It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Feb. 13, 2017)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Other Than Reading... 

This was a normal week. Normal February weather. Normal days at school. The only difference was that my sixth graders were gone on a field trip on Thursday to a local ski resort to learn to ski. It was quite welcome after last week's excitement.

Some people have asked about our lockdown and suggested that it was scary. It really wasn't. We practice lockdown drills at least five times a year. Some are full lockdowns when we all go to a secure room, turn out the lights, and hunker down in silence in the safest part of the room. Others are lockdowns where we lock our classroom doors, keep teaching, and keep kids in the room until the all clear sounds. This began as the second kind of lockdown.

I had my class of sixth graders using the computers at one end of the media center. There were assorted other seventh and eighth graders from study halls using the other part of the media center along with a few senior high school students also working at tables.

We started to wonder when the lockdown wasn't lifted after a couple of minutes but figured they were just doing a longer practice. But it dragged on and on, the bell rang for the first lunch which is the lunch for seventh and eighth graders and an announcement came to stay in lockdown. My students had no idea what was going on other than that it was their lunchtime and they were hungry.

Then the bell for second lunch rang...and third lunch. We received an email saying that we were to keep the kids in lockdown after a couple of hours but had no idea why. We could see the Sheriff's cars arriving through our windows. We could also see the television stations' remote trucks gathering just off school property. Senior high students can carry their phones and informed us that the lockdown had hit social media. The TV and newspapers had put up articles about it on their webpages. They had no more information than we did about the cause.

At about 2:50 they came around with pizza and sandwiches to feed my very hungry kids. We were starting to worry that we would be keeping kids after dismissal time but the all clear sounded just a couple minutes after regular dismissal time and the kids were able to go home.

I dashed over to the Elementary for a meeting and wasn't involved in the after school debriefing for the staff but heard later that it was feared that a senior high student had brought a gun to school and was possibly threatening someone. The Sheriff was called to investigate which he and his people did. We didn't get an all clear until they had interviewed the people involved and searched the school. A week later, I still don't know any details and probably never will. The administration learned a lot and are already making plans to better handle the situation if it should happen again. Better communication with staff and a way to feed kids in a more timely manner were two big issues.

Read Last Week

I couldn't wait to read Echoes in Death by J. D. Robb. I love this series which at 44 books shows no signs of getting tired. This was another excellent mystery with great characters. My review will be posted on Feb. 18.

Signature Wounds by Kirk Russell was also enjoyable. It was an intense thriller with a main character who is complicated but easy to root for. My review will be posted on Feb. 25.

Currently

Yes, I know it won't be released until May, but I couldn't wait to begin The Gathering Edge by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. This is one of my favorite science fiction series.

Next Week

Held over from last week and all from my review stack:

• Break Me by Tiffany Snow (March 14)
• The Cutaway by Christina Kovac (March 21)
• A Twist of the Knife by Becky Masterman (March 21)

Reviews Posted

• House Rules by Jodi Picoult
• Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

• The Gathering Edge by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (May 2)
• Some Kind of Hero by Suzanne Brockmann (July 11)
• Echoes in Death by J. D. Robb

To see what Young Adult books I have been reading and plan to read, check out Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.