“Go Away! Read some books!”

A book I’ve been meaning to read…

Can I say all of them? It sure seems like it. I have four books in my backpack right now that are on my list (no joke, I just leaned over and counted them. Two of them are personal, one is fiction but for work (a collaboration of English and Government), and the other is a research book which I’ll be using in my demo (so stay tuned for that one).

An actual, semi-professional book I’ve been meaning to read: Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks & Get Students Excited About Doing History. In the bit I’ve read he loathes memorizing dates and facts. Instead he encourages analysis and diving deep into an event whish illustrates a larger theme. Doing History – in my mind, this would include writing – a lot of it. Writing with analysis, writing as if you were in that time period, writing in all different aspects. The first part of the book explains his thought process about teaching history, why it’s important, the role of teachers and strategies of Doing History. The second part of the book discusses specific topics in history and are somewhat case studies. He has studied so many American History textbooks and written extensively on the topic. I would love to utilize some of the stuff I’ve heard about in my own classroom.

A book that’s had an impact on me as an educator or a writer…

This has taken me a lot of thought and even while writing this, I am still unsure of my selection and the reasoning behind it. To be fair, I never wanted to be an educator. Both my parents were teachers and I heard all the horror stories every day at the dinner table. I’m sure they talked about the good things, but I remember the ones that stood out – which were nearly all portrayed in negative light. I went to high school and college with a career in education far from me. Therefore, I did not read any books which would have inspired me to be a teacher. If a video about a teacher popped on Facebook – skip! In my credential/master’s program we read a lot of textbooks regarding pedagogy, teaching methods, writing, literacy, etc. Although they were informative, there isn’t anything that “rocked my world” or made me rethink my whole approach.

So, I am taking this in a different direction. One of my favorite books is A Painted House by John Grisham. This book is about a boy growing up in rural Arkansas on a farm in the 1950s. Wait, Paul – doesn’t Grisham write books about law that eventually get turned into movies with the main character is usually played by a big actor such as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, and other A-listers? Yes, this is the same Grisham. While A Painted House was made into a movie as well (TV movie), it is simply not the same. This book was semi-autobiographical and seemed to have so much more heart. This book seemed to be the one that sat John at his desk and said, “Write what you’ve felt and not what is just simply easy or familiar.” I’m sure he went through similar methodology in writing, revising and editing. I admire John for writing a book that was out of left field, something that wasn’t part of his cash cow of law stories. It is a courageous move and I believe he wrote his best book because of it.

When I write every piece seems to be in the same vein. I write a funny piece or a joke starts on the first couple of lines. I write something observational. Short lines. Smallest details. Express route of writing: get to the end without wasting time. Recently, with our writing groups and morning prompts I’ve decided to branch out a bit. I’ve thought a lot about my favorite novel – A Painted House.

“Percy had never owned a ball or a glove or a bat, had never played catch with his dad, had never dreamed of beating the Yankee. In fact he’d probably never dreamed of leaving the cotton patch. That thought was almost overwhelming.”