While there are still a FEW days left in 2017 (which means I might finish 1 or 2 more books), I wanted to pop in and do a quick post on some of my FAVORITE books from this year. Instead of a top 10 list, I decided to list out some of my favorites in various categories. In all, at this time, I read about 170 books this year and only a few were rereads, so I had a chance to get my hands on lots of new (published in 2017) books and new to me books that I had missed earlier.

Seriously so, so good. Cassie is on the hunt for answers to her mother's murder and gets recruited to join the Naturals, an elite group of 4 other teens who work (unofficially) for the FBI as profilers, lie detectors, and human computers. They can look at cold cases and help them get solved. And now they want to access to live cases to help out and rescue actual victims in time. Part Criminal Minds, part YA, this is a fun, fast, and addictive read. There are currently 4 books, and I am hoping/praying/wishing for more. 

For both of these, the best part about them is what you discover as you read, so I won't give you too many details. Here's what you need to know:
Genuine Fraud-Written by the amazing E. Lockhart who brought us We Were Liars, which should be reason enough to check it out. Other things that make it awesome: the incredibly unreliable narrator and the fact that the story is told backwards. 
The One Memory of Flora Banks-In this story, the main character suffers from short term memory loss. So when she finally has one memory she can hold on to (kissing her best friend's boyfriend) she is convinced that it means something. So she follows him when he leaves town to go on a trip for school and ends up in a serious situation where she doesn't know who to trust, let alone if she can trust herself. So good.

These two middle grade books were incredibly good. 
Ms. Bixby's Last Day tells the story of three friends as they deal with their teacher's illness and unexpected departure from school. They set out to give her the last day they think she would have wanted, even if that means skipping school, traveling to a sketchy part of town, and breaking into the hospital. 
When Friendship Followed Me Home is the book that have been looking for. It's a John Green worthy title TOTALLY appropriate for middle schoolers. It's the book that I can recommend as a follow-up to the incomparable Orbiting Jupiter. It's about friendship, and family, and what to do when everything seems to be going wrong. And it has a dog.

These books are INCREDIBLY different but both so good. I have been able to recommend them to almost everyone and people keep falling in love with them.
Projekt 1065: Historical fiction. Spies. A (mainly) unknown aspect of WWII. Highly recommend.
Goodbye Days: This is my favorite Jeff Zentner book. It follows Carver after the deaths of his three best friends. Deaths caused by a car accident when the driver was trying to text him back. Shunned, stunned, and heartbroken, Carver ends up going on Goodby Days with the families of his friends, giving them a chance for closure. Warning: you will cry.

This was amazing. It is a love story. Set in the wild west of America as people began looking for dinosaur fossils. There's science. A forbidden love. A rush for scientific discoveries. Betrayal. Deceit. So good and so not what I was expecting.

Click on book image to go to the Goodreads entry for that book.

So, what about you? Any I missed in 2017 I need to know about? Anything coming up in 2018 to put on my TBR? Let me know!

We're talking all things Google Classroom and Formative Assessment today!

(for those of you who have NOT gotten started with Classroom, please check out these resources for background info, help getting started, and tips on setting up classes:
Ditch that Textbook-The Google Classroom Quick Start Guide
Or, check out this YouTube tutorial (yes, the narrator is Amy; no, it is not me):

Also, here are a few tips on what to do with your Classrooms to get them ready for next year (isn't it crazy to think that way???)
Alice Keeler-Cleaning Up Classroom for the Summer

Now, we will cover some of this in our session on Thursday, but this way you also have some additional resources to go back to if you have questions and can't find Matt or me.

When students submit an assignment, they can create something from the Google Products Drive (doc, sheet, drawing, etc) OR they can upload any type of file they have created in other products. In the session we showed you how to use Photobooth to have the kids upload a video recording of themselves. Some other options:
-Video Reflections
-Video Summaries
-Annotated Pictures/Text
-Using Google Forms for Quizzes (it's a setting . . . see Matt or Amy with questions)
-Using Google Forms as an exit ticket
-Video Recordings of Speeches/Presentations for students to practice with and reflect on

This is just a SMALL SNIPPET of everything you could do with Classroom. There are staff members on every team who are already trying this in their classrooms, so feel free to ask them questions if you are interested in seeing how it would work for your specific students. 

Before reading this post, make sure to check out Post 1 (info to get started) and Post 2 (the process) on Research and Gamification.

After stepping back from this process and taking time to think about what worked and what didn't, I have three things that I consider to be important pieces of advice:
1. Try out the games first! 
While this seems obvious, gamification is NOT something that you can throw together in the morning and just hope that everything works. While I am usually a pretty easy going lesson planner, for these types of lessons and activities, I made sure to prep all of my materials and links beforehand. This way I could have the other teachers I was working with check out the games and links to make sure all of my settings were correct and valid. I had to change the permissions on one google document, change the heading on a form, and had to reword one of the game card questions. All small items, but things that were good to get fixed before the day of the lesson.
2. Be ready for some noise/movement in the classroom.
Again, this might seem obvious, but if you are a TL working with a classroom teacher, or someone who is used to having a "quiet" classroom, keep in mind that the collaborative and fun nature of these games and activities will lead to children talking. This is not a bad thing, but something to be prepared for mentally.
3. Don't worry if something goes wrong. 
No matter how much preplanning you do, or how many times you and another staff member go through the game, there will still be some things that are "off" or not working on the day you do the activity. Don't panic! Let the kids try to figure out the problems on their own, and remember that productive frustration can be just as enlightening as the traditional curriculum you are teaching.

I'd love to hear how you use this type of activity in your classroom/library space!