Goal: Read Ron Clark’s The Essential 55 in its entirety and incorporate the ideas into my classroom/Goal: Keep adding books/reviews to GoodReads each time I finish a book
I finished reading The Essential 55 today, so I can check off this goal on my official list! I was excited that one of Clark’s rules is the following: “Carpe diem. You only live today once, so don’t waste it. Life is made up of special moments, many of which happen when caution is thrown to the wind and people take action and seize the day” (156). This fits in perfectly with what I try to convey via the Carpe Diem Unit and how I strive to live my life. The 100 Goals assignment and this blog are prime examples. Reading this section of the book reminded me that we should revisit this philosophy as a class when I return.
Overall, I enjoyed Clark’s handbook. As I mentioned in a previous post, I found many commonalities between his ideas and principles and my own, which was refreshing. Additionally, he brought the idea of reinforcing basic manners into the forefront of my mind. I will be marking this book as “Read” on GoodReads and writing up a little something soon.
Goal: Make time to watch more movies
Last night, my dad and I went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is based on Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name. I read the novel on the beach and poolside while my wife and I were on our honeymoon, and I really enjoyed it because it is fast-paced and full of intrigue. When I finished the book, I gave it to my dad to read, and he zipped right through it as well. Since then, he and I have read the other books in Larsson’s Millenium series and have been waiting for the movie to come out.
I will say here that the movie did not disappoint. I had forgotten some of the plot, but once the movie got going, I fell right back into it. Like the book, the movie is pretty brutal in spots, but in order to accurately depict the unique character that is Lisbeth Salander, the brutality is necessary. The actress who plays Salander, Rooney Mara, did an outstanding job—look for her name when the Golden Globes airs on January 15, 2012.
