JR’s List Item #28 – (June/July report) Listen to at least three audio books a month until my 60th birthday.

The selections for June and July were both new audio books that I had recently purchased and audio books that I had purchased several years ago, but had never had the opportunity to hear.  All in all the selections were entertaining, enjoyable, and even enlightening in some cases.  I would not suggest reading/listening to all these selections without adding some qualifiers to my recommendations, but  I have enjoyed each one including some new authors I have never read/listened to before now.

June listening selections:

• The Defector, Daniel Silva
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
• Hour Game, David Baldacci
• The Scarecrow, Michael Connelly
• Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier
• Sweetwater Creek, Anne Rivers Siddons

July reading selection:

• The Unlikely Spy, Daniel Silva
• Cold Hit, Stephen J. Cannell 
• Up Country, Nelson DeMille
• The Twelfth Card, Jeffrey Deaver
• Deliver Us From Evil, David Baldacci
• Clara Callen, Richard B. Wright

JR’s List Item #27 – (June/July report) Read at least one book a month until my 60th birthday.

June reading selection:

For my June selection I read Carol Burnett's new book, This Time Together:  Laughter and Reflection.  I loved it.  The book is written as if Carol Burnett is sitting in the room having a conversation with the reader; answering questions and sharing memories.  She talks about the events and the people who have impacted her career and her life. I loved the nostalgia.

Burnett, Carol,  This Time Together:  Laughter and Reflection.  New York:  Harmony Books, 2010.  ISBN 978-0-307-46118-6 

July reading selection:

My July reading selection is actually a reread, a book I read when it was first published in 1998.  I read this book again because I wanted to use Marilyn Burn's message as the foundation for my store blog post, "It's Time for Math Phobia to Leave the Building."  This book was published twelve years ago, yet the message is as relevant today as it was then.  For me, this is both sad and disturbing; twelve years later and opinions about mathematics has not changed.

Burns, Marilyn, Math: Facing an American Phobia. Sausalito, California: Math Solutions Publications, 1998. ISBN 0-941355-19-5

JR’s List Item #50 – (done) Write at least four new postings for BCLT Blog.

I just completed my fourth blog for my storeblog, Positive (Thoughts + Words + Actions) = Positive Life: 

• Children (Do Indeed) Learn What They Live
• What Messages Are We Sending Our Students?
• It's Time for Math Phobia to Leave the Building
• Excuse Me, But Do You Speak Mathematics?

When I started this blog, I wanted to promote my posters at BRAIN CUES Learning Tools, but I also wanted to share what I thought was useful information especially for educators.  In my mind, I am not a particularly good writer, but I do think the messages have been good ones.  The blog has been a nice way of providing a back story for the messages of the posters and research as to why they are beneficial.  I have also had to continue my professional reading which is certainly an added benefit for me.