Brrr…it’s chilly outside…even down here in Florida! Yesterday, when I left for work, it was 21 degrees!!! That’s crazy! My school district allowed students to be called in absent due to the weather, and many took advantage! I had between eight and ten students out per class. I really enjoyed working with the few who showed up! Can we please change the class size amendment? Every student got one-on-one help yesterday, and they thrived!
Anyhoo…you’re really here to read my answer’s to Joyce’s questions, so let’s get moving!
1. Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words were chosen). Here are the words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2014-
selfie, twerk/twerking, hashtag, Twittersphere, Mr. Mom, T-bone, ____on steroids, the suffixes-ageddon, and -pocalypse added to anything and everything, from the world of politics the words-intellectually/morally bankrupt and Obamacare, and from the world of sports the words-adversity and fan base
Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you’d like to add?
Ohhhh…I would choose twerking!!!!! Can we also erase the stupid dance too? The kids look gross doing it, and adults who try to imitate it are even more disgusting. They make Elvis look mild! Everything from the name AND the dance disgusts me!
2. What one unfinished project nags at you begging to be completed in this new year?
I can’t really say that I have unfinished projects. I’m pretty much a see-it-through-until-it’s-done kind of person. If I had to select a task that I’d like to do this year, it would be to clean up the spare bedroom. It’s gotten a bit out of hand. I’ll do that this summer after school lets out.
3. When did you last have a bowl of soup? What kind? Homemade or from a can? What’s your favorite soup?
I last had a bowl of soup a couple of days ago. I’m finishing up a large pot of the Black Bean Soup that I make. I posted it here, with the permission of the Daniel Fast‘s author. It is homemade. I do use beans from a can, but the other veggies are fresh. This happens to be my favorite soup. Yum!
4. Snowed in, snowed under, snow job…which one most applies to your life in recent days, figuratively speaking.
I’m feeling a bit snowed under right now. Next week, we have semester exams. It’s a stressful time because I am trying to prep my students for that as well as get in more writing practice. We have FCAT writes in about a month. My focus is shifting, though, to focusing solely on reading skills, which students MUST have to pass FCAT and, thus, fulfill their graduation requirement. I’m not saying that writing skills aren’t important; however, when I weigh graduating versus writing for one test, graduating comes out the winner. After exams, I have to finalize grades and set up for the second semester. This, in actuality, won’t be a big deal. I’ll keep my same students, and we’ll just continue with our next unit.
5. What’s the funniest movie you’ve ever seen, or at least one of the funniest?
The movie that keeps me laughing the whole way through is Thirteen Going on Thirty, with Jennifer Garner. She was perfectly cast for the lead role, and her innocent expressions crack me up! My favorite scene is the Thriller dance, which I’ve shared on my blog before but happily do so again.
6. In general, would you say you’re clumsy?
I am very clumsy! Grace definitely isn’t my middle name! I constantly have bruises on my body from running into furniture. I suspect that I live life too fast…always dashing from one thing to another. It’s another reason for me to learn to slow down.
7. Elvis Presley was born on Hodgepodge Day (January 8th) back in 1935. Are you an Elvis fan? What’s your favorite Elvis tune? If that’s too hard, which Elvis tune do you dislike the least? Click here for a list of his songs.
What a tough question! I’ve loved Elvis from the time I was a wee thing. There is a picture in my baby book of me dancing to one of his records.
My favorite song would have to be Always on My Mind. What an achingly beautiful song.
8. My Random Thought
Every time I get paid, I spend about $30 dollars on new books for my classroom.
The Mr. has often complained; however, I’m still a fairly new teacher trying to build up my library.
People who don’t work in the education field often think teenagers are not appreciative. That is often true.
I’ve seen something magical happen, though.
My students are reading…
Without complaining.
They’ve learned that they can put a book on the wish list I have posted in my room, and I will eventually buy it.
When a student begins reading a new series…one in which I only own the first book…I will often order the second…and the third…and on and on until I have the entire series purchased.
While I was on Christmas break, I received another shipment of books. Inside was the second book in the Lorien Series. The first book is I am Number 4, which you may have heard of.
One of my boys read it and wanted to start on the second one, which I didn’t have at the time…hence the order I placed.
When he walked into my classroom on Monday, I proudly held up the book.
You should have seen the smile on his face!
What shocked me, though, was watching him pull two books out of his backpack. He had borrowed them from me before we went on break.
I asked if he had read them, and he assured me that he had! He told me that he loves to read but that he doesn’t have many books at home. He loves that I have a lot of books to choose from.
That, my friends, is why I buy books every time I get paid.
The kids do appreciate it.
They love having books that have been recently published. They love books with relevant themes. They yearn for them.
I’ve got kids reading everyone from John Green to Rick Riordan. They are reading James Frey and Neal Shusterman (I’m not a stalker, but I have a grand plan to purchase every single one of this gifted author’s books).
It is such a privilege to watch my students develop a fondness for certain authors or series.
It’s worth every penny I spend.
Filed under: Teaching, This-n-That | Tagged: Neal Shusterman, reading, teaching, Wednesday Hodgepodge |
AuburnChick's Adventures 
I’m enjoying reading everybody’s movie choices!
Our spouses just don’t understand the need to spend our own money for our students. After 29 years, CH has pretty much stopped complaining! 🙂
Wow, wish our schools would give us the option to call students out when it is cold out. It was 6 degrees here in Jersey yesterday with a windchill of -15. But I’m not complaining because my mother’s cousin who live in Minnesota woke up yesterday to -19 real temperature. She didn’t bother looking at the windchill.
I think there are some resources out there for educators and librarians to get free books for their classrooms/libraries. I wish I could remember them but I’ve come across them in my internet travels as a book blogger. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know of any I come across.
Melissa
http://mommyismessy.blogspot.com/2014/01/hodgepodge.html
That is so great that you are building a library for your classroom. I remember a teacher who did that. Some of my favorite favorite books to this day are ones that I borrowed from her collection. Kudos to you!
I loved Jennifer Garner in that movie-she was adorable! I buy two or three books for my daughter’s classroom every holiday or month. She got several as stocking stuffers for Christmas too. Since its her first year another teacher gave her a big chunk of the books from her classroom to borrow this year, and she’d been collecting all thru college, but still it’s a process. A fun process : )