Reflections on Leadership and Learning

We are heading into a time of significant consumer spending by most of us and also a time when charitable giving is front and center. I wanted to share a few of the charities I have supported over the years in case these inspire anyone else. I’m always looking for places to give where I feel I am making a personal impact, when I can’t give of my time or physical efforts. There is also a fine line between giving and feeling like a White savior that I walk closely and carefully. I have used the Charity Navigator site before to search the details of charities that felt “sketchy” to me, or to ensure that I know where my donations go. I don’t think we talk about this enough so I am making my thoughts public.

Here are a few places I have found worthy of my support. I would love to here other suggestions.

• Project Night Night – This organization provides individual packages for children who are unhoused. The packages always include a book, a blanket and an animal – small tokens that can provide security for a child living in uncertain circumstances. The guarantee of a child owning one book makes my readerly heart sing!
• The Trevor Project and The San Diego LGBT Community Center – One national and one local organization, both providing support for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The Trevor Project is an incredible resource and the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health support provider for the LGBTQIA+ community.
• Together Rising – This organization was created by Glennon Doyle and an incredible team “to turn our collective heartbreak into effective action”. Hearing Glennon, Amanda, and Abby speak about their work on their podcast We Can Do Hard Things helps me know that this organization gets resources directly into the hands of women, children, people of color and marginalized people in our society who are stuck behind systemic barriers not of their own making.
• San Diego Food Bank – I have an aunt who worked for her local food bank for years, and did so much good through their organization that I support food banks when I can. I donate to my local city one, and during the Maui fires I donated to the Maui Food Bank to support from afar.
  • Water for South Sudan – I discovered this organization after reading the book A Long Walk to Water, which is based on the true story of Salva Dut. I had the honor to meet Salva and hear from him personally at a book event with some work friends last year. When I know the personal story of someone, hear their experiences in their home country, and know the specific work they are doing with locals in the area to bring clean water to villages, I want to support them directly.
  • The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research – Not only do I love this actor as a performer and a human, but I have seen what Parkinson’s does and want to support research.
  • Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center and Melanoma Research Foundation – In honor of my mom, who lost her battle with Melanoma (#CancerSucks).
  • Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – In honor of my aunt who lost her battle with Pancreatic Cancer (#CancerSucks).

When we have local, national and global crises, I will often find specific reputable charities who are helping on the ground, in the moment. When rights are being taken away from groups, or hate for a specific group is growing, often around election cycles, I will also donate more towards those groups. In addition to donations, I use the power of voting, writing to my elected officials, attending marches, being an activist, and using the privilege I live in to be a voice for those who aren’t invited to the tables or whose safety is in danger in places where mine is not.

What charities do you donate to and why?

October was so busy that it’s taken me 5 days into November to post what I read. I really leaned into audiobooks this month. I’m grateful that I can add fast-paced thrillers to the list of what I like on audio (including memoirs and YA). Speaking of memoirs, I’m grateful that I read Matthew Perry’s book when it came out last year. I was devastated by his death last week and grateful to know more about his struggles told through his words. Memoirs are so powerful and I love when people can tell their stories in a way that we can connect to, even if we haven’t had similar experiences, and that shows the lessons they’ve learne. This month I read:

• The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand – I enjoyed this book less than some of Elin’s other books, but I think I just wasn’t in the mood for a light, beachy read in a busy Fall season. In this story famous food blogger Hollis creates a five-star weekend by inviting four friends from different eras of her life: high school, college, child-rearing years, and present day. She does this as a way to recover from her husband’s sudden death and to reconnect. Throughout the weekend on Nantucket we get to know the friends and the friendships and all the drama that came before. I found the women to be too real housewife-like and over-the-top too much of the time and I was underwhelmed overall.
• Thicker Than Water: A Memoir by Kerry Washington [audiobook] – I heard Kerry Washington speak on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast and I knew I needed to read her new memoir. Of course I chose to listen to the audio version because I LOVE listening to a celebrity read their own memoir and this one did not disappoint. Kerry is beautiful human, a talented actress, and a passionate story teller. In this memoir, Kerry shares the “revelation” about her family that her parents shared with her at age 43. She hints to it at the beginning of the book, then sets the stage for their family and her childhood and career, and then reveals it to us, the reader. She does this with great respect for her parents and for her own intuition. This was an excellent memoir! And it made me need to go back and start rewatching Scandal, which I am loving!
• None of This is True by Lisa Jewell [audiobook] – My favorite book podcast, Currenty Reading, talked about this thriller in the summer and I knew I wanted to read/listen to it. It was a fun, mixed media, propulsive story that I enjoyed! It’s hard to say much without spoiling any of the story, but it begins with Alex and Josie meeting each other on their 45th birthdays, when both are out celebrating with their husbands and realize they were born on the same day in the same hospital. That leads to them considering doing a podcast about this random meeting and then a lot happens as we get to know both of these women and their families and histories.
• Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma – This was a book club pick and I’m glad it was chosen because I wasn’t aware of it before now. In this collection of essays, the author attempts to grapple with the dilemma we face when the artist whose art we love (music, movies, paintings, etc.) is a monster, a terrible person. Ever since the Neverland documentary was released, I have not listened to a Michael Jackson song. Not once. And I grew up LOVING his music. Truthfully, I still do. But hearing about what he did to young children back when I was a young child, after we were lied to over and over again about his actions, made me so sick that I had to ban his music from my life. This book explores a number of male artists with horrible personal lives, and some women who are considered monsters for far less crimes, and whether or not we, as fans, can still love them. Because really it is about love. I’m still conflicted, but she did make some points that there are no perfect people and we are all terrible in our own ways. I might not start listening to the music on my way, but I might allow myself to enjoy the MJ musical I will be seeing in a few months. As a separate note, the writing was very repetitive and most of her examples were very old and outdated. Our book club discussion was fascinating because most people hated this book and were mad that she didn’t make a definitive statement about this dilemma we all face. From that discussion, I did learn about and highly enjoyed this podcast: Think Twice: Michael Jackson.
• The Woman in Me by Britney Spears [audiobook] – I love a celebrity memoir but this was a bit of a disappointment. Britney reads the prologue and then the actress Michelle Williams reads the book, which I was fine with because I’m not a fan of Britney’s speaking voice/baby talk voice. Before this book was released we had heard the most salcious parts already (Justin made her get an abortion, her father was controlling), but I was hoping there would be more depth within. I felt like this was a retelling of the timeline of her life, with the major highlights mentioned briefly, with no supporting details. Also, for a memoir I think this was seriously lacking in any lessons learned. I think Britney is not far enough out on her own yet, and still so stunted in her teenage years – she never seemed to truly get over her breakup with Justin and then her freedom being taken away for over a decade under the control of her father. I was sad reading this, and worried for her future, but not enlightened at all.
• Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau [audiobook] – I LOVED this book! This is a coming of age story about Mary Jane, a 14 year who takes a summer nanny job for a family down the street, in 1970’s Baltimore suburbia. As Mary Jane gets to know Izzy and her eccentric parents, she is soon a part of a family completely unlike her own. When a rockstar and his movie star wife have to move in, Mary Jane’s new family and her life get turned upside down. Seeing each character through the young and innocent eyes of Mary Jane was both sweet and endearing, especially as she learned some hard truths about life and her own parents. This was a beautiful story that made me want to google Jimmy and his fictional band. I love that the audiobook ended with a song performed for us. This is a must-listen-to book!
• Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese – This is a beautiful, sweeping family saga that covers multiple generations in this Indian family. We meet a young girl promised to marry an older man, taken from her home and brought to a strange place to make a new life, and we feel as scared as she was. As we watch her grow into a wife, a woman, and a mother, we meet so many other characters along the way. I love how different storylines, that seemed so unconnected, merged by the end. I could feel the heat, the fear and power of the water, the monsoons, and the elephant’s kind gestures as I lived through generations with this family. I loved this very long book!
• We Want to do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Academic Freedom by Bettina A. Love – I’ve owned this book for awhile, as I heard good things about this book and author. Bettina A. Love is a professor and a scholar determined to teach us, especially us white educators, who we need to do to change the educational system for Black children, who we continued to fail. She takes very personal examples from her own life as well as from research, to illustrate what it means to be an abolitionist. We need to do more than be allies, we need to be the abolitionists who move beyond what it means to be white in America and fight for systemic changes. The chapter that most impacted me was when she asked us to look at the educational gimmicks like No Excuses, Grit, Character Ed, and more, and see those for what they have become- ways to manage and control Black bodies. “There is no amount of grit that can fight off the intersections of living in poverty, being pushed out of school, facing a world full of patriarchy and racism, and sufferening toxic stress.” She shares the importance and necessity of joy and that educators must take care of themselves in order to do this work.

Favorite Books

Fiction: Mary Jane & Covenant of Water

Nonfiction: Thicker Than Water: A Memoir

September was such a great reading month that I just didn’t want it to end. This month I read:

• The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard – I LOVE this author and will always read her new books! This one was a great, fast-paced mystery with multiple narrators, shifting timelines, and us trying to figure out what happened to the missing girls before another one goes missing. This one was engaging and so fun to read, despite the hard circumstances.
• Whirligig by Paul Fleischmann [audiobook] – My friend Lauren mentioned this book to me the other day and I couldn’t believe I had never read it. As a middle school English teacher I read and discussed many of Fleischman’s books with my students. This one seemed more appropriate for high school age students, which is why it might have gone under my radar back when it was published (in the 1990’s). Bret, a teenager, makes a terrible mistake and then has to pay for his mistake. As he does so, he learns what a whirligig is, how to make one, and how one person’s actions can have impact long after they are gone. This was an interesting story told in different times and locations.
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano – This was a beautiful, sad, touching family saga that follows four sisters throughout their lives. We first meet William, a young boy from a tortured family, who grows up very tall and loving basketball more than anything else. When William meets the Padavano family, he finds love shown in more ways than he has ever known. There are big swings of emotions, of sibling fighting, of good and bad choices, of losses and more, throughout this rich, beautifully-told story.
• Holding the Note: Profiles in Popular Music by David Remnick [audiobook] – My favorite member of the New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) is and has always been Joey McIntyre. Joey read this book some months ago and talked about it on Instagram and I was intrigued enough to look for the audio version in my library app. This is a collection of essays, most of which were previously publised in The New Yorker. Each essay profiles a famous musician. I enjoyed the behind the scenes look into the lives of people such as Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen. This gave a little biography/ life story, a little musicl history, and a glimpse into the actual person behind the world famous music. I found it interesting.
• The Intern by Michele Campbell – I picked this from Book of the Month because I usually enjoy their thrillers. Madison is a Harvard Law student with a brother in trouble when her professor offers her an internship in her chambers. As Madison gets closer to the judge, both women are keeping secrets and trying to help their families. This was suspenseful and tense up until the very end.
• Where the Lockwood Grows by Olivia A. Cole [audiobook] – I found this audiobook from my library and am so happy I read it! Erie and Hurona, named after two Great Lakes, live in Prine in this Cli-Fi middle grades story. In this world, fires have burned most everything in America and a giant Lockwood tree chokes the town of Prine. Each day, children have to climb into the tree to cut back new vines so that the sunlight can hit the town’s solar panels for a few hours a day. Life is the same in Prine day in and day out. But when the sisters strike out to the big city, everything changes!
• Invisible Son by Kim Johnson [audiobook] – This was a beautiful, sad, hard-to-read book that needs to be read by more! We follow Andre, a young Black man on probation for a crime he didn’t comitt, in Portland Oregon at the start of the pandemic. As Andre tries to figure out who he can trust and what happened in his case, the world is shutting down, and the the nation is waking up to a racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd. This YA novel is full of Andre’s friends and family and a hard look at the life of a Black teenager in America. While it’s hard to remember this time in our not-so-distant past, the author does an incredible job making the story meanginful, authentic, and steeped in history and reality.
• On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen – I read this for my book club, which is how I often read books that would’t otherwise be on my radar at all. As someone who is not religious, I didn’t have any interest in reading about the religious history of the seven deadly sins, yet the opening historical chapter was very interesting to me. I appreciated that each chapter then dissected a “sin” and how it shows up in our society today, making the patriarchy even stronger than we realize. The chapters on envy and gluttony were personally very interesting. The author shared a lot of personal stories about herself and her family, but I literally didn’t know who she was (she worked for goop for years). Our book club discussion made me reflect on HOW PERSONAL and not flattering many of her stories were, and it actually made me like the book a little less! Before our meeting I was rating this a 4 star read, and after I felt like it was a 3.5 for me.
• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister [audiobook] – This was such a great thriller! The story starts with Jen witnessing her 18 year old son Todd using a knife to kill a stranger in front of their house. She is horrified and scared and has no idea what happened. When she wakes up the next day, she has gone back in time. The entire novel is a story of her going backwards in time, trying to piece together the mystery of who her son killed, why he killed him, and what’s really going on. This was so propulsive that I couldn’t wait to find out the final puzzle

Favorite Books

Fiction: Hello Beautiful & Wrong Place Wrong Time

Nonfiction: While I read two nonfiction books this month, neither were 4-5 star reads for me.

July was a great reading month for me. Summer reading just feels different, whether you are reading at home, by a lake, a pool, or the ocean, or in an airport (all of which I did this month!). This month I read:

• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson – I LOVED this beautiful book! This is story about family, traditions, culture, secrets, and so much more. Benny and Byron are estranged siblings who are forced back together upon their mother’s death. Little do they know what their mother has left for them to discover, together, about her past and their family’s history. This story takes us from a Caribbean island to the UK and then to the US, following friendships and love stories and family, all while Benny and Byron deal with their own internal struggles. This book is a shining example of representation, of culture, of community, and is simply wonderful!
• Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal – This is a beautiful story about a family and their supper club, on a lake in Minnesota. As we get to know multiple generations, we flash back and forward to learn about their lives, about the strong woman of each generation, and the choices they each made to find love, be happy, and follow their dreams. The characters were all so interesting, from Mariel, Florence, and Betty, to Floyd, Ned, and their families and competing businesses and more. This felt a little literary, a little historical fiction, a little romance, and a lot of comfort all together.
• Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe – This is a beautiful memoir told in graphic novel style. Maia shares eir deepest secrets from growing up unsure why e never felt like a girl (though assigned female at birth) and yet unclear how to describe it. As Maia grows up, e shares her confusion about gender, sexuality, body parts, and representation. This is a quick read that packs a big punch, especially for any cisgendered person looking to learn more about the life of someone born in a body that isn’t representative of who they are. That, of course, means that this book is being banned in many places right now. I will continue to check out as many LGBTQIA+ books from my public library as possible, to ensure the collection shows activity and support, as well as for my own learning.
  • Perfectly Queer: Facing Big Fears, Living Hard Truths, and Loving Myself Fully Out of the Closet by JillianAbby – I think I found this book by accident while checking out other LGBTQIA+ books from my library. I’m so glad I read it! Jillian begins her memoir talking about her childhood and an interaction she has with another girl that makes her wonder things, but really only because looking back she now knows she is queer. She then takes us through high school, college, her first boyfriend-turned-husband, her seeking of new information and training and experiences, all while fighting to acknowledge the fact that she knows, deep down, she is queer. It’s easier to point to the signs she missed or ignored along the way in this looking back retrospect, but it’s still a journey. This book is a reminder of why representation matters.
  • Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Gamus – This was a GREAT 5 star read for me! I loved the authentic feminist that Elizabeth Zott, the main character, was. From a woman fighting for her own education, to a woman scientist in a field of men, to a woman relegated to the kitchen, Elizabeth refused to do what society wanted of a woman in in the 1960’s. She fought for what she wanted and made no apologies about it. She was a strong protagonist with some great side characters mixed in to antagonize and support her.
  • Spanish Sunrise by Boo Walker – I believe I purchased this e-book as a Kindle sale, solely because I liked that it took place in Spain. Baxter is a widower who is still grieving the loss of his wife while trying to raise his daughter and create a new life for them. He had been a successful musician before his wife’s death, but now he is trying to run a construction business, leaving him little time to care for himself or his daughter. When they get an opportunity to meet lost-lost relatives of their wife/mother, Baxter and Mia travel to Spain and find ways to reconnect, find joy, and love again. This was a sweet, simple story, but Baxter was quite annoying with his non-stop anxious rants and workaholic personality.
  • Drowning by T. J. Newman – Newman’s book Falling was one of my favorites of last year and I couldn’t wait to read this one. I’m happy to report that it was another 5 star read for me and I finished it in one day! Six minutes into a take off, a plane crashes into the ocean. The rest of this book is a thriller as we follow along as the passengers find ways to survive inside and outside of the plane, while people on land try to find ways to rescue the survivors. There are some great character connections from sea to land and great action, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Read this for a fun summer thriller!
  • Foul Play Stone Barrington #59 by Stuart Woods [audiobook] -What I love about the Stone Barrington series is the opulent wealth of Barrington. He gains even more wealth in this book, as he races around the country trying to save a new client’s life. I love reading a Stuart Woods book as a palate cleaner in between deeper books. I’m sad to be near the end of this series. This was the first time I listened to one of his books on audio – the narration was not great, but it was a quick listen!
  • A World of Curiosities Gamache #18 by Louise Penny – I have now read the entire Three Pines series and I am joining the throngs of fans waiting for the next in the series to be published. These characters feel like good friends now. This story was hard to read in many ways, because we went back in time to learn how Gamache and Beauvoir met, how Gamache began his career, and back to a horrifying case. Gamache was so tortued throughout this story, but his family and friends supported him as he chased down the mystery and did what he does best.
  • The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power by Katherine Morgan Schafler [audiobook]- I listened to this nonfiction book based on Laura Tremaine’s recommendation. It was interesting, but I probably would have gotten more out of it if I had it in print. The author, a psychotherapist, goes through five types of perfectionists and how each handles day-to-day situations. The overall message was to embrace the positives of being a perfectionist and give yourself grace to gain true power. I appreciated the chapter on self-care and what true rest can do for us, as well as the connections to mental health and wellbeing.
  • Overcoming Dyslexia: The Essential Program for Reading Problems at Any Level by Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D. – I have spent the last 3-4 months slowly going through this extra-large book, recommended to me by my friend whose child was diagnosed with dyslexia. She knows I’ve gone deep into the science of reading and this book was such a deep dive into the specific learning disability of dyslexia, how to spot concerns from Kindergarten age, and what to do to avoid a large reading gap for children. After reading this, I was better able to see some speech patterns in my nephew, such as trouble getting the right word out when telling a story, that are linked to his dyslexia. This is a powerful book for any parent of a child with dyslexia. There are sections that are very relevant for educators who want to learn much more than we are taught in any program.
  • A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee – I read this because it was a pick for aClub, which I have decided is too young for me and I have no plans to return to as this was way too teen angsty for me. Felicity is a trouble teen who returns to her private boarding school after the death of her best friend and secret girlfriend the year before. We learn the story of that death through Felicity’s retelling, which changes frequently. As Felicity settles into school, she is befriended by Ellis, a teen author who is new to school and desperate to study murders for her next novel. They form an odd friendship that tests the boundaries of witchcraft and danger, with a few surprises along the way.
  • Bitterroot Lake by Alicia Beckman – I bought this book when I was on vacation in Montana. I went into an indie bookstore in Bozeman and purposefully chose a book by an author from Montana that took place there, to experience the locale. This was a well written mystery that took place in a fictional area near Whitefish, which I visited and loved. Sarah’s husband just died and she returns to her hometown for some rest, but instead finds herself in the middle of a mystery 25 years in the making. As Sarah and her college friends reunite, they all have secrets and problems and need to come together to figure out what is happening in their small town. This was a fun read!
  • Bad Mormon by Heather Gay [audiobook] – As a regular fan of The Real Housewives franchise, I often enjoy listening to the their books on audio. I had high hopes for Heather’s book, as she is so fun on Salt Lake City and the show began after she divorced her husband and left the Mormon church. This memoir takes us back to her childhood, her religious upbringing and the expectation that little girls grow up to be wives and mothers. Heather alternates between wanting that future and pushing against that future for herself. I found this to be more serious than I expected with less Housewives and funny content than I wanted.
  • Imagine If… Creating a Future For us All by Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson – This short book was planned by father and daughter and finished by Kate alone after the passing of her father, Sir Ken Robinson. Thanks to AG for loaning me her copy so I could read it! This book prompts us to imagine a world that includes repairs the earth humans have damaged while creating learning opportunities that are learner-centered. The messages in this book align with so much of the learner profile work we have been doing as a system. We want our schools to be welcoming for all, where everyone feels a sense of belonging, and where passions fuel learning. We also want to continue our work in environmental sustainability in order to support our planet. This is a quick read that can provide a bump of hope and inspiration for educators as we prepare for a new school year.

Favorite book(s) of the month

Fiction:  Black Cake, Lessons in Chemistry and Drowning were all 5 star reads this month!

Nonfiction: Overcoming Dyslexia: The Essential Program for Reading Problems at Any Level

I never learned how to teach reading. When I went to college, at James Madison University, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. In order to get a teaching credential, you had to have a content major and an education minor. I majored in Spanish (the only subject I didn’t hate in high school!) and Middle Education. I graduated with a credential to teach 4th-8th grade all subjects as well as Spanish K-12. I didn’t feel prepared to teach 8th grade Algebra any more than I felt prepared to teach reading. When I moved to California that didn’t all translate and I ended up teaching middle school.

When I found myself teaching 8th graders who were reading at the 3rd grade level, I didn’t know what to do. At the time, our district was just rolling out a significant professional development plan that included support from consultants who taught us about “Balanced Literacy”. I read books by Fountas and Pinnell and Lucy Calkins. I even went to Calkins’ Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project. I loved all of the deep professional learning I participated in. My partner teacher and I thrived in a coaching environment surrounded by literacy discussions. My students did make progress, as measured by a variety of assessments we were using at the time, but our school wasn’t closing the gaps fast enough for the number of kids who were struggling.

If you’ve followed anything in the “reading wars” over the last few decades, or the more recent uptick in The Science of Reading discussions, you know that Fountas and Pinnell and Calkins are often used as negative examples. In fact, they are spoken of as if they are villains. There are criticisms of the “research” that their programs are based on, and the huge money-making programs they created. While I loved what I learned back in the day, I have learned so much more now and I see things with fresh eyes.

Ironically, I recently reconnected with one of the best consultants I worked with (literally 20 years ago) when I was a teacher. Dr. Katherine Casey Spengler was a coach and a leader of the work we were doing in balanced literacy two decades ago. However, after her own personal experiences, she dove deep into dyslexia research, getting advanced degrees and certifications in reading that go in a different direction than where we were 20 years ago. After we reconnected, I invited Dr. Spengler to my current district to provide a professional learning day for our principals centered on the current research around “the science of reading”. Dr. Spengler is so knowledgeable and able to break down intense research into meaningful parts for school leaders. We had an incredible day of learning!

I was then able to attend a week long intensive training by IMSE, using the Orton-Gillinham (OG) approach to teaching reading. During this week I truly learned how to teach the foundational skills of reading, or how to help learners break the code. I felt so empowered after this training. I realized how little I knew about teaching reading to young learners or about the rules of English. We are so blessed that we were able to provide this level of training to many of our K-2nd grade teachers as well as our Special Educators, as we now have great momentum moving forward to better address student needs.

At the same time, I have slowly been making my way through a very dense book, Overcoming Dyslexia: The Essential Program for Reading Problems at Any Level by Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D. This book was recommended to me by a friend, whose child was diagnosed with dyslexia after she sought out testing outside of his school. My friend then paid a significant amount of money to enroll her child in a private reading program that uses the OG approaches to help close the gaps and help her child fully break the code.

After all of these experiences I realize how little most teachers know about dyslexia and about teaching the foundational skills of reading systematically and explicitly. The uprise in podcasts related to this topic tells us that parents are seeking more information to help their children and educators are seeking more information to help their students. I hope that our teaching credential programs catch up and work to better prepare future educators. My learning journey continues…

If you are an educator, where are you in your journey regarding the science of reading? What is your school or district doing to screen and progress monitor young students? What curricular resources, assessments and approaches are you using with students?

This post is part of a series called Explorations in Instructional Leadership. I plan to use this series to dive into some of the topics that are rising to the surface in my work, topics that I am researching for future study, and topics that impact student learning and pedagogy.

Introduction to Explorations in Instructional Leadership

The Science of Reading

Scope and Sequence

May was a very busy work month, with some fun travel thrown into the busy mix. I read two books for book clubs, then couldn’t attend one of the meetings and was able to listen to other meeting on Zoom while packing for the travel. This was an odd collection of books for me in one month, but that’s what I love about mood reading – finding the book that suits the mood I’m in! This month I read…

• Tell Me Everything by Minka Kelly [audiobook] – I loved Minka Kelly in the show Friday Night Lights, but I knew nothing about her life until listening to this memoir. She had such a rough childhood, being “parented” by people too young and unable to care for themselves much less a child. She documents many traumatic events with honesty and a child’s perspective, though also recognizing all she realizes now as an adult who had done a lot of therapy and received help and support to process what she went through. She is incredibly self reflective and seems like such an incredibly kind and caring human.
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld – I’ve had this author on my radar for awhile, but this is the first book of hers that I have read. I loved this sweet romantic comedy, loosely based in the world of Saturday Night Live, known here as Night Owls, when a comedy writer meets a famous musician when he hosts the show. The first part of the story takesn place in one week of creating Night Owls. What happens after that was a nice surprise for me as a reader.
• I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes [audiobook] – I LOVED this book! A friend recommended it to me and I decided to try it on audio, even though I’ve never had much success with long fiction on audio. This thriller was so fast-paced that it had me hooked and I couldn’t wait to get back in my car to finish listening to it. Throughout the story we are with a CIA agent, learning about his life and career, while he is trying to solve a mystery. We travel across many countries, meet many awful people, and see him involved in wild adventures. I don’t want to give away any specific details, but if you like espionage thrillers, this is a must read!
• Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari – I read this book for a book club and am so glad it was chosen and put on my radar. I think everyone needs to read this, as we are at a cross roads in our modern society. The author outlines all the ways in which our attention span has declined, citing research and evidence throughout his personal stories of trying to quit the Internet and find his flow. Each reason reminds the reader that our attention problem is a systemic issue, not a personal weakness. While we can each make improvements in individual ways, we must also band together and fix some significant problems in our world (social media business models and climate change). I appreciated the research, though it was very light on the details of the research. I found so many links in the final chapters to the work we are doing in education to make schools more learner-centered, where learners’ interests drive learning more than scheduled blocks of content time or bells. I will be thinking about this for awhile, or at least until something distracts me! *** Edited to add this note after my book club met: I just learned that this author is very problematic! He has had plagiarism charges in the past, and his “research” has been accused of misrepresenting sources and false claims. I am rethinking my thoughts on this book!
• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado – I heard about this book on the Currently Reading podcast sometime in the last year. Then one of my book clubs picked it as the May book, so I was happy to read it. This is a memoir, sad for it’s content and unique for its style. Throughout the book, each chapter is told as it’s on narrative trope, and mostly told in the second person (which gets annoying!). Sadly, what we are reading about is a queer romance during awful by domestic abuse, which is a story often left out of society’s narrative. The gaslighting and the emotional abuse are hard to read about, but powerful in the way Carmen weaves the story of this traumatic relationship across time and space. This was so well-written, beautifully sad and poignantly honest.
• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner [audiobook] – I have heard so many people rave about this memoir over the last two years, but knowing it was a memoir about the author’s mother dying, I was hesitant to read this. The loss of my mom still hurts my heart and I didn’t think I needed a sad memoir to make me cry more just for “fun” reading. However, after hearing Glennon Doyle interview the author on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, I reconsidered. Michelle’s mother, a Korean woman who married a White American, sounded nothing like my mother, so I thought it was be just a good read for me. This is a beautiful, touching, sad memoir. Michelle’s mother’s battle against cancer did make my cry a lot, for my own personal reasons and just because she writes about it so honestly – cancer sucks! However, Michelle’s love for food, especially homemade Korean food you can buy in H Mart, was a love letter to her mother’s memory and was just beautiful.
• In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune – I have read and loved many of T.J. Klune’s books, for the representation and the beautiful, complex characters he creates. I preordered this in anticipation, however this was my least favorite of all of his books. I think the Fantasy elements (robots taking over the world) were too much for me, and the “love story” was not as fun and touching as in his other books. Having said that, I did love the characters of Nurse Ratched and Rambo, the Roomba vacuum, and their hysterical banter! Victor, the main character and only human in the story, was a loveable character, and I wanted to read a happy ending for him, desptie all of the fantasy shennanigans. After reading the acknowledgements at the end, I’m very curious about the book Klune wanted to write, but that was edited into this based on the feedback he received. Sounds like his first draft was VERY DIFFERENT from this, which intriques me!
• The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett – This was a good palette cleanser after some heavy reads – it was a predictable romance, though with two queer characters, one who was coming into her bisexuality later in life. I enjoyed Sophie, the chef, and Amy, the restaurant owner, and their fun personalities. They were well developed characters with hobbies, idiosyncrasies, and big feelings, that were like oil and water and hot and heavy and everything else! The reality show cooking competition added a fun layer of stress and I really like the book!
• The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up by Andy Cohen [audiobook] – I have enjoyed listening to all of Andy Cohen’s books on audio – he is a funny guy and makes extra jokes for the listener. This book begins when his son is 3 years old and he is awaiting the birth of his daugther via surrogate. Andy documents a year in his life as a single dad of one and then two kids, in NYC, while working so hard (Watch What Happens Live, Real Housewives, Radio Andy, and more!), socializing with his friends and family, getting his Holllywood star, and attempting to date and find love. I love his friendships, and this book was full of him and Anderson Cooper being dads together, his bromance with John Mayer, and his fun with Jimmy Buffett, which was interesting after I just saw Buffett in concert! My only complaint was how negatively Andy talked about his body (so much fat-phobic talk) – it was really bad. Otherwise, I loved his fun musings, how his life calmed down a bit as he got into his dad groove, and the gems he gave us about the housewives.

Favorite book(s) of the month

Fiction: I Am Pilgrim

Nonfiction: Crying in H Mart

I started off April in Maui, visiting family for my spring break. Each night we read books to my 4 year old nephew, so pictured below are just some of children’s books we read! I love a good picture book and I want to give an honorable mention to the Telepathic Traveler: A to Z Guide Across the Globe. Each page is dedicated to both a country and an animal that start with a letter of the alphabet, with an interesting description of both. Thanks to JJ and Rocco for sharing reading time with me!

This month I also read some wonderful books and for the first time in a long time I put a book aside that just wasn’t right for me right now.

• Aurora by David Koepp – I love climate fiction, which I classify as Sci-Fi in my handy spreadsheet tracker. Every time I read a story about the not-to-distant future, after some cataclymic disaster (in this case, all power in the world goes out for a long time!), I am both amazed and horrified by what people do in disasters. The author manages to capture the kindness of sharing food, growing a community garden, and a neighborhood watch for safety, while also capturing what fear and greed can drive people to do. I enjoyed some of the characters and I enjoyed hating other characters in this fast-moving story!
• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake – This queer romance is by an author I discovered and loved for a YA book last year (Ivy Aberdeen…). Delilah Green is a queer artist who reluctantly returns to her hometown for her stepsister’s wedding. Delilah doesn’t have happy memories of her childhood with her stepsister and stepmother, nor of the town that never seemed to accept her. As she gets deeper into the two weeks of wedding drama, she learns about herself, her past, and her family, while stumbling into romance and love! This was a sweet story!
• Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman – My cousin (hi JJ!) loaned me this book because she thought I would enjoy it; her brother also liked and so I was able to speak to two cousins about this book over the month! Klosterman writes a collection of essays about random pop culture items, such as Saved by the Bell, Billy Joel, and reality TV. I loved some of the essays, as they made me feel nostagic. The book was published in 2004 so a lot of the content was outdated, but still funny with his sacastic takes on everything. There were a few essays (Celtivs vs Lakers) that I didn’t care about at all. Overall, I enjoyed his writing style, and have heard it’s fun to read some of his other work.
• Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman – I love a good thriller to read on a beach vacation and this fit the bill! Erin and Mark are planning their wedding and then enjoying their extravagant honeymoon, trying to avoid the financial stress they will face when they return to reality. Then they find something in the water while scuba diving and everything changes. The rest of the story is a fast-paced race to the end, where I was doubtful of all characters, unsure who and what to believe, and not sure where it would end (despite the beginning of the book strating with a significant detail from the end!). Fun read!
• Trust Exercises by Susan Choi – I have no idea why I owned this e-book, but I’ve had it for awhile and finally decided to read it. Part way through the very angsty, teen-drama filled first part, I almost quit it! Then I read a review on Goodreads that said there was a big twist, so I kept reading. The twist was a second narrator coming in to narrator the second half, showing us that both narrators were unreliable. Both sections were filled with stories of high school problems faced by a group of kids in an elusive performing arts school. There was a lot of sex, drugs, and theatre, but not a lot of plot. I didn’t like the characters, which made this hard to get through. The styel of the book attempted to cross genres, but it wasn’t enough to get me to enjoy this read.
• The Family Game by Catherine Steadman – This is a fast-paced thriller about an unlikeable wealthy family with secrets to hide. I just read a book by Steadman earlier this month without realizing that this book had been on my radar (and my library hold) for a while! I loved getting to know the Holbeck family through the eyes of Harriet, who is engaged to marry the eldest son. As Harriet is trying to figure out who to trust, she is also keeping her own secret. The “family games” throughout the book are weird and horrifying, leading up to the ultimate game at the end. This was fast and fun and a real page-turner!
• All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Gamache #16) – This was the first in the Gamache series to take place in Paris, and it was such a fun switch from the usual settings. Reading this made me want to visit Paris again! I love Armand Gamache and love that #16 focused so much on his family – his wife, both of his children and their spouses and their growing families, as well as his godfather. We were given a very different look into Armand’s life as he was thrown into a very personal mystery in a special place.
• Refugee by Alan Gratz [audiobook] – I LOVED this book! What a beautiful, bittersweet, incredible story about three reguees at three different moments in history. Throughout the book we follow Josef as he and his Jewish family escape Nazi Germany on board a boat bound for Cuba, Isabel, as she and her family escape Cuba on their way to Miama and freedom from Castro, and Mahmoud, as he and his family escape bombs in their home in Syria, through many countries on their way to Germany and freedom. Each of their stories, in different time periods, is perilous and unique, and then the ending just made me sob like a baby! I’ve heard from two teachers in our district who have read this with upper grade students and I can only imagine the discussions that followed.
• Learner-Centered Leadership: A Blueprint for Transformational Change in Learning Communities: The author, Devin, became the superintendent in Vista right after I left the district. I wish I had stayed to work with him through the transformation he describes in this book! Vista needed significant transformation, as most of our systems do, to go from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered system. My current district is now working with Devin’s company, Learner-Centered Collaborative, to help facilitate the creation of a new vision, mission, values, and learner outcomes for us, which is so exciting! I appreciate how he outlines the entire process in this book, including examples from the Vista story, some written by other leaders in the system from their perspective. Devin is honest about his own mistakes as well as when they went too fast and when they got it right. This is a great read for any educator ready to prepare our current learners for an unknown future.
• All That is Mine I Carry with Me by Williams Landay – I loved Defending Jacob by this author, so I was excited to read another mystery by him that involved some courtroom drama. Turns out, the courtroom was a very small part of the larger story of a mother gone missing. In each of the four parts a different family member or friend narrates the story, so we are given different perspectives of this family with mom, after mom disappears, and in the many decades afterwards. With each new narrator we get more information, but are also a little more confused or unsure – did he do it or not?! I enjoyed the entire story right upt to the very end!

Favorite book(s) of the month

Fiction: Aurora by David Koepp

Nonfiction:Learner-Centered Leadership: A Blueprint for Transformational Change in Learning Communities