A-Z Challenge

[Trinity]

Awesome!!

[Michelle]

Great job, Greg! I wondered how you and Trinity were doing on your challenges :)

[Trinity]

11 down but I've been working on my NetGalley stuff and haven't been focusing on the challenge. I will have 2 big breaks coming up. Hope to knock it out then.

[Michelle]

Trinity wrote: "11 down but I've been working on my NetGalley stuff and haven't been focusing on the challenge. I will have 2 big breaks coming up. Hope to knock it out then."

Ahh...love any kind of break from work! Just curious, do you teach at a college or at the secondary level?

[Trinity]

1st grade, special education

[Michelle]

Trinity wrote: "1st grade, special education"

My husband taught elementary special ed for about 5 years before burning out. For him it was "the best of times and the worst of times".

The district is rural and there is a fairly high poverty rate. Some of the students' needs were so basic - clean clothes, a good dinner, parents who woke up and helped them get ready for school in the morning (rather than sleeping off a bender). And yet the standardized testing scores are everything, and that is how teacher performance is rated. But how is a student going to score well when their life outside the classroom is not supportive?

Forgive my rant. I just know what a hard job you have and the dedication it demands. I really admire and respect the work of teachers.

[Trinity]

Thank you for the affirmation. It can be a very difficult job. It's very rewarding and also quite horrible at the same time. Some days are just heartbreaking, some days I leave knowing I've made a difference in at least one persons life.

[Trinity]

Some days I just want to be an English professor LOL...

[Trinity]

Greg wrote: "You and me both ( says me, the English major?)"

My first love :) I started with a degree in English.

[Trinity]

Greg wrote: "18 down - Adding "W" with "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H. G. Wells"

LOVE IT!!

[Michelle]

Greg wrote: "19 down - adding "O", just finished "Animal Farm", by George Orwell"

Wow Greg, you are on a tear!!

[Michelle]

What 5 letters do you still have to complete, Greg? Mine are J, N, V, X, and Y, and I feel good that I will complete them by year's end.

Does anyone in the group have any new challenges planned for 2016?

[Trinity]

I still have 7 to go but I am about to start The Boy Who Drew Monsters

[Trinity]

Go Greg!!

[Trinity]

Michelle wrote: "What 5 letters do you still have to complete, Greg? Mine are J, N, V, X, and Y, and I feel good that I will complete them by year's end.

Does anyone in the group have any new challenges planned fo..."

I thought about the PopSugar Reading Challenge.

[Michelle]

What's the PopSugar Challenge, Trinity?

[Michelle]

Trinity wrote: "Go Greg!!"

Are you even stopping to eat or sleep?? LOL
:)

[Trinity]

It's a weekly challenge. A new challenge is posted at the beginning of the week and lasts all year.

[Michelle]

Awesome Job Greg!!!

[Trinity]

Yay!!!

[Michelle]

Trinity wrote: "It's a weekly challenge. A new challenge is posted at the beginning of the week and lasts all year."

Is this something we could do in our group for 2016? I found it online and I would like to do it. Could we have a discussion thread like this one for the A-Z Challenge where we could keep track of books we read to fit each category that we choose?

I already got my first one lined up. I was at a local thrift store today that's got a great selection of books. I walked in with the intention to pick up "The first book you see in a bookstore", and I got Riding the Iron Rooster for a buck. Definitely not something I would normally read, but I guess that's part of the purpose of the challenge, right?

[Michelle]

Finished my A-Z Challenge (message #21)!! It was a chance to find some new authors that I might otherwise not have experienced. For 2016, it's on to the PopSugar challenge. Thanks Trinity for starting that thread.

[Shainlock]

I continued from where I was... Bc I got the challenge late 2015 and started on it. I don't think it matters.

[Shainlock]

Oh wait. Wrong challenge. My bad. Sorry Nancy.

[Trinity]

You can keep going. It ended January 1st but that doesn't have to stop you.