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.