I, Joy Kirr, am a middle school teacher, author, and speaker. My 7th grade ELA (English Language Arts) classes are working to improve their lives through student-directed learning - without marks throughout the year. This is a log of my learning experiences... Want to have me speak with your staff or facilitate a workshop? Here is my PORTFOLIO.
Here's the scoop. I was near the end of reading The Zen Teacher by Dan Tricarico, and thought of an idea... Clean off that shelf - at least somewhat.
I quickly rounded up books I'd already taken notes on in my Google Docs, and then started typing in the notes from the ones I had highlighted and written in but not taken digital notes yet. Once I stacked them up, it was a pretty tall list. It made a lot of room on my shelf. I did NOT round up the books I like to take with me when I present (I have a duplicate copy of Pure Genius I'm keeping), the books I still use for reference, the books my district provided for a book study (those will stay in our school), or the books that I just love dearly and can't let go.
I accumulated the following books in various ways...
I won some at EdCamps.
I won some through raffles, or by answering questions in presentations.
I was sent some to review on this blog.
I was sent some because my work or a quote was in them.
I'm a connected educator. You aren't yet? It's time to become connected.
None of them were purchased by my district or school to use for the classroom (one was for a book study outside the ELA curriculum).
I read them in various ways...
I highlighted some.
I wrote notes in some.
I wrote a chapter of one.
I used sticky notes in some.
I took digital notes for some.
I highlighted, wrote in, and took digital notes for some.
I used some to help me with Genius Hour or going without points/marks.
I actually didn't read some of these, or started them and realized they were not for me (and I'm not telling you which ones). Reading is so very personal - we all have our own tastes and needs when it comes to books. I hope you win one and it helps you on your educational journey!
They're in various conditions...
Some are in perfectly new condition.
Some are written in.
Some are highlighted.
Some are signed by the author(s).
Some have sticky notes (although I tried to clear most out).
Some pages are dog-eared.
Some bindings are broken.
I'm celebrating...
life
my 40s (I'm loving my 40s and there are 40 books here)
our profession
being so fortunate to have owned and read (most of) these books,
being so fortunate to have learned from them, and used the authors' words to transform my thinking (and teaching, in many cases),
books, in general, and...
the fact that WORD SHIFT comes out this summer!
HOW TO HAVE A CHANCE TO ACQUIRE ONE OF THESE BOOKS:
You must provide an address in the United States. (It costs the price of the book for me to send it elsewhere - I'm so sorry to my friends on other parts of the globe!)
You must look at the book descriptions online to find out what they're about if you don't already know.
You must fill in the Google form below.
You may fill in the form multiple times.
You must wait patiently for the month to be over.
All winners will be announced and contacted by July 1st.
I understand, once these books are out of my hands, they are yours to do with as you please. I only ask that you donotsell them. If you don't want the book after you read it, please give it away. Please do the research to see which you can benefit from, and which to leave to someone else. Winners' names will be added to this post after the contest is complete. The books are in order here by title:
Assessment 3.0 by Mark Barnes -- WINNER: ANDREW BROERE The Best Lesson Series: Literature - 15 Master Teachers Share What Works edited by Brian Sztabnik -- WINNER: SANDRA HENDERSON Book Love by Penny Kittle -- WINNER: KERRY HANNING Code Breaker by Brian Aspinall -- WINNER: KAREN BURKE Common Core English Language Arts in a PLC at Work Grades 6-8 by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey -- WINNER: BRITTANY SCHMIDT Digital Citizenship in Action by Kristen Mattson -- WINNER: JOSHUA BODEN Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller -- WINNER: KRISTEN WILTON Drive by Daniel Pink -- WINNER: EMILY PHARMORNSUWANA Eight Myths of Student Disengagement by Jennifer A. Fredricks -- WINNER: JENNA MOLLER The Element by Sir Ken Robinson -- WINNER: KIMBERLY ISHAM Escaping the School Leader's Dunk Tank by Rebecca Coda and Rick Jetter -- WINNER: MIKE STEIN Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts -- WINNER: CONNIE HAMILTON The Flexible ELA Classroom by Amber Chandler -- WINNER: MEGAN LEE Flipping 2.0 compiled by Jason Bretzmann -- WINNER: DAVID ISBELL Flipping Your English Class to Reach All Learners by Troy Cockrum Hacking Assessment by Starr Sackstein -- WINNER: TRACY MAILLOUX Hacking the Common Core by Michael Fisher Hacking Education by Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez The Human Side of School Change by Robert Evans Instant Relevance by Denis Sheeran -- WINNER: MEGHAN KESTNER It's Like Riding a Bike by David M. Schmittou Kids Deserve It! by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome -- WINNER: JULIA GALVAN Make Writing by Angela Stockman -- WINNER: VICKI STUCZYNSKI The Passion-Driven Classroom by Angela Maiers and Amy Sandvold -- WINNER: AMY BROWN Pure Genius by Don Wettrick -- WINNER: MARIE BOWERS Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller -- WINNER: ELIZABETH GONSALVES Reclaiming Our Calling by Brad Gusftason -- WINNER: TRACY MITCHELL ROLE Reversal by Mark Barnes -- WINNER: AMANDA DAUPHINAIS Shattering the Perfect Teacher Myth by Aaron Hogan -- WINNER: TJ RAINES Spark Learning by Ramsey Musallam -- WINNER: LAURA VON STADEN Steal the Show by Michael Port Stories in EDU compiled by Jason Bretzmann and Kenny Bosch Teaching with Tablets by Nancy Frey, Doug Fisher, Alex Gonzalez Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching by Meenoo Rami -- WINNER: MARLA DUNCAN Unmapped Potential by Julie Hasson and Missy Lennard -- WINNER: LISA GAEDE Well Spoken by Erik Palmer What Color Is Your Brain? by Sheila N. Glazov -- WINNER: MORGAN BOLES What Connected Educators Do Differently by Todd Whitaker, Jeffrey Zoul, and Jimmy Casas -- WINNER: TRACIE ROBERSON Who Owns the Learning? by Alan November -- WINNER: KATHRYN FINCH The Zen Teacher by Dan Tricarico -- WINNER: KAREN FIELD
Update 6/30/19:
I am NOT looking forward to only one person winning each book! I've got to get over the guilt of not being able to send one to everyone, and instead, be happy that I AM able to afford to send these off to good homes.
Winners will be announced TOMORROW!