Exploring Learning

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow If ever I read a book that advocates the teaching of code to school kids, this is it! All teenagers need to read this to think about the implications of technology - about how it helps but more importantly, WHO it helps. It paints a dark portrait of a not-too-distant future in America, where our every move is tracked and analysed . BUT it also shows how those who can get beneath the surface of computers, can change the world. Computers are not new anymore - but the facade that we see masks what is really going on. Children need to be able to go behind the facade that presents our interface as beautiful and learn to control and manipulate it. The future is not about those who can use a computer because let's face it, two years olds can do that. The future is about children who can get behind the pretty and into the nitty gritty. Many educators are coming around to this notion and lots of us are introducing basic code into our classrooms ...

Doll Bones by Holly Black Definitely for Middle School readers, this a book about friendship and adventure - with very creepy overtones. Poppy, Zach and Alice are best friends, and invent magical, fantastical adventures. In their constructed world, the Queen resides over the lands, a precious porcelain antique. Locked safely away in the cabinet, the friends feel safe to give her powers to rule the kingdoms - but once they take her out, her powers seem real. A twisted tale underscores the history of this doll; a father, a master craftsman used his dead daughter's corpse to create the doll. Her hair is woven from the remains of the girl's own, the limbs are made from bone china ground out of the little girl's skeleton, and her stuffing is a bag full of her ashes... The friends are visited by her ghost in their dreams, where she demands to be laid to rest once and for all - or promises a deadly curse upon them all.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Saenz This is a story of friendship, growing-up, loyalty and love. It is a joy and a pleasure and I read with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Two Hispanic boys more dissimilar than alike, form a bond stronger than friendship, the kind that can teach a lesson to us all. Whilst written for Young Adults, this is a book that is worth reading by adults too - the role we play in shaping the lives of our children is laid bare and resonates across generations. It forced me to want to be more honest and open, to support and not judge - particularly when my children get to trickier teenage times ahead. I would recommend this to anyone struggling with the courage to be themselves, or anyone who wonders just whose rules we are living our life by. If you like this, you will love: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan Every Day by D...

I have an obsession with books - as you may see from my posts: Must Reads for 2014 Books - 2014 Book-a-month Challenge 2014 I recently read an interesting post on Donalyn Miller's ( @donalynbooks )  The Book Whisperer blog entitled, ' What the Kardashians taught me about reading ' by Christopher Lehman ( @iChrisLehman ). In it, Lehman suggests that we should learn from this family's technique of marketing themselves and, as educators, "brand ourselves as readers just as carefully so our students have that vision to aspire to". Readers in my classroom library I think am along the way to doing so: I read to share, I have created a library in my classroom of books I have personally read for my learners to borrow, they start every lesson with silent reading, they read for homework and keep a reading journal to document it, they write about their reading regularly. My  Book-a-Month Challenge 2014  shows how some Twitter friends and I have started...

As my recent book reviews testify, I have been reading a lot over this winter break . I recently read Fangirl  at the same time Starr, a Twitter friend ( @mssackstein ) so we could talk about it, and have engaged in lots of conversations about books. This led, as things do, to a few of us deciding that we would like to conduct a virtual book club together over Twitter. As we thrashed out the idea, and tried to come up with a definitive list of titles we all wanted to read, we decided the easiest way, was to go with new releases. We have decided on the following list (January is a cheat as we started too late) - and invite anyone who wants to, to join us. Please also, make suggestions too - we stick mainly with YA Fiction but are open to lots of suggestions and ideas. Just drop us a line on Twitter #bookamonth @MrsHollyEnglish @mssackstein @carriegelson @SuticThinkTank