Tar Beach Pictures

As promised, here are the much anticipated photos of our Spirit Day project based on Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach (see previous post here).  The students are enjoying looking at the different squares and their small selves flying above the city.

It's a good day when...

T'was the first day back from a two-week vay-cay.  All the punkin' heads were reading their books.  Ms. M. notices A. leafing a little too quickly through his and questions his actions.  A. replies, "I'm looking for a hyphenated modifier." And he was!

It's a good day when one of your little turtle doves learns something you taught them, remembers it, and then uses it later, yes?

Hyphenated Modifiers are one of the "Smiley Face Tricks" presented by MaryEllen Ledbetter in her books, activities, and trainings.  I have used Smiley Face Tricks in my classroom, in my teaching of writing, and in my teaching of writing about reading for many years.  They make language accessible to students and give us a common language we can use to discuss our reading and writing.   

Hyphenated Modifiers, or hyphenated compound words, are often a class favorite.  It's a fancy-pants word (see what I did there?) that reminds them of the kinds of things teachers say all the time.  It is more true than we like to believe that students hear their teachers much like Charlie Brown hears his: "wah-wah wah-wah-wah wah." The students I teach have often decided that all of that "teacher talk" is garbage and is fully designed to make them feel foolish.  By the time I get them, any academic vocabulary I might use sends their brains in to la-la land, and I may as well be reading from a college-level physics text.  Seriously--even words like verb, noun, period, apostrophe, indent.  You'd be shocked.

By teaching them the "trick" of the hyphenated modifier, I can give them some of their power back. Learning a five-star word (see what I did there?) like "HYPHENATED MODIFIER" is kind of like opening the door on the rest of those words they never took the time to understand.  It's a word they've probably never heard, their parents may not have heard, and they have almost never been abused with on a test. Once they catch on, they feel like they know something special.  Then I sneak in some others--figurative language, adjective, compound word, syllable. 

So today was a big win.  A. used the term on his own to describe a word he was looking for.  He's ready for the big stuff now, right?  As long as I can keep him from climbing under the table, I think I'll start on complete sentences tomorrow!

The Happy Song

School starts back up on Monday.  How does a caped teacher go back to the grind after two lovely weeks off?  What's that quote about faking it until you make it?  While many of us miss our little pumpkin-heads, and worry about them, and think of great things for them to learn, we still cherish our time off and are sad when it is over.  

This song is one of the best ways I have found to get the day started, or restarted, on a positive note.  I started to play it the week I was planning to see the performer play at the House of Blues.  I played it many, many... many times.  The students now sing along to parts of it and often request it.  Sometimes, after they get their "free lecture" of the day, they'll ask me to play "The Happy Song."  I know this is partially to get me to stop playing, and acting to, The Frog Prince, or all of my instrumental music, but of all songs they could request and sing along to, I'm okay with this one:
"I'm going to celebrate being alive."


It's called Blessed by Brett Dennen.

*Note--this video is just a static picture, but it had the best audio.  Here is a link to a fun solo version played at Seattle's Carkeek Park.

It's sad, but true

California isn't the only state making huge cuts to schools, but it is one of the few states with a movie star governor and movie star parents.  So, we get videos like this.

Hot for Teachers w/ Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green from Megan Fox

Pardon Our Mess

Okay, so I am not really performing any construction here.  I just love those "Pardon Our Mess" signs, though and wanted to warn y'all that I put a gadget on the right side of the blog that lists ads.  I'm just trying it out and will see if anything comes of it.  Basically people have to click on it for anything happen, so don't worry about it if you plan to ignore it.

BUT! Do let me know how obnoxious it becomes.  I don't want it to be an issue, I just want to see what happens with it (i.e. I want to see if random people click on the ads and if I make a couple of pennies--literally... pennies.)

Grazie,

WTC

The Day They Discovered PhotoBooth

CDS

This caped teacher is using her spidey senses (don't knock the mixed metaphor, and please don't point out that Spiderman does not wear a cape, or that capes are the undoing of super heroes as is posited on The Incredibles. I'm doing my best here...) and seeing that her readers would like to know just exactly what kind of school this is.  

So, here's a link my little lovelies...

Just What Kind of School This Is

Coffee Talk

April 4, 2010

I am wondering if this blog appears a little... shall we say... cocky.  After all, I am calling myself a superhero on a regular basis and even put a cape on and fly around my classroom at times.  I use the terms "super teacher," "caped crusader," and "hero" quite easily.  I thought I might spend a minute to try to explain why.  

Yes, there is an amount of cockiness.  Teachers spend all day in charge.  We're bound to get a little uppity and become pretty certain we are right.  That just comes with the territory, methinks.  I also made a pact with a fellow caped teacher one day, that if we successfully earned our national teaching certification (NBPTS) we would admit to ourselves that we were, officially, "Super Teachers."  We did, we do, and we are both about to renew our Super Teacher Status. So, yeah, I'm a little cocky. 

Mostly though, I use my cape to help me stay the course.  Teaching is hard work and can grind you down over time.  Heck, it can grind you down in a moment! A school year has been compared to the running of a marathon. We start out the year with a burst of energy. We teach our tootsies off for weeks and weeks.  We get tired.  We keep teaching.  We get more tired.  We keep teaching.  That's our job.  My cape is a reminder that it is a long race but a worthy one.  When I just can’t even imagine another moment of teaching effectively, I have my capes—both real and imagined—to help get the second wind.  Or the third wind.  Or the fourth… you get the idea.

And lastly, many teachers ARE super heroes! 

su·per·hero

Pronunciation: \-ˌhir-(ˌ)ō, -ˌhē-(ˌ)rō\

Function: noun

Date: 1917

: a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also : an exceptionally skillful or successful person

We teach!  We perform amazing feats on a regular basis.  We leap tall buildings if necessary. We educate children while fighting the enemies of political turmoil, societal pressures and failings, large class sizes, mediocre salaries, sparse supplies, and, most recently, painful budget cuts.  Why not be clear about it?  We do extraordinary work on a daily basis. Sure, the spin in the news makes it seem as if schools are headed for doom, but isn’t that when the superheroes are most needed?  Doesn’t someone have to swoop in on a web, or in a cool car, or with… dare I say… a cape to save the day?  On another day I will wax political about what we need to do to save our schools.   Today, I will just put on my cape.

 "No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit? I feel like the maid; I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for... for ten minutes!"

--Mr. Incredible, from The Incredibles