Holes (Louis Sacher)

 

This is a book that I always wondered why I hadn't read it. It's a well known book and teachers think it's great....well, those who have read it. I realized though that it was only written in 1998. No wonder I didn't read it when I was in school. It wasn't around! I did finally read it for my Grade 3 book club though.

Teaching potential:
I thought it was a great book with lots of potential for talking about literacy devices. The example, dramatic irony (when the reader knows something the characters in the story do not know) or foreshadowing (why is there an entire early chapter about a killer yellow spotted lizard?) The main character, Stanley, changes over time and is able to save his family from an inter-generational curse...which is bildungsroman (a genre that focuses on intellectual/moral growth of a character from youth to adulthood)....there's a moral development or the two main characters. Stanley and Hector start addressing each other by their real names (adults?) rather than their nicknames (Caveman and Zero).

Adult themes that could  be discussed:
Poverty and class - how some people are dealt different trials in life
Race Relations
What just and reform actually entails and how it is carried out.

Book Club ideas:
Bring shovels to put at door with a sign....Welcome to Camp Green Lake
Who said it game with quotes from the book
Watch parts of the movie and discuss it - venn diagram with holes book and holes movie
Make name tags for ourselves (first name and last name with first name spelled backwards)
TPT Coloring page

Food: 

Red candies for lizard eyes
Gummy words for rattle snakes
Onion dip/chips
Sploosh - cooked peaches (in a crock pot?) or peach fruit snacks in containers

Symbols in a bag
Sign: Which "hold" will you dig into? Will you find a yellow-spotted lizard, treasure or be cursed along with the Yelnats family?"
- onion (Sam's onions)
- Kate Barlow peaches
-Yellow spotted lizard toy
-Stanley's canteen of water
-Kissin' Kate Barlow's lipstick tube
-treasure box
-letter from Stanley to his mom
-fish fossil

Signposts
There is a lot of potential for Notice and Note signposts. I kept notes of some....I'm sure there's more! 

Goodreads says:

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.

Christmas Coal Man (Joe Kulka)

 

This is a great story for inferring - but can be difficult if children do not celebrate Christmas. Although, there were a lot of things to talk about that children who don't celebrate Christmas might not know. We had good discussions about why the coal miner has a canary, whether or not kids should get coal for Christmas (or has anyone you know?!) The illustrations are fantastic and in the end, we were happy for the miner! 

Goodreads says:

Every year the Coal Man works hard to mine enough coal for Santa's naughty list, but this year Santa tells him that he has decided that he no longer needs coal.

Think Again (Adam Grant))

This book was really good. Adam Grant always is really good. Rethinking what you think you know is a key to lifelong learning.

Goodreads says:
Think Again is a book about the benefit of doubt, and about how we can get better at embracing the unknown and the joy of being wrong. Evidence has shown that creative geniuses are not attached to one identity, but constantly willing to rethink their stances and that leaders who admit they don't know something and seek critical feedback lead more productive and innovative teams.

New evidence shows us that as a mindset and a skilllset, rethinking can be taught and Grant explains how to develop the necessary qualities to do it. Section 1 explores why we struggle to think again and how we can learn to do it as individuals, arguing that 'grit' alone can actually be counterproductive. Section 2 discusses how we can help others think again through learning about 'argument literacy'. And the final section 3 looks at how schools, businesses and governments fall short in building cultures that encourage rethinking.

In the end, learning to rethink may be the secret skill to give you the edge in a world changing faster than ever.
 

Notes:

p. 19 Stephen Greenspan and his sister made the choice to invest with Bernie Madoff....Greenspan says that he should've known better, though, because he happens to be an expert on gullibility. When he decided to go ahead with the investment, he had almost finished writing a book on why we get duped.

p. 65 The Yoda Effect: "You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned
Interesting person to research and follow: Jean-Pierre Beugoms as well as his associates at GoodJudgment.com

p. 73 If we're insecure, we make fun of others. If we're comfortable being wrong, we're not afraid to poke fun at ourselves. Laughing at ourselves reminds us that although we might take our decisions seriously, we don't have to  take ourselves too seriously. Research suggests that the more frequently we make fun of ourselves, the happier we tend to be. Instead of beating ourselves up about our mistakes, we can turn some of our past misconceptions into sources of present amusement.

If you choose to make fun of yourself out loud, there's evidence that how people react depends on your gender. When men make self-deprecating jokes, they're seen as more capable leaders, but when women do it, they're judged as less capable. Apparently, many people have missed the memo that if a woman pokes fun at herself, it's not a reflection of incompetence or inadequacy. It's a symbol of confident humility and wit.

p. 73 Jean-Pierre Beaugoms has a favorite trick for catching himself when he's wrong. When he makes a forecast, he also makes a list of the conditions in which it should true - as well as the conditions under which he would change his mind. He explains that this keeps him honest, preventing him from getting attached to a bad prediction.

p. 260 Top 30 Practical Takeaways:

I. Individual Rethinking

A. Develop the Habit of Thinking Again

1. Think like a scientist. When you start forming an option, resist the temptation to preach, prosecute, or politick. Treat your emerging view as a hunch or a hypothesis and test it with data. Like the entrepreneurs who learned to approach their business strategies as experiments, you'll main the ability to pivot.

2. Define your identify in terms of values, not opinions.  It's easier to avoid getting stuck to your past beliefs if you don't become attached to them as part of your present self-concept. See yourself as someone who values curiosity, learning, mental flexibility, and searching for knowledge. As you form opinions, keep a list of facts that would change your mind.

3. Seek out information that goes against your views. You can fight confirmation bias, burst filter bubbles, and escape echo chambers by actively engaging with ideas that challenge your assumptions. An easy place to start is to follow people who make you think - even if you usually disagree with what they think.

B. Calibrate Your Confidence

4. Beware of getting stranded at the summit of Mount Stupid. Don't confuse confidence with competence. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a good reminder that the better you think you are, the greater the risk that you're overestimating yourself-and the greater the odds that you'll stop improving. To prevent overconfidence in your knowledge, reflect on how well you can explain a given subject.

5. Harness the benefits of doubt. When you find yourself doubting your ability, reframe the situation as an opportunity for growth. You can have confidence in your capacity to learn while questioning your current solution to a problem. Knowing what you don't know is often the first step toward developing expertise.

6. Embrace the joy of being wrong. When you find out you've made a mistake, take it as a sign that you've just discovered something new. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself. It helps you focus less on proving yourself - and more on improving yourself.

C. Invite Others to Question Your Thinking

7. Learn something new from each person you meet. Everyone knows more than you about something. Ask people what they've been rethinking lately, or start a conversation about times you've changed your mind in the past year.

8. Build a challenge network, not just a support network. It's helpful to have cheerleaders encouraging you, but you also need critics to challenge you. Who are your most thoughtful critics? Once you've identified them, invite them to question your thinking. To make sure they know you're open to dissenting views, tell them why you respect their pushback - and where they usually add the most value.

9. Don't why away from constructive conflict. Disagreements don't have to be disagreeable. Although relationship conflict is usually counterproductive, task conflict can help you think again. Try framing disagreement as a debate: people are more likely to approach it intellectually and less likely to take it personally. 

II. Interpersonal Rethinking

A. Ask Better Questions

10. Practice the art of persuasive listening. When we're trying to open other people's minds, we can frequently accomplish more by listening than by talking. How can you show an interest in helping people crystallize their own views and uncover their own reasons for change? A good way to start is to increase your quesetion-to-statement ratio.

11. Question how rather than why. When people describe why they hold extreme views, they often intensify their commitment and double down. When they try to explain how they would make their views a reality, they often realize the limits of their understanding and start to temper some of their opinions.

12, Ask "What evidence would change your mind?" You can't bully someone into agreeing with you. It's often more effective to inquire about what would open their minds, and then see if you can convince them on their own terms.

13. Ask how people originally formed an opinion. Many of our opinions, like our stereotypes, are arbitrary; we've developed them without rigorous data or deep reflection To help people reevaluate, prompt them to consider how they'd believe different things if they'd been born at a different time or in a different place.

B. Approach DIsagreements as Dances, Not Battles

14. Acknowledge common ground. A debate is like a dance, not a war. Admitting points of convergence doesn't make you weaker - it shows that you're willing to negotiate about what's true, and it motivates the other side to consider your point of view.

15. Remember that less is often more. If you pile on too many different reasons to support your case, it can make your audience defensive - and cause them to reject your entire argument based on its least compelling points. Instead of diluting your argument, lead with a few of your strongest points.

16, Reinfrce freedom of choice. Sometimes people resist not because they're dismissing the argument but because they're rejecting the feeling of their behavior being controlled. It helps to respect their autonomy by reminding them that it's up to them to choose what they believe.

17. Have a conversation about the conversation. If emotions are running hot, try redirecting the discussion to the process. Like the expert negogiators who comment on their feelings and test their understanding of the other side's feelings, you can sometimes make progress by expressing your disappointment or frustration and asking people if they share it.

III. COLLECTIVE RETHINKING

A. Have More Nuanced Conversations

18. Complexity contentious topics. There are more than two sides of every story. Insteadd of treating polarizing issues like two sides of a coin, look at them through the many lenses of a prism. Seeing the shades of gray can make us more open.

19. Don't shy away from caveats and contingencies. Acknowledging competing claims and conflicting results doesn't sacrifice interest or credibility. It's an effective way to engage audiences while encouraging them to stay curious.

20. Expand your emotional range. You don't have to eliminate frustration or even indignation to have a productive conversation. You just need to mix in a broader set of emotions along with them - you might try showing some curiosity or even admitting confusion or ambivalence.

B. Teach Kids to Think Again

21. Have a weekly myth-busting discussion at dinner. It's easier to debunk false beliefs at an early age, and its' a great way to teach kids to become comfortable with rethinking. Pick a different topic each week - one day it might be dinosaurs, the next it could be outer space - and rotate responsibility around the family for bringing a myth for discussion.

22. Invite kids to do multiple drafts and seek feedback from others. Creating different versions of a drawing or story can encourage kids to learn the value of revising their ideas. Getting input from others can also help them to continue evolving their standards. They might learn to embrace confusion - and to stop expecting perfection on the first try.

23. Stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. They don't have to define themselves in terms of a career. A single identity can close the door to alternatives. Instead of trying to narrow their options, help them broaden their possibilities. They don't have to be one thing - they can do many things.

C. Create Learning Organizations

24. Abandon best practices. Best practices suggest that the ideal routines are already in place. If we want people to keep rethinking the way they work we might be better off adopting process accountability and continually striving for better practices.

25. Establish psychological safety. In learning cultures, people feel confident that they can question and challenge the stats quo without being punished. Psychological safety often starts with leaders role-modeling humility. 

26. Keep a rethink scorecard. Don't evaluate decisions base only on the results, track how thoroughly different options are considered in the process. A bad process with a good outcome is luck. A good process with a bad outcome might be a smart experiment.

D. Stay Open to Rethinking Your Future

27. Throw out the ten-year plan.  What interested you last year might bore you this year  - and what confused you yesterday might become exciting tomorrow. Passions are developed, not just discovered. Planning just one step ahead can keep our open to rethinking.

28. Rethink your actions, not just your surroundings. Chasing happiness can chase it away. Trading one set of circumstances for another isn't always enough. oy can wax and wane, but meaning is more likely to last. Building a sense of purpose often starts with taking actions to enhance your learning or your contribution to others.

29. Schedule a life checkup. it's easy to get caught in escalation of commitment to an unfulfilling path. Just as you schedule health checkups with your doctor, it's worth having a life checkup on your calendar once or twice a year. it's a way to assess how much you're learning, how your beliefs and goals are evolving, and whether your next steps warrant some rethinking.

30. Make time to think again. When I look at my calendar, I noticed that it was mostly full of doing. I set a goal of spending an hour a day thinking and learning. Now I've decided to go further. I'm scheduling a weekly time to rethinking and unlearning. I reach out to my challenge network and ask what ideas and opinions they think I should be reconsidering. recently, my wife, Allison, told me that I need to rethink the way I pronounce the word mayonnaise. 

One Dark Night (Hazel Hutchins)

 

I have been looking for mystery picture books to read to kids and this one fell into my lap. It was perfect. One page it seems like there's a cat that ran out but also a cat in the house. My class was quick to think the author made a mistake in the order of the pages. I told them we had to keep reading to try to figure it out. Turns out the stray cat is running off into the storm again because she is a mother cat! She left one kitten in the house and goes out to get the others one by one.

We also learned about counting from when you see lightening to when you hear thunder to know how far away the storm is.

Bonus: The author is from Alberta!

Goodreads says: As a strong summer storm approaches, Jonathan watches a stray cat looking for something in the bushes, but as the clouds darken, Jonathan wonders if the animal will be okay all by itself when the rain starts pouring from the sky.

Carnegie's Maid (Marie Benedict)

 

I enjoyed this book. It was interesting to learn about the Carnegie family (which we all, apparently pronounce incorrectly....emphasis should be on the second syllable!)  the main character is made up - the author's attempt to find a reason for Andrew Carnegie's business dragon personality that changed into a philanthropist. 

I learned at book club that his organization funded the first library in Calgary - Memorial Park Library. It is my favorite library in Calgary. If only there was better parking around there, I'd go there a lot just to sit and soak in its beauty.

I borrowed this book from a book club friend. She said it was an easy read and that she read it in two days. I felt bad that it took me a week to read it. I thought I should have read it faster and then be able to pass it on - but actually, a little over a week isn't that bad. I wasn't compelled to keep reading like my friend said she was. It was an enjoyable read but not one where I couldn't put it down.

Goodreads says:

From the author of The Other Einstein, the mesmerizing tale of what kind of woman could have inspired an American dynasty.

Clara Kelley is not who they think she is. She's not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of Pittsburgh's grandest households. She's a poor farmer's daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets. But the other woman with the same name has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get Clara some money to send back home.

If she can keep up the ruse, that is. Serving as a lady's maid in the household of Andrew Carnegie requires skills he doesn't have, answering to an icy mistress who rules her sons and her domain with an iron fist. What Clara does have is a resolve as strong as the steel Pittsburgh is becoming famous for, coupled with an uncanny understanding of business, and Andrew begins to rely on her. But Clara can't let her guard down, not even when Andrew becomes something more than an employer. Revealing her past might ruin her future -- and her family's.

With captivating insight and heart, Carnegie's Maid tells the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie's transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world's first true philanthropist..

The Body Keeps The Score (Bessel Van Der Kolk)

 

This book explains why people who have experienced trauma often respond to situations in unexpected ways. If someone you know seems to respond to situations in ways that seem bizarre, it's possible they have experienced trauma in their life. This books has a LOT of information and took me a long time to get through. He ends with therapies that can make a big difference.

Goodreads says:

A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world's foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers' capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain's natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk's own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.

Hello, Habits (Fumio Sasaki)

 

I love books about habits. This one gave me plenty to think about with what habits I'm focusing on and tracking.

p. vii It isn't talent. It's continuing.

Genius is often only the power of making continuous efforts (Elbert Hubbard)

p. xi

Habit is as second nature (Cicero)

Habit a second nature! Habit is ten times nature. (The Duke of Wellington)

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit (Will Durant)

p. 4 All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone. (Blaise Pascal)

p. 5 We're happier if we don't have too much free time.

p. 6 Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. (Gandhi)

p. 62 I don't do special things for the purpose of something something special. I do ordinary, everyday things in order to do something special (Ichiro)

p. 113 The fuel that a rocket uses for the first few minutes immediately after launch is greater than the amount used in the eight hundred thousand kilometers to follow.

p. 170 When my habits are on track to getting cemented, I gain a sense of cntentment. For example when exercising, I'll feel that I can go on running forever. But if I decide to test my limits and run until I'm exhausted,  know I'll get the impression that running is too strenuous, which will have na impact on the next time I run. 
It's more important than anything to continue our habits, so I stop when I think I want to do more. I quit while i'm around 80%. That way, I'll stop the action wit hthe impression that it's fun.....I don't keep going until it isn't fun anymore....Muscles develo further when they go beyond their limits and are hurt. Top athletes undergo tough practices beyond their comfot zones, but that lies far ahead, in a future time when we have already acquired our habits. Quitting in the middle of something is effective for developing the habit in the first place.

Good reasons for never skipping a day:
p. 173 When Nippon Professional Baseball goes off season, all the players, return to their hometowns. But even during off-season, Ichiro alone shows up at the ballpark and starts his training.
"I once tried to take time off. To see if it would help, I didn't work out for a month. Then it didn't fee llike m body anymore. As if my body were sick," he said.
Ichiro tried different methods at least once, but ultimately did the opposite of what other players do. He i a true seeker of truth. What's important to him is to not quit completely.
The novelist John Updike also made it a habit to write every day, instead of waitng for inspiration. The reason was, there's so much busy work a writer can do. "You can actually spend your whole life being a writer and totally do away with the writing."

p. 174 Anthony Trollope (the God of habits according to the author) made it his task to spend two and a half hours writing before going to work. He wrote forty-seven novels and sixteen other works while working full-time, leaving behind a sizable oeuvre in the history of literature. 
His secret to producing so many works was starting the next project as soon as he finished the previous one. Once, he complete a lengthy work that comprised six hundred pages. A normal author would have wanted, perhaps, to celebrate or take plenty of vacation time. But because he had about fifteen minutes remaining until his usual two and a half hours were up, after finishing the manuscript, he simply put it aside and got started on his next one. 
The senses of pianists and guitarists are said to become dull when they don't touch their instrument for just one day. Some musicians claim they lose three days of practice if they skip just one. Not only is there no improvement when they don't touch their instrument for a day, they lose what they've nurtured. For me as well, three or four days without exercise makes it difficult to return to my previous condition. I get out of breath if I run, and I feel heavier. 
I have a real sense that the longer I veer from my habits, the tougher it gets to resume them. That's all the more reaso to avoid lapses in between. Your habits are further bolstered as you proceed to move forward with them.

p. 203 Do it; it's better than not doing it
He interviewed a professional runner. He's been running every day for more than 20 years. He still has days he doesn't want to run.

While habits refer to actions that we perform with barely a thought, we can't always make choices without thinking; conflicts will always, eventually, arise. Because we're human, there will always be times when we simply aren't in the mood to do something.
There is suffering in continuing to practice habits. But compared to the regrets we have when we don't practice them, I think it's far better to do them. By accumulating failures in our attempts to do something, we will someday gain a greater amount of rewards. If we don't make the attempt, we'll have the same regrets anyway, and we'll also have a sense of self-doubt. So we can choose whichever seems to be even slightly better: doing the task at hand, even when we don't want to.

p. 220 Create habits that are unique to you

It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races (Mark Train)

Ichiro has reflected on the intensive training he used to go through like this:
"It's true that when I was spending time at the Orix training cap when I was eighteen, nineteen and twenty, I was hitting hundreds of balls until two or three in the morning. Looking back, I can see that it wasn't a rational way to practice. But if someone told me that at the time and I hadn't done it, thinking that itw as a waste of time, I wonder if I would have thought this way now." 

There are also things that seem necessary for us despite our different situations. Records are one example. You should keep records of the conditions - your mood, physical condition, the season, how busy you are - in which you can it can't continue to practice your habits. If you keep records, you'll begin to see how to avoid difficulties that you've experienced before. 

There are no examples of habits that you have to acquire. The important thing is to think for yourself.

p. 223 Make eace with the knowledge that your habits will eventually collapse

Habits are surprisingly tough, and habits are surprisingly fragile (Gretchen Rubin)

Habits will eventually collapse. The important thing is to keep rebuilding them.

Write a "spell of restoration"

When we keep notes on the methods that have worked, we become confident that we can always find out way back to that state.

Maintain a sense of novelty in achieving habits: When you want to make a change to yourself, a tip is to not think about whether it will make things better. If things get back, you can make another change when you realize it. If a change doesn't change things the way you wanted it to, you can make another change.

p. 235 Whether it's your choice:

Two rats placed in separate cages are given an electric shock. Of teh two rats, only one of them can press a lever that allows both to escape the electric shock. As a result, the rat without access to the lever ends up showing signs of chronic stress, which leads to weight loss, ulcers, and even a higher incidence rate of cancer. Although both rats are given the electric shock for the same amount of time, the rat with the power to choose to avoid the shock experiences less stress.

....in other words, when we feel like there is no choice in our situation, it affects our health.

Deciding you do have control over things in your life (no matter how small the things are) is key.

p. 237 It's okay to judge your own efforts by your own standards

He's quoting a part from Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain:

Phil Lawler, a junior high school PE teacher, added heart rates to the measurements taken during PE class. One day, he had an eleven-year-old girl who wasn't good at exercising put on a heart rate monitor as she ran. Since she wasn't good at exercising, her time probably wasn't good. But Lawler was surprised when he looked at her heart rate. In theory, a person's age is subtracted from 220 to get what is generally considered the maximum heart rate. And Lawler couldn't believe hsi eyes when he saw her heart rate: an average of 187.

Age elevent meant her maximum heart rate would be about 209. And it increased to 207 when she reached the finish line that day. That meant she had run mostly at full speed. Reflecting on that day, Lawler said:
"You gotta be kidding me! Normally, I would have gone to that girl and said, "You need to get your ass in gear, little lady!"
"I started thinking back to all the kids we must have turned off to exercise because we weren't able to give them credit. I didn't have na athlete in class who knew how to work as hard as that little girl."

Running at a fast speed is different from doing your best. Whenever I read this anecdote, the tears start to fall. The girl who wasn't good at exercising had practically been crushing her chest putting in more of an effort than anyone else in her class.

p. 241 The simple truth about talent:

...sociologist Daniel Chambliss, who studied top swimmers for many yeras found:

• The best performaance is the result of accumulating countless small skills.
• There is nothing special or superhuman about what athletes do.
• Athletes achieve outstanding results through continuous efforts.

What this paper says is terribly ordinary: the ones who keep working diligently come out ahead....the diligent continuation of habits creates talent.

p. 244 Knack versus talent:

• Knack: A natural ability or predisposition for a certain skill, which helps you acquire it quickly.
• Talent: The skills and capacities that you acquire as a result of continuing to do something.

Recap: The 50 Steps for Acquiring Habits

1. Sever ties with vicious circles.
2. First, decide that you're going to quit.
3. Leverage turning points.
4. Quit completely - it's easier.
5. Know that you always have to pay the price.
6. Examine the triggers and rewards for your habits.
7. Become a detective who looks for the real criminal.
8. Don't make identity an excuse.
9. Start with keystone abits.
10. Keep a diary to record observations about yourself.
11. Meditate to enhance your cognitive ability.
12. Realize that enthusiasm won't occur before you do something.
13. Whatever you do, lower your hurdles.
14. Realize that hurdles are more powerful than rewards.
15. Raise the hurdle for habits that you want to quit.
16. Spend money on your initial investment.
17. "Chunk down".
18. Make your targets ridiculously small.
19. Start today.
20. Do it every day (it's easier).
21. Don't make up "exceptions" as you go.
22. Enjoy it because you aren't good at it.
23. Set triggers.
24. Create an adult timetable.
25. Realize that no one has the power to concentrate.
26. Take action according to the date.
27. Set up temporary rewards.
28. Make good use of people's attention.
29. Make an advance declaration.
30. Think from a thid-party perspective.
31. Quit in the middle of something.
32. Don't quit completely.
33. Keep records of your habits.
34. Take necessary breaks to conserve your strength.
35. Nap (the effects of a power nap are enormous).
36. Rest aggressively.
37. Cherish the things that you aren't making into a habit.
38. Don't mix up your "objectives" and your "targets".
39. Look only at the targets in front of you.
40. Experience failures - they're indispensable for your habits.
41. Stop worrying about how long it will take for something to become a habit.
42. Do it it's better than not doing it.
43. Gradually increase the level of difficulty.
44. Overcome each challenge along the way.
45. Keep at it, and increase your self-efficacy.
46. Create a chain reaction.
47. Adapt habits s needed.
48. Create habits that are unique to you.
49. Make peace with the knowledge that your habits will eventually collapse.
50. Know that there is no end to habits.

14 Good Habit Inhibitors
1. Believing that a bad habit is necessary to relieve stress.
2. Trying to focus on just the good points.
3. Relying on your motivation.
4. Not having the right tools.
5. An awareness of the difficulties.
6. The sense of self-doubt produced by one failure. 
7. Starting at a "good" time.
8. Thinking that tomorrow, you'll be Superman.
9. Creating an exception for the day in question.
10. Thinking that it's too late to start.
11. Not having a trigger.
12. Giving yourself a conflicting reward.
13. Pretending something never happened.
14. The "single-coin" issue.

Goodreads says:

The internationally best-selling author of Goodbye, Things shares insights and practices to help you become the best version of yourself.

Fumio Sasaki changed his life when he became a minimalist. But before minimalism could really stick, he had to make it a habit. All of us live our lives based on the habits we’ve formed, from when we get up in the morning, to what we eat and drink, to how likely we are to actually make it to the gym. In Hello, Habits, Sasaki explains how we can acquire the new habits that we want―and get rid of the ones that don’t do us any good.

Drawing on leading theories and tips about the science of habit formation from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and sociology, along with examples from popular culture and tried-and-tested techniques from his own life, he unravels common misperceptions about "willpower" and "talent," and offers a step-by-step guide to success. Ultimately, Sasaki shows how ordinary people like himself can use his principles of good habit-making to improve themselves and change their lives.

Faker (Gordon Korman)

 

In the midst of the American election fall out, this has been a really interesting read. With a majority of Americans choosing who they did in the election because he will bring them more money, this book was really timely. 

It was our Grade 3 Book Club read. I felt like it was a little old for our students and too difficult a read for many - but a few enjoyed it. It will make some good discussion questions about honesty and priorities, for sure!

I'm also reading this for my adult Children's Lit Book Club. It will be interesting to compare the discussions!

Book club activity ideas: "

• debate a topic in the book
• p.86 ...Robin Hood. You know, who lived in Sherwood Forest with his band of Merry Men. And they battle the evil Sheriff of Nottingham in the name of King Richard the Lionheart." "Robin Hood was the guy who stole from the rich to give to the poor," I put in
  "Exactly. So I ask you....was Robin Hood a good person?"
  "Of course," Kaylee replies. "He helped the needy. That's charity."
  "Yeah, but he steals," Teresa counters. "That's always wrong."
  "But where's he going to get the money if he doesn't steal it?" Logan argues. "The guy lives in a forest. Like my mom always says, money doesn't grow on trees."
  That gets a few Snickers, but mostly groans.
  "So now you see how complicated ethics can be," Mr. Novak announces. "Giving to the poor - great. Stealing - not so great. Is it ever okay to do something wrong n order to do something right?" 

• p. 100 In social studies, Mr. Novak has divided us up into teams so that we can debate ethical issues. For the first, we watched part of Disney's Aladdin - the scene near the beginning, where Aladdin is caught stealing a loaf of bread. Question: Is the theft justified because, without that food, his family might starve?

Notes (warning....full of spoilers!):

p. 190 I thought I'd sleep better once I learned the identity of I.C.All. Scratch that. Maybe I know more now, but the dilemma is the same. Arianna is just a younger, more extreme version of Dad. Our family is a runaway train chugging relentlessly toward a broken track over a cliff, yet we keep shoveling in more coal because that's all we know how to do.

p. 193 I guess my father is'nt the only con man who always "knows a guy." The Romanox know one too - an art forger, and a pretty good one at that. I think back to the ictures I took of the artwork in Logan's house back on the very first day Mona Lisa wandered up my driveway. Dad's art guy couldn't identify a single piece as fake.

p 206 Listen to yourself! Don't you understand what this means? You're just a kid! You'd be turning yourself into an orphan - a ward of the state for the next six years!"

The fact that he's speaking as my dad rather than a professional con man trying to wriggle out of a tight corner makes this ten times harder for me. But Ican't back down. Somehow I know that if I don't take this escape hatch now, I'll never get out.
...It's worth it. Even if you take away the Houdinis and the moving and the lost friends, it would be worth it to be able to look at myself in the mirror and see an honest face looking back at me."Goodreads says:

The story of a family of liars... and the son who wants to break the family tradition.

Trey knows the routine. His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there's the con, where Trey's dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money's in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run... until they set up somewhere else and start again.

Trey believes his father when he says no one's getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare.

But Trey's starting to get tired of running... and lying... and never having a friend for longer than a few months. But how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?

Battle of the Butts (Jocelyn Rish)

 

Need something to keep kids engaged?! This will do it. It will bring up some great questions too! Even just all the different words for butts, farts and poop sent them into fits of giggles. It was hilarious.

Goodreads says:

Did you know manatees swim using farts? Or that herrings communicate by passing gas?

Butts are used for breathing, eating, swimming, talking, and even killing in the animal kingdom. Focusing on ten different animals and their derrières, and offering fun facts about their origin, habitat, and "posterior power," this hilarious book captures the wonder of our ecosystem. Which animal has the coolest butt power? That's up to you to decide! 

Outsmart Your Brain (Daniel T Willingham, PhD)

 

I got this book from the library after following the author on TikTok. I didn't read all of it - but I did read the instructor tips.  His TikTok account is a brilliant way to share good tips from the book as well a the other things he knows about the science of learning. 

The thing about this book is that it is full of great tips - but I don't know if people who struggle in school read these kinds of books. The "for the instructor" of each section was really good too. My wish is for everyone to enjoy and do well in school and his book is a great tool for making that happen.

In the chapter, "How to Read Difficult Books" he made me feel good about my habit of note taking when I read non-fiction books. Most, I get from the library so I can't highlight them. Instead I write notes and he says that is a great learning strategy. Yay! He says taking notes keeps you mentally on task and the notes will help refresh your memory later. He also suggests posting a question when you begin a section of a book...and then when you finish that section, go back and see if your question was satisfactorily answered and whether or not you caught the gist of the section.

Goodreads says:

In this revolutionary, comprehensive, and accessible guide on how the brain learns, discover how to study more efficiently and effectively, shrug away exam stress, and most of all, enjoy learning.

When we study, we tend to focus on the tasks we can most easily control—such as highlighting and rereading—but these practices only give the illusion of mastery. As Dan Willingham, professor of psychology and bestselling author, explains, familiarity is not the same as comprehension.

Perfect for teachers and students of all ages, Outsmart Your Brain provides real-world practices and the latest research on how to train your brain for better learning. Each chapter provides clear and specific strategies while also explaining why traditional study processes do not work. Grounded in scientifically backed practical advice, this is the ultimate guide to improving grades and better understanding the power of our own brains.

Horrid Henry Robs a Bank (Francesca Simon)

 I'm trying to read the books in my classroom library more often to my class. Many of them have been in my classroom for 10+ years (even before me!) but don't get read a lot. I decided we should dip into them. This one was, well, horrid. Henry is an obnoxious kids who is always on the fight. We didn't even  finish it. We couldn't stand his naughtiness. It wasn't even funny. It's also very British. Many of the words used weren't familiar to my students so I'd change them on the fly but if they were reading it on their own, it'd cause a problem in comprehension, for sure.

I actually put this one in the recycling. Crazy!

Goodreads says nothing about this book either! Weird.

Emma McKenna, Full Out (Kate Messner)

 

There's a lot of things I liked about this book. The kids are in third grade. Perfect. It's pretty easy reading....accessible for my students. I read it aloud to my class...and the truth is, we all found it kind of meh. It's not exciting....just meh. Although, it did have some good friendship things to talk about. I had great hopes for it. I heard a podcast where Kate Messner discusses creating the series with a number of different authors (every book is written by a different author) and what an interesting experience it was to do that....but as for reading it...I just found it okay. It's not one I'll likely read aloud next year. 

Goodreads says:

Emma McKenna can’t wait for third grade at the brand-new Curiosity Academy. She’ll have a cool teacher who wears high-tops and science earrings. She’ll meet interesting classmates from all over Peppermint Falls. Best of all, she’ll get a fresh start after last year’s talent-show disaster left her with that awful nickname. It’s going to be the best year ever!

Then Lucy walks into Mrs. Z’s room.
Lucy, Emma’s best-friend-turned-enemy.
Lucy, who gave Emma that nickname and spread it all over school!
Emma’s fresh start is doomed . . . unless she can make friends before Lucy ruins everything.

So Emma sets out to be pals with everyone, just like her favorite animal, the capybara. As her classmates argue over the choice of a new school mascot, Emma stays quiet and doesn’t pick sides. (The last thing she needs is another enemy.) But maybe speaking up could be the thing that helps her really connect with her class—and saves her at last from third-grade doom.

Both sweetly poignant in its attention to kids’ worries and friendships and laugh-out-loud funny in its storytelling, with black-and-white illustrations throughout by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Emma McKenna, Full Out is the perfect launch for the exciting new Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class chapter-book series.

As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow (Zoulfa Katouh)

 

We read this for our Children's Lit Book club - even though it's YA. We have high school teachers in our group so we thought we should do something at that level. 

This was a great book! I didn't know a lot about Syria but this book made me curious. The author is actually Canadian (born in Calgary!) and the story isn't autobiographical, but reflective of people's experience with Syria.

This book had me captivated. It's a good page turner. I finished the last half of it in one sitting. Loved it.

Quotes:

p. 54 I wish we were being broadcast live on every channel and smartphone in the world so everyone could see what they're allowing to happen to children.

p. 306 "Fear and dread run high in Syria. They're enhanced in you, which is why you see me. It's safe to presume you won't have these same horrors in Germany. So why would I follow you there?"
(character speaking is Khawf....who is fear)

p. ? “When I die, I'm going to tell God everything.” (a child who passes away due to war)

Goodreads says:
Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.

Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.

But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.

Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.

Big Potential (Shawn Anchor)

 

I've noticed Shawn Anchor mentioned a lot when it comes to talking about happiness. He hit the nail on the head with this book!  I can't remember what led me to this book, but I was I pleasantly surprised and the more I read the more I loved it. My word of the year is "swing". I wrote about it here. I was able to add a lot to my cache about the value of swing by reading this! 

My notes are below the Goodreads summary.


Goodreads says:

“With cutting-edge research, penetrating insights, and practical examples, Shawn Achor describes a new conception of ‘success,’ and in doing so, reveals exciting new strategies we can use to meet our highest potential.”—Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project

“A vibrant book on how to bring out the best in others—and how they can bring out the best in us.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast WorkLife

In a world that thrives on competition and individual achievement, we’re measuring and pursuing potential incorrectly. Pursuing success in isolation—pushing others away as we push ourselves too hard—not only limits our potential but makes us more stressed and disconnected than ever.
 
Harvard-trained researcher Shawn Achor reveals a better approach. With exciting new research combining neuroscience and psychology with Big Data, Achor shows that our potential is not limited by what we alone can achieve. Instead, it is determined by how we complement, contribute to, and benefit from the abilities and achievements of people around us.
 
When we—as individuals, leaders, and parents—chase only individual achievement, we leave vast sources of potential untapped. But once we put “others” back into the equation, and work to make others better, we ignite a Virtuous Cycle of cascading successes that amplify our own.

The dramatic shifts in how we approach work today demand an equally dramatic shift in our approach to success. In Big Potential, Achor draws on cutting-edge original research as well as his work with nearly half of the Fortune 100 and with places like NASA, the NFL and the NBA, and offers a new path to thriving in the modern world.

Notes

p. 1 When dusk slowly crept upon a mangrove forest lining a river deep in a jungle in Southeast Asia, a biologist far from his home in Washington State looked out over the lush, alien landscape lining the snake-infested waters. While drifting slowly in his boat, Professor Hugh Smith surely heard the calls of the nocturnal creatures uncoiling from their dens or taking flight from their nests and beginning their nightly hunts. I can envision how the water must have shimmered under the light from the stars, unspoiled by the light pollution that existed in the remote cities. What happened next on that humid day in 1935 is part of recorded academic history. Smith looked up at one of the mangrove trees, and suddenly the entire canopy glowed as if a lightning bolt had show out from the tree instead of striking it. Then it all went dark, leaving a burned image on his vision....once his capacity for mental reasoning returned, he realized that the trees were not, in fact, glowing; rather they were covered with a critical number of bioluminiescent lightning bugs, all illuminating at the exact same time. Upon returning home, Dr Smith wrote up a journal article on his discovery of the synchronous lightning bugs. It seemed too good to be true, like something out of a storybook. I'm sadly unsurprised by the next part of the story. He was not believed. Biologists ridiculed his account, even calling it fabricated. Why would make fireflies glow in unison, which would only decrease their chances of distinguishing themselves to potential mates? Mathematicians were equally skeptical. How could order come from chaos in nature without a leader to direct it? And entomologists asked how million of fireflies could see enough other fireflies to create the exact same pattern, given the limited visibility i the mangrove forest. It seemed physically, mathematically, and biologically impossible. 
Yet, it wasn't. And thanks to modern science, we know how and why. Turns out that this puzzling behavior actually serves an evolutionary purpose for the fireflies. As published in the prestigious journal Science, researchers Moiseff and Copeland found that when lightning bugs light up at randome times, the likelihood of a female responding to a male in the deep, dark recesses of a mangrove forest is 3 percent. But when the lightning bugs light up together, the likelihood of females responding is 82%! That's not a typo. The success rate increased by 79 percentage points when flashing as an interconnected community rather than as individuals.
The lightning bug researchers discovered than when fireflies were able to time their pulses with one another with astonishing accuracy (to the millisecond!), it allowed them to space themselves apart perfectly, thus eliminating the need to compete. ...Like the lightning bugs, once we learn to coordinate and collaborate with those around us, we all begin to shine brighter, both individually and as an ecosystem.

p. 23...almost every attribute of your potential - from intelligence ot creativity to leadership to personality and engagement - is interconnected with others. Thus, to truly thrive physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we need to change our pursuit of potential in the same way we need to change our pursuit of happiness. We need to stop trying to be faster alone, and start working to become stronger together.

p. 41 ...connecting with high-potential people dramatically increases your likelihood of high-potential outcomes. ...it turns out that not only do people around us powerfully shape  the type of person we'll become, but that their influence begins to take root at a very young age. For example, they found that when three- or four-year-old children were surrounded by peers who were hard-working or social, they too would begin to work harder and be more social. 
...Our finding, that personality traits are contagious among children, flies in the face of common assumptions that personality is ingrained and can't be changed.

p. 46 ...if animals don't care about a pecking order and they get along, that energy is transferred to production. In other words, when members of a group - be they human beings or chickens - focus only on competing their way to the top, they are likely to peck one another to death. They they work to lift one another up, however, everybody wins.

p. 51 A virtuous cycle (as opposed to a vicious cycle) is an upward spiral of potential whereby with each success, you garner more resources, which, in turn, allow you to achieve greater and greater successes.

p. 65 In basketball, for example, you would think that shooting percentage would best predict the outcome of a game, right? But in fact, a large BYU study found that the ratio of assists to turnovers is much more predictive of success. That's because lots of turnovers means players are hogging the ball so that they can score, whereas lots of assists means the players aren't trying to make individual shots; they are trying to get the collective win.

p. 117...praise is actually a renewable resource, Praise creates a Virtuous Cycle - the more you gibe, the more you enhance your own supply. When done right, praise primes the brain for higher performance, which means that the more we praise, the more success we create. And the more successes there are, the more there is to praise.

p. 119 By denying the light of praise, we extinguish it. By bending the light toward others, we magnify it.

p. 121 The easiest way to stop comparison praise is simply to eliminate superlatives from our vocabulary - "the best," "the fastest", "the smartest", "the prettiest". All of these undercut others instead of telling people they are great in their own right. Instead, follow what I consider an inviolable law of praise for leaders and parents: Do not compliment at the expense of others. ....the best praise is by actions changed.

p. 127...if we want to encourage excellence, we need a daily practice to shine attention on instances of excellence. The most powerful one in my life, and the one I suggest in every talk, is to take to minutes (maximum) each morning to simply write and send a text message or email praising or thanking someone in your life. Of all the positive habits I have, this is the most powerful one for multiple reasons. First, you have just scanned your relationships for something positive to spotlight, helping you see more positives, which, in turn, gives you more to spotlight. When I suggest this at companies, managers say that that simple email in the morning causes them to look for and see more things to praise and recognize on their teams the rest of the day.

p. 151 He had some strategies on defense against the dark arts of the world:

1. Build a moat (ie no social media or news in the first or last hour of the day.....not a new concept! I really should consciously do it! On p. 153 he said individuals who watched just three minutes of negative news in the morning were 27% more likely to report their day as unhappy six to eight hours later - it was like taking a poison pill each morning that made all of your efforts, energies, and interactions throughout the day more toxic)
2. Built a mental stronghold. This means to develop habits routines to remain calm, on task and hopeful in the face of immeasurable stress and sadness. (this was in reference to hospital teams who deal with big tragic events best)
3. Learn the art of Mental Aikido - look at stress positively. Accept it and work with it. Reframe failure as a learning opportunity.
4. Take a vacation from your problem - taking time away from your problems may actually help you reap one of the greatest competitive advantages that exist today....maintain a positive and engaged brain. Plan time away on a regular basis.
5. Pick your battles.

p. 182 How to channel collective energy
1. General more positive energy by creating Tours of Meaning (look for the beautiful in your every day life)
2. Use vivid direction to generate a path for that energy to flow
3. Accelerate the momentum you have created through the power of celebration. When you celebrate the good the negative seems to take care of itself.

p. 212 Realize that change is not a one time event. You will have to keep working on this for a lifetime! 

You can't exercise today hoping to never need to exercise again. In truth, we exercise today so we can move our body again tomorrow. We must always be on guard and repairing what breaks down over time.

Emma and Kate (Patricia Polacco)

 

After we discussed what genre this story was, my students had many reasons why it was fantasy fiction. However, someone asked why some of the pictures were black and white and some were in color. We went back and looked at it. Suddenly one student brought up the idea that Kate might be imaginary because she told her parents about Kate and they said that she has such a good imagination. After that, we had a great discussion about their imaginary friends.

Goodreads says:

That adorable Emma Kate has an imaginary friend.They walk to school together every morning, and sit together in class.They sleep over at each other’s houses, and do their homework side by side.They even have their tonsils out and eat gallons of pink ice cream together. But a hilarious twist ending will have readers realizing there’s more to this imaginary friend than meets the eye!

Another of Polacco’s immensely popular younger books, Emma Kate is a wonderfully original story of pretend play and real friendship.

The Little French Bistro (Nina George)

 

I wanted to like this book....but I really didn't. There were too many characters. Too many characters were cheating on their spouse. I wanted to find hope in the main character finding herself after a sad and meaningless marriage but mostly I found it depressing. The description of the places in France were compelling and almost seemed like a character itself. That was lovely. However, overall, it just wasn't for me. 

The writing was beautiful. Interspersed all through it were little phrases that did touch me...like p. 99 I have never even noticed that I am alive said by the main character as she works through finding herself after leaving a marriage where she was never really loved or treated well.

Goodreads says:

From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop, an extraordinary novel about self-discovery and new beginnings.

Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as the end of the world.

Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life's small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along.

With all the buoyant charm that made The Little Paris Bookshop a beloved bestseller, The Little French Bistro is a tale of second chances and a delightful embrace of the joys of life in France.

Flat Stanley (Jeff Brown)

 

Last year,  decided that i needed to read my class more books that are accessible for them....and Flat Stanley is one of them. They tend to always lean towards graphic novels (DogMan is always the go to choice)...which is okay. But there are so many other great books they could also read instead of reading those again and again. 

Flat Stanley has a pretty good storyline. It even has a bit of mystery to it when Stanley gets to help solve a crime. We enjoyed it! Hopefully soe kids pick it up and decide to go through the series. 

Goodreads says:

When Stanley Lambchop wakes up one morning, his brother, Arthur, is yelling. A bulletin board fell on Stanley during the night, and now he is only half an inch thick! Amazing things begin happening to him. Stanley gets rolled up, mailed, and flown like a kite. He even gets to help catch two dangerous art thieves. He may be flat, but he's a hero. This is the very first Flat Stanley adventure, updated with crisp new art.