A Bold Fresh Piece of Hummanity

I am currently reading Bill O'Riley' s new book, Bold Fresh. I'm an avid Bill fan, not only because of his political leanings, but as a true geek, he speaks to my soul. ;) I look forward to the last part of his show each night when he gives the invitation to opine to his views and encourages viewers not to be mendacious, a blooter, or to bloviate, or any other pompous word commonly used in the 1800s.

That's why I'm loving Bold Fresh. I am learning all about Bill's upbringing and how he became the way he is now. He writes about how his views of life were formed as well as his political views. The book is also pretty funny and on more than one occasion, I've laughed out loud.

Okay, so liking Bill is not the only reason I wanted to buy Bold Fresh. Bill promised that when you ordered the book from his site, you would get a bumper sticker that said "We Say Merry Christmas" to stick it to SP's who deemed it appropriate to only say "Happy Holidays." I love the fact that I am driving around as a complete politically incorrect mess.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Pete!

In order to meet the photo quota, here are some pictures of my little guy Pete.

He lives with my parents for now because he likes to run around off-leash outside. We live in town and leash laws prevent that from happening. Plus, we don't want speed demons to run over him. We like him and want to keep him alive.

He's a Westhighland Terrier and is extremely hyper!

He is a regular topic of conversation in my classroom. The kids and I love to talk about our pets and from time to time, they will ask me how Pete's doing.

Book Review: Sorry Twilight Fans

I have noticed for months that many of the students in my school have been reading the Twilight saga by Stephanie Meyer. I haven’t had much time to read anything except for scholastic reading, so I was glad to have the opportunity to indulge in reading a mind-numbing book for a change.

In my opinion, Twilight was just that. It was mind-numbing, pleasure reading. My life was not changed, I did not develop a “thing” for undead, vampire-esqe, noble savage archetypes. I did not fall in love with Edward Cullen. I think I may be the only rational female who read Twilight and kept her sanity.

I was actually quite proud of the fact that up until this weekend, I had not succumbed to the fad of being a Twilightaholic. I prided myself on not having been defiled by the “cool” thing to do. I was bragging about being an avid Fanny Fern, Jane Austen, William Faulkner fan. After all, I know what real literature is like. I did, in fact, major in English.
Alas, all my swelling pride came to a disturbing halt. Solomon did say that “pride goeth before the fall,” so I should have known that the climax of my pride was about to be proceeded by my reluctant caving.

As far as good, steady literature is concerned, Twilight does not compare to the classics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have produced. Dracula, it is not. Dracula, Meyer did obviously reference in her study of vampires. She does know her myth’s myth from fact. On the other hand, I did find it to be too contrived and too created for mass consumption. As I read, I was able to predict every twist and turn in the plot. I could see everything coming before it actually happened. In some cases, my assumptions would have been better than what actually happened. Meyer is obviously writing to an audience of hormonal, frustrated, jaded young girls. The main character Bella Swan, is sarcastic, introverted, and to some degree, tortured. She somehow has this aloof awareness that could only be pulled off by someone penned in a novel. She is exactly what the “in” crowd would consider hopeless in real life, but exactly what the “in” crowd would love to be, given the chance. She is the Sandra Dee for the darkened girl of the 21st century. I can see girls even now imitating Bella Swan and pretending to be her.

Edward Cullen, the devastatingly attractive, old-but-young vampire can be clinically diagnosed as having Borderline Personality Disorder with just a casual reading of the book. His hatred for who he is causes him to push Bella away, yet pull her in when he feels like doing so. He manipulates her, yet she does not see this. I don’t think anyone else reading the book has yet to pick up on this twisted, demented relationship. He is charming, attractive, smooth-talking, rebellious, and when convenient, repentant for his instinctual actions. He is the suave, potentially abusive boyfriend for Bella’s sick need to be abused. Bella is the pretty, falsely innocent girl that has that weird co-dependence on someone who could ultimately abuse her. Her acerbic attitude attempts to mask this and pass her off as being a voluntary outcast who is deep-down, just too cool for school.

With all my psychoanalysis aside, I did enjoy reading the book. It was okay. I might say that reading it was a guilty pleasure. Of course, how could anyone with more than a twelve year old mindset become so deeply involved with these fictional characters that they blur the lines between fiction and reality? Oh, wait. Never mind. I forgot about the whole nation.

If anything extremely positive came from me reading this book besides the fact that I just enjoyed reading a mediocre book, I have discovered a formula for writing a novel and cashing in on teenage angst. I think Stephanie Meyer has done just that. I don’t think she expects anyone to consider her the next Mary Shelley or even the next Ann Rice (God, help us). I don’t even think she really expected anyone to take her all that seriously as a writer. I think she saw a cash cow and decided to milk that sucker for all it’s worth. And for that, I have to say well done Ms. Meyer. Well done.

In a Bind

How on Earth do you teach a class, er-whole grade, containing students who could score a 36 on the ACT and those who wouldn't be able to score a 1? How do you do it when they are in the same classroom at the same time?

How do you reach the kid who is only at school because it's illegal for him not to be there?

How do you tell the amazing football player who thinks he can go pro that if he doesn't start trying to turn in work, he won't make it to high school graduation, much less college?

How do you deal with a class full of Pre-AP kids who scored BASIC on the benchmark exams?
How are you supposed to answer the superintendent when she asks, "Why aren't the Pre-AP kids doing Pre-AP level work?" How do you tell her that it's her fault for allowing a kid to sign a contract saying that they understand the basis of an ADVANCED PLACEMENT class, not even knowing their benchmark scores or even if they read on GRADE LEVEL or higher.

Side note: 75% of my Pre-AP kids scored BASIC on the benchmark exam in Literacy. 90% of them cannot write a complete sentence. I didn't say a good complete sentence. I said "A complete sentence."

What do you do?

It's not hypothectical; it's real.

Diverse Learners

Here is one of my groups of diverse learners. One of them is African-American/Hispanic. She speaks fluent Spanish and English. She thinks that she is "not very good" at English, but she is one of my highest acheiving students in the 7th grade. She catches on quickly and needs little prompting to do work. She is very motivated.
The white girl in the photograph is one of my proficient students. She is on the fringe of scoring advanced on the benchmarks. She just needs more prompting and encouraging in order to do her work. She is very strong in math, but needs a little help in my class. She is very kinesthetic and does well in cooperative learning.
The young man here is an artist and learns well when he can apply his artistry skills to writing. A few weeks ago we studied correcting run-on sentences. After the initial instruction, I made up several run-on sentences about the students and printed them on some paper. I read the sentences to the students one time, then had them all stand up. I re-read the sentences very slowly and students were to stomp their feet when I came to the place where the sentence needed to be corrected. I called it "Stomp Out Run-Ons." After that, I gave them blank paper, markers, and their corrected sentences. They were to draw a shoe with the corrected run-on sentences around it. This young man drew one of the most elaborate shoes of all the 7th grade. He has mastered correcting run-on sentences because he was able to apply his skills to a (fairly) new concept.
The African-American girl in the photragraph is one who needs to be stimulated to perform her best. She needs to be doing something with her hands at all times. She tends to be talkative if her friends are around, but I have found that she retains what I have taught, even if she seems to be disengaed. I have had to learn not to take it personally, but to still monitor her and make sure she is following.
The students pictured were working on reviewing for their target tests. They were reviewing in groups and helping each other with specific concepts that would be on the test. They were to work in a group for a certain amount of time and then rotate when the timer stopped. They enjoyed reviewing in this way much more than getting a worksheet and listening to me get hoarse for an hour.

Pictures of the Wheel

Here are some pictures of the Wheel of Misfortune I use in the classroom and the consequences I keep posted behind it.

It has been awesome! I don't have to fret over punishment.

Evidently, I am a Weakness

Imagine my surprise today when I walk into our conference room at FMS and see a poster from yesterday's Arkansas Leadership Academy meeting listing new teachers as one of the weaknesses of Fordyce Middle School.

Excuse me?

I tried my best not to get offended, but I can't help it.

Let me do some scenario setting for you.

I arrange my room each day so I can just walk in and start teaching. Some "seasoned teachers" rush around at 7:50am trying to get last minute copies made for 1st period.

I use High Yield Instructional Strategies almost daily in my room.
Some "seasoned teachers" are mad because the principal wants us to use ONE EACH MONTH.

I know about United Streaming and have been asking about it at our school for the last month.
Some "seasoned teachers" are technology illiterate and have no idea how to e-mail.

I have occasional discipline problems.
A "seasoned teacher" wants to put her 5th graders in my 8th grade tutoring class because "their personalities clash with the teacher's."
-I said no way, by the way.

I do my best to teach toward different learning styles as much as possible.
Some "seasoned teachers" complain about highlighting Bloom's verbs in their lesson plans.

I use graphic organizers at least 3-4 times a week.
Some "seasoned teachers" complain about having to use their copy machine limits in order to print lesson plans (when they can submit them via e-mail to save paper).

I already knew about most of the things addressed in our PLC meeting this afternoon thanks to the phenominal instruction by Dr. Hunnicutt, Dr. Zimmerly, Dr. Ghivan, Dr. Longing, and please forgive me if I left out anyone else.

I am young and have the energy to walk across the room.
Some "seasoned teachers" sit on their butts and teach from their desks and Elmo tables all day.

I am such a weakness to the school, yet no one has bothered to stick their head in my door and see for themselves that I am a weakness.

My literacy coach spends 4 out of 6 periods a day observing everyone but me.

While I am a weakness, my SPED kids are blowing the top off of my assignments, tests, and classwork.

One of my SPED kids does not want her work modified and can EXCEL with my normal classroom work.

Did I mention that I am the only 1st year content area teacher in the building?

Evidently, I am a weakness.

Obviously, I am not happy.
Is anyone else encountering these issues?