Monthly Archives: December 2009

Vacation Hiatus

December 29, 2009
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Vacation Hiatus

Has it really been that long? Is vacation almost over? I know there are some districts out there that get three weeks for winter break, but we go back on Monday. I haven’t even touched any of the piles I left behind in the classroom. In fact, since I took the day off that last Friday before break, I never did my annual Christmas clothes-gathering. Since I ride my bike to school every day, and because I go so early when it’s usually cold, I always wear several layers of sweaters and thermals and whatnot. Also, if it’s raining, I have rain gear layers and boots and etc. So over the course of the year, I end up amassing quite a collection of sweaters and spare shirts and jackets and school pants. In fact, by Thanksgiving, if I don’t make a conscious effort, I end up with nothing to wear out on weekends, but jeans and t-shirts. So usually every year on the last-day-before-Christmas-break, I tow my bike trailer and load up all my laundry, along with whatever else I think I might need over the break, as well as that year’s candles and caramels and coffee mugs and snickerdoodles.

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Playing God (Part One)

December 16, 2009
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Playing God (Part One)

I’m out of action for family bidness tomorrow and Friday, so today was my last day of 2009.  I accidentally leaked the info early to one period, (the girls’ club) so they brought snacks today and sorta forced me into a “party” of sorts. I have never been able to resist a good snickerdoodle, or two, or ten. So that meant that I had to shorten things up in the other periods too…so it was sort of a nutty day today. But in the 2 1/2 days I had to work with this week… (Aside: I’m breaking a perfect record of never having showed a movie in class, ever in 20 years. But this time I’m having the sub roll the cheesy Outsiders movie tomorrow and Friday while I’m gone. They’ve been begging for weeks, and I’ve been telling them to “wake up” from the dream, but this will be my little Christmas present to them.) …we did a little Giver epilogue and what-have-you. Yesterday, we discussed a few “literary” type questions. #4. The denouement (resolution) of  The Giver is when Jonas slides down the hill on the sled with Gabriel.  a) True  b) False Trick Question! FALSE! There is

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The Ending (Also: ____ing beyond.)

December 11, 2009
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The Ending (Also: ____ing beyond.)

We finished The Giver today. As usual, they all hated the ending. Well, hate is such an inexact word, as they would say in the Community. They don’t really hate the ending; they are frustrated by it, they find it unsatisfying. “Did they die or what? Did they make it?” “What do you think?” In my best Bob Newhart psychologist voice. “I hate when you do that!” “We’re going to read Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award acceptance speech on Monday, but…” “I read that already.” “Thank you for sharing; you’re very special. Then you’ll remember that she shares several different theories for the ending, none of which are hers. She won’t tell us.” “That’s not fair!” “I know. She gets letters all the time asking her. She wants us to decide. I sort of like it better that way. I mean, you’d feel cheated if the last line read, ‘Then Jonas opened his eyes, and he was once again on the Giver’s couch.’ Or if Jonas turned out to be a normal kid having a bad dream on Christmas Eve.” “Yeah but…” “Ok, let’s look at the ending. Right before he finds the sled at the top of the hill, he

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Sweet Release

December 9, 2009
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They read chapter 19 in The Giver last night, and so the Q/A period before the daily reading quiz had a bit of a different tone. Many had read ahead, or read the book in a previous class (curse thee once more, ye cursed book thieves), so the release of the twin wasn’t the blow that it was for the rest of them. Still… This year they seemed to obsess on the box and the chute. “Why did he put it in a box? Where does the chute go? Was it really a garbage chute?” “It’s a little more dignified and neat. Probably to an incinerator. Yes.” “Ohhhh. So sad.” This year though, a brand new question came up. We were talking about how Jonas freaks out at the thought of Fiona sticking the needle into the old people she once cared for so gently. One kid makes the point that the babies don’t know what the needle is all about… “But what if the old person starts to question the needle? You know, hey girlie, I thought this was a release, why are you sticking me with that thing?” I remind them, like the Giver does Jonas, that these

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Thank You.

December 5, 2009
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Thank You.

One of the reasons I’ve been lagging on posting this past week is that I was getting ready for our town’s annual Christmas parade. My boy and I have been rolling with the local bike posse in the parade every year since he was 2 (he’s 10 now). I used to tow a modified kid trailer with a drum set on it, and he would pound away as we rolled through our quaint downtown amid a steady stream of screams of “MISSSTERRRR COWWWWWARRRRDDDDD!” from the sidelines. But for the past couple of years, he’s been playing the trumpet in the school band, so I switched the trailer to more of a throne/rickshaw setup, and we roll with him riffing on “Jingle Bells” and “Old Saint Nick” from the rolling lawnchair. Well, they used footage of us from last year’s parade in the local commercial advertising this year’s parade. So for this whole past week, I’ve been getting the “I SAW you,” line from all sides. We were talking about it in one class on Friday (the parade was that night) and one boy suddenly (finally) picked up on the fact that I had a son. “You’re a parent?!” He was

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Random Featured Post

True That.

We had an open mouth quiz on chapter 8 today. One class has several boys who have a new phrase they’re trying out. Personally, I sort of like it. 4) On p127, we get an example of what seems to be foreshadowing. What is it? a) When Two-Bit says that Darry will kill him if Pony’s really sick. b) When Two-Bit says Darry could be a Soc. c) When Pony says he has a helpless feeling. d) When Two-Bit calls Pony chicken. e) When Pony says he’ll be well by tonight. “OK, number four. What’s foreshadowing?” The class takes care of that one for me. Most of them laugh, and one says, “I was wrong.” (Pony’s line at the end of chapter three, and a beauty example for them of foreshadowing.) “Oh yeah. Ok, so it’s C, right?” “True that.” “Number six. Darry, I mean Dally (they always mix up those names), right?” “True that.” (me, doing some “refocusing” of a gentleman off to the side) “‘Clark,’ could you focus your comments on the questions? Open mouth only applies if that mouth is talking about the questions.” “True that.” “And I think we’re done with that line, for today at [...]

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Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.

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Recent Comments

  • mrC commented on It’s Go Time!@Sarah-Most excellent! Keep up the good work, and don't let any of them talk you out of it. Glad to hear your kids recognize the value too. Fight the good fight!
  • Mrs. M~ commented on Illin’Feel better soon! There is nothing worse than being at school and trying to be "on" when you feel like death.
  • Sarah commented on It’s Go Time!I just came across your blog...I am a second year teacher and I am currently reading The Outsiders aloud to my seventh graders. I read it to them last year, too. I catch a lot of criticism for reading it to them...but they LOVE to have me read to them. I actually had a group
  • joan commented on Illin’I'm on day two of out-with-the-crud. I needed the rest. Hope you're in tip top shape by Monday!
  • mrC commented on “The Sub Used One of Your Sticks!”That one oughta be strung up like they used to do to horse thieves.
  • Heather commented on “The Sub Used One of Your Sticks!”The last sub I had left no note at all and broke the arm of my spinny chair by leaning back in it so far that he fell in the floor. The kids all said he was the best sub ever. I politely asked the school secretary to never have him sub in
  • mrC commented on The Future of Space Travel@Heather: Gawd I hate that. I think I even posted about it awhile back. @Kelli: This reminds me of high school. I went to a Jesuit high school (all boys) and for our Friday football rallies, we would import cheerleaders from other schools to be a part of the rally. And the girls would always begin
  • Heather commented on The Future of Space TravelMy eighth graders just have the habit of prefacing every question with, "I have a question." And announcing "I'm done" when they complete an assignment.
  • Kelli commented on The Future of Space TravelIs it bad that I sometimes start my stories with "Okay, so...."...? I guess the kids have rubbed off on me. Sigh.
  • Kelli commented on Blogging the Scoring Session (Part I)Ugh! Been there. I have been to those "Scoring and Rubric" type meetings in two different states now... Not fun, and not entirely informative, either.
  • Meg commented on No Groove Yet (Also: The Giver and No Homework Returns)There was a district I student taught in that hand the no fail policy. I child could not be held back a grade, even if they did absolutely nothing the whole year, until they were in high school. It took most of the middle schoolers about 3 seconds to realize they didn't have
  • Kelli commented on No Groove Yet (Also: The Giver and No Homework Returns)You know, that whole "no-zero" policy goes hand-in-hand with the "no-failure" or "no-retention" policy, and my school district is a definite contributor to this madness. I can understand the desire to stop giving zeros and MAKE the kids do the work (giving countless opportunities until successful), but I have been in a situation where
  • commented on Obligatory Santa VideoWe have an unofficial "no zero" policy. It takes a little extra effort on the teacher's part to get all of the students to complete their assignments but we have made it work. The thing that was most helpful was instituting a "homework detention" that is separate from discipline detention. If a

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