Tashi by Anna Fienberg

I am desperately looking for books to engage my 7 year old son to enjoy reading for pleasure. I am an avid reader and would love to begin to read books together and discuss them.

I tried reading Tashi to him the other night. This marks the first time where I read to him and he actually sat still for more than 3 minutes.

The book description reads

In the first book of the much-adored Tashi series, children are introduced to Jack’s extraordinary imaginary friend Tashi, a gnome-like character from a place far away. Brave Tashi tells adventurous tales of being sold to a warlord and escaping on a swan. This little hero has to be clever to outsmart giants, ghosts, demons, and witches that stand in his way. Young readers will be captivated by Tashi’s tall tales of courage and daring.


Typically to have my son read for 15 minutes or me reading to him or a combo is a challenge. When I read this to him we actually read the entire book. He loved it! I was shocked by how focused he was as we read about dragons, giants, and the whole bit. The pictures on each page really helped him to stay engaged.

After reading this book he took it to his room to read and look at on his own. I have to give this book s5 starts for the fact that it connected with my son and he actually enjoyed it. For sure I will be snagging the rest of the books in the series for hope that the focus continues.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ReRead Review

If you have been following this blog, then you know that I signed up for a blogger challenge to reread the Harry Potter series. I forgot how these books just suck my mind into a world of magic.

I rarely ever reread anything. The only exception would be John Green, Kurt Vonnegut, and the book Tuesdays with Morrie. I don't like to waste time reading something again.

However, this is far from a waste of time. I planned to give myself last week and this week to read book one as I have barely done any pleasure reading this entire year. I did not need that much time as I polished this book off in a few days.

I am not going to give a book review like I normally do, but instead just speak about the experience of reading it again. Obviously this book series is one of the best series to ever be created. What I found to be so exciting was reading the story again forgetting so many cool things. I kept reading and thinking, "How did I forget about this character or that event?". I then took the time to look up names of people and phrases and such and was blown away by how much is really hidden in these books. The mirror of erised for example is such an obvious play on words that I overlooked until I Googled to see if Erised was a name of a mythological character(I was way off!). While reading I found myself constantly looking for little gems like this.

I built a Google Doc page I am recording parts that I liked - https://docs.google.com/document/d/15TOUCMYhAQSprGkMEtlhfBtxQmrZ4YHfTHNYmkeIOV4/edit

Feel free to check it out and if you are reading them again feel free to add your own. I know there are sites out there that contain everything, but I want this to be a collaborative self guided journey.

The first book in the series was even better than I remembered. I cannot wait to begin book two. You know you are reading something special when reading it again feels like reading it for the first time.

Book Review: The Multiplayer Classroom by Lee Sheldon

One of my current education interests has been gamification in the education setting. I know that there are many beliefs about this topic, but I really believe that if done right the potential for this mode of teaching is unstoppable.

I have joined many online sites, chats, webinars, etc. pertaining to gamification and just keep falling in love with what people are doing. I am obsessed with this topic with about as much obsessionness(if even a word) as I am about going global in the classroom.

Many people have referenced this book and I finally broke down and bought the book to learn a little more.

Here is the book description from Amazon.com

Discover how to engage your students and raise their grades and attendance in your classroom. THE MULTIPLAYER CLASSROOM: DESIGNING COURSEWORK AS A GAME is your detailed guide to designing any structured learning experience as a game. Written for professional educators or those learning to be educators, here are the tools to engage and excite students by using principles learned in the development of popular video games. Suitable for use in the classroom or the boardroom, the book features a reader-friendly style that introduces game concepts and vocabulary in a logical way. You don't need any experience making games or even playing games to use this book. Yet, you will learn how to create multiplayer games for any age on any subject. Bring your classroom into the 21st century!


This book pretty much takes us through the ups and downs of Lee Sheldon as he tries to figure out a way to gamify his college courses that he has taught. This is not a how to manual. I think that is what I liked best. There is no cookie cutter method to turning your classroom into a game mode atmosphere. Yes, certain things must be put into place, but at the end of the day the personality of the teacher, the students, the classroom, and the goals and objectives of learning will drive the game system.

I found the personal story and journey of Lee interwoven with other case studies to be beneficial. I learned new tricks and ideas as well as what not to do. I began to formulate my own opinions and ideas.

I have about 20 places tagged with sticky notes to mark important ideas about education and how to gamify my classroom.

Gamification is not for everyone. Nor does it work for every class or unit. However, if it does fit the bill, then students are going to love it. This book has me started on my own journey as begin to devise a unit right now using gamification. I am excited. I am hooked. What more do you want from a book than to walk away satisfied and hungry for more knowledge. Lee Sheldon has done just that.