During Spring Break, I went to Washington, DC.  One of my favorite places that we visited was the Library of Congress.  This library–actually encompassing several buildings–is definitely the ultimate library.  I could have happily spent days roaming through its rooms, but I didn’t.

The Library of Congress holds millions of artifacts.  In addition to books, you can browse photographs, videos, audio recordings, and manuscripts of all kinds.

This is the mission of the Library of Congress:

“The Library’s mission is to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.”

I’m not sure how much time members of Congress actually spend in the Library, but I’m glad this place is collecting, preserving, and sharing knowledge for our benefit.  They even share it on their website.  Here are just a few of the things you can explore:

• Some of the photograph collections include cartoons, the Civil War (want to impress your history teachers?), and baseball cards.
• At the Center for the Book, you can read classic books online, watch author webcasts (Stephen King, Stephanie Meyer, RL Stine, Katherine Patterson, Neil Gaiman and many more) , or enter the writing contest Letters about Literature.
• You can relive the history of our country through Chronicling America, which shares newspapers from 100 years ago.
• The National Jukebox lets you listen to streaming audio of recorded sounds from our nation’s history–at least from the time of audio recordings!  “The Gems from the Jukebox” includes a little bit of everything:  opera, ragtime, Hawaiian music, comedy routines and more.

Texting while driving has been in the news this week with a recommendation by the NTSB to ban all cell phone use while driving.  You might think you can multi-task, but don’t take the chance when you’re behind the wheel.  I was sure I had shared this video from AT&T last year, but I can’t find it anywhere.  Even if I did, it’s worth sharing again.

If you are wondering how reading can be useful and practical, you have to look no further than recipes.  You can cook anything you want if you can read and follow directions.  Well, you might need a little practice, too.

Here are the directions for two delicious brownies.  BAke some up and enjoy!

Can’t Leave Alone Bars

• 1 package white cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, cubed

In a bowl, combine dry cake mix, eggs and oil.  With floured hands, press two-thirds of the mixture into a greased 13-in. by 9-in. by 2-in. baking pan.  Set remaining cake mixture aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the milk, chocolate chips and butter.  Microwave, uncovered, on high for 45 seconds; stir.  Microwave 45-60 seconds longer or until chips and butter are melted; stir until smooth.  Pour over crust.

Drop teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cook before cutting.

Pumpkin Brownies

• 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat together eggs, oil, pumpkin, and sugar.  Stir in remaining ingredients until evenly mixed.  Pour into a greased and floured 9-by-13 inch baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until center springs back when touched.

Tips from Test Kitchen:  Serve with whipped topping or a cream cheese frosting.  Yummy!

Okay, I promised myself that I wouldn’t dedicate every Fun Friday to Harry Potter, but I seem to be having a hard time saying goodbye now that the books and movies are finished. Since these stories inspire so many great videos, I shouldn’t have to, right? This is a tribute to the best broom around, the Firebolt…and Katy Perry’s “Firework” by the BYU Divine Comedy group. Enjoy!

In the past when I went on vacation, my challenge was to pack as many books into as small a bag as possible. Either I underestimated and ran out of reading material (making a trip to the bookstore necessar :P), or I overestimated and lugged around more books than I had time to read.

No more. This year I took all my vacation books on just two devices: my Kindle and my iPod. No more squeezing a heavy bag of books under my feet in the car. No more stuffing books in the suitcase to surprise my husband when he lifted it. Nope, two small, lightweight objects held all the reading I could ever want–and easy access to more if I ran out.

I love the fact I can throw my Kindle into my purse and take it everywhere. I love the fact that I can read it anywhere. Fortunately, I don’t get carsick, so the two-day drive to Orlando was prime reading time. I wasn’t bothered by glare from the sun or the scattered showers we drove through. Well, I wasn’t driving, I was reading! I had been saving two books on my Kindle to read for vacation: The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Both of them lived up to my expectations and more.

Once I finished with those, I had more books waiting with the click of a button. I discovered an Amazon “single” (a short story) by Patrick Ness titled “The New World.” It whetted my appetite to read read the full trilogy that follows. There’s a reason Amazon gives away free and cheap previews. I also browsed through the archives where my daughter downloads all the free books she can find. (Yes, we both have Kindles, and they can share books.) My next reading choice was Rilla of Ingleside, the last in a favorite childhood series by LM Montgomery.

When I wasn’t reading, I was learning more about what my Kindle can do. I organized by books into collections to make them easier to find. I love the fact I can underline and add notes to the books I read, too. I can even share favorite passages and/or my notes via Facebook or Twitter, too. I’m still trying to get it to sync with Goodreads. Did I mention games? I’m partial to the word games, especially Every Word and Thread Words. I even tried a round of Scrabble.

Unfortunately, the Kindle is not compatible with our library’s new ebook lending program, but my iPod is. It didn’t take long to download the free software on my computer. It took considerably longer to browse through the audio books available before deciding on Breanna Yovanoff’s The Replacement. Ebooks and audio books are good for one week. Then they quietly disappear from your computer. I only managed to listen to one half of the book on the trip down, so I had to re-check it out before the return trip. No problems.

I love traveling light and having my books, too. I love the different ways I can read books and enter into good stories. Don’t worry, I still have plenty of the traditional books piled around my house and will continue to buy them, but I’m definitely liking the options technology is giving me.

What do you think? Will you be going digital with your reading?

Thanks to the authors and illustrators who have a message for you:

One of the highlights for me this year was seeing you guys turn into readers. I know, some of you insist you still hate reading, but I don’t believe you. You have read too many books and too many hours and shown too much excitement for certain books and authors.

Another highlight is the field trip we went on last Friday. I hope you enjoy the video!

What are your favorite memories from 8th grade?

If you didn’t make it to Tuesday’s Academic Competition, you missed out on an exciting event.  Both the seventh grade and eighth grade competitions were close races with frequent lead changes.  Good job to the 8th grade Pioneers who regained our trophy!  Both Pioneer teams held the lead at different times during the competition and ended up in first and third places.  For seventh grade, the Adventurer Team won.  It was a good night to be orange!

Because a single test score cannot capture the complexity of teaching and learning, it is blatantly unfair to judge a school or teacher or student on this one measure alone.      Evaluating a school (or individual teacher or student) on a yearly test score makes as little sense as judging a publicly traded company on its stock price during one week each year.  While it’s true that strong companies will have rising stock prices and weak companies will have dropping stock prices, there are many factors that effect a company’s value and stock price.  

While a standardized test may give a snapshot of a student’s knowledge, these tests are not designed for high stakes measures like closing schools or firing teachers or failing students.  These tests suffer from standard deviation.  That means the same student could take the same test on different days and receive different scores.  In addition, there are many factors outside of school that influence a student’s performance on a standardized test on any given day.  Did the student get enough to eat?  Did the student get enough sleep or stay up late texting or playing video games?  Was the student upset over family problems or a fight with a friend?  All of these factors can disrupt a student’s performance.  (For more information on the limitations of standardized testing and other school reforms, read Diane Ravitch’s The Death and Life of the American School System.)  

Before you judge JCMS or JCHS on the basis of a single, flawed test score, take the time to gather all the relevant information.  Talk with students, parents, teachers, and administrators about the challenges and successes facing the school.  Visit the schools during open houses or academic competitions. Observe a classroom.  I invite you to spend a day in my classroom or drop by our class blog (www.kaymcgriff.edublogs.org) for a glimpse of the reading and writing we do.

I do not know how my eighth graders will do on ISTEP+ this spring.  I do know that they have become better readers and writers.  I currently teach 114 eighth graders (more or less the ones who have moved in and out).  Together they have read over 8814 hours (for an average of 77 hours per student).  They have completed 1200 books (for an average of 11 books per student).  These numbers are self-reported estimates, not a scientific survey, but I am impressed with what my students have accomplished so far.  Here are the results broken down by period:

•  2nd period:  22 students read 1666 hours (average 75 hours per student) and 21 students completed 268 books (average 12 books per student).
• 3rd period:  23 students read 1958 hours (average 85 hours per student) and completed 299 books (average 13 books per student).
• 4th period:  27 students read 2034 hours (average 75 hours per student) and 24 students read 203 books (average 8 books per student).
• 5th period:  22 students read 1522 hours (average 69 per student) and 21 students completed 192 books (average 9 books per student).
• 6th period:  20 students read 1634 hours (average 81 hours per student) and completed 238 books (average 12 books per student).

There are different numbers of students for hours read and books completed due to absences.  I did not adjust for students who were not here the entire year. 

My students have also achieved success with writing.  Each one has a blog where they share their finished writing and reflect on their learning and lives.  Students have submitted their writing as letters to the editor and to Teen Ink, a website that publishes a variety of writing by and for teens.  Four poets had their poems selected for publication in a contest sponsored by Creative Communication.  Eleven more students had essays chosen for publication in another contest by Creative Communication.  Another student recently had his memoir published on an outdoor blog that was reprinted in two newspapers.

I hope you take the time and effort to listen to what these young readers and writers have to say before you judge the quality of their education or declare their school a failure.