What I have Read (and Taught) Recently

I have finished student teaching! I'm currently finishing up the paperwork and certifications needed to become a hireable and certified teacher! I thought I would recap what I read and taught over the semester, with some thoughts on how I enjoyed reading and teaching each piece. I'll have a second post coming soon with what I read for fun while I've been gone.

Short Stories

My freshman started the year with a short story and literary terms unit. This was the first story in the unit and the first story of the year that I taught. This was also my first short story by Dahl that I have read. I knew that he wrote some adult literature and that it was pretty dark, and this story definitely fits that description. This story is super short; I read it aloud in about twenty minutes, but there is so much there to discuss, unpack, and think about, which made it perfect for English class. I'm really interested in reading more of Dahl's short stories. 

 This is a super popular short story that is in numerous anthologies and textbooks. I did not care for this story all that much. It's long and consists of too much rising action. I don't have a whole lot to say about this one beyond that. There's a lot going on in terms of literary elements which makes it useful for teaching vocab and concepts, but for personal enjoyment, it's not for me.

This is another very short story, but it's very well done. I really enjoyed this story, and to me, it felt like an O' Henry story. It has a great ending, and great build up to the ending, and my students really enjoyed it. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read this one, as that's all it will take you. 

Novellas and Novels 

My freshman read the original novella version of Flowers for Algernon, which has become a modern science fiction classic. When I finished reading this, I had some mixed feelings. The novella is short and written in diary form which works really well for the plot. This novella deals with some really serious themes, and the ending was super impactful for me. I was left feeling a little uneasy about the truths of the world that the novella had revealed. It was interesting to teach this piece to freshman, as their thinking tends to be more black-and-white at that age, and they didn't have as strong of a reaction to it as I did. After reading, they were required to write an argumentative paper on whether or not Charlie should have had the surgery, and students didn't have any difficulty making their choice, but I could not decide for myself and kept going back and forth in my own mind.  

This was the only novel I read with my sophomores this year was To Kill a Mockingbird. I hadn't read this novel since I was a sophomore in high school, and I loved it even more the second time around. I didn't recognize a lot of the brilliant word usage, wise world views, and humor in the novel when I read it as a teen. I loved teaching this novel. This is a novel I would love to teach again. If I were to teach it, I would want to supplement it with material by authors of color from the time period as that is important, but this book has stood the test of time and will continue to. 

School and Life Update (I'm a student teacher)

If you guys have been around for a little while, you will know that I have been in college studying to become a high school English teacher for the entirety of my time on the blog. This has meant that my posting and reading schedule has never been steady, but I have loved my time (for the most part) as a student of education and literature. This week, I start my student teaching assignment, which is sixteen weeks of (unpaid) full-time teaching under a mentor teacher. I'll be working with two teachers and teaching two sections of freshman literature and composition, a section of sophomore literature and composition, and two section of advanced placement English. I'm super excited for this experience, (and a little nervous of course) but I'm not sure what it will mean for the blog and my reading. Of course I would love to continue reading in my time outside of the classroom, but I'm not sure if I will have the time and energy for it; the same goes for blogging. Along with full time teaching, I have other assignments and classes I must attend through my university, so I know my days will be full.

I have a few posts completed already, and will be working before this one goes up to hopefully complete a few more, but just know if I disappear, that's why. After completing my student teaching, I will be able to apply for my teaching license and get hired as a full-time teacher! I'm almost there, and I'm very excited about it!

Hopefully I will be popping in semi-frequently to update you on what I'm reading and loving! 

Recently Read: I am Malala

Author: Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai
Genre: Non-fiction/ Memoir
Publication Date: 2013
Page Count: 327
Rating: 5/5

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Similar Reads:
Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl by Virginia Lee Barnes  
Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Malala Yousafzai was a young girl in Pakistan who loved school and took pride in being first in her class. Her father built the girl's school she attended and traveled the country talking about the importance of education. Malala joined her father to campaign for girl's educational rights and became a well-known figure in all parts of the world. One day while coming home from school on the bus, she was shot by a member of the Taliban and she became even more famous and went on to be the youngest person to ever win the Noble Peace Prize. This is Malala's story as told by her.  

Education and particularly education for girls around the world is a very important issue for me. I am myself an educator and very interested in women's rights and learning all that I can about feminism around the world. I had of course heard of Malala and knew the bare basics of her story and impressive awards, but I was really interested to hear more about her. Let me tell you, this is one impressive young lady. 

Before I get into my thoughts I want to mention that I listened to this book on audiobook and I highly recommend reading this book in this way. There are a lot of words in various foreign languages, and the names are very difficult to keep straight. If I was reading this in physical form, this is something that would have stalled me a little as I would have made a bigger effort to keep these names straight and would have be slow reading the book. Listening to the narrator pronounce these words beautifully was great because I heard the correct pronunciation of the word and was so involved in the story I didn't worry about keeping unimportant names straight. Plus, Malala reads the prologue herself  which was super cool. 

I loved hearing about Malala's life in Pakistan before she was shot, which is when most of the book takes place. I had no idea that she was so active before the shooting and did a number of very brave documentaries and interviews. I loved hearing about her family, particularly her father who was very nontraditional and was also very active in spreading awareness about education for girls. 

Reading this has made me want to do more research about her and girl's education around the world. I did a lot of reading and research on this topic a few semesters ago when I had my Women and Global Activism class and found it to be a topic that really calls me to action. I would love to find ways for me to help girls around the world get the access to education that they deserve, and reading this book has re-inspired me to find ways to help. Her and her father have started The Malala Fund (link here) which I really want to spend some time checking out.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend picking it up. I would love to read this book with a high school class in the future because Malala's voice is so strong and education is something that so many students takes for granted. She is such a humble and inspiring person. 

Newest Favorite Poetry Discoveries

If you guys have been here before than you know that I LOVE poetry. This semester I took my last literature course for my degree (Modern British Literature) and while that makes me a little happy and sad at the same time, I found some really great new poems through this class. We spent a lot of time on the Romantic period, something that I did not have much experience with before hand, and then moved on through to the modern short story. Here's a few of my favorite poems from the class.

I have linked you to the poems, so just click on them to read them.

Romantic Era
"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth
"Frost at Midnight" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
These two are great examples of the nature imagery and love of nature that dominated Romantic poetry as well as nature's connection to humanity.

"Written in the Churchyard in Middleton in Sussex" by Charlotte Smith
This one is quite a haunting look at nature and humanity's connection.

WWI 
"They" by Siegfried Sassoon
"Glory of Women" by Siegfried Sassoon
WWI has inspired some of the greatest poems of all time, and I will be adding these to my favorite war poems. Both are so bitter, biting, and question the morals and presumptions of the most powerful nations in the world.

Modernist 
"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats
"September 1, 1939" by W.H. Auden
Modernism is really interesting and complicated. I would love to tackle it in a Literary Look post soon because I want to learn more about it myself. These two poems deal with the inevitable doom of humanity and the world, which is always a great topic for poetry. Sept. 1, 1939 is the day that Hitler invaded Poland, that's information you will need before reading that poem.

As always, I would love for you to recommend me some of your favorite poems.

Recently Reread: Lord of the Flies

Author: William Golding
Genre: Classic/ Fiction
Publication Date: 1954
Page Count: 201
Rating: 4/5

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A plane full of young boys crashes on an island while the rest of the world is fighting in WWII. They must learn to survive on their own and create their own civilization in order to survive and get rescued, but things quickly fall apart when fear of a beast spreads through the boys.

I read this book for the first time in my tenth grade English class; I had pretty meh feelings about it. But as I reread it seven years later, I found it brilliant. This book is so full of symbolism and depth that I just wasn't able to see as a high schooler. The connection between what is happening to the boys on the island and what is happening to the rest of the world is brilliant. The descent into savagery of the boys is terrifying and perfectly paced. 

I read this book for my class about teaching literature in a high school classroom and I am really glad we looked at this book again. This is definitely a great book to study in high school, and if you did study it in high school, I highly recommend you revisit it now so you can see everything you missed. I was particularly interested this time in Simon and his truth-seeing abilities; that is a subject I would love to do some research on see what scholars are saying about it. 

Because I read this book for school and have already done a fair amount of writing on it, I just wanted to get down some quick reread thoughts for this one and encourage you to pick it up again if you read it in high school and felt indifferent about it. It really is brilliantly constructed and full of literary merit and the horrors of humanity. Which let's be honest, is everything you could ever want in a book. 

What I Wish I was Reading

Hello from underneath a huge pile of required reading! I'm really struggling to find time for pleasure reading this semester, although I am pretty lucky that most of the readings in my literature class can overlap into both categories sometimes. Here's what I really wish I was reading right now, and what I'm actually reading.

I wish I was reading...

I bought this one over Christmas break when it came out in paperback, but I haven't gotten to start it yet- it's torturous! I really need to know where this series goes and prepare for the release of The Raven King next month. 

This one just came in for me from my library ebook program, and I'm desperately hoping to read it before I have to return it. It's a historical fiction novel that takes place during WWII, which I just proclaimed on Tuesday is my favorite setting for a historical fiction novel. I'm sure I will be sneaking this one in when I should be reading for school. 

Another book I have been aching to get to. I really want to experience this one, as I have flicked through it and it looks like a really unique reading experience. And of course, it has gotten rave reviews. 

But I'm actually reading...

Research for my paper on the women of Bletchley Park. Well, right now I'm spending more time looking for sources than actually reading them and it's a little annoying. I will be posting more about this topic in the future, as I have found some things I want to share.

I just finished a reread of Lord of the Flies by William Golding for one of my literature classes. I hadn't read this one since high school, and I really enjoyed rereading it at a time when I was better able to appreciate the craftsmanship of this novel. More about this soon. 

Next up on this list is to start Frankenstein which I have never read. I'm really excited to read this and then write my paper on it as I have been wanting to study this novel for a very long time. I really think I'm going to love it. 

I also need to reread Persuasion this weekend, or at least skim through it again, as I just read it last year. This is for the same class as Frankenstein, so I have quite a bit of reading for that class. 

I also need to star Macbeth which I have never read in the original play version. I am familiar with the story line though. This is another one that I will be reading and then creating lessons and activities for as a teacher so it will be interesting. 

Phew! Seeing all that reading laid out is a little scary. If you need me, my nose will be in one of these books. 

What I'm Reading This Semester (hold onto your hats because it's all over the place)

A new semester has started, so of course I have a new (and large) list of required reading. I thought I would share some of the things I will be reading, as I like to share and hear about what you guys are reading or have read for school.

This semester I have two literature classes, two history, and one education so I am ALWAYS reading for one class or another, I'm obviously only going to mention the exciting reading material, I wouldn't bore you guys with textbooks.

British Literature Part 2
For this class I will be rereading Persuasion by Jane Austen and Tess of the D'urberville's by Thomas Hardy. I will also be reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley for the first time which I'm very, very excited about. We are reading lots of the romantic poets in the first half of the class as well as some excerpts from Charles Dickens, I'm not sure what the second half of the semester's reading schedule looks like yet, but I'm really excited for the readings in this class.

 

Teaching Literature
This class is interesting because we will be reading these works as teachers preparing to read and teach them with a class. We are reading three books, one of which I have read before, and all of which I think would be great to use in a classroom. We are reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.

History 300- Writing a Research Paper
For this class, I am writing a paper on women codebreakers in WWII so I have to do a lot of research. I have found that most of the research that exists on this subject has been printed in book form, so I have quite a few books I want to either read in full, or partially read for this paper including: The Debs of Bletchley Park and other stories, The Bletchley Girls: War, Secrecy Love, and Loss, and the Secret Lives of Codebreakers. I will also be reading/ watching interviews and hopefully memoirs from the actual women as well. I will definitely update you guys on the reading I am doing for this class if I find anything interesting!

What are you reading this semester? What was your favorite and least favorite required read?

What I'm Reading for School This Semester

As usual, I've got a full reading schedule for my newest semester of school. I'm reading some really interesting non-fiction and some early American Lit. so I thought I would share it with you guys!

Women in Global Activism:

Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl

Summary from Goodreads:

This is the extraordinary first-person account of a young woman's coming of age in Somalia and her struggles against the obligations and strictures of family and society.  By the time she is nine, Aman has undergone a ritual circumcision ceremony; at eleven, her innocent romance with a white boy leads to a murder; at thirteen she is given away in an arranged marriage to a stranger.  Aman eventually runs away to Mogadishu, where her beauty and rebellious spirit leads her to the decadent demimonde of white colonialists.  Hers is a world in which women are both chattel and freewheeling entrepreneurs, subject to the caprices of male relatives, yet keenly aware of the loopholes that lead to freedom.  Aman is an astonishing history, opening a window onto traditional Somali life and the universal quest for female self-awareness.  

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Summary from Goodreads:

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.

They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS.

Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

I have started both of these already, and they have both sucked me in. As you can tell, the reading for this class is quite heavy and not light-hearted, but it is quite interesting and inspiring. Both novels contain the stories of strong, brilliant, and resilient women, and really call for action from the reader. 

Early American Literature:

The Lamplighter, Maria S. Cummins

Summary from Goodreads:

A female Bildungsroman, The Lamplighter tells the story of Gertrude Flint, an abandoned and mistreated orphan rescued at the age of eight by Trueman Flint, a lamplighter, from her abusive guardian, Nan Grant.

We are only reading one novel for this class, although this one is quite the doozy, and the rest of our reading are short stories, dramas, or poems. 

Some authors in the anthology include:

Christopher Columbus 

Anne Bradstreet

Jonathon Edwards

Judith Sargent Murray

Phillis Wheatley

Washington Irving

James Fenimore Cooper

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Edgar Allan Poe

Fanny Fern

Henry David Thoreau

Walt Whitman

Herman Melville

Emily Dickinson