Cruel Summer (It's so SHORT!)

I can’t believe how short this summer is going to be! Between family vacations, DIY projects, professional development, child-oriented activities and my summer reading list – I’m not going to get much downtime!

But, yes, it's that time again!! Time to gather my summer reading list that I may (or may not) complete this short summer!  I got a sweet new hammock for Mother’s Day (thanks, honey!) so I plan to carve out a little time here and there to actually (gasp!) read books!

Here you go! Tracy’s Awesome Summer Reading List

1. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March   by Lynda Blackmon Lowery and PJ Loughran. Our Clearwater High students went on an amazing Civil Rights tour and happened to meet the author of this book -- on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama! It’s the autobiographical story of the youngest marcher on the 1965 historic voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Looks awesome!

2. Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda. So, I’m OBSESSED with the Hamilton musical soundtrack. OB-sessed!! So this book about the show with lyrics, essays, historical documents (squeeee!!!) and other info and visuals may be my book “dessert” of the summer. Meaning, I am going to have to read something good for me before I allow myself to sink into this one. Historical documents, y’all!!

*Favorite lyric of the week: “I’ll write under a pseudonym, you’ll see what I can do to him”. Say it out loud. It is a tight rhyme!

3. Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School by Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez. I have been reading Jennifer Gonzalez’s blog posts on the Cult of Pedagogy (it’s way more accessible and useful for a regular teacher than it sounds) and I so far like a lot of what she has to say. So I’m curious what constitutes an “education hack” and if anything is as easy as that sounds. Stay tuned. After I read it I should have some thoughts on that.

4. Reign of Error by Diane Ravitch. I know, I know. This one is a little political (but thankfully, with a 2014 publication date, we can leave the current presidential campaign out of it). I have had this book come up in several lists and blogs that I read (both praising and critiquing) and, again, I’m curious. It’s about the privatization of education, something Ravitch says is a “hoax” and is “dangerous”. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t speak to whether or not I agree with her. But the woman is known for doing serious research, so I’ll give it a try.

5. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopa. This one might be a little ambitious for this short summer, but I’m going to give it a try. This is supposed to be World History on a bigger-picture scale (but not necessarily “Big History”) and not from a western-Civ perspective. I know middle school folks are having some pangs of sadness for the World  History course. This may ease the pain so you don’t have to go “cold turkey”. :)

6. iPads in the Classroom by Tom Daccord and Justin Reich I just got this book and what intrigued me was the rest of the title “...From Consumption and Curation to Creation”. I really love the idea of moving from the idea of “putting content into the kids’ brains” to having the curated and make things with tablets. Plus, it’s short. And I think I have gotten overly-ambitious with my list this year.

7. Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts I heard her speak about this book at a conference last year and LOVED both her style and her research. As we dig into the Founding Fathers, I find the Founding Mothers a fascinating look at the women who were a part but not a part of the creation of our nation. Plus, she is a heck of a writer!

What’s on your summer reading list? Are you actually going to get through much of it? Are you reading plenty of beach-reads, too? The countdown is in single digits, y’all! Are you ready for the year to be over? I always love to hear what you’re reading, too. Please share!

Have a great rest of the week!

-Tracy