Friday, October 26, 2007
whatiwore2day
This is another blog - http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com. I just discovered it today, thanks to a friend, and I love it. Her style is so quirky and the colors she wears are the same as me. Anyway, I just thought I would share.
Stories with Holes
My students love these. Thanks to Nathan Levy for writing these great books!
"Don and Dan enter a tavern. They are served identical drinks. Don drinks his quickly and feels fine. Dan drinks his very slowly and dies."
The object is to ask yes or no questions to figure out why one was fine and the other died if they were served identical drinks. As I said, my students absolutely love these and spend hours trying to figure them out. They're great time killers when we finish the lesson just a couple of minutes early and we need to fill the time left in the period. They always beg me to tell them answers and I never do, and then they feel so proud of themselves when they finally figure it out. And, unbeknownst to them, they are working on their reasoning, analytical and creative skills at the same time as playing a game!
What's that? You want the answer? Oh, too bad, you'll have to ask some yes or no questions to figure it out! I will let my kids help you though. So far they know that the drinks were absolutely identical, that neither man was sick prior to coming to the tavern and that both men are human.
"Don and Dan enter a tavern. They are served identical drinks. Don drinks his quickly and feels fine. Dan drinks his very slowly and dies."
The object is to ask yes or no questions to figure out why one was fine and the other died if they were served identical drinks. As I said, my students absolutely love these and spend hours trying to figure them out. They're great time killers when we finish the lesson just a couple of minutes early and we need to fill the time left in the period. They always beg me to tell them answers and I never do, and then they feel so proud of themselves when they finally figure it out. And, unbeknownst to them, they are working on their reasoning, analytical and creative skills at the same time as playing a game!
What's that? You want the answer? Oh, too bad, you'll have to ask some yes or no questions to figure it out! I will let my kids help you though. So far they know that the drinks were absolutely identical, that neither man was sick prior to coming to the tavern and that both men are human.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Movie Review: Perfect Stranger
What a great movie! Halle Barry is gorgeous and talented. She is so naturally pretty, I love it. And she's very, very good at what she does. I also love the male lead - he was the guy in The Other Sister, and also starred in Saving Private Ryan. Oh, and he was Phoebe's brother on Friends. And Bruce Willis is also great in this movie.
It's a murder mystery - Halle Barry's childhood friend is killed, and as a reporter she decides to try to figure out who killed her. It's a really great movie with lots of twists and turns, but not a lot of blood and guts. Highly recommended.
It's a murder mystery - Halle Barry's childhood friend is killed, and as a reporter she decides to try to figure out who killed her. It's a really great movie with lots of twists and turns, but not a lot of blood and guts. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Knocked Up
First, a disclaimer: Patrick, Lindsey, Garrett and Austin, you are not to see this movie until you are at least 25 years old.
Ok, so this movie is hilarious. So, so funny - but also extremely crass and crude. There's a lot of drugs, and lots of f-bombs, and some sexual content (well, duh, it's about a girl who gets pregnant). Oh, and there's one awful part where they actually show what appears to be the baby crowning during delivery. Yup, definitely assured that I will never be giving birth! But overall it's an extremely funny movie.
Ok, so this movie is hilarious. So, so funny - but also extremely crass and crude. There's a lot of drugs, and lots of f-bombs, and some sexual content (well, duh, it's about a girl who gets pregnant). Oh, and there's one awful part where they actually show what appears to be the baby crowning during delivery. Yup, definitely assured that I will never be giving birth! But overall it's an extremely funny movie.
Monday, October 1, 2007
30s are the new 20s
I've been planning Ricky's birthday and realizing that we are getting close to 30. Most people freak out about 30, but I'm actually really looking forward to it.
In our 20s we got married, bought a house and got a dog. But I spent the majority of my 20s in school and/or out of work. Ricky has spent his 20s working full time and going to school full time. It's been stressful, to say the least. We've done all kinds of home repairs and updates and trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up.
I feel like, at almost 27, we finally both have figured out our place in this world, to some extent. We know more about the people we want to be. We know how we want our home, we have a plan for being able to buy a new house and keeping this one, we even have a major vacation scheduled and a savings account started for it.
So many people freak out about 30, but I feel like we're just getting started. I think our thirties are going to be a great time.
In our 20s we got married, bought a house and got a dog. But I spent the majority of my 20s in school and/or out of work. Ricky has spent his 20s working full time and going to school full time. It's been stressful, to say the least. We've done all kinds of home repairs and updates and trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up.
I feel like, at almost 27, we finally both have figured out our place in this world, to some extent. We know more about the people we want to be. We know how we want our home, we have a plan for being able to buy a new house and keeping this one, we even have a major vacation scheduled and a savings account started for it.
So many people freak out about 30, but I feel like we're just getting started. I think our thirties are going to be a great time.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
How is it already the end of September???
Wow. The month flew by. Unbelievable. And I haven't even run out of things to do with my students yet!
We're having a great time. Some days are better than others, but we're having a good time and we're all learning, myself included. I am getting to know my students and starting to figure some of them out, if that's possible with middle schoolers. Some of the kids who have tough exteriors are about to crumble on the inside, and some are working so hard to change their reputations. It's a volatile time in their lives, and most days I'm glad to be a part of it.
While I'm glad they share their lives with me, I wish they'd quit sharing their germs. I'm fighting off something nearly everyday. Right now it's a cold. I should buy stock in Airborne and Zicam. However, as much as the kids would like me to get sick, I haven't had to take a sick day yet.
We did have our first sub today. There is money set aside within the district for new teachers to be able to take off during the school day to go observe their mentors, so I took half a day today to do that. It was interesting to watch how they interact with their students and the things they do to make it work. It really hammered home something that I sort of knew anyway - you must be true to your personality or it won't work. If you're faking it or trying to be something you're not, the kids will see right through you and you'll fall hard. More so at the middle school level than high school I think. So what worked for K probably wouldn't work for me because I am so very different from him. M is much more like me, though, and I will definitely be stealing some of his ideas.
Anyway, it's going well and we're having a good time. I'm learning about myself, about this age group, and about how to stay on top of it all (hint: You can't).
We're having a great time. Some days are better than others, but we're having a good time and we're all learning, myself included. I am getting to know my students and starting to figure some of them out, if that's possible with middle schoolers. Some of the kids who have tough exteriors are about to crumble on the inside, and some are working so hard to change their reputations. It's a volatile time in their lives, and most days I'm glad to be a part of it.
While I'm glad they share their lives with me, I wish they'd quit sharing their germs. I'm fighting off something nearly everyday. Right now it's a cold. I should buy stock in Airborne and Zicam. However, as much as the kids would like me to get sick, I haven't had to take a sick day yet.
We did have our first sub today. There is money set aside within the district for new teachers to be able to take off during the school day to go observe their mentors, so I took half a day today to do that. It was interesting to watch how they interact with their students and the things they do to make it work. It really hammered home something that I sort of knew anyway - you must be true to your personality or it won't work. If you're faking it or trying to be something you're not, the kids will see right through you and you'll fall hard. More so at the middle school level than high school I think. So what worked for K probably wouldn't work for me because I am so very different from him. M is much more like me, though, and I will definitely be stealing some of his ideas.
Anyway, it's going well and we're having a good time. I'm learning about myself, about this age group, and about how to stay on top of it all (hint: You can't).
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