30.13: The Edge of Nowhere, by Elizabeth George (2012 hardcover)

This is George's first book for a teen audience, and it's clear from the start that she has a good grasp on the milieu. The protagonist, Becca King, finds herself on the run, separated from her mother, and living in remote Whidby Island in British Columbia, providing both the independence and challenging circumance needed in teen novels featuring females. Throw in the fact that Becca can hear people's thoughts--the cause of her flight in the first place--a cast of interesting characters, and a handsome love interest, and you have a winner. For adult readers, there is also a strong plot, good character development, and a beautiful setting to capture interest. I'll look forward to reading George's next teen novel--likelt the sequel to this one.

29:13: The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book 6), by Michael Scott (2012 hardcover)

This is (I'm pretty sure) the sixth book in this teen series, and it continues to interest me. I'm not usually a fan of fantasy involving magic and sorcery, but the historical thread here--featuring immortal humans like Gilgamesh, Joan of Arc, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Virginia Dare, and Billy the Kid; and Elder gods like Quetzocoatl, Prometheus, and Bastet--make this a fascinating read. Scott is apparently an Irish "authority" on mythology and folklore, and he weaves stories told across centuries and geography together adeptly. I highly recommend the series, which begins with The Alchemyst for those interested in getting started.

28:13: The Rise of Nine (LOrien Legacies, Book 3), by Pittacus Lore (2012 hardcover)

This is a relatively good continuation of a teen series involving humanoid aliens on earth who must save the earth--and ultimately return to their own planet--by destroying other aliens intent on destroying them and the earth. Check out my earlier Lore entries for further details about the beginning of the series.

27:13: To the Power Against, by Carrie Smith and Stephanie Lantry (2012 trade paperback)

Catalina Jones--a probabilistic risk assessor--finds herself in improbable situations after an unlikely accident involving a microwavable burrito and a graviton missile. To combat the chaos she creates everywhere she goes, she develops an intervention system using complex mathematic equations. It's a great indie comic, where the female protagonist depends on brains rather than beauty, with amusing plot twists, fun science, and threatening men in black suits thrown in.

26:13: Jennifer Blood: A Woman's Work is Never Done (issues 1-6), by Gart Ennis (2012 Trade paperback)

A satirical, violent comic about a woman who is a wholesome suburban housewife by day and a sexy assassin avenging her parents by night--after drugging her husband and children and getting them in bed. Ennis's dark humor and some good artwork, shared by three artists across 6 issues, pull it off in a way that few could. I'll be curious to see what happens with the art in future volumes, hoping they will settle on a consistent look.

25.13: Story of My Life, by Jay McInerney (1988/2010 paperback)

I'm a product of the 1980s. I started high school in 1981 and graduated from undergrad in 1989. I wore leg warmers, stirrup pants, ballet flats, and unfortunate prints and color combinations--likely all at the same time. I turned up the collars on my shirts, pegged my pants, coated pennies with clear nail polish so they wouldn't lose their shine in my loafers, added additional piercings to my left ear lobe, and got an asymmetrical haircut. Since I lived in Saginaw and East Lansing, Michigan, I didn't experience the same extremes of vacuous culture, cocaine and drug use, and casual sex that big-city folk engaged in, but it also wasn't a period of innocence or sophistication. Frankly, if there is one saving grace to the 80s, it's that Facebook didn't come around for another 20+ years. For this I am eternally grateful to the Internet gods.

While we don't have minute-by-minute photo and narrative documentation of the 80s, we're not without our recorders. Premier among them is Jay McInerney; between his books and those of Brett Easton Ellis, you can pretty much understand the mindset of the time period without having to actually live it. And, those of us who did live it--even in some mid-western way--can take a trip down memory lane by picking up any of their novels of the period. Some time ago, Amazon apparently decided it was time for me to do so, and it put this book forward as a recommendation when I was ordering some comics (difficult to get from a local retailer in our small community). The book originally came out in 1988 but was reprinted in 2010. Even leg warmers have resurfaced, so it makes some sense.

I thought I had read all of McInerny's work when it originally came out, but somehow this novel seemed unfamilar to me when reading about it--enough for me to add it to my book order. And, as I read through it, it seemed both unfamiliar and familiar all at the same time. It's not that the details of narrator Alison Poole's life were so familar as to make me recognize I had, indeed, read the book. Instead, the story of the over-sexed, overly-high, overly-privileged culture she was immersed in seemed familiar. And even if these overlys weren't in your 80s experience, the entire tone of the book and attitudes of the characters are reminiscent of the period itself. It's quintessential McInerney, and a good read for those not afraid of looking back to see where we were for a brief time.

24.13: Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams (2012 paperback)

This past October, three Redwood Writing Project colleagues and I attended the Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference in American Canyon. In addition to picking up some great tech tips and new app recommendations in workshops, I had the opportunity to attend the keynote given by Jonathan Bergmann. I was looking forward to the session, as I had been hearing about the "flipped" classroom for the past year or so but hadn't had the chance to look more deeply into the concept. Bergmann and Sams, while not really inventors of the flipped classoom, are two teachers considered to be leading experts; they've put the name to the practice, have extensive experience using and refining it in their own classrooms, and are actively sharing their knowledge with other teachers in both print and face-to-face venues. Bergmann was engaging, intelligent, and motivating. I bought the book.

During finals week I had a bit of down time, and the book was sitting on my office desk waiting for the right time. I picked it up, started reading, and was immediately attracted to the possibility of using the flipped-classroom approach for a new class I'll be teaching this coming Fall: the first of a new two-semester freshman composition class we'll be offering at HSU. The concept of the flipped classroom is quite simple: rather than lecturing or providing students with content in class and then having them do homework to reinforce it, the content presentation occurs out of class (through video, most frequently) and students do their work in class. Bergmann and Sams are math and science teachers, so for them this means that students watch short lectures and content reviews on videos on their computers, phones, or other media; when they come to class, they begin by getting their questions answered and then work on science experiments or math problems, take tests, hold discussions, and complete the other things they would have usually done on their own. The premise is that it's during this work time that students most need teacher support: to answer questions, explain concepts, etc. When those things are done in the classroom instead of at home, response is immediate and students continue on their work rather than quitting when they hit a wall. Another layer can also be added to the mix if desired: a flipped mastery classroom, in which students have set objectives and work at their own pace to accomplish them.

Even though spring semester is not underway, I'm already thinking forward to fall, so this week I finished reading this book and am considering how flipped teaching would work in the composition classroom. In many ways it seems like returning to a writers workshop model, with technology enhancements for the mini-lesson and resource-topic components. If my students did their reading and watched short videos about research, revision, and writing strategies outside of the classroom, in class we could break into groups for peer response, discussion of reading, student-teacher conferencing, and individual research and drafting sessions. This semester I'm giving some thought as to how this would actually be structured and paced--and I'm giving the book to my colleague Nicolette in hopes she'll be interested in joining me in the project. I figure it would be more interesting for students to have access to videos and materials produced by the two of us instead of one person (Sams and Bergmann collaborated to create their videos), and we could spend time this summer preparing for our fall class offerings.

As far as this book goes, it's a nice, quick read (112 pages, including Q & A and example stories), provides the basic premise and rationale regarding the flipped classroom, and offers guidance as to how to get started. I recommend it for teachers of any discipline interested in technology, student-centered classrooms, and/or project-based education.