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book should make you feel uncomfortable

I first read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school and felt bored with the dialog, annoyed by the flat (and always either entirely good or entirely bad) characters and unsure about why we had to read it. Later, while working in a chaotic non-profit and Read More...
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2010 02 4

John Spencer

14 Comments

Salinger is Dead

I rarely get choked up when a celebrity dies and yet I felt something deep within at the death of Salinger. I know he was a recluse and anti-social and all of that, yet I wonder if that's a part of why I liked him. He was human and he had no desire to Read More...
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2010 01 28

John Spencer

5 Comments

book possibilities

I'll be releasing a free eBook called Remotely Controlled Chaos: A TV's Guide to Teaching Middle School. It's an expansion on my summer blog series looking at the practical side of teaching through the small screen lens. Essentially, the book will be Read More...
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2010 01 27

John Spencer

11 Comments

My Book Is Finally on Amazon.com!

My book is finally on Amazon.com! Click Here to check it out. There is a quick preview that you can look at as well. Read More...
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2009 09 19

John Spencer

4 Comments

amateur author

It's sometimes hard for me to explain to somebody why I chose to self-publish a book. I sometimes worry about being judged for "vanity publishing." Occasionally someone will say, "You know that they let anyone publish." So, that's me. I'm anyone. I'm Read More...
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2009 08 5

John Spencer

6 Comments

the debate

I'm interested in reading a book called, Why We're Not Emergent. After my friend Brad mentioned it, I looked it up on Amazon. I started reading the heated debate between different groups who embrace the Emerging movement or who reject it entirely. It Read More...
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2009 01 1

John Spencer

1 Comments

re-reading Tolstoy

Dustin Trammel got me into the GoodReads site, a social networking site about reading. I've decided that each time I finish a book, I'll embed my review into a blog. So, here it is: The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy My review rating: 5 of 5 stars Read More...
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2008 12 26

John Spencer

0 Comments

which book is best for the Cold War?

I'm trying to figure out which book to use as I teach the Cold War. I considered a book about the myth of the fifties perfect family. After thinking through everything, I decided it would work best to use a fictional text. However, with the unit beginning Read More...
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2008 11 30

John Spencer

0 Comments

a book all teachers should read

I'm almost finished with my master's degree. The Capstone Project sounds impressive on paper, but it's actually not all that innovative. All the ideas are from somebody else (research journals). Even if it is documented, it somehow feels like cheating. Read More...
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2008 10 22

John Spencer

5 Comments

being there

I'm re-reading Being There, by Jerzy Kosinski. The main premise is that the media takes a retarded gardner and makes him into a potential presidential candidate. He becomes an icon, a product of a culture of amusement. In many respects, it seems loosely Read More...
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2008 09 27

John Spencer

11 Comments

I do this every summer

Every summer I read two authors who help me regain my sanity. It's a cleansing process, really. It helps me to realize that there is more to life than word walls and academic vocabulary and lesson plans inside of boxes. I read Donald Miller, because he Read More...
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2008 06 20

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

8 Comments