Six. Thanks for all the groovy comments lately… Today was the last day before winter break. For once I’m not going into vacation with a pile of stuff (the autocorrect got rid of the s I usually put in that word… and it didn’t know from the word autocorrect…ok now it does) to grade, because I gave the new district benchmark the other day, and took advantage of the time for once. More on that there benchmark thing after the vacay. I’m going to be part of the group reading the essay response post, which is also new, and I’m figuring that things might get a mite ugly. And so today we were down to some mental floss, a quick quiz, and about 15-20 minutes or so of chill time. I tried not to show a video, I really did. At least this one is educational. And I will bet that you have never seen it. Really. Three things: Check out how callous they are. No helmets. Be the first to figure out the title. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQgAMkMmsfg
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On the second day of Christmas… I had been crabby for the first half of the week for many and various reasons: a “mama bear,” a moron or two, a faculty meeting, the brrrnesss of the weather lately–30 degrees on my bike to school every day this week…really? Really? I thought this was California… But today was full of laffs. aside: For some reason, I just really love spelling it that way and seeing it spelled that way. I don’t know why, I just smile every time I see it that way. Here’s one of today’s knee slappers. (I think I might need to save some of the others for days 9 or 10, if the well starts to run dry.) A few weeks ago, I found a stash of the “consumable” workbooks that I thought we were out of, and we’re working (haha) our way through the “reading in the real world” type exercises. Yes I have blogged about this before, but instead of making you click the link to get the back story, I have conveniently included it below, along with the related “video,” which this lesson gives me an excuse to drag out each year. I’m sure my old
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Been a while, I know… So I’m going all dot dot dot on you. It’s been almost a month–since September 14 to be exact–that the Standing Girl first decided to stand for the whole period. Not all periods. Just mine. And she’s still standing. Just for me. She still won’t say why… She does sit for tests… Finally getting into chapter 7. Chapter 6 was fun as always. I think it’s my fave. It has a lot of humor, probably more than anywhere in the book–Dally’s line, “Forget those blasted kids!” never fails to get a laugh. This year though there was a new comment. “And all the kids’ parents are right there and heard that!” I never really thought of that. And Dally cussing out Pony at the hospital is another surefire laugh-getter. I love rolling around slouched in my rolly chair waving my fist like Dally… In fact this is the chapter where we really start to like Dally. First, he’s funny. (I think he might have more funny lines than the supposed clown Two-Bit.) Second, we see that he cares about Johnny. Miss Susan Eloise is setting us up nicely for chapter nine. I read somewhere that the plot
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The first couple of PSA’s from my first quarter video production elective class are ready for prime-time. Amazing what can arise from amid the chaos of late-arriving equipment, unworking computers and crashing software. (Actually, the past week has been really good; we might be getting the hang of this.) PSA Videos.
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The drama lady is going to kill me. My fledgling video class has taken over the drama room, and I have my sights set on acquiring more classroom real estate from the music department. Soon I will control more classroom space than three or four “regular” teachers. Quick refresher goes here. In a comic book, the main character occasionally talks to him or herself for awhile, and catches up those readers who may not be so loyal as to have read every issue. So it’s not strictly a flashback; more of a refresher or a ”previously on” sort of thing. And so, previously on mrC’s blog… I’ll be “teaching” (more like figuring how to teach) a seventh grade elective class in video production. I’ll have one period of seventh graders and $70,000 worth of computers and video equipment. Our share of the fees charged to our local cable company for their franchise to extort the community has been sitting in the bank for years collecting interest. We’re the only secondary school left in the district who hadn’t spent their money. In order to spend the money, you have to give the cable company footage to fill up the time on
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First off: Ok, Ok. I’m starting to find my happy place with research. Thank you for the comments and suggestions; I think next year will be better. You guys gave me some good ideas. We’re working on outlines this week, prepping for research. Among other activities, I give them partially completed outlines and word banks to fill them in with. I strategically place a few clues in the outline, and they have to determine the hierarchy of the various entries I provide, and fill in the blanks. Like this (the stats are kinda dated, but it’s a topic near to my heart): Topic: The automobile has become the American Nightmare kills 265,000 and injures millions annually, road rage and reckless driving have increased, better city design to decrease auto dependence, leading source of air pollution, alternatives to the automobile, main means of transportation, too many people dependent on the car, large SUV’s: rollovers and danger to smaller cars, more cars and more roads mean more traffic congestion, average car: 5 tons of carbon dioxide each year, contributes to acid rain and smog, leading cause of death and injury, new dangers with 2 recent developments, public transportation I. Main means of [...]
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That reminds me of those great SNL skits about the Sofa King. You know, how the prices are "Sofa King" low, the deals are "Sofa King" great, etc. (You obviously have to say those phrases out loud to get the joke.)