What Are You Reading: October 2015

1. Maggie is reading House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. She says,  I love science fiction, and am FINALLY getting around to reading this novel which has been recommended to me over the years. So far so good! The book has a very intriguing plot - and it's interesting to see how the main character Matt, a clone, slowly pieces together the dangers of the future that have been foreshadowed over the years. 
2. Heather is reading Jumpstart the World by Cynthia Rylant Hyde - This young adult book is about Elle, a 15-year-old, who is thrown into an apartment by her mother who does not want her around.  Elle encounters a lot of problems through various  characters in this book with sometimes tough solutions.
3. Maggie is also reading Sure Signs of Crazy. In this book, the main character, Sarah Nelson, is worried she will take after her mother, who is in a mental hospital for the murder of Sarah's twin brother. Sarah writes letters to Atticus Finch and struggles with her identity and her relationship with her father. Maggie says, "I can't wait to see how this story will end!"
4. Lisa is reading Trust Matters. She says, "It's a book that profiles school leaders and how they earn and maintain trust among staff."

1. Carrie and Meghan are both reading Cathy Toll's The Literacy Coach's Survival Guide. Carrie says, "I use this resource as a way to organize my thoughts for each upcoming school year. I find the information to be relevant and helpful for guiding any new school year's coaching goals." Meghan says ". . . Toll’s approach to the coaching conversation is natural and meaningful.  This quote really resonated with me this week, “Change is ongoing in schools, and you can’t rein it in to make it yours.  Even if you accomplish what you aimed for, the constancy of change means that it, too, will pass” (16).  I’ve found that Toll’s methods support teachers and coaches in navigating change to improve outcomes for students."
2. Julie says, "I am currently reading Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop by Patrick Allen. In this book, Allen unpacks the essential components of the conferring process, while exploring the fundamentals of conferring."
3. Andrea is reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. She says, "It is really a life changing book and it is forcing me to reevaluate what is truly essential in my life and work. As literacy leaders, we often take on too much. How do we prioritize and keep ourselves mentally sane?"
4. Maggie says, "I'm currently reading In Defense of Read Aloud by Steven Layne. I love how Layne can relate to teachers and make the reading of a professional text engaging and humorous. I also love the support for read alouds - especially the need to keep them at the secondary levels!"

1. Jaimie is reading Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principles by Diane Sweeney. She says," This book makes so much sense to me. The idea of using student data to guide your coaching is ingenious. I love how Sweeney puts the focus on coaching on student learning rather than on 'fixing' the teacher. This is a great, easy read that offers many practical ideas for how to make this structure work."
2. Sharon says, "I am currently reading I Am Reading - Nurturing Young Children's Meaning Making and Joyful Engagement with Any Book by Kathy Collins and Matt Glover.  I was drawn to this book because of two words in the title - 'joyful engagement' To me it seems that often our very young don't see reading as an adventure and aren't getting hooked on books even before they can 'read' them.  I want to learn more about how to prompt, encourage and stimulate young learners interest in books."
3. Andrea is about to start Writing with Mentors by Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O'Dell.
4. Heather is reading How's It Going by Carl Anderson. She writes, "This book talks about how to maneuver the always tricky conferences.  Though the book came out quite a few years ago, it still has great tips, which are feeding into my PPG."

1. Meghan says, "I am reading The Administration and Supervision of Reading Programs, Fifth Edition (Wepner, Strickland, Quatroche) in a graduate class for my reading specialist license.  Each chapter includes guidance for literacy leaders on a variety of topics from a variety of experts.  This week’s chapter was titled, “Evaluation, Change, and Program Improvement” and this quote stuck with me:  “Program change is not about creating sameness, but rather about being responsive to learners’ needs in a context where learners are different and teachers are different.”
2. Barb is reading Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. It's this year's Go Big Read; the author will be in Madison in October.
3. Meghan is reading Five Dysfunctions of a Team. She writes, "It was recommended by Laura Gleisner and is exactly what my district needs to know right now as we work through our PLC process.  Lencioni’s message is that 'the true measure of a team is that it accomplishes the results that it sets out to achieve,' but each team must overcome five dysfunctions to achieve their results.  This book explains the dysfunctions and gives exercises to help teams overcome them."
4. Barb is reading Reading the Naked Truth. Published in 2003, it is a criticism of the National Reading Panel.