Spring Fever

Spring Fever is here. How do I know? I don't want to be at school and when I am, I'm having the hardest time focusing on work. I have a few things I could be doing at work, but because they don't have to be done right away, I've been procrastinating. Instead of actually doing work before/after school and during my conference period, I've been watching episodes of The Daily Show on hulu. Is that so wrong?

Triangle Factory Fire - 100 Year Anniversary

Today marks the 100 year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. This quarter my students and I have been reading historical pieces about what life was like 100 years ago. These pieces have covered information about immigration, tenement living, women's suffrage, unions, strikes, and the factory fire. Along with these historical pieces, we've been reading the historical fiction novel, Uprising by Margaret Haddix Peterson. The fire and the events leading up to it are truly tragic events from the history of the United States. My students and I have really enjoyed learning not only about the historical facts, but also about the life lessons taken from the struggle of those who lived (and died) 100 years ago. To learn more about the Triangle Factory Fire check out this Excellent Website, or watch PBS's American Experience.

Presenting . . .

Me with Short Hair!! I've been planning on cutting my hair off for awhile now. It really comes down to wanting an easy hair cut for summer, especially while I'm in Europe. Anyways, I finally did it and I'm loving it!! Although, not everyone seems to be a fan. Picture the cutest, slightly chubby, 7th grade Hispanic boy. Today he came up to me and asked, "Ms. George, why did you cut your hair? It looks more better when it is long. Don't worry, it will grow back." Thank you, Jose. Thank you, very much.

New Short Hair (Sorry, this lighting is awful).

Old Long Hair

Two out of Three Ain't Bad

Today I overheard three of my female students talking. Their conversation went something like this:

Student 1: I think Ms. George is really pretty.

[My thoughts: Oh, that's really nice.]

Student 2: Yea, she really is.

[My thoughts: Oh, these are such great girls.]

Student 3: I don't know; she's kinda fat.

[My thoughts - what the?!]

Well, ya can't please everybody.

Cookie Friday

4th quarter is here again. You know what that means - Cookie Friday. Cookie Friday is a beloved tradition between me and nine other teachers at my school. During the 10 weeks of 4th quarter, we deliver cookies to the members of the group. It's ridiculous to think, but a cookie really does make the last 10 weeks of the school year go by a bit faster. To read about last year's Cookie Friday post, click HERE

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." - Robert Fulgum

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Tonight I went to see the movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's based off of the book, The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. I'm currently reading this book with my 7th grade students. I also read it with my students last year - to read a little about that, click HERE. Anyway, both years my students have LOVED reading the book and learning more about Greek Mythology. We've been so excited to see the movie. It's all we've been talking about this week in class. I surveyed my students, asking them if they planned on seeing the movie, and about 80% said they planned on seeing it.

I love the book, and really enjoyed the movie, even though they are SO different. I'm way excited to see what my students have to say about the movie, although I know I'm going to hear A LOT about how the movie "got it wrong." They've already mentioned a few things they noticed from the movie trailer. Anyways, I strongly recommend reading the book and recommend seeing the movie - although if you were only going to choose one, go for the book (of course, a reading teacher would say that, right?)

What? You're Listening to Me?

Two weeks ago, in my reading class, we read the Greek Myth about Theseus and the minotaur. Because I'm too lazy to recount the myth, click HERE if you want to know more about it. Then last week, I book talked The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. When I finished my book talk, a student raised his hand and stated, "Ms. George, do you know what this book [The Hunger Games] reminds me of? The myth we talked about last week about the minotaur. Remember how they had to send kids to the island every year to face the minotaur? It's kinda the same, huh?"

My thoughts: Holy Crap. You listen to me? And make connections? You have made my day.

Interestingly enough, Suzanne Collins was inspired by the myth for her novel The Hunger Games (well, at least accorrding to wikipedia).

Team Edward vs. Team Jacob

This is not part of my Advent Blog, but I wanted to write about it. Today I had planned to play a game with my students. I started by saying, "We will be dividing into two teams." I was about to go on and say , "Team 1 and Team 2," but I was interrupted when a student (a male student) asked, "Can we be Team Edward and Team Jacob?" I started laughing. They are ridiculous kids who apparently like ridiculous books.

So, When did French Kissing Start?

Yesterday at work I was talking to my students about life in the late 1700s. One of the things we discussed was propriety between men and women at that time. I mentioned the standards of dress women adhered to and the fact that they would never be alone with a member of the opposite sex without a chaperone. This opened the door for a lot of questions. It just so happened that yesterday I was focusing on the learning profile trait, inquirers, which encourages students to develop their natural curiosity and conduct inquiry and research. Because of this, I would usually have loved to hear their questions and talk to them about the answers. This was not the case. Our conversation went something like this:

Students: "What? They couldn't be alone? What about making out?"

Me: "That would have been considered inappropriate. In fact, it would have been fairly scandalous."

Students: "So, not even kissing?"

Me: "No. Many people wouldn't have kissed until their wedding day."

Student: "So, when did french kissing start? Did it start in France?"

At this point I was dying. The students were so sincere in their questions and I was trying to be good with my answers, but I lost it and burst out laughing. Luckily, the bell was about to ring and I put an end to the inquiry by having them clean up.

You Know it's the End of the Quarter When . . .

You know it's the end of the quarter when:

• You've spent the last 3 days doing nothing but grading papers.
• You have students who are suddenly interested in their grade.
• You have students who suddenly start turning in work.
• You have parents you've never heard from calling several times a day trying to find out what their child can do "to be successful in your class."
• You have parents who call to make excuses for their children.

I Work with Idiots

I work with idiots (if I work with you and you're reading this, you probably are NOT included in the group of idiots I'm referring to).

This morning we had a professional development meeting. Our assistant principal divided us into groups, put a person in charge of each group, and gave us an assignment to complete. Unfortunately, half of my group was made up of idiots. This is what happened in my group:

The person in charge read the directions and told our group what we needed to accomplish. Half of my group (the non-idiots) started discussing the assignment, the other half (the idiots) completely ignored us and continued having their own conversations.

After we had held our discussion, we started writing down the assignment (something that everyone was suppose to do). The non-idiots began writing down the information. The idiots realized that they had no idea what we were doing. The following conversation occurred:

The idiots: "Wait!! What? We're suppose to write this down?"
Our leader (a non-idiot): "Yes, write it down."
The idiots: "Why? Can't you just email us the information?"
Our leader (a non-idiot): "No. Write it down. You'll learn the information more if you write it down yourself."
The idiots: "Wait!! What are we suppose to write?
Our leader (a non-idiot): "Okay. The first thing is . . ."
The idiots: "Wait!! I don't have any paper. Can I borrow a pen?"

At this point, I was LIVID!! I know I should take responsibility for my own actions and I usually never make a statement like this, but their idiocy MADE me say a string of curse words. SERIOUSLY - I have to deal with lazy, apathetic students all day. I shouldn't have to deal with lazy, apathetic colleagues (if you can even call them that) too.

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

During the past school year, a student recommended a new fantasy series to me. The series is The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. Three books in this series have been published so far (The Alchemyst, The Magician, and The Sorceress), but Scott is working on at least three more (The Necromancer, The Warlock, and The Enchantress). I had briefly heard of this series, but hadn't personally known anyone who had read it. I'm so glad my student read it and recommended it because it has been great!!

I love that the series mixes fantasy, mythology, and history.

The fantasy - Before humans (or as they're refered to in the book, humani) ruled the earth, the earth was ruled by a powerful race of Elders and their children The Next Generation. When this race fell from power, they retreated into Shadowrealms, other dimensions connected to earth. Throughout human history, the Elders have been plotting to return to earth. Their return depends upon the magical Codex, or Book of Abraham. The book not only contains the Final Summoning (the spell that will bring the Elders from their Shadowrealms into the world again), but the spells for immortality and the philosopher's stone.

Mythology - Where to begin? The book references all sorts of myths - the lost island of Atlantis, vampires, the Greek and Roman Gods, werewolves, the Egyptian sphinx, King Arthur and Excalibur.

History - People throughout history have learned of the Elders, the Book of Abraham, and the Final Summoning. Some have sided with the Elders and have been granted immortality for their loyality. Some of these include Dr. John Dee, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Billy the Kid. Others have acheived immortality through other means and are doing everything in their power to fight againt the Dark Elders and the immortals who work for them. Some of these individuals include Nicholas Flamel, Joan of Arc, and William Shakespeare.

This is a great fantasy series filled with magic and mystery. I highly recommend it.

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian came out on May 5th, but I just finished it this week. It is the 5th book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. This school year I had my students read the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief. This was the best academic decision I have ever made as a teacher. My students loved the book. About 50 of my students finished the book ahead of schedule and went on to read another book in the series. Every copy of the series was checked out of the school library and a parent told me every copy of the series was checked out of the local library. As a class we talked about the novel and Greek Mythology (which the series is based on) constantly, even after we had finished the novel and moved on to read something else. My students even had a count down to the release of book five, The Last Olympian. After May 5th, I had a dozen students who had bought the book. They quickly finished it and passed it on to another student who couldn't afford to buy it themselves. It was great to see!! I loved it. It's what a reading class should be all about.

Anyway, so I finally read it. Although it was not my favorite in the series, it was a great way to wrap up the series. If you haven't started this FANTASTIC series, head to your local library NOW!!

Summer Reading

I've compiled my list of books for my summer reading. If you've read a really great adolescent book and you think I should add it to my list, let me know.

• Uglies/Pretties Series by Scott Westerfeld
• A Time of Angels by Karen Hesse
• Amaryllis by Craig Crist-Evans
• On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
• The River Between Us by Richard Peck
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
• The Shadow Thieves (The Cronus Chronicles) by Anne Ursu
• The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins by Walter Dean Myers
• Temping Fate by Esther Friesner
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs
• Pandora Gets Jealous (Mythic Misadventures Series) by Carolyn Hennesy
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• The Maze of Bones (39 Clues Series) by Rick Riordan
• The Curse of the Campfire Weenies by David Lubar
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• City of Ashes/City of Glass (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
  

Teacher Appreciation

National Teacher Appreciation Week was this past week (May 3rd - May 9th). I love Teacher Appreciation Week. It couldn't come at a better time. By the time it comes around each year, I've started to question my career choice. But then I get flooded with appreciation and all is right in the world (at least my world) again.

On Monday the appreciation began - I showed up at work and found some nice school supplies on my desk with a message from the administration.

On Tuesday (Cinco de Mayo) we had a catered Mexican lunch and hit pinatas shaped like children. It was awesome. When you hit the pinata, it decapitated the children.

On Wednesday I showed up and found Sees Chocolate on my desk along with a nice letter from my administration. After school the students put on a car wash for the teachers and the PTSA gave us root beer floats.

On Thursday the PTSA provided us with a nice breakfast of bagels, fruit, and juice. Then the administration provided the faculty with a dessert bar during lunch.

On Friday the students made posters expressing their thanks for the teachers and the administration provided us a catered lunch from Midvale's Mining Cafe (delicious). The PTSA also gave each teacher a $25 gift certificate. Mine was to Market Street Grill. Sweet.

I love Teacher Appreciation Week!!

Cookie Friday

Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but 4th quarter is always hard for me. I think it's a combination of things. Here are just a few, in no particular order:

• The weather - The weather gets warmer. In the beginning it's a nice 70 degrees outside. So naturally, I want to be outside, not stuck in a stuffy room with unhygienic teenagers all day. As the quarter progresses, it warms to 80-90 degrees outside. This means in a 50+ year-old building without air conditioning, it's a sweltering 90-100 degrees inside. I definitely don't want to be stuck in a stuffy room with unhygienic teenagers all day.

• Pencils - If I hear, "Ms. George, I didn't bring a pencil" or "Ms. George, can I borrow a pencil?" one more time, I may stab a student in the eye with a pencil. Seriously, they're 7th graders and have been attending school for the past 7-8 years. You'd think they'd know they need a pencil for school. If I wanted to hand out pencils all day, I'd work at Office Depot!!

• Assemblies - For some reason 4th quarter is always full of dumb-ass (is that hyphenated?) assemblies. I hate assemblies. I am very much a believer that school should be a place for educating, not entertaining. But during 4th quarter we have to take out 90 minutes of education each week to entertain our little darlings with an assembly/activity. The following are just a few that are scheduled: student/teacher basketball game, student/teacher dodge ball game, teacher talent assembly, award assembly, end of the year dance, yearbook signing, mini-Olympics, etc, etc, etc.

• "What? We have an assignment?" - For some reason (maybe it's all the assemblies), my students are shocked that I still give them assignments throughout 4th quarter. This gets worse and worse as we near the end of the year. "Why do we have to do this? In (insert any teacher's name) class, we're just watching a movie." My response, "Well, I'm sorry. (Insert teacher's name) is a shitty teacher."

So, what gets me through this hell, known as 4th quarter? Cookie Friday. Cookie Friday is a well-loved tradition between me and nine other teachers at my school. Because 4th quarter has 10 weeks, each of us is assigned a week to bring cookies for the group. On our assigned week, we bring cookies in on Friday and have them delivered to the other members. It's something so simple, but it really does work. It makes me less ornery and more willing to put up with the ridiculousness that goes on during the quarter.

Funny Stuff

Today in class I played a review game with my students. They were put on teams and asked a series of questions on Greek mythology. One of my questions was, "Which Greek mythological figure stands in Rockefeller Center?" No one was getting the correct answer so I gave them a few hints, "He was the one who created men." All of a sudden I have tons of kids yelling, "Jesus." "Jesus Christ." "God."

Answer: Prometheus.

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Today I read the gut-wrenching novel Sold by Patricia McCormick. It is an excellent adolescent lit book that tells the story of Lakshmi, a 13 year-old Nepali girl who is sold by her step-father into a life of prostitution. She is taken from her mountainside village in Nepal and transported to India to work in a brothel. It is a quick read that shows the harsh reality that so many young girls face in the world. Although, for the most part, the story is bleak, the book ends with a message of hope. I highly recommend it.

School Stuff

School is going great this year. The school year is already one-fourth over. I'm trying to shake things up and do new things this year. Tomorrow we are going to start reading the historical fiction novel Fever 1793. I've never taught this book, but I'm really excited to teach it. The historical time period for the novel is Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. To prepare my students to read it, we spent last week studying the non-fiction book An American Plague. I had my students Jigsaw this book. A Jigsaw is when students read a part of a book and then share their part with the class. This way, students only need to read a short section, but they get all the info in the book. The Jigsaw went very well and my students seem excited to start the novel.

Another new thing I'm trying are on-line quizzes on my wikispaces. My students took one quiz in class last week and it went really well. I'm going to start assigning the upcoming quizzes as homework. We'll see if that goes as well. To see my wikispaces, click HERE. Their upcoming quiz is under the label, "An American Plague."

Adolescent Literature Authors

Today I went to the Utah Council of Teachers of English (UCTE) Fall Conference. I was super excited for this conference because two of my favorite adolescent literature authors, Richard Peck and Paul Fleischman, were scheduled to speak. Not just one great adolescent lit author, but two!! UCTE really went above and beyond this year, and I was not disappointed.

Richard Peck spoke as the morning keynote speaker. He was very dynamic. He read us his short story, "Three-Century Woman." Loved it!! Following his keynote address, he signed books. Not only that, Pearson Publishers gave every conference participate a copy of his novel, On the Wings of Heroes. Sweet!! I felt bad that I forgot my copy of A Long Way from Chicago (my favorite Richard Peck novel), but since had a free book for him to sign, I wasn't too upset. The following Richard Peck quote is one of my favorites:

I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody;
I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life;
I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I'm just beginning myself, and I wouldn't mind a map;
I read because I have friends who don't, and young though they are, they're beginning to run out of material;
I read because every journey begins at the library, and it's time for me to start packing;
I read because one of these days I'm going to get out of this town, and I'm going to go everywhere and meet everybody, and I want to be ready.

The afternoon keynote speaker was Paul Fleischman. He wrote one of my top 10 favorite books, Whirligig. He talked about how important it is to make connections with others people. He mentioned that literature allows people to make these connections through shared experiences. After his keynote address, he also signed books. I had him sign my copy of Whirligig and a copy of Seedfolks.

Overall, it was a fabulous conference. If UCTE brings in great authors next year, I will definitely go again.