Hunter Games

I have enjoyed reading the last couple of weeks. I got hooked on the Hunger Games by way of a gift vard a student gave me at Christmas. I ventured over to our local Books-A-Million store and right there inside the front door was a display of the HG books. I have seen students reading the book but was sure I would like it. But I did realize I had a $30 card so I bought the paperback copy of book one. I figured that if I didn’t like it there was going to be a big loss. I purchase several other books and went on my way.

Two weeks later I wanted something to read so I picked it up with the intent that When I got some new magazines in the main I would move on to them and put the HG back on a shelf somewhere. There’s where I was wrong. Ms. Collins hooked me after the first couple of chapters – and HOOKED I was. The book began slowly but like a freight train it began to move faster and faster and faster. Suddenly I could not put the book down. Katniss and Peeta had me by the eyeballs. I have never read so fast and so devoutly. Within two days I was finished and left hanging. I wanted to know what happened to them.

I rush out to B-A-M to buy book two. I had read all the reviews and everyone said book two was okay but book three was better. I waited te movie trailers, read the online comments, and searched the web for blogs and reviews. I wanted to read more about Haymitch and the Capital and Prim and Gale.

Book two again began slow but kept my attention and it chugged along. It was okay but now as afst paced at book on. But since I wanted to know what happened to Katniss I read and read. It took four days but I finished it. I had to read in and around my teaching but the kids were amazed to see an “old teacher reading” as one girl put it. She said she never saw a teacher really reading one of their books. I had to tell her I was just wanting to get to book three. Catching Fire was a good book and I found out another teacher had just finished book one the day before. There fore, I gave here my copy of book two and sent her on her way while I got book three.

Mockingjay, book three of the trilogy, was okay but not that good of a read. It took me and four days to read but like the first on, it began so slow. So ver-r-r-r-y slow. But it did begin t pick up steam and moved along nicely without any hint of what was coming. Within the last few pages I had a ton of bricks dropped on me and the book took a complete turn. I was not expecting it. Nowhere in book one or two - or even the beginning of book three did I see it coming. Sure I had hope something like that would happen because I didn’t like Katnis being played as a pawn but never in my wildest dreams did I see this coming. But then again, I was reading so fast because I was so hooked.

The epilog was also a tearjerker. It may have only been a few pages but it came down to what I wanted to happen. Even more so. I almost hate to see the books come to an end. Now several people are telling me what books to read next. I figure I need to get away for a bit, watch a little TV then find that new set to read.

What? ELA in Social Studies??????

It is scary that my students think that I should not be making them do any math in social studies. Yesterday they griped because I made them do ELA. I gave them a writing prompt and five minutes to answer. Today the prompt will be even worse. It is so sad that they think every class should work independently. They think that math should only be done in math class and writing would only be done in English class. They don’t understand that EDUCATION is all about increasing their “life value”.

After 22 years of my students taking the state mandated end of the year LEAP test or an SAT test, I think I know something about what they will face this spring as they try to move on to the next level of their life. I have had so many students come back to thank me for getting them prepared for life in high school and college.

My current students don’t seem to understand. They have all been pampered, told what to do – when to do it – and how to do it - by their parents and other teachers. The school is promoted as a 'school of excellence' but as an outsider coming it; I can tell you it ISN'T! These kids can’t think on their own. What happens when they get out into the real world? My job is to make better people out of them but they don’t see that yet. I understand. I have students that if they were in a public school they would be in 'Special Ed" and they should have never been accepted here if the was a school of "EXCELLENCE".

Yesterday I had a parent conference and most of the other teachers were scared for me. They all seemed to be shaking in their boots. This parent was going to chew me up and spit me out they said. It didn’t happen. The parent was so grateful for what I have been doing. She smiled the whole time, we had a great conversation, and I really like visiting with her. Maybe it is the fact that I am not afraid of parents. I WANT to help their child do better in life and I am not going to “dumb it down for their kid”. Middle school is too short. And what's worse is that I teach Louisiana history. 8th grade is the last time any of them will have anything about out state in their educational life. The only time they will ever see more is if they go into education or became a history major. THat isn't likely. They have all been brain washed to think they will become doctors, lawyers, civil engineers, CEOs of some company, and set on several boards. Sorry, I don't see it that way.

I like her daughter for who her daughter is not for who her parents are. Sure the parent is on the school’s board, she is a very educated, very rich, very outspoken person; but with me she is just “Mary”. Everybody seems to walk on ‘eggshells’ around her but maybe it is because this is my first year here but I don’t see or hear that from her. She is just a parent who wants the best from her child.

After grading my student’s writing yesterday I can tell they will not do well on their test if their writing doesn’t improve quickly. Some write so poorly and one didn’t do anything but rewrite the question in her five minutes. Some of them did really well for a first time with their extended prompt writing. Today will be more of the same. Tomorrow will be a math project so I know they will gripe then too but they will get over it.

"But MrE, this is social studies!"

Interdisciplinary teaching is fun, even if my students don't think so

How has the week gone? Very well, thank you. Did the kids do what you expected? Most of the time. Yesterday was a little rough but it was “math taught during social studies”, and they think SS should be only SS and nothing else.

I love my eighth graders but they just can’t get the concept that everything is fair game in their education. The “math” we did was a simple look at Mardi Gras, Epiphany, and Easter and how all of it fits together. Why carnival season is sometimes long and sometimes short and it changes every year.

We studied the reason for it falling after the spring equinox and after a full moon and the 40 days of Lent, 12th night and all the other things that go into our Mardi Gras/Easter season. Then they had to do some simple calculations as to when and how dates are selected. They were given one date and had to figure out the remaining dates

The math was simple. Such as: (12 night) ___________, (days in Carnival season) _____________, (Lundi Gras Gras) ____________. (Mardi Gras)___March 3____. (Number of days in LENT) _____________, (Date of the spring Equinox) __________, (Easter) __________. Based on the one date you are given you can figure all the rest knowing the information you just learned. Not hard but you really have to do a little math and remember of few plain old facts.

You would have thought I was making them do calculus or something. It was nothing but simple addition and subtraction. My students have been doing this for years and never had a problem. These are supposed to be better kids than the ones I have taught the last 15 years. Not so.

12^th night is always the same DATE. The spring equinox is always the same DATE. Knowing the date of Mardi Gras leads to the date of Lundi Gras – Fat Monday, or the DAY BEFORE Mardi Gras. Ash Wednesday is the reason for Mardi Gras so it is always the DAY AFTER. Lent is always 40 DAYS plus Sundays. Carnival season is the number of days between Epiphany or 12th night and Mardi Gras. Easter is always the Sunday at the end of Lent. All you have to do is do a little counting of 47 days between Ash Wednesday and Eater to know the DATE and the counting of days between Epiphany and Mardi Gras to know the number of days of carnival.

How hard was that? But some of my students could not follow any of that. If they could not COPY from someone else’s paper they weren't getting it.

Just what till Monday. They have more math because they will be graphing populations of Spanish Era parishes of 1785. Graphing!?! That’s math! Dang. Give us two weeks at we will do doing “fractions” of Louisiana parishes (counties) such as “what fraction of Louisiana parishes touch the Gulf coast?” Not only will they have to figure out the fraction they will have to convert it to its simplest form. More math, DOUBLE DANG!

I love making my students do some math in class but I also have them doing some ELA when they have to write a sequel to a movie that we will watch. I give them a list of all the characters then ask for them to write a sequel to the story based on a few years later. The movie happens in 1859 and the sequel takes place in 1862 – DURING the Civil War. All elements must be correct for the time period. They MUST cover all the characters, answer any and all unanswered questions from the movie and do it in at least 5,000 words but not over 7,500 words. I am killing them again. TRIPLE DANG!

We also do science when we study the wetlands, hurricanes, rivers, population. QUAD DANG, I thought this was Social Studies!?!!

It is so much fun being a teacher.

Now, back to my opening question. How has my week gone? GREAT. I love making them have to work for their grade. It’s not really work. One of my students asked the other day about some vocabulary words, “”I don’t know these words! How am I supposed to use them if I have never seen them before?” Well, DUH! Look them up. I am not here to teach you stuff you already know. Interdisciplinary work is fun.

Oh, and by the way. Stop by my store were almost evertything is free for the taking.

Little and almost nothing

I haven’t posted here in a while simply because I figure it’s not worth it. I blog on my other site almost daily but I have readers there that comment each day and are very supportive. Here – not so much.

My students have finished their Louisiana Native American booklet project and next week I get observed. 22 years of teaching effectively and I’m still being observed to see if I’m doing it right. I don’t care, it ain’t gonna be a “dog and pony show” no matter what they want. I plan to do what I do no matter...

Today the 7^th and 8^th grade will be at Millennium Park working on the rebuild. You can check it out HERE. Not sure what we will be doing all day but it is a project by the school. They did their part ten years ago in the original park build. It was burned down last year by a “THUG” and now it has to be rebuilt. I hope the “THUG” – they did catch him – gets life for destroying a favorite place of little kids.

well DUH!?!?!

One project down – actually it’s THREE down and a new one starts now. My students have just finished their Louisiana Festival projects and I have posted the edited videos online. Yesterday we began a little bookwork on Louisiana Native Americans which will be followed up with a bit more today. From there it will be another project.

Over the years I have modified the project to a model building, photo taking, and a bullet point power-point since I had 13 computers in my classroom. However, here at my new school I had to go back to my “old school” way of doing the project. Funny thing is, they loved the old idea. It’s all about writing, drawing, researching by reading, and creating a table of contents and a bibliography. Funny how all old things are new again.

It may be a new school – for me – but a very different setting in which to work. They are even still using a text book that the system changed six years ago. Luckily I still had all the old questions from the old green book PLUS all the questions from the new blue book. Good thing I keep everything on multiple jumpdrives.

Nine weeks of school and I still have 19 of 24 eighth graders with A’s. My worst grades are a couple of C’s. Last year my best grades at this time were a couple of A’s and a whole lot of U’s. And I have not changed a thing about what I am teaching, how I am teaching, or what I am requiring. It’s all about WHO I am teaching. Even the worst kid in my class is making a strong C grade.

Over the years I have been told to stop teaching this way, modify this lesson, rewrite this work sheet. I was always told HOW to do my job. It wasn’t me that needed to change. This I bring the same lessons, projects, goals, to my new school with a better class of students and thye eat it up, do a better job and make better grades. What happen? Oh, I know, better students!

Duh!

Allways something new

The “Festival project” is complete. All I need to do is film them presenting their festival items, posters, power points, tri-folds, bumper-stickers, and all the other parts of the work they did. I will do that on Monday then we can start their next project Tuesday.

My student will delve into out Louisiana Native American tribes and research them and create a booklet about them. They will have to create a project that will include a table of contents, a long list of things about their chosen tribe, a bibliography, color pictures – and all work done by hand. I don’t want any ‘copy/paste’ so it has to be handwritten.

I know. I’m a meany but it has to be done this way for now. Over the last 10 years I made this a digital project but I had 13 computers in my classroom. I may be at a fancy church school but I don’t have many of the resources I had earned over the years at the public school. Therefore I have to revert to “old school” ways of doing things. Sure we have a really good tech lab but we also are dealing with a PK through 8 school and the elementary takes up much of the lab time.

Coming up in a few days will be my first dress up of the year. I get to do my French trapper stories and dress. Should be fun. I hope to do this in our own 7^th/8^th grades plus a 4^th grade and a PK2 class.

RIP Mom

10-12-11

I lost my mom yesterday as Jesus finally decided that He wanted to take her home.

I lost my mother years a go to the effects of Alzheimer's so it did not not hit me or my brother as hard as it did my sister.

Mom, I love you and thanks for all the years you did everything for me and all your children, may God take care of you now and may you enjoy seeing your brothers and your mom and dad. I'll see you again in the future when you are no longer in pain and have your full memory back.

Rest in peace.