author wrote it to give teenagers hope who feel like they won’t fit in.

1.
I think that William Carlos Williams is describing what he is seeing on a farm or somewhere desolate.  I think that the things he is seeing have some sort of importance to them.  If so much depends on them, they must be necessary for something.  I looked at it like those things are connected and are what help sustain a farm and define parts of a farm.  For example, chickens depend upon water and the red wheelbarrow is what you use on a farm and farmers usually have chickens.

2.
so much depends

upon

the night going

right

to impress your

date

and have a goodnight

kiss

Here are my reviews on Goodreads.com for Speak and Wintergirls!

Speak: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/877998699

Wintergirls:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/866132646