eBook experience

eBook title, author, and web address

Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King (Purchased at amazon.com and downloaded to my iPad.) 

eBook review 

            The book itself is a collection of short stories from the prolific Stephen King. In between banging out epic yarns, he will occasionally put together a collection of short stories which I find is more suitable for my horribly limited attention span. In my opinion, the most moving story in the collection is "Willa", about a husband and wife trying to find their way home.

         Feelings and Thought About the Experience


        I'm officially more of an eReader than a paper book reader. As a student, I've always had great difficulty sitting and immersing myself in a book, and always found the process to be more of a chore than a treat. I had never really considered it before, but after I considered this experience with this book, I realized that if I am reading a large paper book, I am more likely to abandon it if I don't finish it immediately. However, when I read books with my iPad, I tend to allow myself more leeway to step away from a book and return to it whenever I have time.    



                Value of the Book for Education


        As a writing teacher, I think that short stories are a powerful medium for teaching, and I think that if all students were given access to eReader technology, that this would support literacy exponentially. As I previously mentioned, I can only truly use myself as an example of a student's habits, and I feel that if I had been exposed to this technology in my formative years, that my feelings towards reading would not be so bittersweet.

ESOL Class Visit

For my study, I made the long journey down my hallway at Seabreeze to observe an ESOL classroom. Typically, one classroom on each grade level is designated as the ESOL inclusion class. It is a logistical nightmare when we receive an ESOL student, because the teachers are “flagged” and required to take ESOL professional development, or face the certainty of being terminated at the end of the school year for not being in compliance.

Traditionally, we have a small number of ESOL students at Seabreeze, and in my own teaching career I have had a handful of students. I visited the classroom of Debra Bornowski, who is our designated fourth grade ESOL teacher.  What I observed was what I recognized as conventional in our building, but was a far cry from what I was taught in a college classroom.

All five of the students in Mrs. Bornowski’s class are all classified as ESOL because English is not the first language that is spoken in their homes. These students, (three are Albanian and two are Mexican) are all fluent English speakers and readers, and Mrs. Bornowski reports that these students are by far the most polite and curious students in her class. 

In my previous studies, most of the ESOL students that I observed and that were discussed in the classroom, were struggling students that required major academic accommodations just to stay on pace with the rest of the class.  However, in Mrs. Bornowski’s class, these students are high achievers that are the most proficient users of classroom technology. Dariana, one of the students stated that though her parents speak very limited English, they are extremely proficient at email and Facebook. The other students agreed that this was also the case in their homes.

Dariana rocking out on her keyboard

In terms of a next step, I think that it is significant that ESOL students and their families are using technology as a modern Rosetta Stone. It is essential for teachers to capitalize on the universal language that is technology, follow Mrs. Bornowski’s lead, and encourage these students to flourish in the classroom.

Daily Download Reading

Much like my experience with audio books, I now have a viable way to enjoy a book in spite of my workload. I previously read a story by Kurt Vonnegut, which the good people at DailyDrip would deliver to my smartphone every morning at 8:40 am. I chose this time because this is when I have my fourth graders begin their daily independent reading, and this allowed me to read along with them. After completing the Vonnegut, I have been receiving a daily sampling of the “25 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". 

The convenience of having available reading in any situation that requires waiting has been a tremendous benefit. Moving forward, I am going to have my fourth graders, who all have phones, chose a book for themselves.

Audio Book Review

            The audio book that I selected was Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell, which is the story of the Americanization of Hawaii. I have read a number of her stories over the years, but it was an interesting experience to sit back and listen to her provide narration for her own essays. Hearing her naturally nasal and sarcastic delivery of comically archaic punch lines provided a level of appreciation for her ideas and work that could not have been achieved with a standard paperback. Additionally, it was a bonus treat to hear the contributions of John Slattery, Paul Rudd, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgman, Catherine Keener, Edward Norton, Keanu Reeves and Maya Rudolph, all of which I enjoy outside of the realm of literature.  

            The audio book is a staggering seven discs long, but I’ve managed to get through the first three discs by listening in the car to and from work, as well as the regular “cruising around” trips that I make with my family on the weekends. Overall, I would have to admit that with my hectic schedule, that audio books provide me with my best opportunity to complete a book.

Literature Circle Review

As a fourth grade literacy teacher, literature circles are a key element of my student’s daily reading routine. To this point, my biggest challenge in implementing literature circles effectively is the ongoing debate among teachers regarding the amount of rigor involved in the activities that the students are completing.

However, I feel that the examples that were provided were not only concise and clear, but presented a solid challenge for readers of all levels. For instance, the sample questions provided in the discussion coordinator portion were great examples of the kind of higher level questioning that is expected in today’s classroom.

Brandon Cavanaugh, Word Researcher!

I also had my students try the Vocabulary Elaborator as one of their daily choice activities for reading, and it was hugely successful. My students are adamant technology users, and this role will promote vocabulary growth, which has consistently been the weakest component of my student’s reading repertoire. 

A Day at the Library





After bribing my wife and children with Wendy’s Frostees to ensure that I would not be field tripping alone, I trekked downtown to the Main Street library on Laura Street. I had been there once on a field trip with my fourth grade class two years ago, but this was my first opportunity to really explore the premises.

The place is nothing short of a marvel, and it was readily apparent that it was not possible to utilize all of the resources that they offered. Below is a screen shot of the available services:

In terms of what I did discover, the downtown branch has created a thorough literacy environment. We began our trip on the bottom floor and the talking books/special needs library.

According to the web site, talking books materials are mailed to readers postage free and return postage is free and the special equipment needed for this service is lent to customers at no charge. Another service that I thought was interesting was their monthly movie which is in closed caption for the deaf and hearing impaired, on the first Thursday of each month.

I then went to the audio book section, and it was easily the largest collection that I had ever seen. I picked up a Sarah Vowell collection for myself and a couple of titles for my E.S.E. students. I also spent a great deal of time exploring the DVD and CD sections, before my family finally forcibly ended my scouring and we headed for the children’s section.

The children’s section was the consensus highlight of this trip. My wife and I are both elementary school literacy teachers, and so exploring such a large collection of books and multimedia titles was a real treat.

My wife Becky pointed out that the environment at this branch was extremely inviting and conducive to a “fun reading environment” which can be challenging to create, but was accomplished with the mushroom chairs and dragon couch.