Reading Plan

In weeks 9 and 10 we are doing Native American stories. Some of the things that I look for when I am choosing which units to read are story length, audiobook availability, storytelling style, and subject matter. For story length I prefer one or two page stories but am fine with longer. I really just prefer no continuous stories because I like to hear a variety of different stories. I like the availability of audiobooks because if I am having trouble focusing they help me stay focused. As for storytelling style, I really like stories that come form oral traditions or that are meant for children. Finally, for subject matter I really like animal based stories or stories that feature mythical beings like faeries and goblins. With those parameters in mind, I will do the American Indian Fairy Tales unit for week 9 and the Alaskan Legends unit for week 10. I am really looking forward to these units as they fit all of my parameters and native folklore is not something I know much about. I especially look forward to all of the stories featuring Raven!

(Raven)

Blog Ideas

I found many blogs that I liked when I was looking through, but three really caught my attention. The first was Carmen's Blog. I really loved how clean the design was, but what really caught my attention was the list of quotes she has in the sidebar. What a great idea! The next to catch my attention was Hae Young's Blog. Hae Young has a quote of the day widget in the sidebar which would be such an easy and fun way to add quotes to my blog! Finally, I loved Ashlie's Blog because she has a pinterest board in the sidebar. How clever! Hopefully I will have some time to implement these ideas soon!

Time Strategies

My original weekly schedule was Monday through Thursday, but in reality I have been doing Monday through Friday and sometimes even Saturday. A general schedule that normally works for me is as follows:
Monday: Reading diary 1
Tuesday: Reading diary 2
Wednesday: Storytelling
Thursday: Storybook
Friday: Comments and Project Feedback
Saturday: Anything not done yet/extra credit

While this schedule is generally good, I have gotten a bit off of it lately. I am hoping spring break will allow me to reset and get back on track so I can stick to it the second half of the semester. I think I just need to keep reminding myself of this meme that I took from the Learning by HEART blog:

I think if I can remember this and just do things when I think to do them then I can stay with my schedule starting after spring break.