Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak …
Review of 'Witch of Blackbird Pond' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
While the ending is conventional, the rest of this novel is refreshingly subtle. The protagonist, Kit, battles the strictures of a Connecticut Puritan colony, while finding her place as an alien arrival within it. The author manages to portray Puritan society in a critical light without denigrating it completely -- in the end, it is rather human nature that is truly put on trial.
Review of 'Tinkering toward utopia' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book was written in 1995, yet it remains eerily relevant. Which goes to show that the study of history is worth the investment -- at least when it comes to public education. You'll come away from this book with a healthy dose of skepticism towards any starry eyed ed reform pitch. I'd recommend reading this alongside Dana Goldstein's "Teacher Wars" for more on the historical cycles of education policy. The author's recommendations for viewing ed policies as hypotheses to be tested by practitioners who can hybridize it with other techniques are cogent and insightful. And they are one of the few who acknowledge the great complexity of the enterprise of education. Highly recommended, and a fairly quick read to boot.
A Natural History of the Senses is a vibrant celebration of our ability to smell, …
Review of 'A natural history of the senses' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A book about the 5 senses. At times sublime, at others Ackerman overreaches a bit to sound like new age poetry. Either way, however, you will learn a few fun factoids you may not have known along the way, and come away with a renewed sense of wonder about what it means to be alive.
An insightful compilation of research making the case for the importance of social relationships on learning, a cause that is much overlooked by would-be education reformers. I marked up every chapter of this book, nodding my head as I went along. This will be a great resource I plan to refer back to frequently.
I didn't actually read most of this book, so please take this review with a grain of salt. I skimmed through a copy of my colleague's.
I'm an avid supporter of these methods and Hochman's approach to writing instruction, so my review doesn't reflect my belief in the efficacy of these methods. I wish every teacher were well-versed and trained in these methods, and I'm glad that Hochman finally put out something more readable and applicable than the handbook that has traditionally been handed out at her trainings.
There's useful material here, such as the suggestions for implementation for each writing strategy, and the recommended pacing by grade. And there's passages that really do a nice job of articulating why this approach is needed. But if you've otherwise been exposed to the methods via a training before, there's not too much more that will be added to your repetoire through …
I didn't actually read most of this book, so please take this review with a grain of salt. I skimmed through a copy of my colleague's.
I'm an avid supporter of these methods and Hochman's approach to writing instruction, so my review doesn't reflect my belief in the efficacy of these methods. I wish every teacher were well-versed and trained in these methods, and I'm glad that Hochman finally put out something more readable and applicable than the handbook that has traditionally been handed out at her trainings.
There's useful material here, such as the suggestions for implementation for each writing strategy, and the recommended pacing by grade. And there's passages that really do a nice job of articulating why this approach is needed. But if you've otherwise been exposed to the methods via a training before, there's not too much more that will be added to your repetoire through the book. And if you haven't been trained yet, then hopefully this book will whet your appetite for it, because it is worth it.
There's one flaw to Hochman's approach to disseminating her approach to writing, and that is that she seems to have an inordinate amount of hope that a teacher will take her methods and apply them to his or her own classroom curriculum. But the reality is that even a teacher who is deeply committed to these methods will rarely find the time and commitment to do so to the extent it takes to make it effective. It's a big ask for a teacher to do this work on their own.
It really takes a school committed to doing this, with the time and capacity to invest in instilling it into their classrooms and curriculum. Or, it takes a curriculum developer to embed into a curriculum so teachers can then apply it. I was hoping maybe this book would provide more cohesive models in this sense, or suggestions for how a team or school could approach this, rather than the random samples from different content areas to demonstrate each method.
Until teachers can see what this would look like within the lessons they actually teach across a unit of study, across a school year's worth of curriculum, I'm afraid it's just not going to stick. But in the meantime, I'm certainly happy that Hochman is spreading her message and I'm hoping that more people out there who actually work with curriculum will put in the effort to create sentence activities that can be used by others. If you do, share! Developing a great sentence kernel for an activity like sentence expansion or because/but/so is much harder to do well than it looks.
Chains, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is the first novel in the Seeds of America …
Review of 'Chains (Seeds of America, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
As far as historical fiction for kids goes, this has a strong sense of historical accuracy, even starting each chapter in the manner that Colson Whitehead often does in [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493178362s/30555488.jpg|48287641], with a lost slave newspaper description. The characters themselves, especially the narrator's sister, aren't well developed, but the plot surprises and the historical picture painted is insightful. But given it's intended audience, this is well crafted.
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training …
Review of 'When Breath Becomes Air' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This man certainly puts most of the rest of us petty mortals to shame. If I could live and die with even just an approximation of his rectitude, diligence, and openness, then I would consider it a triumph.
"The Goldfinch is a rarity that comes along perhaps half a dozen times per decade, …
Review of 'The Goldfinch' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I enjoyed reading this, but there were a few times when I was frustrated by it. But somehow the plot always managed to keep me surprised just enough to keep with it. The characters are admittedly thin, but there's just enough depth layered into it to keep it good.
Their story takes us through a maze of dead ends and exhilarating breakthroughs as they …
Review of 'Dreaming in Code' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
An interesting read on the complexity and intransigence of software development. I kept thinking about parallels to the enterprise of public education, a similarly complex endeavor in which it is easy to get caught up in the mire, however strong the organization's conviction and drive might be at the outset. Since this particular project, Chandler, that Rosenberg picked ended up coming to naught after he finished his book, you can see him struggling a bit at the end to fit a tidy cap onto the proceedings. But he nicely captures what the innards of a promising but doomed software project looks like, as well as explores a few interesting tangents and arguments within the coding community that still has some relevance a decade later.
This is essential reading on the impact of class and environment on a child's outcomes. It must have been hard to write this as clear-eyed as Vance did, pairing his own life alongside the research. He recognizes that he beat the odds and the great luck that it took for him to be able to do so, and presents a stark picture of what it takes for others to do the same. There's plenty of rich fodder for both conservatives and liberals to glean insights on poverty and welfare here.
Review of 'The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Didn't agree with everything in here, but Cowen presents a lot that makes sense--especially on the negative effects of increasing segregation and matching and how it is resulting in a complacent and self-involved populace that is unwilling to take risks. Food for thought and a contrarian take from one of our foremost thinkers.
When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, the truth about its …
Review of 'The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Really enjoyed this book. Presents new research that provides a fresh perspective on Manhattan and it's part in the American psyche and story. There are passages that are painted so vividly that it becomes a page turner. Shorto does a great job of bringing history alive by focusing on a few dynamic personalities, who spring out of the Dutch translations like fully formed characters in a Shakespearean play.
This is a compelling and fascinating piece of history that goes far beyond the story of James Tilly Matthews to explore the world in which such a man could have existed. If history texts were like this, I think social studies would suddenly become the most beloved class. I feel like a I gained insight into the era of the French Revolution in a way I never had before, in addition to the (more expected) insights on evolving treatment and understanding of "lunacy."
Review of 'Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is good reading. My sister sent this to me for Christmas, and I'm stoked she did. One of the best things I've read in the past year, this was surprising, consistently engaging, fun, thought provoking, each sentence focused and sharp. This book made me re-look at my own existence and life trajectory. Highly recommended.
