Revolution Status May 2012. The Angel Potatoes and Book Posters.

You know, I pretty much have the best job in the world.
I get Hoped Up every day I teach.
And not because kids are perfect. Young people are people. They are frustrating and they give me gray hair and they make me laugh and they give me a little sorrow and double-handfuls of joy.
And they haven't given up on Possibilities.
They are Possibilities.
They inspire me.
Books and technology and creativity and communication.
Choices.
Revolution.
I am sharing some of the posters the kids have made about the books they have read. Part of the assignment was to work in a picture of the author, the cover of the book, the name of the author, and even the publisher if it could be managed, since creating a book is a team thing. They got images and made collages with pictures from The Google.
And I wanted a quote from the book that was important to them, or to the story, or had the music of the spheres, or all of the above.
That's pretty much the only direction I gave.
Giving only part of the genetic code of an assignment means that kids come up with their own code and I don't get clones. I get real stuff.
I get truth.
See.

Ashes by Ilsa Bick

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Dao Mu Ji Bi. Yes, I have a student who reads Chinese. And she loves this series. LOVES it. She wrote the author, too. I can't read it but she translated it for me and I bet the author will cry.

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri