Here are a few reasons why I adore Julia Roberts:

 

Pretty Woman

Notting Hill

 

 

The Runaway Bride

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Best Friend’s Wedding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your favorite Julia Roberts’ moments?

 

Hello Little Cherubs!

Do you feel it yet? Have you been overcome? Do you have the dreaded

I know I do, especially on the nice days when we get sunshine and blue skies. Don’t feel bad if you do. You’re not the only one and I apparently am not the only teacher who is worried about students getting this. I just found this blog about this very subject. It’s called: 

Three Tips for Teachers to Help Students Finish School Year Strong

Take a look at the blog and see if you agree with their top three solutions. I want all of you to finish strong, so when you are done reviewing, give me some ideas on how we can incorporate these solutions in your program. What can I do to help you finish the year strongly? What can you do to make it more fun and rewarding? I don’t want any of you to look like this in the last week of school:

Now that we just got a break in our rain and the sun has come out, I think I will go ride my scooter…or take a nap. I haven’t completely decided yet. As for ya’ll, GET BACK TO WORK!

Hello Little Cherubs!

So I was checking my school Facebook page, when I came across this interesting post from Mrs. Berry:

“Five things that I don’t like…that most people probably do like..
1. Potlucks, 2. swimming, 3. warmer weather/sunshine, 4. seafood, 5. alcohol. What are yours? ”

I felt the need to respond to her dislikes for some reason. So I posted this as a reply:

Nwallprep Mcdaniel Well, I only like potlucks at my old church because those ladies could cook really well. (Sigh) I miss them. Love swimming, but not up here where the water is arctic. Hawaii is my idea of warmer weather, not the 100 degree stuff. Not crazy about sea food. It’s only for the sea creatures, that’s why it’s called SEA food. Alcohol is awesome! It works great on my cuts, even though it stings a bit at first.

That got me to thinking…are there things that I don’t like that everyone else is weird about and do? Surely there couldn’t be anything that I dislike that others would think were okay. Could there be?

 

As I pondered this question, I began to make a mental list in my head:

1. Jumping in piles of leaves (think of all the germs and ameobas in there!) 

 

2. Slip n Slldes…they hurt. 

 

 

 

3. Cherry Cordial. So Gross!

 

4. Most Perfumes and Colognes. People shouldn’t bathe in it.

 

5. Peach cobbler. It’s a texture thing.

So now you know my little quirks. What are yours? What is something that you know everyone else loves, but you can’t stand? Post pictures and comments as replies here. Have fun with this and be honest.

So it wasn’t just me. Don’t believe this? Go to your nearest pop-culture blog or news story online and read the comments. What are your thoughts? Is our country losing its manners? Is so, why do you think this is happening? If not, then explain to me why I constantly have to be the one to check someone’s language and attitude in public on a daily basis? Don’t say it’s because I am the problem. I am pretty sure my manners are more than satisfactory. Might my expectations be too high? Possibly, but if people were to at least try and live up to them, the world would be a better place. So, what is your most horrible experience with manners in public? Post your stories here and comment to others. Let’s see if we can start a social manners revolution here and now!

 

 

Hello Little Cherubs!

I read an article yesterday that was posted on my Twitter account that disturbed me. I have been thinking about it all day yesterday and all night. Before you read on, go to this link and read the article so you are informed of what I am referring to.

 

 

Let me first explain that the article comes from Mother Jones, an organization that is decidedly Democrat and the writer Barbara Ehrenreich is known to be a strong supporter of democratic socialism. As always, I do not post this article to display any personal political views or beliefs as this is meant to be a blog to educate without bias. That being said, I would not post an article unless I believed it was worth reading for one reason or another. My reasoning behind posting this article is that it troubled me, not that I agreed or disagreed with the author’s view. 

 

 

The quote listed above was posted to the wall of an acquaintance on Facebook. While the quote itself makes a strong statement, the responses received to it where even more poignant as they were not all supportive. A true test of your friends list is to post something like this that you strongly believe in and see who among your “friends” shares your belief and which either react harshly or simply delete you.  The quote is very similar to things that I have heard many tell, even my own family. One comment in particular took the role of antagonist and portrayed this person as a disabled mother of a child with down syndrome who purchased the phone for his mother from his earnings at a Goodwill so that he could check in with her throughout the day to make sure she was okay. How would you feel about this quote if that story were true? Could it be true? Would it matter?

Do we in truth have a culture of poverty that keep the poor and impoverished in a constant and reoccurring state of without? Patricia Cohen (a writer for the New York Times) believes that at least the idea of assigning culture as the cause of poverty is becoming popular again in our  nation’s more affluent circles. In her article she quotes editor Michele Lamont that if “anthropologists had…concluding ‘everyone’s different,’ but sometimes people help each other out, there would be no field of anthropology — and no word culture for cultural sociologists to bend to their will.” Interesting. What if the idea of culture was not a concept that we could attribute to the reasons people do things. Would people then be judged by their own decisions, or would we find another definition to use as a handicap to explain life’s failures? Are we creating a social environment that enables those in poverty to continue to live poorly or is it that the environment we have provided them is too difficult to overcome? I wonder…

Hello Little Cherubs!

Have I mentioned that I love Twitter? I might have. Anyway, thanks to my Twitter account, I have been able to access so many great new resources and avenues of learning that I would never had known was possible without it. This is one instance where technology has definitely been a positive effect on my life (of course, I am saying this as write this at 5:00 PM in my office at home when I should be downstairs spending some quality family time with Mrs. McDaniel and the kiddos). I just had to write this blog post and share with all of you something I found both interesting and worth learning about. Now, let me warn some of my students before they get any further in this post. There is one small reference of about five seconds that introduces a lesbian historical figure in a movie, but it tastefully done and is not meant to change anyone’s beliefs. It is simply stated to prove a point about the topic. So what is the topic?

Women in films…essentially. I really never thought about it. Well, someone did and this is her story:

The Bechdel Test

Being that I am originally from the South Eastern United States, the racial inequality in Hollywood films did not escape my notice. The more I noticed the absence of strong characters of color, the more it bothered me. I rather dislike stereotypes, and the moment I see one in a film, I begin to dislike the film and hold it in less regard, even if the story is solid. I’m still mad about who they cast as the Green Lantern. It would have been nice to see the continuation of the John Stewart era of the franchise. I think the movie makers missed out on reaching the biggest generation of the hero’s followers by dating the Lantern back to Hal Jordan (he wasn’t even the original Green Lantern).

Anyway, I thought this would be a good discussion starter for us and might just give some of you a different perspective the next time you head out to the movies.

Hello Little Cherubs!

So I was perusing my Twitter time line of tweets today when I found this blog post Five Reasons I Don’t Assign Homework written by a middle school teacher in Ohio. Read it and the additional comments before moving down and reading the rest of this blog post…

I tend to agree with Mr. Germroth’s comment, not so much the attitude with which he presented it, but the ideas behind it. I can also see where Mr. Barnes is coming from in his comment that the “too bad” attitude can be detrimental to students. Whenever I am presented with this attitude from colleagues about events that have happened concerning a troubled student, I cannot agree. I worry about every student and interaction that I have with my students, always reflecting to try and understand how I could have done better or presented a different perspective that would get a better result.

For example, today at the college one of my students chose a course of action that resulted in his being removed from the program and kicked out of school. The entire situation began when I merely tried to encourage him to consider using better word choice as the profanity that was so entrenched in his home culture was not appropriate for the environment we were in. He immediately got defensive and started accusing me of outrageous claims of harrassment. I tried rationalizing with him and even discussing the issues he was introducing, but to no avail. No matter what I did or said, his behavior, language, and attitude kept deteariorating the further the confrontation went on. When I realized this, I then tried to get him to remove himself from the situation. I told it might be a good idea for him to take a break and come back when he felt more able to calmly discuss any issues he had.  He loudly refused and continued to create a scene. I then called upon my administrator to intervene as my attempts seemed futile. When my program director came, the student started screaming that I was harrassing him. Another student then came to my aid defending me. This resulted in the problem student screaming at my defender and confronting him to fight. Luckily, I was able to put myself between the two students before anything happened giving the administrator time to escort the troubled student out of the building. 

Even though I am not the first instructor to have difficulties with this student (and this was my second problem with him), I did not want him to lose the opportunity to get a quality education and graduate. It troubles me that I could not help this student, guide him to make the right decisions. Even though I realize that this students definitely has other problems outside of the classroom that could be the major cause of his disturbing behavior, I still wonder what I could have done to create a better result. Have I let this student down by not giving him what he needed to be his best? These are the things that I lose sleep over. So, if you are ever wondering if Mr. McDaniel cares about you, trust me, I do. 

What does all of this have to do with the original article and subject of assigning homework? Honestly…I’m not sure. I think I got off track there. That is how much it bothers me. I had intended on discussing either the relevance and importance of homework or why homework is a waste of time. So, what are you opinions about homework and the opinions presented in the link above? Regardless of your opinion, please explain why you feel that way. Added proof to support your opinions would be nice as well.

This is the last section of questions for this survey. Once you have answered these final questions look back over all of the answers submitted and reflect on what those responses present about the perspective of schools now. Then post a comment about your final thoughts. I am interested to see the results of this project too.

Section 4 – Other random questions?

• Did you laugh at least once today?
• What are your greatest fears?
• Did last year prepare you for this year?
• What is the most challenging time of the school year? Why?
• Do your teachers discuss or outline test/project dates together?
• What makes a good teacher?
• What’s the purpose of homework?
• On average, how many hours per week do you work in a job?
• On average, how many hours per week do you participate in extra-curricular activities (school or otherwise)?
• What is the most important question to ask students that people don’t ask?
• why do you bully?
• How involved do you think your parent should be in your school?
• What can your parents do to help you for school?
• What can your parents stop doing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Part 3 of this survey that you can get extra credit for participating in.

Section 3 – Policy and Administration

• What do you feel the role of the Principal is?  The Vice Principal?
• How can Administrators make school a better place for students?
• Do you like having a Principal come to your class?  What does that mean for you?
• Why are you on time for some classes, and late for others?
•  What is one policy you don’t understand or you think is unnecessary?
•  Are you even aware of school’s policies? Do you understand them?
• Do you feel that you (the students) have a say in the handbook policy?

 As before, please be as honest as you can for the sake of showing the truest depiction of what you believe schools to be now from a student’s perspective.