July 12, 2011: Goals and Resolutions

It is high time I recommit to this blog, and I'm doing that now. But first, here's my list of 2011 books-to-date:

January
1. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
2. Switched by Amanda Hocking
3. Torn by Amanda Hocking
4. Ascend by Amanda Hocking
5. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
6. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

February
7. Matched by Allie Condie February
8. The Odyssey (graphic novelization) by Gareth Hinds
9. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
10. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
11. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
12. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
13. Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith
14. After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

March
15. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
16. Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
17. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
18. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

April
19. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson #2) by Rick Riordan
20. The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson #3) by Rick Riordan
21. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson #4) by Rick Riordan
22. The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson #5) by Rick Riordan

May-June
23. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
24. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
25. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
26. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
27. A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

July
28. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
29. Death of a Trophy Wife by Laura Levine
30. Cat Calls by Cynthia Leitich Smith (short story)
31. Driven by Data by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
32. Passion by Lauren Kate

I am planning to go back and blog about some of those titles--the best and the worst of them--as time allows.

Here are some other goals for the rest of 2011:
1. Blog about books I'm reading (here!) at least once each week.
2. Master Evernote, and introduce it to my students. (I'd also like to improve my understanding and use of GoogleDocs and ToolBoxPRO this summer while I have time!)
3. Figure out the best role for social networking (including the English Companion Ning, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) in my classroom and in my professional life.
4. Improve my focus on individualized student instruction to encourage students toward a lifelong love of literature, language, and learning.
5. Collaborate with colleague using best practices and current research to identify and intervene with students at risk of becoming drop-outs.