Empower: What Happens when Students Own Their Learning / Spencer and Juliani

What happens in teachers' minds over the summer? Yes we try to relax and do the things that we can't do during the school year. And of course, I for one, like to read some adult books over the summer (I tend to read a LOT of young adult books during the school year so I can help students). BUT we also keep learning how we can do our jobs better.

Empower is not the only professional development book that I read this summer, but it is certainly the most fun and thought provoking. This book is all about student choice and the process of learning and stoking the fire of learning excitement within students (and consequently in teachers.)

I love to learn. I love to share the love of learning. I am excited about the seeds that this book has both planted (new ideas) and watered (ideas that I already had that have been reinforced.) 2021/22 will be a great school year. I can just feel it. See you in a bit.
 

Book Review: Patron Saints of Nothing / Randy Ribay

Each year I create a book challenge for myself. I do this because it keeps me reading outside of the types of books to which I naturally gravitate. I love books that are set in places I haven't been. I like learning about new things - so I might have borrowed this book without a recommendation, but I am glad that Mike Linehan pushed me to read this intriguing story. 

Honestly, Patron Saints of Nothing has many things that I love to find in a book:
* I have never visited the Philippines and knew nothing about it.
* There are interesting characters in this book - some fully formed but some intentionally vague
* There was a connection to life as I know it. Patron Saints centers around the drug war in the Philippines and the politics behind it. In the USA we have the "War on Drugs" which has shaped our society in ways that make me uncomfortable.
* And thinking about uncomfortable - I spent a lot of time feeling uneasy about characters and how they were acting in this story.
* There was character learning and growth - the majority of this book took place over the course of the week and during that time Jay, the main character, grew from a teen to a man.

This book took me so long to read because I had to keep stopping to Google stuff:
* A recipe for Sinigang soup
* The poem, "A Litany for Survival" by Audre Lorde
* Images from and information about the Philippines - both the country and the slums
* News about the Philippine drug war - both current and past
* Background on President Duterte
* And the list goes on

Finally - the most interesting character in this book is Jun - though he is no longer alive. The memories and flashbacks of this character pushed me to think about the bigger questions in life. And that is always a good thing.

Don't pick up this book unless you want your mind to be challenged to think in new ways.