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The Realm of Possibility
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book changed my life
It's become a tradition to read this book at the beginning of every year. First off, this book saved my life. It's hard to admit but during my freshman year of college I felt suicidal. It was a few weeks into second semester and one of my close friends gave me this book to read. I read it within hours, I ignored the basketball game that I went to and I devoured this book. Tears were shed, and my life was changed.

This book quickly became my favorite novel and David Levithan has earned the honor of being my favorite author. The characters are intertwined and connect in ways that mimics our every day lives.

I love the fact that David Levithan has characters that anyone can relate to. If you're the popular kid, you will relate to someone. If you're that kid in the back of the classroom, you will relate to someone. There are 20 different characters and you will be able to relate to at least one of them.

I have read this book 6 times so far and every time I read this novel I find something new to fall in love with. My signed book is something that I will forever treasure.

I recommend this book to everyone.
  
Bottle and Stick
Bottle and Stick
Jennifer Stephens | 2021 | Children
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bottle and Stick is a cute tale about glue. Children will enjoy this as a way to learn about the two different kinds of glue. This tale tells about how to use glue. The things that Bottle and Stick know through their new friends from the night before school starts. This book also can prepare your child or children for school as the first of school can be scary. Just see what happens to Bottle and Stick when they start school for the first time.

They are put out and worried about what might happen to them. Maybe this will help teach children about the glue rules and perhaps even make all things better. Doing things together and sticking together may be an excellent way to help a friend out.

This book is a unique way to show how the glue implies made for some crafts and what the other glue stick implies made for simple crafts. Both work well for arts and crafts. Children of all ages enjoy playing with glue. This book is good for the classroom and your child or children's bookshelves.

Parents could use this to help teach youngsters about the glue rule of how to use the glue. They could also prepare them for the school with the way Bottle glue and glue sticks are for different things. I do enjoy the fact that this is shown through the eyes of glue.
  
Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3)
Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3)
Rachel Caine | 2009 | Horror
8
8.6 (14 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is my favorite book in the series so far because the plot FINALLY focuses on Claire's schooling. When her schedule got replaced with harder classes, I went just a bit green with envy - I'm a nerd at heart, even though I haven't been to school in years. I also love that we get more background information about the town of Morganville, such as its purpose and an explanation of the more mystical aspects of the town. Myrnin was quite a fascinating character, and I would not have minded if the text spent more time on Claire's studies with him, as well as her advanced class studies. (And yes, my favorite parts of the Harry Potter series was the classroom stuff.)
I didn't like that this book did not have Eve's journal entries at the end like previous books have done. Those previously gave me clues into her mind and her relationship with Michael, as well as a taste of what happens in the next book, so I was rather disappointed when I realized it was missing.
I'm hoping that future books go into more detail about what the journals cover as well as what exactly the red crystals are and how they affected Claire. I'm hoping that the drama with Eve's brother Jason gets resolved quickly as I find him just plain annoying and obnoxious. The ending had me exclaiming out loud, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series, Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires, Book 4).
  
<a href="https://awindowintobooks.wordpress.com">Full Review</a>
Animal Planet Farm Animals by Animal Planet is a book that the whole family can read and enjoy. It is informative but the pictures are what really draws the child in to the book. Through reading this book the reader will learn about all sorts of farm animals from around the world.

The information is just perfect of a child to enjoy the facts without being overwhelmed. In fact, the facts draw any reader, even reluctant readers into the information. The pictures are high quality with bright and vibrant colors. Both the information and the pictures have a wonderful balance that make the book interesting and enjoyable.

The book describes many aspects of Farm Life in an enjoyable and interesting way. This isa great addition to a school library or home library for kids to learn about farm animals, life on the farm, and showing animals at the fair (the list could go on). Through reading, the reader learns about habitats, adaptation, and family life for animals.

I really like the special sections that included unique animal facts, kids-friendly infographics and the illustrated map of the earth to teach where the animals lives in the world. This book will allow for further discussion and research since it gets the student excited about animals where they want to know more.

I would love to have this book in my classroom library.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
LA
Lila and the Crow
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="https://awindowintobooks.wordpress.com">Full Review</a>
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lila and the Crow by Gabrielle Grimard is a beautiful story dealing with and sad and very
real issue. Lila arrives at her neScreen Shot 2016-06-21 at 9.04.55 PMw school with the hopes of making new friends; however, instead of being welcomed with open arms she is welcomed with a mean comment. It only takes that one comment to destroy her confidence.

The first day with the first comment was the start of ruining her confidence. The comment came from one student but there are other students who either stand by and allow the comments to come or join in laughing. Eventually, Lila decides not to let the differences defy her but to embrace the differences. This book will show children that there will be situations where other children will hurt of mock them but that they should stand up and not allow the situation to ruin their day, month or year.

This book will open the floor to have a discussion about bullying and how it should not happen and if it is, that you should help the person instead of joining in the bullying or being a bystander. Everyone is different and this book can teach children to embrace and accept the differences.

The illustrations are wonderful, they show such great emotion in the characters as well as creating a mood that fits the story. Lila and the Crow will be a great asset to any home, classroom or library.
  
I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz is a must read for all teachers. The book is a set of essays based from student responses to the question "I wish my teacher knew___________." The teacher asked her questions the above question and the information she gathered from the assignment shocked her but helped to gain necessary information from her students about them.

The book begins by explaining the project that the teacher/author created in order to get to know her students better. The author describes what students said that the teacher needed to know in how to properly teach/engage the students.

Beyond knowing how to effectively teach students a teacher needs to be aware of issues that students may be experiences. The book states that it is important to know how to deal with these issues because if the issue of death, homelessness, family issues are causing issues for a student it will be difficult for a student to focus on their studies. These issues are just as important at learning in the classroom. As a teacher I found this very true. In addition to knowing how to effectively engage student based on their learning styles, the book also states that as a teacher it is important to know the students hobbies/ interests.

The book is thoroughly researched which is valuable to any person who is going into the field of teaching or has been in the field for many years. As a 2nd year teacher I found the book very interesting. I plan to do this as a first activity with my students to learn about them. The activity is a way to get to know your students without pre-judging their personalities. It is a stress free way for students to share important information.
  
After the Dark (2014)
After the Dark (2014)
2014 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
6
7.9 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Nope
Ever drank an open soda that's been sitting in the fridge too long? That's kind of like what happens to the premise of After the Dark. Due to its lack of reality (will expand on that in a moment), there are no real stakes and we all know what happens to Phillip McSween when he watches a film with no stakes. I turn green...


Despite a premise that falls flat, I can appreciate the message that the film was trying to get across. Everyone is important and has value. You can never understand that true value of a person or a thing until you give that person or a thing a try. The true value behind this message actually saved this film from getting a worse score.

I also give credit, as I did with I Declare War, for the film daring to try such an interesting premise. On paper it seems like it just might work and, perhaps with a bit more development, it could have. Or perhaps the film was just doomed from the start. One can never be sure.

I'll let you decide for yourself: On their last day of classes, a professor challenges a high school class to imagine different scenarios in which they would have to survive an apocalypse. While this is all happening inside of a classroom, the film takes us into the imaginary world of these different apocalyptic scenarios so what we're seeing is never actual reality, but the scenarios themselves. Ready to drop everything and watch yet?

With me watching 365 movies and having to randomly choose some from my list of all-time Rotten Tomato films, I expect some duds to slip through. Not only was the source material not enough to make me care, but the ending was so ridiculous that it destroyed any hopes of After the Dark being worth anyone's time. I give it a 61.
  
I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz is a must read for all teachers. The book is a set of essays based from student responses to the question "I wish my teacher knew___________." The teacher asked her questions the above question and the information she gathered from the assignment shocked her but helped to gain necessary information from her students about them.

The book begins by explaining the project that the teacher/author created in order to get to know her students better. The author describes what students said that the teacher needed to know in how to properly teach/engage the students.

Beyond knowing how to effectively teach students a teacher needs to be aware of issues that students may be experiences. The book states that it is important to know how to deal with these issues because if the issue of death, homelessness, family issues are causing issues for a student it will be difficult for a student to focus on their studies. These issues are just as important at learning in the classroom. As a teacher I found this very true. In addition to knowing how to effectively engage student based on their learning styles, the book also states that as a teacher it is important to know the students hobbies/ interests.

The book is thoroughly researched which is valuable to any person who is going into the field of teaching or has been in the field for many years. As a 2nd year teacher I found the book very interesting. I plan to do this as a first activity with my students to learn about them. The activity is a way to get to know your students without pre-judging their personalities. It is a stress free way for students to share important information.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in response for an honest review.
  
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Brian Kapfer (2 KP) created a post

May 27, 2018  
I have never read the 'A Wrinkle in Time' novel, nor had I ever heard about it, and I spent more time in the Library than I did in the classroom. Not until the advertisements did I ever learn that there was a movie, let alone a previous version. It uses the tired trope of of a child(ren) search for a lost family member, but this brings our intrepid heroes into a fantasy world. Disney really geared this flick towards a younger audience, there is not much material for the adults except a decent story and the enjoyment of seeing it with their kid(s). After I started the movie and the basic introduction finished, disaster struck! Oprah appeared and delivered her monologue and her soothing voice put me to sleep, and I missed the rest of the movie. I then had a dilemma because I use dual monitors, one to watch movies and one so I can simultaneously browse Facebook and porn. The problem comes in that I have to minimize the widow on monitor 2, release it from full-screen and then drag it over to monitor 1 where I skip over Oprah and then slide the window back to monitor 2 and then try and full-screen it again. This process is tedious, because the monitor is only 27" and sits the proper length from one's viewing. I do not have very good eyesight, so I have to move the cursor to the vicinity of the little box and move closer to the monitor, go back to my computer, move the pointer closer, and then repeat the process about 12 times. So, instead of that I just restarted the video, watched the intro scenes, muted Oprah and then finished the film. Overall it was an enjoyable experience for both adults and kids.

tldr - Just watch the movie at least once, especially with kid(s). No kidnapping!


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1620680/?ref_=nv_sr_1
     
MI
Move It, Miss Macintosh!
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Move It, Miss Macintosh! by Peggy Robbins Janousky is the story how Miss Macintosh, the kindergarten teacher, does NOT want to go to school on the first day; she's just too nervous. But the principal and other teachers show up to give her the encouragement she needs...and when she finally makes it to school, she finds maybe her class will be fun after all.

The principal and other teachers from the school show up at Miss Macintosh's house anticipating that she will be reluctant to go to school on her first day of teaching kindergarten. They all try to help her in various ways. I loved the names of the teachers from Mrs. Burger the lunchlady to Miss Melody the music teacher and Miss Patience the guidance counselor. The other silly thing as that they all rode to school on the bus, even the principal. When Miss Macintosh arrives in her classroom she sees that all the kids are nervous and she starts to sing, making up silly words about her morning. The kids love it, start giggling and they all have a great day. The illustrations are very silly, but bright and colourful so that kids will love them. I recommend this book to kindergarten or pre-kindergarten classes to read while trying to make them little ones feel comfortable. Families could also read this to their young ones before they actually start school so that they can see everyone, even the teacher is nervous at the beginning of a new school year.

This book was great! It's such a fun twist on the first-day-of-school-jitters to have the teacher be the nervous one. Kids will relate to how Miss Macintosh feels--but also get a kick out of the fact that it's the adult who is so worried. Really cute illustrations, engaging text, and fantastic concept for a book.

I received this advanced readers copy from Annick Press Ltd. and Annick Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.