Brilliant....

Haven't totally sifted through this blog, but the title says enough to ignite my curiosity: "Rate Your Students." It doesn't have "real names" or anything like that. We're teachers; not idiots. Looks like it has amusing anecdotes about common excuses students give and common annoying things they do. Case in point: emailing a paper/essay topic to you 2 weeks after it's due. I can relate. My students had a Powerpoint due 2 weeks ago (I think it was 2 weeks ago---I've lost count)-- this weekend one of my students emailed me, "Yeah, I'll email the Powerpoint this weekend." As IF it was due this coming Monday or something. I don't get it...how they could be so lackadaisical and irresponsible... I don't remember kids being like that when I was a kid...but then again, I was a "good student."

Check it out:
http://rateyourstudents.blogspot.com/

Kids!!!

It's the night before progress reports are due. I think it's a waste of time to have 130 progress reports ready when things always turn out the same each marking period. The same kids get As and do stellar work; the same kids get low grades and comments like "Needs to improve homework completion in order to boost grade; I know your son/daughter is capable...blah blah blah." I have yet to remember a case when a student made a miraculous changeover from bad student to amazing student.

Was reading my 8th graders' journals and HAD to laugh. I post writing prompts and they do 5 minutes of sustained writing. One of the prompts one day was something along the lines of "Putting my foot in my mouth..." Reading through the journals now, TWO students wrote about how they can't put their foot in their mouth because they're not flexible enough. One student said, "That's totally gross anyway" and the other one commented, "I think it's weird and not attractive."

It's times like this that I have to laugh. They're such little smartasses in class but SOOOO basic otherwise.

Another student wrote about our school's "cruel" administration and how when he goes to prep school next year the administration will actually care. Guess that's what money will buy you....

I am not counting down to the end of the schoolyear yet (or at least I am trying not to). After Memorial Day, I feel like we'll be "home free." Until then, I'll continue to say the AA creed..."one day at a time."

"Going the Distance"

I feel like a giddy kid--- keeping track of how many days of the schoolyear are left. There's 42 total days... that includes weekends and all... only 32 "school days" left. I keep looking @ the end-of-year calender, taking note of all of the upcoming activities. Every minute counts!!

I want to make an oath to myself to make this summer one of the best ones (um, again, another thing a giddy kid would say: "This summer's going to rule, man!!"). Seriously though, each summer I work PART-PART-time at the library. In my mind, I always plan excursions, beach days, etc. Then none of those things happen. I have to stop being afraid...and stop being lazy too. Make time for mini-excursions, even if I am going alone. My big fear is going into the city alone. I'd love to go to the Guggenheim or MOMA or something...but have no idea how to go about it. All I know how to do is take the train to Penn Station...that's it. Have to learn more. And have to think positive... "Most" people on this earth are good. Why do I allow my mind to conjure up images of me getting robbed, mugged, etc? The media, argh...

Ok, pre-summer goal... same goal as past few months... I want to try to lose a few pounds...I know EVERYONE says that. My goal is NOT a bathing suit goal-- even if I was a "skinny mini" (the term my Grandma used to use in regard to my "skinny mini" sister), I'd be pretty covered up on the beach. Bathing suits freak me out...bikinis even moreso. It's like wearing a bra and underwear on the beach. Guess I wouldn't fare too well on one of those hip, nude European beaches. Oh well, Sleazside here I come instead:)

No-- my weight loss goal is simple. I want to get into those tacky, "shredded" denim shorts from 4 or 5 summers ago. I think they will be perfect for PNC tailgating excursions. To fit into them, hmm, it can't be that hard. In college, I went from 180 to 155... I'm 10 pounds past 155...but damn, those last 10 pounds are always the hardest....

Self-control, self-control, self-control....

Fox Sports Grill + Girlie Music

I don't like to exclusively classify things according to gender, but Fox Sports Grill seriously has girlish music that they play. LAME girlish music. We went to Palisades Park Mall yesterday---feels like we go there far too often, but it's only 40 minutes away and has so much stuff in it! Being that it was a Saturday night, the whole earth was waiting on line at all of the restaurants.

We decided to go to the Sports Grill place. They have this room where you can wait in---there's a fireplace going and a HUGE TV with a sports game playing. We went into the room to wait for our seats and suddenly I heard Heart's "All I wanna do is make love to you." This song has amusing significance for me---in elementary school we used to place this music game all the time... The music teacher would split the class into two teams. Each team would be given a word and the first team to come up with a song title including that word + artist would get a point. Once we were playing and the word was "love." As a kid, I listened like crazy to the radio. This is before CD players and downloading music so sometimes I'd sit there and WAIT and WAIT for a new favorite song to come on---Immediately, I'd press record when I heard the song's opening and then I'd tape it.

Anyway, I knew that there was a Heart song with "love" in it. I said I wasn't sure if my answer was appropriate so the teacher told me to whisper the title in her ear... which, in retrospect, is even creepier. Can't remember if my team got the point or not.

Anyway, it was hilarious. There were all these guys watching this baseball game, intensely, and in the background there was this cheesy Heart song playing. I jokingly was singing along to it... still know all the words. No one seemed to notice.

The experience got weirder as we were seated for our meal. Within the timespan of our meal, we heard: a Jon Secada song, Mariah Carey's version of "I'll Be There," "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue!!!, that cheesy Cardigans' one hit wonder "Lovefool," "Standing Outside a Broken Phonebooth..." by Primitive Radio Gods, and Salt n Peppa's "Let's Talk About Sex." No one else seemed to notice the music. I don't know what's weirder---the fact that I know the title/artist of all those songs OR the fact that all of them were playing in a "sports themed" restaurant.

Nope, they're definitely weirder than me...

Smell of Rain

I walked out of the school building today and could smell it in the air----rain. For some reason, I love the smell of the air right before it rains. It's the smell of damp asphalt combined with the impending rain---so I guess if I lived in an ultra rural place, I wouldn't necessarily get the same "high" before it rains.

Dribs and drabs of rain hit my windshield on the way home...nothing too monumental.

While turning into the parking lot of the apartment complex, I saw some of the cherryblossoms slowly drifting down from the trees. At least I think they're cherryblossoms.

At this time of year, I purposely park under the trees so that when I drive off and leave for work in the morning, petals quickly fly off my windshield.

This kind of weather actually makes me smile.

Paper Pet Peeves

I've always been a searcher--- I love tracking down obscure book titles; I love reading references made in other books and learning extra information; I like the whole process of research.

For weeks, I've had tons of journal articles and books at my disposal. I can't complain too much about the messiness of the apartment because right now our bedroom looks like a library...moreso than usual. There's piles all over-- journal artices, MSU books, public library books, & comic books. Whenever I write a paper, I always feel the need to have TONS of resources, half of which I don't even end up using. Better to have more info, than less---that's my theory.

I'm @ the library now. I'm annoyed. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to write a measly 3 pages! And of course, I put myself into a quandary. Found another journal article that I "must have" and can't find the full text version online. Guess I could purchase it but I'd rather just drive to a library and get the publication off of their shelves.

I guess I haven't waited until the very last minute, but to me, this is close enough. Don't know why I do this to myself. I guess if people understood why they procrastinated, then they would no longer procrastinate.

Funny thing is I just got an email from a student. She "forgot" to bring her vocab assignment sheet home and even though I gave her class a week for the assignment, she said she waits until the last minute because she does better that way. She wants an extension... one extra day. I guess in my moment of procrastination, I feel sympathy for her... "I can relate."

Anyway, the paper's coming along fine and all... How's everyone else doing?

Thoughts on the course

At first, when I found out this class was going to be hybrid/online, I wasn't looking forward to it all that much. It's not that I am anti-tech or anything, but I do enjoy the whole classroom experience quite a bit---talking face and face with intelligent adults---a delightful contrast to my workweek full of middle schoolers. I've also always been leery of online classes--- I've known people that have gotten their entire degrees online and the whole thing just seems like a sham. In comparison to my grad classes, it didn't seem like they had as much work.

Anyway, the class turned out to be an excellent experience. In retrospect, coming to MSU's campus every Saturday morning would have been annoying. The fact that we could do a lot of the work @ our own convenience was good. I found comfort in the fact that others would post for the week at late times at night. The online experience was great b/c there was constant feedback and interaction. I liked reading the blogs of our class members--whether the blog entries connected to in-class readings, free time activities, or just pet peeves about students. The discussion board also worked well and helped clarify some things that we were studying. With the discussion board, you could go back every other day or so and see the new additions and thoughts on class readings. If something was confusing, the Discussion Board was a resource; it was also easy to email class members and/or Dr. Dana for feedback.

Since our class was about new literacies, I liked how new literacies were incorporated into our course readings. In Adolescent Lit [last summer], I had Dr. D and we had to read Understanding Comics in there too. Um, I never got through the whole thing:( This semester I tried again and got through the whole book. McCloud takes so many complex ideas and really makes them user-friendly. I think I'd even go back sometime and try to reread it; while he simplifies things quite a bit, I still don't have all of the book's concepts "downpat." I have some other McCloud books that I might read after the course too. The Web 2.0 YouTube clip was also helpful in understanding class material and was a good break from some of the more difficult readings.

One of the biggest mindset changes in me throughout this semester was in regard to video games and online gaming. I've always known there is learning potential in video games (i.e. critical thinking skills, creativity, etc) but I honestly have always thought that they would ultimately lead to people being anti-social. After reading the article "Children Online," from this semester's readings, I did change my mind about video games. I can see how they can incorporate social networking and how users can form mini-communities, in connection to their online games.

This course also came right in time because I recently got a Smartboard and laptops in my classroom. For months before the spring semester, that Smartboard stood in front of my room, not turned on or connected. As soon as this course started, I found myself more open-minded in regard to tech in the classroom. I've started using it and have incorporated UnitedStreaming videos and music/poetry activities into my classroom. I've had the students use the laptops to create presentations too. Previously, I guess I was "scared" they would go to inappropriate sites or something, even though I'd give them assigned sites to go to. I know have realized I just have to "go with the flow;" if they make the choice to go somewhere inappropriate, then I deal out the consequences, just like usual.

I could see myself using the Comic Life software with my students. I think they'd have a lot of fun with it.

I'd like to use blogging with my students in the near future. I think it'd work great with novel units. Students tend to detest comprehension question sheets, but if I don't hand them out, then some students don't read. If the students had to blog in response to the chapters, it would be more meaningful and since the blog posts would be individual, you'd lessen the chance of kids "copying" from one another.

Overall, this class has been a positive experience.
[I know that's a pretty lame ending sentence, but it's just been "one of those weeks."

"Whoever you give attention to is who you give power to"

The subject line is paraphrasing from one of the things that Craig Scott said on today's episode of Oprah. He was making the point that in response to the VA Tech incident, the media has to focus its attention on the victims and the type of people they were. The news stations keep focusing on the shooter and "warning signs," "what could've been done," etc. While that is certainly important, too much focus on Cho Seung-Hui is wrong. That's probably what he would have wanted. Focusing on the shooter also might make other psychologically unsound students want to "be like" Seung-Hui and copy his actions. There have been Columbine copycat attempts and I worry that the media attention on the shooter might bring about more copycat incidents.

The strangeness of it all is that what happened @ Virginia Tech was fucked up, but not totally unsurprising. Yesterday John asked me, "Can you believe this happened?" and I immediately answered, "Yes. " The media does nothing but focus on every facet of violence. Even with the VA Tech shooting---some of the first facts mentioned were that it was now the "biggest school massacre" in history. Even use of the word massacre seems to sensationalize the event. Tragedy is a more accurate word and focuses on the seriousness of the issue. We talk about the psychological instability of the shooter, but not until it is too late and senseless deaths have occurred.

Craig Scott went to Columbine HS and his sister, Rachel, was one of the fatal victims of the 1999 school shooting. He now travels across the country and speaks about the topic of school violence. The website www.rachelschallenge.com is devoted to the cause of preventing school violence.

I'll end this blog entry with some of Craig's words that he spoke in an October 2006 speech. I think they're wise words to consider:

"I've grown up in a culture today that doesn't teach me anything of substance, of value, how it bombards me every day with messages of emptiness and shallowness. And the youth are crying for something to stand for, something to believe in. If it weren't for ……..my family, I possibly could have fallen into the lies that our culture tells us. But now I've traveled, I've spoken to over a million teens across this country. I've not always liked what I've seen in the schools. I've seen depression, anger and loneliness, students without direction or purpose. I've seen students who called themselves cutters, have cut themselves because that's the way they know to take out the pain that they're dealing with. I've learned a lot about my generation. And I've learned a lot since I lost my friends and my sister. And the main thing I've learned is that kindness and compassion can be the biggest antidotes to anger and hatred, and I believe the biggest antidotes to violence.

With the program my father started called, Rachel's Challenge……. we've seen bullying stopped, suicides aborted..How have we done it? We've done it with a simple story of a young girl who believed in compassion……. That was the story of Rachel Joy Scott. But my sister is not the only one who believes in kindness, and she's not been the only one in her brave stance against the injustice willing to stand up for the one who gets put down in school, to sit by the student that sits all alone at lunch, and to talk to or reach out to the one who is consistently ignored or made fun of. She literally has inspired millions of people to continue the chain reaction she started. A lot of those are students across the country.

I've read Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold's journals that were recently released, and basically Eric wrote in one of his journals, "If only you were nicer to me, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
I don't know who else is tired of band-aid answers, but I know band-aids aren't going to save kids from dying. I give every student out there a challenge my sister put down on paper a month before she died when she wrote for her class -- she said, "I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go." "

Spring Break, 2007, woo-hoo!

I can't believe that spring break is over already. Tomorrow is the start of marking period 4. I'm thinking of making some kind of countdown "structure" and hiding it behind my desk---you can't let the kids know you're that excited about the end of the schoolyear---gotta "play it cool."

I hate to be self-indulgent and write one of those "all about my vacation" blogs but, hey, blogs are pretty self-indulgent to begin with. So here we go: highlights from spring break, 2007--- 4 days spent in the lovely West Coast Florida town of Weeki Wachee....and we didnt visit the beach even once... still had fun though.

***Seeing a Dali exhibit in St. Petersburg--- we went along on a guided tour for awhile but soon left the docent behind. I don't need to know EVERY detail of Dali's life. In one painting, there is a double-image of two girls and Voltaire's head. I made the mistake of saying I didn't see the Voltaire image and the docent tried to guide me through it. She then asked, "See it now?" and I replied, "I feel a bit under pressure being in front of like 50 people. I'll look later." :)

***Canoeing! We went canoeing on a small river in Homosassa Springs. We decided to be adventurous and canoe in the "wilder" part of the river. We canoed to a pub and grille. When we docked our canoe, the looks on the pub's patrons was priceless! Ended up talking to some older gents who smugly made fun of us with every "NJ Girls" joke known to exist. Also-- on our canoe adventure, we passed this small plot of land that had monkeys on it--seriously! I also got painful sunburn---on my arms only---the stupidest looking sunburn I've ever had in my life.

***Going to Busch Gardens... You can buy this fun card thing for the same price as you'd pay for regular admission--- so we bought it. Then when you enter the park, if you have the fun card, they scan your fingerprint. I think Busch Gardens is linked to the CIA or something.

***Karaoking at the Pickled Parrot Bar. The stage had this sequined curtain behind it. It was kind of strip-bar-esque. Sang Hilary Duff with all my heart. Some older German guy bought us drinks and then proceeded to growl at Krystal and Jaime. Guess I'm not cute enough to get growled at---and I'm grateful. A poor man's version of Matthew McConanaghey also talked to us for a bit. There's something about a guy with a Southern accent--I kind of like it.

***Getting BBQ sauce confiscated at the airport---ridiculous! I bought this Anheuser-Busch bbq sauce for John's dad. It has beer in it! Since the new policy at the airport is no liquids or gels in carry-on luggage, they took it away. I was so pissed. But it makes for a good story.

Good times.

Pro-Ana/Pro-Mia, etc.

Fox 5 had a story on last night's news about eating disorders and websites that seem to be promoting anorexia and bulimia as certain "lifestyles." Because they didn't want to "encourage" any of their viewers to seek out the website, the news channel specifically stated it was not going to share any specific websites with the audience.

Well, people aren't idiots and can use Google quite easily. Even if you are an idiot, when you search through Google, the site does spellcheck for your search terms, etc.

I was curious about these sites and tracked some of them down tonight. The movements are called Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia, anorexia and bulimia, respectively. It's crazy- on the Pro-Ana site, there's all these daily testimonials from girls [didn't see any from guys] about low calorie consumption, taking speed, etc. One girl was proud of her accomplishment today: 1oo calories consumed. It's crazy. Pro-Mia websites were similar, but Pro-Ana sites seemed more abundant on the web.

I can't imagine obsessing over food like that so much... I mean, I tend to be an "emotional eater" and sometimes tend to overeat...but I can't imagine having food totally be such a focus point of my life. Sometimes I feel like I am borderline compulsive eater, but for the most part, I eat what I should. If I binge, it usually is when I am alone though---which I know is bad. Tonight I wanted a little "treat" of trail mix--I know that "trail mix" is not legitimately healthy when it contains M&Ms and other sweets like this specific mix did. I wanted a little bit-- I finished the bag. I don't get why those type of things happen or why I do them.

I wonder why eating disorders are so abundant in today's society--- I mean, there's a myriad of reasons and it certainly is a complex issue---I just don't know if I completely "get it." When can we be happy with ourselves? It's not an easy question to answer at all.... I was very large in high school, lost weight in college, and have recently gained a little weight back. It's frustrating. It's just food and it's just there to keep us alive and give us nutrition---but why is it such a huge facet of so many of our lives???

Arghs Galore

I need to run outside and scream "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" at the top of my lungs. I need to jog on the ground and pound my feet so hard on the pavement that there is a rhythmic booming sound. Throwing a few glasses and shattering them might feel pretty good now too.

This week has been crazy. Students have been off the wall and I have felt like this dazed person, just walking through this haze of craziness. Sometimes I feel so tired and strained from work that I don't react appropriately to misbehavior. I hate feeling out of energy that much. On Monday, I MUST kick one of those 8th grade bastards out of class. It's mainly two boys who are driving me crazy. They are rude and don't listen, despite being given TONS of chances. And that's my problem... I give chances, I make threats, and then I don't follow through. But Monday, someone has to leave. I don't know why I wait so long to kick someone out of class.

After work, I chaperoned the 6th grade social. Kids were running around like crazy. It's such a surreal experience too. The DJ was playing songs that I knew and liked...yet, I'm standing in the middle of the gym, "chaperoning." It's weird to see kids singing along to songs like "Since You've Been Gone." They huddle in groups and sing the song with such conviction---yet they're 12 years old. What heartbreak have they felt? They sing along to "1985"--a song about a housewife who misses the excitement of her previous years. These kids sing along with it, not realizing what the song is really about. And granted, it's just some stupid pop song...but I think seriously about stuff like that.

Tonight I'm meeting up for dinner with a friend. Tomorrow is poetry workshop. Not too exciting of a weekend. Can't wait for spring break.... I need to do SOMETHING, to be away from work and from kids. It's almost here...

Networking, 2007

Because of technology, social networking has completely changed. Ideas can spread so much faster through the use of email, websites, and social networking sites. It's as simple as copying and pasting text, forwarding an email, or saving/sending an image. Even those who are not completely tech-knowledgeable can participate in the process with little difficulty. Through use of search engines like Yahoo and Google, users can find online tutorials and learn more about technology.

Social networking makes me think of the phrase, "It's not what you know, but who you know." In the Wikipedia entry for this week, the entry states: "...power within organizations often comes more from the degree to which an individual within a network is @ the center of many relationships than actual job title." This idea also connects with how ideas can spread so quickly through the use of technology. For example, with Myspace--- if someone has a small circle of friends and forwards something to them, the forwarded idea/concept may have little effect. If the same user has many people on their friends list from many "walks of life" and from many different places, the ideas will spread easier because they are being transmitted to a wide range of users.

Due to this quick spreading of ideas, there are definite implications for teaching and learning. The one that concerns me most is this: since ideas can spead so quickly online, I get concerned about students who may see incorrect information about particular news or social issues. If one student "spreads" this idea to another and then so on, wrong information will be embedded in their minds. I know, for instance, there are websites out there that claim the Holocaust didn't happen. There's websites that make other ludicrous historical claims too. Because of the quick spreading of ideas through social networks (online), there are huge educational implications. As teachers, we have to teach students how to judge the validity of a site and how to properly search online for academic material.

renderings of Hopkin Green frog...hehe

If you go to http://www.lostfrog.org/index2.html and click on the main site image, it will constantly change into different "interpretations" of lost frog "fliers." Very funny. The site is worth a view....A few examples:






And my personal favorite...

"His Name is Hopkin Green Frog"

I am fascinated by what happens in others' worlds, even if those "others" are strangers. I love finding old grocery lists in the shopping cart that I choose @ the supermarket; I like finding middle schoolers' misplaced notes on the dirt-caked hallways of school; and I like finding past readers' notes in books that I check out from the library. I love book collections like David Rothbart's Found and Frank Warren's PostSecret.

In short, the Hopkin Green Frog story goes like this: Someone in Seattle posted a "lost frog" flier," even featuring an address! This occurred in Sept, 2003. In the end, it turned out that the lost frog was a stuffed toy and that its owner was an autistic teen.

I can see how Hopkin Green Frog spread across the Internet so easily. First off, the flier looks so innocent with its' hand-drawn frog and incorrect grammar/punctuation. It reels you in because you think of a little kid losing a pet, stuffed animal, ...anything. You don't know if the lost frog is a stuffed animal or actual frog...both scenarios seem absurd: posting fliers for a stuff animal vs. having a frog as a pet...

When I Googled hopkin green frog (no quotation marks), I got about 34,000 hits. When I then Googled lost frog (again, no quotation marks), I got over 1,500,000 hits. There's links to Mike Whybark's blog entry, "Hopkins Explained."

I guess the reason why this whole "thing" caught on was because it did fit into Dawkins' 3 characteristics for a successful meme. Without getting too crazily detailed:

"Fidelity, fecundity, and longevity": The lost frog flier was easy to copy (either xeroxing or saving the digital image and forwarding it to people)-- the information on the flier was simple to read, so the ideas would easily stay within the reader's/viewer's mind. Also, the wording was especially memorable, making for easy copying/spreading: "Him name is Hopkin Green Frog." It is particularly catchy --almost could sound like the name of some obscure band trying to be hip or ironic or something.

Additionally, the "lost frog" meme caught on even more when people started blogging about it. Individuals created domains like lostfrog.org and through the postings on a site called Metafilter, a user researched and concluded that Hopkin Green frog was a toy offered in a Mcdonald's Happy Meal. The whole Happy Meal connection makes the story even more hilarious--- this kid was posting fliers for some dumb Happy Meal toy? Furthermore, the Hopkin Green frog flier/concept lends itself to longevity. There are so many plays on the wording of the flier. It's easy to poke fun at too: "Hopkin Green Frog: Him pretty existential cool..." & "Hopkin Green Frog is the Holy Grail, the Fountain of Youth, the Luminiferous Ether, the Buddha on the Road..." (both from http://www.metafilter.com/43185/him-name-is-hopkin-green-frog-
this blog entry is from June of 2005; another member of the Metafilter community pokes fun @ this blog post, saying how the hopkin Green frog "thing" has been posted about 2x already---he must be a "cool hunter" and get mad when people regurgitate ideas that have already been on various websites/online communities before).

Another Metafilter member says he wouldn't be surprised if there were some lost frog flier tshirts surfacing out there. It wouldn't surprise me either!

I had never heard of Hopkin Green frog or this lost frog flier before. John hadn't either. Are we "uncool"?

Youtube thoughts

I discovered Youtube awhile back. John wanted me to see this video of a band playing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" on kitchen untensils and applicances! He didn't know the band's name but simply typed the song name into YouTube and we found the video quite easily.

I think Youtube is fascinating. I don't really use the website on a regular basis though. Even going to it right now and poking around, nothing interests me that much on the site to spend too much time there. Most of the videos are just random people (that's the point) but the videos aren't particularly entertaining.

The site is pretty easy to search. Case in point: last night on American Idol, during Sanjaya's performance, the camera zoomed in numerous times on a little girl who was crying in the audience...actually crying tears of joy, I think. Sanjaya has fans?!? The footage of the crying little girl lasted for about 30 seconds, inconsecutive seconds, but still a lot of camera time for some random audience member. I said to John, "I guarantee that footage will be on Youtube like crazy tomorrow." I just went to the site and searched with the term "american idol girl crying" and a few videos instantly popped up with the footage I was looking for.

Generally, I only use Youtube if I am feeling nostalgic...it's easy to find clips of TV shows from the 80s. One evening John and I must have played the Mr. Belvedere themesong (and sang along) 30x. Our downstairs neighbors must have loved that!

The second thing I go to Youtube for is "scandallous," gossipy news. Things like World Cup soccer fights and Britney Spears drama. It's like an interactive Star or US Weekly magazine.

I know some of my students have posted stuff on Youtube, which is pretty cool--the fact that they're making "creative" things and getting online audiences. What worries me about the Youtube era is that people are sometimes put on the site unwillingly--through someone else using a camera phone, digital camera w/ recording devices, etc.

A recent article in Radar magazine, "Prisoners of Youtube," best summed it up: "With 780 million camera phones sold worldwide in the last two years, no one is safe from senseless and random ridicule. The surveillance state we've been fretting about for so many years has snuck up on us. But it's not concerned with political control. It just wants to see people screw up."

I, like millions of others, like seeing people screw up... I just hope I don't end up being the screwed up one showcased on the site, for all the world to see.

Simon and me

I have one thing in common with American Idol judge Simon Cowell--- a deep love for dark grey and black shirts. I'm sure all of his clothing is Armani, Versace, and so, but he wears the same v-neck sweaters and clingy grey tshirts all the time.

I'm like Simon----I own tons of snug black tshirts--I layer them under clothing--- if a workshirt is too snug to button because of "winter weight," I wear a black tee underneath, keep the shirt partly unbuttoned, and all is well. Plus black underneath a layered shirt is "slimming"--I think.

This morning I could not find my "Personal Identity" (juniors section!) black tshirt. I love this particular shirt... light, cottony fabric...and it falls a little below my hip. It's perfect. When I bought it, I should have bought 7 others: same shirt, same color.

Tonight, the search continued. I walked around and around the apartment, searching under piles and piles of clothing...even putting away clean laundry (shocking!) to see if the black shirt had already been washed. My search was fruitless.

I just found the shirt a few minutes ago... beneath, what else, a pile. And a pile I had already checked! It's just a stupid shirt but I feel such relief. Sometimes I get obsessive about the tiniest things...like if I misplace a book...it drives me crazy...especially if I am in the middle of reading it. It's times like these that I realize I need to try to keep the apartment clutter-free.... I have this simple theory that a cluttered residence creates clutter in the mind...and not fun, wacky, creative clutter either...but annoying, overwhelming, draining clutter.

I'm working on fixing the clutter...isn't that like the new "American dream"? ---simplifying our lives and getting to a point where we are clutter-free...

Snowbound, corned beef, 300 ---all rolled into one weekend

Argh. I hate when snowy weather arrives before the weekend. Friday was supposed to be a 1/2 day anyway and they closed school instead. Not to be picky, but now that 1/2 day has to be made up as a full day during June...when the prepubescent 6th graders are running around all sweaty and stinky. Ugh.

Since it was pretty bad driving weather on Friday, I walked down to a friend's apartment and hung out there. Tried corned beef and cabbage for the 1st time and actually enjoyed it---not that I'd ever willingly request it at a restaurant or anything.

Yesterday, John and I were mallrats----went to Palisades Park Mall and spent the day there. Bought a pair of Converse All-Stars so that I can "recapture" my youth----everyone seems to be wearing them now! When they were in style, I wanted them so badly but for some reason, never got them. Got a book too. These were impressive purchases. John and I love malls but we generally never buy stuff. We just like the concept of the mall. Palisades Park Mall is like its own little city...it seems almost feasible that one day apartments could be built on top of the mall.

We also saw a late showing of 300 in the Imax theatre! First of all, 30 minutes before the show, the line outside the theatre was crazy--long...mostly male too. We bought our tickets at 3pm and the 4:45 and 7:15 shows were already sold out. The movie was amazing! I wasnt really that much into seeing it, but it was awesome. The visuals were stunning and I kept wondering how they made everything look the way it did. Everything was, of course, horrifically gory and gruesome but fascinating at the same time. I did see a Mom and Dad with two young girls entering the movie theatre---idiots. This movie is totally inappropriate for kids....

Since John's into weightlifting, he was curious to see what I thought of how the Spartans looked....We had talks about body form after we saw Batman Begins also--Christian Bale worked out like crazy for the movie. But the Spartans....



they're not too shabby.

It's a Bob Marley kind of afternoon

Well, it was 75 degrees outside yesterday, according to my car's thermometer. After work, I sat outside with the cats and my neighbors. Like three old women chatting on porch stoops, we sat outside for about an hour and a half, our cats being one of the main topics of conversation. I can't help it---I've been a "cat person" since childhood. They're grouchy, cranky, super affectionate, territorial, and so on--- I love the unpredictability.

I'm feeling a lot better, in general. Even this threat of snow doesn't bother me all that much...although i hope it doesn't "really" snow tomorrow evening...I'm supposed to go out fr St. Patty's Eve and I am jonesin' to wear my green.

Right now I'm listening to the good-mood album, Bob Marley's Legend. I love that practically the entire earth's population owns a copy of this album. Ask anyone, no matter what their music preferences, if they have Bob Marley's Legend and inevitably the answer will be "Yes."

Was reading a YA book yesterday and came across a hilarious piece of dialogue that is yearning to be shared:

"So say we' re at the Motel 6 on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel and we're having that threeway with E.T. Who gets to be on top and who gets to be on bottom?"

Nick answers, "No brainer. E.T. can't take the heat and heads off to the motel vending machine for some Reese's Pieces, and hopefully doesn't get caught in the crossfire of some crack deal gone bad while he's out there. I mean really, Norah, Motel 6 off the tunnel? Couldn't we class it up a little? Wouldn't the devirginization of E.T. merit at least a Radisson, at least Paramus?"
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

That's some of the funniest dialogue I've read in awhile. Good times.

wanted: happy pill

I don't know if it is simply that the weather outside still has remnants of winter or what, but I've felt "out of it" lately. It is something that I am continuing to perpetuate myself. I come home from work, have a "snack," watch tv, take a nap, and repeat the cycle again. Although not noticeable to anyone else, I feel like I have gained a little weight lately. It's so annoying. Essentially, weight maintenance is about self-control, and I guess that I haven't had that lately. I haven't been exercising either, which isn't helping the matter.

I can see how so many Americans automatically rely on pills for solving problems. Instead of taking the initiative and changing certain parts of their lifestyle, they simply take a pill. It seems so much easier. I, however, am also one of those people who thinks many Americans are overmedicated and/or misdiganosed. The thought of using medication to control any aspect of myself freaks me out. I feel like if I was under the influence of meds, then I wouldn't be putting myself out there for the world to see---it'd be an altered version of me.

Of course, some people and their emotional conditions need to be medicated --- bipolar people, for example. I'm not feeling that high or that low... just feeling a little down lately. Hopefully, it subsides soon. I go by the tenet that being sad or blue is actually not so bad...you can only go up, once you're down to a certain point.

Reading & robots?

I hate having HUGE blog entries, hence the reason why I've divided today's entries into two posts. Reading HUGE blog entries is distracting and annoying-- I can't do it--I'm assuming other online readers are the same way...Today's entries are still loooooooonnnnnng. Just call me Herman Mellville.

Anyway...The way I teach reading now is a combo of "let's read for fun" (free reading for 1/2 of the period on Mondays and Fridays, no questions asked) and more structured activities (context clues work for new vocab, study of prefixes/roots, timed reading, read alouds, notetaking, highlighting, pulling out quotes from novels, graphic organizers, booktalks-- both presenting them myself and having students present them). I try to have a wide range of activities to make the students realize that one sole method does not work for everything. You have to adjust as a reader, according to what your current reading material is and your purpose for reading that material. I also realize that not every child will LOVE reading--- for those students, I try giving them the newspaper to read or even instructional texts (origami, sketching, etc).

As for how future technologies might affect how I teach reading, in the future the reading material for my class might be expanded beyond "conventional texts." Right now, some of our schools' texts are online (not for my class, but for some other courses). I know that the teaching of material from these texts will be affected by the online availability of these texts. Sometimes, I have students do Post-it note activities in their literature anthologies. If most of the future texts are online, reading will become less tactile. I guess I could still teach notetaking though; they'd just be taking notes from a computer screen. Notetaking methods will have to designed to be aligned with readers' habits of reading online (different eye movements instead of conventional left to right, going to different links and opening up different tabs, etc). If laptops are more readily available in classrooms (per student), students might complete comprehension activities online (blogging in response to text, completing online quizzes with instantaneous responses, etc).

Overall, I know that technology will impact how I teach reading but at this point in time, my mindset is just that I will be "getting to the same ends but by different means." Whether or not this proves to be true, I guess I will find out. I can definitely say that I don't think I will be replaced by a robot or anything extreme like that...yet.