Maybe I could get used to this. Maybe.
I voted against the two-week spring break schedule. The union put it to a vote last year, and the two-week break won out 51-49%. I liked starting later in the fall, and spring around these parts is pretty windy, while fall is postcard weather. And it puts a big Christmas-like hole in the middle of [...]
Flash(way)Back
Today the cops came for me at school. Wow, that’s a pretty dramatic opening for a teacher blog entry. With any luck*, visions of God-knows-what are flashing through your head right now. “What did he do? Did they haul him off in handcuffs in front of his students? OMG, will his next post be from [...]
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Last 100
- OH NOOOOOO! (Part I)
- Wish I had at least one this year…
- The Five Stages of Grief (in 30 seconds)
- I’ll take 32, please.
- “Until you have kids here.” (Not already?!)
- CSI?
- Whatever it is…it ain’t working.
- This is what I’m working with this year.
- Twits
- More Mailbag and a New Tom Sawyer Fan.
- Classroom Mailbag II
- Classroom Mailbag
- Guest Artist: Marion Brady
- Teaching is a Messy Business (Pics Part II)
- Picture Day (Part I)
- “This isn’t math!”
- Your Inner Steamboat.
- 1903
- Maybe I could get used to this. Maybe.
- I Got Nothin’
- Easy…yet not. (“A Page” Part Two)
- “Go home and write a page tonight…” (Part One)
- Grandma’s Hose
- Permanent Record
- Soundz!
- The Timer Redux
- Integral
- Staff Development for the Passive Aggressive
- No, You’re Not.
- Scrape that Mucus Off Your Brain. (Also: Now I’m the Straight Man.)
- SBD…
- Workshop?
- Everybody’s Special Now. (EInstruction Rules!)
- Detention. Also: Alternative Careers III.
- Have a Cigar (Also: Shmartness)
- “You don’t look as mean!”
- Test-Taking Tip
- Shmart?
- Seventh Grader with a Badge
- What? What? (Wait for it…) OMG! EWWW!
- 120 Seconds Book List (So far.)
- More 120 Seconds Demos.
- 600 Words a Week? Easy. (Part II)
- 600 Words!? Every Week?!! Wha? (Part I)
- Joe Said Yes. (120 Seconds III)
- “I near pi_ _ed myself.” (120 Seconds II)
- 120 Seconds – The Two-Minute Book Report. (Remix)
- Mostly Rerun Because House is Back
- School Dance!
- Near Catastrophe
- Playing God II
- “You know you missed us!”
- Vacation Hiatus
- Playing God (Part One)
- The Ending (Also: ____ing beyond.)
- Sweet Release
- Thank You.
- “Where do I sit?”
- Snow?
- “You may lie.” (Also: MadLib)
- Parental Units
- The “Stirrings” (Again)
- Virtual Mailbag: Yes, I do.
- Happy Birthday
- New Material, and OMG, Groups!
- Only 35% New Shtuff (But it’s Gold.)
- I SAW You. (Three-Word Phrases II)
- Nature or Nurture? Intriguing Question.
- Guest Speaker: False Assumptions
- Sunny
- The Scream
- Guest Artist: Creating Memorable Characters (Also: Chapter 6 rerun.)
- Gold.
- 57% New Material (Chapter 5 and Richard Cory)
- The New (but really old) Quiet Stick
- Friday Follow-Ups
- Hank vs. Prince. (Also: “Lean meat?”)
- 528. (Do the Math II.)
- Confession
- “…more than I can chew.”
- 50% New Material
- “Can we read Outsiders today?”
- Dot Dot Dot (Also: 4.7 miles!)
- #*$@!
- “But he’s been working so hard.”
- Snnkkkttt! (Also: Adjectives)
- No-Brainer
- 33 % New Material
- Too Quiet
- BTSN ’09
- “Teach”
- Sheep
- “Rock Star”
- Hey Kid! (Guest Speaker)
- Mailbag: Vocabulary and Grammar
- Big Hat
- Mailbag: The Holy Trinity
- CKD
- Something New.
- “Well at first, I was like…”
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- Exercise1
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- First Job2
- Follow up7
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- grades4
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- grammar3
- Guest artist6
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- Me27
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- Monsters on Maple Street5
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- open mouth quizzes4
- oral reading7
- Other activities5
- Outlining2
- Outside links9
- Pain.3
- parenthood1
- parents1
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- Pink Slips3
- poetry2
- police4
- poll2
- presentations2
- Presenting the Book18
- Prince1
- Professional Development1
- professional learning communities1
- Quiet Stick3
- RaffleKing10
- Random Featured Post12
- Ray Bradbury2
- Reading4
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- Related readings2
- Rerun10
- Research Papers9
- Richard Cory1
- Roller Derby1
- Romeo and Juliet1
- San Francisco1
- Schedules1
- School Dance1
- School Reform2
- Schoolhouse Rock2
- Seventh Grade Behavior68
- Shakespeare1
- Simpsons1
- SmartBoard2
- Snow2
- St. Mel's4
- Steve Martin2
- stories7
- Stories of Seventh Grade40
- Student Aides3
- student teachers1
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- substituting1
- Supplementary Materials5
- Teaching31
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- testing8
- The Giver14
- The Midwife's Apprentice5
- The Outsiders25
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- Tom Sawyer9
- TV1
- Twitter2
- vacation1
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- web-quest1
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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 [...]
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About
Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.
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- linda commented on OH NOOOOOO! (Part I)love this dialog... I am currently an elem school librarian but formerly an 8th grade English teacher...I taught the PIGMAN to my 8th graders ,20 years ago and they loved it (my dept head had serious reservations about it because of the bathroom "bomb" in the first chapter) cam't go wrong with anything by AVi.
- Erica commented on Wish I had at least one this year…Hey I am in Vegas! Hope you have a good time while you are here. If you need to know all the good places to eat, let me know, LOL
- mrC commented on OH NOOOOOO! (Part I)@ Mrs. M- My very first year here, I had three periods of eighth grade, and I pretty much stuck to the anthology, which had the play in it. I didn't have time to read the diary, so I went with the notes in the TE.
I think we also watched some of the - Sara commented on OH NOOOOOO! (Part I)While I understand why students should read Anne Frank, I have problems with it being done in 8th grade. Every year someone wants to compare the Confederates to the Nazis or ask when the Nazis entered the Civil War. It's just my pet peeve, though. I know that covering Anne Frank makes 10th grade World
- Mrs. M~ commented on OH NOOOOOO! (Part I)If you do not like reading the full diary, you could try the play version of Anne Frank. I do it every year, and it is one of my students' favorite units. The Prentice Hall textbook has a fantastic audio performance of the play, so we listen as we read along for the
- CLuce commented on Wish I had at least one this year…I understand completely! I teach sixth graders. In our district 6th grade is still part of the Elementary School (one of the few in our area). These kids cannot wait to move on to Middle School. They feel they are just too sophisticated to be in Elementary School. I wish
- mrC commented on TimerSend me your e-mail address, and I'll send you what you need to make it work!
- Dawn commented on TimerLove the idea but the timer won't load...says missing some type of dll file
- Molly commented on Test-Taking TipThank you, This is reassuring.
- Sara commented on Whatever it is…it ain’t working.Oh, Mr. C.! I am currently buried beneath a mountain of seventh grade research papers to grade. We spent soooo much precious time practicing, researching, revising, going over all of those research paper "rules," and yet I'm amazed at how many of them have managed to do--in pure seventh grade fashion--the least
- Carly commented on Whatever it is…it ain’t working.I'm not teaching English this year for the first time in about 13 years, so don't have to deal with the research paper. But one thing I started doing a few years ago was the research story. The kids research an Alaskan mammal and must write a story about a year in the life
- Meg commented on This is what I’m working with this year.I think girls are so spacey at that age because they think being an airhead impresses the boys. I walked into class the other day and one of the smartest girls had the laptop bag on her head. I tell her to take it off and she says: "It fell there!"
- Mrs. E commented on This is what I’m working with this year.Ah, yes... the typical 7th grade student. I am giving a vocabulary test today, and one of my sweethearts is walking towards me with a huge smile on his face. He's made a 100! He's finally learned how to use "nonsensical" correctly in a sentence as an adverb! Nope... "Hey, Mrs. E!
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