I have gotten a few of the same questions lately so I thought I would take a second to answer them here.
Yes, the items at TeachersNotebook at the same as those listed on TeachersPayTeachers, including my entire curriculum.
Yes, the items in my Teachersnotebook store are cheaper. This is because teachers get 100% of the profits at TeachersNotebook and TeachersPayTeachers takes a fairly sizeable chunk in commission fees.
Over the past year YOLO has taken off among my students. They like to yell it whenever they are about to do something less than admirable and they like to wear YOLO bracelets like the one above.
YOLO stands for You Only Live Once, but I don't think that they grasp the concept of what YOLO truly means.
Over the weekend SNL did a parody of YOLO that I find both catchy and amusing.
My mentee absolutely abhors the YOLO trend! We went out to dinner after work on Thursday. She was trying to decide how many chicken wings she wanted to order and the waiter said, "YOLO!" I thought she was going to deck the poor guy right then and there.
Instead she schooled him on the origins of YOLO by telling him about Carpe Diem and The Dead Poets Society. He has no idea what she was talking about which surprised me since he was fairly close in age to us.
I realized that my students probably have no idea that YOLO is a modern version of Carpe Diem and that perhaps I should "school" my students on the true origins and meaning of YOLO.
Obviously DPS isn't the true ORIGIN of Carpe Diem, but it would be a great start don't you think?
"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary. "
If they are still having issues I would remind that that seizing the day does not mean:
An example of what students (this is not my student) think YOLO means.
My mother actually gave me this idea. What if we could have our students make Pinterest boards as if they were a book character? They could find images that that character would pin themselves and then create captions for the pins as if they were the character.
I think it would be awesome if students could do different boards for characters as well. For example: Katniss from Hunger Games Board Ideas
Wedding
Food
Hunting
Rebellion
Gift Ideas
Clothing/Styles
Pinterest is blocked in my school district (and I am guessing it is blocked in most) but there are several ways to work around this.
1. Extra credit project for students at home
2. Create a mock board and present the idea to your school district and ask if it can be unblocked.
3. Create a Pinterest template to print out and bring in magazines/newspapers for the kids to cut up(or just have the students draw) and place on the template!
This is just a quick screenshot of a mock up I did in Word of a template example. Templates are not as fun as the real thing though!
I made a couple of mock boards to see if I liked the idea....and I do!
Katniss Mock Board
Go to the Pinterest board itself to see the captions!
PonyBoy Mock Board
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Go to the Pinterest board itself to see the captions!
I am always trying to integrate the latest technology and trends into my lessons. I may be getting older, but I try to stay up with the trends (SOME of the trends, I will never understand Lil' Wayne, The Bad Girls Club, or Jersey Shore).
I think that the idea of social networking as book characters is something that really resonates with most kids (Especially with the new MTV show Catfish gaining in popularity)
A lot of teachers create printable templates for Facebook and Twitter that their students can fill out on any given book character. I think those templates are GREAT, but the kids sometimes need a break from the worksheets.
I found a few ONLINE generators that I think the kids will have a lot of fun with.
I would really like to find a Wikipedia generator one day so that I could tie in my "Research" standards in with my book characters.
I know that computer lab time is sometimes limited so sometimes we are tied to paper worksheets.
Because of this (and because I couldn't find an online generator for cell phone apps!) I created a Character Cell Phone Hack activity that is available on TPT and Teachersnotebook if you are interested!
My first year of teaching was ROUGH. I don’t think I have enough disparaging adjectives to describe how horrible that year was. Mostly that could be because I think that I have blocked most of it out due to PTSD of some severe sort.
The one thing that I always turn to in times of need is books so I can enter a different reality for an indefinite period of time. During that first year of horribleness I scoured Amazon.com and local book stores for books written by teachers who were having the same experiences as me. The only things that I found were the standard “inspirational” teacher stories, the inspirational quote a day books, or the instructional how to books on how to BECOME an inspirational teacher. I also learned that most of these teacher books were geared toward the apple sweater wearers (Elementary school teachers). This really ticked me off so I began finding that my only outlet was writing my own stories down or creating my own curriculum.
Eventually, teaching became more manageable and easier to handle, but I still never find inspirational moments in the whole endeavor. Success? Sure. Pride? Definitely. Joy? Debatable. Does all that inspire me to write inspiration fluff? Yea…um….no.
All my friends know my stance on inspirational stories. One day I was checking my Facebook when my friend sent me this little gem:
Mskcpotter do you need this inspiring read for the upcoming school year? (Picture above on the left)
I laughed at it hysterically and then did some research on it. It turns out that this is the book that inspired the movie “Dangerous Minds.” Upgrade to whoever had the brains to change the title of the movie from the book title. Downgrade to whoever thought to name the original book “My POSSE Don’t Do Homework” with a heart drawn into it. Seriously.
These books and movies never display teaching the way it really is: a job that is drastically different and yet painfully the same every single day, even with a batch of new kids every year. A job that is so tiring you sometimes wish that you could just sleep on your desk rather than drive home. A job that you can’t just leave at school, when you finally drag yourself off your desk and go home for the night. A job that is NOT as easy as walking into the classroom and using double negatives and slang like “Posse” “Yo” “Wassup” and you have the gang member students from the street on your side and reading Shakespeare like these inspirational movies and books portray.
I feel like stories and movies like these are akin to the Army recruiting posters that make it look like a picnic in the countryside, bonding around the fire with harmonicas and laughing and sing-a-longs. It is not a fair and accurate representation of what the true participants are going through.
It’s about time that teachers are represented fairly.
If anyone out there knows of something that shows teaching in a more realistic light let me know! For now I am going to leave, “My Posse Don’t Do Homework <3 nbsp="" on="" p="" shelf="" the=""> That being said....
I don't mind humor filled inspiration.
This video has been making the rounds and I quite enjoy it!
A loyal dog whose owner died late last year has apparently been showing up for Mass every day for the last two months at the church where the funeral was held.
Tommy, a 7-year-old German shepherd, used to accompany his owner, Maria Margherita Lochi, to services at Santa Maria Assunta church in San Donaci, Italy, and was allowed to sit at her feet.
After Lochi died, the dog "joined mourners at her funeral service" according to locals and "followed after Maria's coffin" as it was carried into the church.
Tommy, a stray who was adopted by Lochi, has been showing up "when the bell rings out to mark the beginning of services" ever since.
"He's there every time I celebrate mass and is very well behaved," Father Donato Panna told the paper. "He doesn't make a sound."
None of the other parishioners has complained, Panna said, and villagers give the dog food and water and allow him to sleep nearby.
"I've not heard one bark from him in all the time he has been coming in," Panna added. "He waits patiently by the side of the altar and just sits there quietly. I didn't have the heart to throw him out—I've just recently lost my own dog, so I leave him there until Mass finishes and then I let him out."
Examples of this type of extreme canine loyalty are incredibly common.
In 2011, a fallen Navy SEAL's Labrador retriever lay down next to his owner's casket at a funeral service in Rockford, Iowa, refusing to leave.
The heart-wrenching photo of the scene, taken by the SEAL's cousin and posted to Facebook, soon went viral.
And on Tuesday, a 60-year-old man's dog watched and waited for 30 minutes as the Fire Department rescued his owner after he fell through thin ice into the freezing waters of the Colorado River:
Nearby hunters witnessed the accident and called 911. But while they waited for help, the man's dog refused to leave the scene. Like a worried relative in the waiting room, the dog paced back and forth, trying to reach the man, who repeatedly waved the dog off, fearing for its safety.
"This is simply who dogs are," Dr. Karen Overall, an Animal Behavior expert said, "We have had a close, cognitive, emotional and working relationship with dogs for tens of thousands of years, and we have both been changed by that history. Dogs are heroic to us because they live up to that relationship."
Canine loyalty extends beyond humans.
I love my animals more than anything else in the world. My dog Jasper (the blond) died on Christmas Eve 2011 of Cancer and I still miss him daily. My remaining dog, Rory (and is no longer a puppy), is always a bright spot in my day. Whenever I have a terrible day at work, I know that when I get home she will be BEYOND excited to see me. That's a nice feeling.
I second my wise self from 2011, everyone should have a pet!
I got to work this morning at 7:45. I have morning bus duty which means I have to stand outside and make sure that the students are not hit by buses while they are crossing the street. It was FRIGID cold out there, but I prefer to have that duty than being on duty in the gym with 400 7th and 8th graders.
When I finally went inside I found out that school was going to be closing at 12:30 because of potential snow. I was like a kid at Christmas I was so excited!
I got home and my mother called me and told me to check the school closings on the local news station. This is what I found:
If I worked in Buckingham county I would not have even had to go to work apparently!
Oh well, C'est la vie I suppose.
Speaking of which, anyone remember this little ditty?
I had that single growing up and knew every word....embarrassing!
Time to enjoy some free time with my pup and watch the snow fall!
These two pictures show the most popular words used in the US Billboard Top 10 songs from February 21, 1960 and February 21, 2010. I’m sure you can work out which is which.
I think we can all agree that the penning of songs has gone downhill and that doesn't help our students' vocabulary, imagination, or creative writing skills.
I came across this videos on my google reader one day. A guy took popular songs from 2012 and translated them to extraneous lyrics.
Song list:
'Call Me Maybe by Carly' Rae Jepsen
'Boyfriend' by Justin Bieber
'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' by Taylor Swift
'Gangnam Style' by Psy
'Somebody That I Used To Know' by Gotye
'What Makes You Beautiful' by One Direction
'We Are Young' by Fun.
I thought I could use this to introduce my lesson in descriptive writing!
I wrote down some of the lyrics that were translated and their original versions:
'Call Me Maybe by Carly' Rae Jepsen
Extraneous Lyrics
I dispensed hope into a subterranean reservoir
Interrogate me and I’ll remain taciturn
I glanced wayward during the gravitational pull
And now you’re impeding my peregrination
Your retinal cones were transfixed
Lacerated denim visible epidermis
Coalescent dusk zephyrs and turbulence
What’s your predetermined thoroughfare baby?
Hey, we’re barely acquaintances
And this is borderline schizophrenic
But here’s a set of sequential integers
So perchance we’ll engage in telephonic discourse
Original Lyrics
I threw a wish in the well,
Don't ask me, I'll never tell
I looked to you as it fell,
And now you're in my way
Your stare was holdin',
Ripped jeans, skin was showin'
Hot night, wind was blowin'
Where do you think you're going, baby?
Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So
call me, maybe?
'Boyfriend' by Justin Bieber
Extraneous Lyrics
Giving all the disposable
income and affection that I’ve got
Hearthside eating Swiss
melted cheese in a pot
I’m unsure about myself but
confident in my knowledge of you
Greet some high-pitched faux
feminine vocals as I’ve been know to do..swag (No translation?)
I’d aspire to fulfill your
requirements
Hello woman
Let’s schedule a conference
If I was your male companion
Your movement would be
constrained
Retain you in a sleeper hold
You’d never be quarantined
And I can remain courteous
Or change my mannerisms to
fit your preferences
If we engaged in a
consensual relationship
My grasp would never cease
Original Lyrics
I got money in my hands that I’d really like to
blow
Swag, swag, swag, on you
Chillin' by the fire while we eatin’ fondue
I don't know about me but I know about you
So say hello to falsetto in three, two, swag
I’d like to be everything you want
Hey girl, let me talk to you
If I was your boyfriend, never let you go
Keep you on my arm girl, you’d never be alone
I can be a gentleman, anything you want
If
I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go, I’d never let you go
I thought I could explain to my students what this artist had done, taken the lyrics and translated them into their most literal and descriptive sense. I would then ask them to bring in the lyrics to three of their favorite (and edited if necessary) songs.
I would have them choose three stanzas from each song and translate them into extraneous lyrics (using thesauruses of course). We could display the original and extraneous lyrics side by side on my classroom bulletin board when we are done as a reminder.
