Introduction

My  name is Nicole and I am a junior studying Elementary Education at the University of Great Falls. I am originally from a small town, Cottonwood, Idaho but I moved here for school and plan on living in Montana for a little while longer after I graduate from college.

My goals in teaching right now are to learn as much as I can from my classes and also from teachers that I observe and work with. This will help me see different teaching styles, techniques, policies, and procedures so that when I have my own classroom I will have a good foundation and good idea of how I want my classroom to run. As a teacher, I want to provide my students with the best environment possible so that it can contribute to their learning rather than distract them from learning.  

For this blog, I will be starting my posts with a picture of the book I am rating, followed by my rating of the book and why I rated it the way I did. I will be using a 3 star system to rate my books. The criteria I will use to rate the books can be found below.

	***	**	*	-	Comments
Plot	Plot is well developed with a sequence of events. The events are in good logical order. There is a clear conflict and resolution.	Plot contains a sequence of events. The events are in order but the conflict is not clear or does not contain a clear resolution.	There are events but they are not in good chronological order. The climax and resolution are lacking or not present.	Not addressed
Characters	Characters are well developed with clear roles and contribute to the story. Reader is able to personally connect with the character(s).	Characters have clear roles within the story. Reader is not able to connect with the character(s).	Character(s) are present but do not have clear roles. Reader is not able to connect with character(s).	No characters developed
Style and Language	Book contains precise vocabulary, figurative language, and or dialogue. When dialogue is used it is effective and not distracting.	Book contains precise vocabulary and/or figurative language. When dialogue is used it is distracting.	Book contains very little precise vocabulary and no figurative language or dialogue.	Book contains no precise vocabulary or figurative language. No dialogue is used.
Theme	There is a clear theme and it is easily identifiable by the story.	There is a theme but it is a little more difficult to identify.	The theme is almost impossible to identify.	There is no theme.