BooBoo

He's a legend.  Every student who has passed through my room since 1998 has heard all about this amazing dog and his many adventures.  So, it's only fitting that I supply you with a picture, right?  Here's one from a few years back where he's devouring some cat food we'd dumped in the yard for a stray kitty.  Good thing the cat wasn't around . . . Boo hates cats!

Mr. Boo is around 17 years old now, approximately.  We rescued him from the wild streets of Beecher City back in 1996, and he was at least a year old then. In dog years, he is at least 119 years old!  Go BooBoo!

Intros and Conclusions

Students in SPE 111, dual credit Intro to Speech, are working on improving their skills with the writing of introductions and conclusions.  Just as an on-ramp is important for interstate travelers, an introduction is important for audience members hearing your speeches.  Continuing the analogy, an interstate requires an exit ramp, and a speech requires a conclusion.  I hope to witness some impressive intros and conclusions during the next speech.

Techno Music and Sentence Writing

I'm teaching the freshmen to write longer, better, more creative sentences.  As part of the process, I taught them that a series of short sentences is rhythmically repetitive, and annoying, much like a techno song.  To drive home the point of the analogy, I demonstrated the difference in drum beats using a software-based drum machine called Hydrogen.  It's a free program that I discovered, and I use it a lot at home when I'm composing and recording music with my computer-based recording studio.  The kids seemed to enjoy it, so here's a link for you to the Hydrogen site where you can download the program.

http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/

Enjoy!

The Trial

In English II, we've been reading To Kill A Mockingbird, and today, we've made it to the start of the trial.  Jem, Dill, and Scout have secured their seats in the balcony with Reverend Sykes; Sheriff Heck Tate is on the witness stand; Judge Taylor is chewing on a fresh cigar, and Prosecuting Attorney Mr. Gilmer is ready to start the proceedings.  This is a very exciting part of the book, especially when the Ewells take the stand.

Grading

After missing so many days because of a family emergency, I was absolutely buried with things to grade.  All last week, I worked my tail off to get caught up.  Finally, at 9:15 last night, I got it all done.  I'll finish it up by entering the data into the online grade book here in a few minutes, so you'll all be able to check your current grades.  I finished the grading just in time; two classes are handing in homework assignments today, and three other classes are having a test.  Maybe, if nothing drastic happens, I'll be able to keep up with it all.

Classic Rock Friday

As a reward for good behavior throughout the week, I take a few minutes at the beginning of each deserving class on Friday and share an excellent classic rock song (sometimes with video) with my students.  This week, I am featuring an acoustic live version of "Say You Will" from Foreigner.  The only remaining original member is the guitarist, but the rest of the group is incredible, especially bassist/harmony vocalist Jeff Pilson (who is a founding member of Dokken) and lead vocalist Kelly Hansen.  Here's the Youtube link. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i481jiOkkMBTW

If there are any inappropriate comments on the Youtube page, I'm not responsible for them.  In class, I use a site called SafeShareTV, which elminates everything else on the page and only shows the video.

Student of the Week

I've instituted a new award for Room 14 this year.  Student of the Week is a self-nominating award, and it is also a self-awarding award.  What does that mean?  If you nominate yourself and make your own award/certificate etc., I'll tape it up on my board!

Taylor G. has been Student of the Week for over a month now. Go Taylor!  Until someone else self-nominates, Taylor will retain her lofty position.

Also, on an unrelated note, three cheers for Kaleb H. for his handy computer tip that he shared with me yesterday.

A Short, Easy Chapter

After struggling through the first chapter dealing with subjects, verbs, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nouns, and predicate adjectives, the students in English IA are ready for a change of pace.  It just so happens that we started today on the shortest and easiest chapter of the year.  Today, they are working on correcting sentence fragments; tomorrow they will work on fixing run-on sentences.  Friday will be the Chapter Review, and Monday will be the test.  Hopefully, this test will go better for them, and their grades will improve accordingly.

Stress and Food

There's probably some profound insight I could make here, but I'll leave that to more powerful intellects and just share an observation about stress levels and appetite. 

As the "battle of the bulge" continues, I've noticed that my eating habits are directly tied to my stress level.  When I was dealing with the extreme stress of a recent family medical emergency, I had absolutely no appetite.  I could go all day long and not feel the slightest bit of hunger. Clearly, this is not a preferred weight-loss method, but it was effective.  Now that the crisis is over, I'm back to my normal level of way-too-much-stress, and my appetite has gone berserk!  Somehow, my brain equates food to lower stress levels, even though I know better.

So, I can simplify the situation with this realization.  I can't eat my stress away, and I need to find a healthier way to manage it.  I should play more guitar, or ride my bike more often, or get back into lifting weights.  All of those activities ease my mind and make me healthier.

Cross Country and Speeches

I think I'm becoming a cross country fan!  On Saturday, I ventured to Tuscola to watch the meet and enjoyed it immensely.  I had no idea that such a nice park was located just behind the Red Barn restaurant.  I guess I'm only focused on the food when I'm there . . .

Seniors in Intro to Speech started delivering their first speeches today.  Some thought I was crazy when I warned them that speaking about a significant person in their lives might be an emotional experience, but they believe me now.  Good job on the speeches today, and I'm looking forward to hearing more tomorrow.

Open House

I enjoyed meeting several parents last night at Open House as well as seeing a lot of students in a non-classroom setting.  I discussed with many parents the opportunity for freshmen to write their own short stories in fourth quarter.  As part of those discussions, I mentioned that I wrote a short story of my own as the freshmen were writing theirs.  I'm pretty proud of it, so, if I can figure out how to upload it, I'll share it with you.  If I can't figure it out, and you're really interested in reading it, shoot me an email, and I'll send you the file as an attachment.

Quizzes, Tests, and Speeches

Just a quick heads up to parents . . .

Freshmen have a big quiz tomorrow on Subjects, Verbs, and Complements and test on Friday.
Sophomores have a quiz today on Chapters 1-8 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Seniors have a Speech test on Thursday and their first speech on Monday and/or Tuesday of next week.

Update

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working towards a weight loss goal.  So, after several days of choking down tuna for lunch and avoiding most of the foods I love, here's the update.  Since the start of the school year, I've lost 12 pounds.  Some of it was due to an inordinate amount of recent stress, but I don't care; it still counts!

First Speech

Seniors in the LLC Dual Credit course SPE 111 Introduction to Public Speaking are gearing up for the first speech, as well as their first test.  I hope they're ready!  Sometimes it is hard for them to adjust to the idea that even though they are in the high school building, they are really in a college course.  And, obviously, the tests, assignments, projects, and grading are designed for college students. 

Substitute

When I was a kid, I would have never said "I hate missing school."  As a teacher, I say it every time I have to be gone.  Making sub notes, worrying about the students' behavior, and playing "catch up" when you return isn't much fun.  Thankfully, Mrs. Anderson always does a wonderful job as my substitute.  She goes above and beyond the expectations we have for subs, and she always leaves a little candy for me to enjoy when I return.  How could I ask for anything more?