ABCTE reading list

Before school starts I plan to take the ABCTE's secondary English test so I'll have my certification in that area. As of now I have my elementary certificate (through the American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence) and a 9th-grade English endorsement from the State of Idaho. If you're not familiar with ABCTE, it allows college graduates who didn't major in Education to become certified to teach. You take some heavy-duty tests then teach under a mentor for two years. Check it out at abcte.org to see if it's accepted in your state.

For my test I have a lengthy list of classic literature to read. Most of it I'm familiar with, having read it in high school or college (or in my leisure time as a homeschooled teen). I do have some catching up and reviewing to do, though. Summer reading, here I come!

Right now I'm reading Black Boy, by Richard Wright; Ben Franklin's autobiography; Heart of Darkness, by Joesph Conrad; and various poems and short stories in between. One of the fun parts has been rediscovering my favorite poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Looking forward to many other discoveries as I prepare for test taking this summer.

Back to School

My blog may shift gears a bit here because I've just accepted a job teaching 7th through 12th grade English for the 2009/2010 school year. Really it's not a huge leap--I've wanted to do this since my senior year of college. I can't wait to begin teaching writing, grammar and literature! There's a lot to do in the meantime, though, such as jumping through a few hoops to get my high school certification (bring it on!), recommending curriculum, and generally preparing to teach my subject.

I'm reading a lot of juvenile novels and classic literature as part of my preparation. I've always loved reading both. I was that geeky homeschooled kid who read Shakespeare and Dickens for fun. Now it's clear just how many important works I haven't read! Here are some of my latest reads:

• A Place Called Ugly, by Avi (I wasn't satisfied with the parents' lack of reaction at the end of the book)
  
• Dogsong, by Gary Paulson (very good)
  
• "The Minister's Black Veil," by Nathaniel Hawthorne (about time I read it. . .)
  
• A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Peck (read it in college but loved it again the second time)
  
• Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (still reading it--excellent discussions on improving one's own writing)
  
• Mind's Eye, by Paul Fleischman (really interesting--a good example of form suiting function)
  

I love The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi (6th-8th grade), Macbeth, Pride and Prejudice, and The Scarlet Letter. I think it's really important not to overload kids' brains with "heavy" classics, but to expose them to high-quality modern literature written for their age group. Teens like to read about teens who face problems similar to their own.

What are your favorite books for the jr. high/high school set?

Beulah Baldwin shares her heirloom quilts

This Lone Star quilt from the early 1940s belongs to Beulah Baldwin of Fairfield, Idaho. In a recent interview she shared stories of her life as a young teacher on the Camas Prairie--and displayed several gorgeous quilts made by members of her family. Beulah said the material in the Lone Star quilt is not color fast because during WWII good fabric was scarce, though not rationed.

The second quilt was designed and made by Beulah's mother, Mabel Bretz, in 1961. Quilts like this remind Beulah of the women in her family who made them from dressmaking scraps. Though Beulah lived through the Great Depression, she doesn't remember it as a difficult time for her family. As a child she thought her family was "the same as everybody else's." Looking back now, she remembers having a different dress to wear to school every day for two weeks straight. Other girls in her class might have had two dresses in all.

The Camas Courier will soon run my article on Beulah's days as a teacher at the Corral school. I also plan to write a story about Beulah for the Whistle Stop, the newsletter of the Camas County Historical Society. Watch this blog for more!

Fire marshal says ski lodge fire accidental

Visit magicvalley.com, the Times-News' Web site, for my latest article on the Soldier Mountain Ski Area fire.

My Web site, amyballard.com, has more photos from the scene.

Photo by Amy Ballard
2009

Ski lodge fire

Visit the Times-News online for breaking news about this morning's fire at Soldier Mountain Ski Area north of Fairfield. The photo currently posted is mine. The story is a compilation of news gathered by me and other correspondents and reporters.