Thirteen Reasons Why

What a powerful book!!! It is amazing that someone can be going through so much and noone takes the time to notice. I think of the students I interact with everyday... what some of them must be feeling, experiencing, living... that noone pays attention too.

This is a powerful book by Jay Asher that should be required reading for those who care about kids.

UPDATE!!!! May 5, 2010
We actually discussed this recently at my book club... what an interesting discussion. We talked a great deal about the power that teachers have in working with students...

Speak!

I just finished reading this book. My daughter's 8th grade English class is going to be reading it at school - and I thought I should also read it so we can discuss some of the content at home. And there is some heavy content to discuss - acceptance issues among teenagers, date rape, under age drinking, and so many more.

The book left we a little dazed for a day or two... it would be very interesting to discuss with students and view their reactions to how things play out for the main character of the book at school. She is filled with fear and dread of anyone finding out what happened to her (date rape) and yet she needs to have someone on her side. She is conflicted on what to do and when she finally does tell her ex-BFF ... she doesn't believe her.

In the end - she has one teacher that she has built a relationship with that she spills her story out to. As the teacher of middle-schoolers, I can only hope that at some point, if one of my students is experiencing extreme difficulties in their life, that they will feel safe in discussing them... if not with me... then with someone else.

Killing reading in the classrooms!

Laziness and procrastination should be listed as certified diagnosis of overwhelmed mothers and educators... we have so much do to... so many books and journals and articles to read... that we loose sight of the activities that bring us joy - like reading for pleasure.

Isn't that amazing! The students are the same way. How many times do we hear it everyday -

"Why do we have to read? I hate reading?" Or, one of my favorites... "Why do we have to write so much in English class?" When another student responds "Because it's English class!"

Yet, as an adult, I also put reading on the back burner (like the burned dinner...). We expect students to come to our classrooms to read and enjoy what they are reading, yet we kill it with study guides, vocabulary review, questions, quizzes, tests. If you did that to me for every book I read - I too would quit reading. My kindle (which I received in November) would not already have 67 books (full length and samples) already downloaded just waiting to be devoured.

How do we move students from Learning to Read - to Reading to Learn without killing the fun and enjoyment that comes from being immersed in a passage of depth and adventure?