Hours 9 Through 12

I finished reading I Am Hutterite, by Mary-Ann Kirkby, and also started The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College. Then I was out for awhile having dinner with some friends. I'll see how late I end up staying up tonight to read!

Hours 7 and 8

During hours 7 and 8 I graded 2 more tests, finished Peter Campion's book of poetry, The Lions, and read 20 pages of I Am Hutterite, by Mary-Ann Kirkby. Then I took a long walk because we're finally getting some warm spring weather here today!

Hours 5 and 6

During hours 5 and 6 I graded 4 tests and finished reading the book Love's Immensity, by Scott Cairns. Love's Immensity is a collection of prayers and spiritual writings from early church fathers that the poet Scott Cairns has adapted and translated. I think I started this book about a year ago, and I read through the prayers and writings slowly over the course of the year. I read about 30 pages today to finish up the book.

I also read a few pages in Peter Campion's book of poetry, The Lions. That's another book I started awhile ago, but I stalled with this one and plan to finish it up in the next hour. I have 18 more student tests to go as well.

Hour 5 - My Goals for the Read-a-Thon

My goals in the next 19 hours are to finish 4 books that I've started:
The Lions, by Peter Campion (poetry)
In a Beautiful Country, by Kevin Prufer (poetry)
Love's Immensity: Mystics on the Endless Life, adapted and translated by Scott Cairns
I Am Hutterite: The fascinating true story of a young woman's journey to reclaim her heritage, by Mary-Ann Kirkby

And here are some new books I'd like to read:
Little Bee, Chris Cleave (novel)
The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of Premier College, Jacques Steinberg
Tinkers, Paul Harding (novel)
The Shadow of Sirius, W.S. Merwin (poetry)
What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain
Why Read?, Mark Edmundson

I also need to read 22 student essay tests for my class. Not exactly a book, but reading nonetheless!

Hours 1 Through 4

Though I technically missed hours 1 through 4 of Dewey's Read-a-Thon, I did wake up this morning and finish 2 books that I had started earlier this week. The first one was The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, by Donalyn Miller. This book is written by a 6th grade teacher, and it focuses on teaching elementary age children to love reading. However, I've found some things in it that I want to use in my college classes as well. I especially love that Miller creates time for students to read for pleasure during classroom hours, and that she lets them pick their own books. She also talks about reading aloud to students, and modeling a reading life. These last two things I've done with my own children, and my daughter (age 10) is a voracious reader herself, and my 4 year old loves to be read aloud to and is making the first steps towards learning to read himself. I've always felt that the fact that I create time and space for my children to read, that I model reading behavior for them, and that I surround them with books, has helped ignite their interest in reading. I'm excited to find a book that confirms my thoughts about reading, and is showing me how to bring these techniques into a classroom setting! I think teachers of any grade, and parents can all benefit from this book.

The other book I finished reading this morning is A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis. This is a book I needed to read for the class I'm teaching. My class is discussing the book next Thursday as part of our "Life and Death" unit.

24 Hour Read-a-Thon

Today is Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. This is something I've wanted to participate in ever since I found out about it last year, but unfortunately I forgot about it until right now, when it's about to go into hour 5. So if I start now, not only would I be starting late, I'd also have to take a break this evening to meet some friends for dinner -- an event I planned earlier in the week.

Since I REALLY want to participate in this, I'm going to adapt it a bit so that I'm able to participate as much as I am able. So here goes. To start off, Dewey asks us to answer the following questions:

1) Where are you reading from today? Southwestern, Michigan

2) Three random facts about me… I just started teaching college this year, I used to homeschool my kids, and I live just a couple blocks from a lovely Lake Michigan beach.

3) How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I've got some books I'm in the middle of that I'd like to finish, and them some other books that I'd like to read.

4) Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I'm still thinking about my goals. I'll post those in the next post.

5) If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? This is my first time.