Monthly Archives: May 2010

Twits

May 4, 2010
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I just read a webnews headline that read: “Twitter is the New CNN.” Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket? If Mr. Coward were to “tweet” his way through a typical day period (which is about as likely as, oh let’s see, Hell freezing over is too cliche, how about…Bill Gates going broke.) 8:21- the homies r screaming since vp said hand over your heart 4 the pledge – oh the pain! I left the door open: some poor late kid in the hall looks alarmed 8:22- I gotta put a switch on the speaker: more drivel from some underprepared kid talking 2 close 2 the mic…sounds like the bus station back in the day 8:26- blue slip. since it doesn’t say NOW, I set it next 2 the Popple…probly forget it later 8:30- finally!! “share” time is over and we can start – don’t remind me that I told Vero she could share first tomorrow about something she will have forgotten by then if we’re lucky 8:32- checking vocab hw, 1/4 not holding…”why is my grade so low?” it ain’t rocket science people 8:38- correcting warm up…let one of them try to write on the shmartboard …you

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More Mailbag and a New Tom Sawyer Fan.

May 3, 2010
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I like responding to comments over here. It gives me a little more room to “spread myself” as Mark Twain would say. That reminds me. We’re almost finished with Tom Sawyer, and I think more kids than usual are actually enjoying it. I had one kid come up to me at the Open House for my boy’s school (this kid’s alma mater last year), clutching his copy of TS. He wanted to laugh and talk about the Tom taking Becky’s punishment scene. There were several things that were unusual about that exchange: 1.  This boy is batting .480 in my class. (That’s 48% to you non-baseball people.) 2. He was three chapters ahead of the class. 3. He was getting most of MT’s irony, and about 80% of the language. 4. He  said, and I quote because it will forever be seared into my brain, “I’m liking this book so much that I think I might buy it when we’re done reading it in class.” I said he could keep that copy of the book when we’re done. Our department has 350+ copies in various states lying around. I think we can spare one. Especially since our sister school, the

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Random Featured Post

A First!

This afternoon, I asked my friend and colleague, in his experiences with junior high, how many times he could remember seeing two seventh grade boys hugging. Sincerely. “Like a man-hug, or a real one?” “What’s a man hug?” “You know, you start out with the soul shake, and then you pull in and sorta bump chests, and then the other hand sorta slaps the back.” “Not that kind.” “Ummm. None.” “I knew it. It was a first for me too!” Milk and Cheese, the “True That” boys, were at it again. They were moving their desks closer together (again), like they like to do, and jabbering nonsense. Nothing major, and technically it was before class, but I said, “Well the quarter does end Friday, and I change up the seating chart every quarter, so next week I get to move you guys far, far apart.” One of our recent vocabulary words was crestfallen. I should have taken a picture of them to use as an example. Milk holds out both arms pleadingly (and it if it wasn’t sincere, he should be an actor) and says, “But…But…But… What about The Team?” OMG. The class is dying. Half of them are happy [...]

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

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