The Weight of Words

Many families have Christmas traditions. Some families open presents on Christmas Eve. Some wait until morning. In our family, Santa always made late-night deliveries, so we'd awake to find heretofore unseen treasures on Christmas morn. But on Christmas Eve, my parents would always allow my sisters and me to open one present. It was the best part of the night, after delicious dinner and before boring church. Of course I'd have already picked out the "best" present to unwrap hours before. I'd use a very scientific method: whichever one was the heaviest.

One year a mysterious box appeared early in the evening. And even though for the entire month of December I had been ever-so-attentive to the quantity of presents always present (as any 10-year-old worth his/her suburban salt would be), suddenly, there it was. Beaming beneath the lighted tree. So just as the Aunts and Uncles, in their church clothes with their polite gifts, arrived and embraced Mom & Dad, I seized my opportunity...

...I picked up the box and shook it!

THUMP! THUMP!!THUMP!!! :::GASP:::

It's from my parents...

It's got to be that game console!

Then, as quickly as I had grabbed it, I shoved the present back under the tree, just in time to greet the arriving family members without arousing suspicion. Just act normal. Just be cool. Calm. Collected.

That seemed impossible now.

I didn't even hear what Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jay said as they squeezed the Merry Christmas out of me. I'm quite sure it was something about how handsome I was/How much I'd grown/How they remembered when I... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... I didn't care. All I could think about was that present! Then Grandma and Grandpa arrived, and the whole ritual repeated all over again. "Look how handsome you are/How much you've grown/I remember when you..." This was torture! And just when I thought Greetings of Yuletide Cheer were complete, my Oma and Opa opened the door, and we were back on the “Merry Christmas”-Go-Round! It would be another 53 minutes and 13 seconds before I FINALLY got to hug the only thing I really cared about at that point... My Precious!

Dinner was a blur. I was completely obsessed with opening that present. I think somebody said grace, but I was pretend praying, eyes closed only to cover my covetous thoughts. Why should I pray? My prayers had already been answered. Obviously, I ate my vegetables--anything to please my Suddenly-Saintly Parents--they didn't even have to ask. I said, "Please," and "Thank you," and sat still even though I was feeling antsy. My TREASURE! We were all going to church at midnight, so we didn't want to get too full and fall asleep. But I would never fall asleep. I was too amped! I just wanted to rip into that present right then and there, skip church, and play with my game all night till the first light of Christmas day! Me and Santa, battling head-to-head, Mom serving us muffins in the morning...

BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.

And maybe it was. After all, I still have what I got from Mom & Dad that night. And I still use it all the time.

But I didn't think so when I finally tore into it after dinner. I was crestfallen. I thought my parents had tricked me.

Later, as I sat in that painful pew at Midnight Mass, paying little heed to the impending Birth of Our Baby Savior, I prayed that tomorrow would FINALLY be The Big Day for me. Prayed for Christmas Day Redemption. Prayed to turn water into wine... to transform that Dumb Ol' Deceptively Heavy Dictionary into my INCREDIBLY VICIOUS VIDEO GAME! Please, God? PLEASE!? PLEASE!! PLEeeeezzzzzzzzzz... I prayed so hard I finally fell asleep on my mother's shoulder, my sleepy saliva, like translucent tinsel decorating our Christmas sweaters. At least I would provide the Preacher some Sunday morning sermon material for the following week (Typically, the least-attended Sunday of the year, so the "We're-all-children-of-God-resting-on-His-shoulders" fluff sermon wasn't heard by many besides my family and me). I guess in my passionate pleading to The Almighty to RECEIVE, I ended up GIVING after all.

And isn't that what Christmas should be about?

Ultimately, I had no need for divine intervention beyond being lucky enough to be born with wonderful parents who spoiled me on Christmas. But ask me if I still have that Awesome, Most-Viciously Gnarly Video Game… Nope. I outgrew it by the 9th grade. But that Dumb Ol' Dictionary helped me all through Middle & High School, College and Graduate School, and I couldn't have made it (or this) without it!

Nick & Elvis in SF!

nick lowe, great american music hall, 10/1/10


elvis costello, great american music hall, 10/1/10

The Clouds Live in the LA River

nevermind.

sorry.

hope to transmit again soon...

i'm baaaaaaaaaack

testing. testing. 1, 2. 1, 2. is this thing on?

it's about to be.

more soon...

long beach green festival

The Sky


the clouds @ green festival, 5/9/09

here's what i did instead of working in my classroom on saturday. we played on the "fire stage" at the "art park" on elm and broadway. it was a lot of fun... better than working in my classroom!

periodic coffee tables

since we have to teach the elements and the periodic table in fifth grade (something i wasn't taught until 9th grade), i thought these periodic coffee tables were pretty cool. maybe i could even buy one for my classroom with my cotsen money...

this one's neato because it has actual "embedded element samples" (except for the radioactive ones--boo!) contained under the glass top, and it only costs $9500.

there's also this one made of all wood. you can read the whole story of its creation (with pix) here.

seems like something our resident science expert, mrs. mank, would enjoy. making we could all chip in and buy one for her birthday!

HAPPY ST. BILL HICKS DAY!

back when i started this blog, i wrote a post about seeing bill hicks at UCI in 1992 and how it changed my life. i even wrote a rap called "it's only a ride" inspired by his words... well, today is st. bill hicks day, so i thought it only appropriate to post those words that mentored me.

and btw, i hope it's not true, but there are rumors on these here inter-tubes that russell crowe is slated to play hicks in an upcoming biopic. ugh.

HAPPY EASTER!

scholar dollars

my principal asked us to share some of our trimester 2 successes, and i have to say that my scholar dollar has been quite a useful tool/behavior incentive in my classroom. i know it's not an original idea--plenty of others have used classroom "money"-- but it is an original design/drawing. thanks to wendy wahlen for encouraging me to be gender inclusive with my design, (so P.C.) although it looks like the female character is missing a couple of the scholar "icons." can you spot which ones?

the clouds

the clouds @ viento y agua, long beach 3/20/09

photo by mom

it was wonderful to have so many people come out to support the clouds and me at viento y agua on friday! my thanks to the following: mom & dad, sis(!) & insane cougar(!!), dave neely, robo, sam, mike & kim, stephanie & marco, jenny, linda & david mank, and quite surprisingly, my former VP lucy salazar and her husband! it was nice to see all of your loving, smiling faces.

OXOX's TO YOU ALL!

red eye

the thingz play a show in huntington beach, deep in the heart of OC darkness, and find proof of de-evolution...
our only choice: play a dev-o cover.

the thingz @ gallagher's, 3/13/09

on-line drum set

make your own beats on-line!!

i wonder if my principal would object to my students using this in the computer lab... lemme check the 5th grade music standards...

well, it's definitely covered by standard 2.0 "creative expression," but the lab might sound like a rave!

we'll have to close the door... :>

capitalism

bill watterson was a genius. check out this calvin and hobbes on old-school capitalism...

so funny and so prescient, it's sad...

thank you card!

i found this in my mailbox this morning and thought i'd share it with you all. it's a thank you card from the students in room 72 that didn't go to camp! (see this post) shout out to mrs. mank for not only encouraging her students to show their appreciation but binding it into a cool book! i love it!

here's the front cover:

and back...

inside artwork:

and my favorite...

i like this one because if you look closely in the upper right-hand corner, there's a monkey. see, to get to know each other's names, we played a name game called, "monkey goes to the moon." i just loved that this student included that little detail. of course, this wasn't just an art project--they wrote letters to accompany the pictures that were equally cute--but i was particularly tickled by the illustrations, so i decided to share those.

thanks again, mrs. mank!

more CPAC fun!

maybe i need to teach middle school or high school... it'd be fun to challenge someone like this: a 14 year old, future fox news pundit at (you guessed it), CPAC.

battle drill

if i were battling that republican rapper (see below), here'd be my flow. (i wrote this after bush "won" reelection in 2004. eat your heart out, chuck d--it's mr. c!)

TOP GUN
elementary education, basic facts:
rubber stamp government contracts,
administration partisan hacks
attack dissidents here at home on iraq
our boys are coming back packed in boxes
graveyard crosses, acceptable losses,
shell-shocked, can't talk to anyone, and
don't feel safe without a gun.
all these memories: eating rotten MRE's, IED's,
infantry, cavalry, civilian casualties,
indiscriminate killing in the cities,
disease-filled water, no electricity...
it's a pity. who's the example?
bullet through the temple, brain burst like a pimple.
it's so simple to sit in the middle,
twiddle your thumbs and act real dumb
while we got fundamental differences to settle,
bush back in the saddle,
pot call the kettle black--
he use attacks on the twin towers to act like a cowboy
when he's just a coward.
a super-power in decline:
from the cave to the moon and back in no time
with this illegitimate leader, second-grade reader,
mr. top gun-cod-piece-theater, wouldn't listen to senior or CIA.
he said, the sunni? the shia? what difference does it make?
it's war for heaven's sake--there's bound to be mistakes.
hearts and minds splattered on the pavement and
on TV, they're sold as entertainment...
but that's the media arrangement:
repeat government lies for the right payment,
and read prepared statements like,
"we will be greeted with flowers at our feet,"
"parades in the street," maybe take "six weeks."
WMD a positivity, diplomacy has failed, only ONE possibility:
"invade their countries, kill their leaders, convert them to christianity."*
it's insanity--the drumbeat of war--voices of peace all but ignored by this
illegitimate leader, second-grade reader,
mr. top gun-cod-piece-theater, wouldn't listen to senior...

*ann coulter quote. all other quotes taken completely out of context.

rage against the (liberal media) machine

this was just too good to pass up: video of a conservative MC at the CPAC (conservative political action conference) whose whole act consists of spitting right-wing talking points. i love that he had his "epiphany" (obviously not a teacher-- he didn't say, "ah-ha moment.") after listening to michael savage for 10 minutes!!! for those who don't know who that is, michael saveage (ne, michael weiner) is a former-liberal compatriot of allen ginsberg-turned conservative talk show host, who regularly shouts obsenities over the AM airwaves ("i hope you get AIDS and die!") while getting positively apoplectic about illegal aliens and "islamo-fascists." he's a real class act.

anyway, eat your heart out, zach de la rocha:

professional reading

as a professional it's important that i keep abreast of new research, new books, and new data in the field of education in order to continue my growth as a life-long learner and improve as a teacher. that's why i do professional reading. my principal provides a good deal of these resources to our staff, and we have a bi-weekly "think tank" session where we discuss the selection(s) and round-table our ideas on how to implement and/or supplement what we glean from the readings in our classrooms. i also encounter articles and books in my own reading, or my COTSEN mentor will share an article or book that she thinks might be beneficial and/or interesting to me. most of the time i can find something useful or utilitarian in these readings, but sometimes i just can't get past the style of writing.

i know it sounds petty, but style and voice are important to me. and there's a balance that must be struck: on the one hand, it can't be too dry, too didactic; but on the other, i don't want my metacognitive voice to be saying, "alright, enough presuppositions, get to the f'n point!" many of the articles that i read last year for my masters degree fell into the former camp--way too formal and completely coma-inducing. but recently i've encountered the latter--too many, "i know what you're thinking: this can't work in my classroom, but give it a shot"-styled pieces. does that make sense? basically, while i'm reading it, i'm yelling, "cut to the chase already!" lucy calkins' writing particularly grates on me in this way. (there. i said it, and i feel better. she's got amazing ideas on reading and writing, but she works my last nerve!)

the funny thing is, when i expressed my disdain for calkins' style of writing at our COTSEN inquiry meeting, my mentor just rolled her eyes and looked away! maybe she was still smarting from my critique of her first pick, what great teachers do differently, by todd whitaker. not only was the "no-duh" factor staggeringly high in that book, his analogies were painfully trite.

the good news is, our principal has just given us an AMAZING article on reading aloud that has energized me with some good ideas that i want to try out immediately. more on that as it develops...

the district vs. LB unified school district

the cover story in the feb. 25-mar. 3 edition of the district just might stir up a little controversy. basically, it asserts that my employer, LBUSD, is wasting money that should be used to teach poor/disadvantaged students on teacher trainings and professional development.

the article by diana bosetti begins with a disgruntled former teacher, tonina johnson, accusing her ex-principal, robert williams, of forcing her out of her job after her second year of teaching because she dared to speak up against a training at the UCLA conference center in lake arrowhead. it goes on to document some of the expenses LBUSD has paid for such trainings, while in the midst of a budget crisis, up until april 2008. it's not a flattering picture, to say the least, and bob williams takes the brunt of the criticism.

the interesting part for me is that i know bob... well, kind of... (probably not well enough to call him bob, but he's an acquaintance of my mom's, and we've met several times. she worked with him at monroe, before he was promoted to principal at lincoln.) he seems like a nice guy, and my mom, as well as my teacher friends at lincoln, have corroborated this. that's why the claims made in the article seem a bit odd.

it's clear from the story that tonina was overwhelmed by her new position. as any inexperienced, emergency-credentialed teacher (as i was) can attest, the first few years are tough, and any time spent outside the classroom can seem like wasted time that should be spent getting experience in the classroom. unfortunately, the first few years are chock-full of training--days spent away from your classroom and your students. i remember feeling very frustrated having to go to these all-day trainings (EEEI, open court, math, etc.) when i thought i was getting better training in my classroom with my actual students. so i feel her pain.

the part that bothered me the most though was the council members who hid under their desks when confronted by ms. bosetti about these necessary training expenditures. teachers need to be treated as professionals, and if that means paying for a training at a conference outside of town or a hotel in downtown, then so be it. give us the respect we are due! (and don't run and hide when you're asked about it, jon meyer, you sad sack!) team-building and professional development are of paramount importance to our district's mission of "every student, every day."

at least mary stanton, vp of the school board, didn't duck the questions and was openly supportive:

Stanton further asserts that there are benefits to holding retreats out of the area, suggesting that if they were held locally school employees might go AWOL and sneak home.

“If we hold these conferences across town, it doesn’t work because they can just leave,” she says. “Part of the problem with these schools is that the staff doesn’t talk to each other. They do not communicate, which is one of the reasons their school is in the place [underachieving] that it is. The superintendent believes very strongly in team building and that it leads to better communication between teachers, and I support him.” (emphasis added)

exactly.

no camp for me

so sad... while my fifth grade colleagues and most of our students enjoyed a winter wonderland at camp oakes in big bear, ca. i stayed behind... no 3 feet of freshly fallen snow for me. no sled runs. no snowmen or snow angels. ::sniffle, sniffle:: just me and 31 students whose parents were too lame or too afraid to let their children have this once-in-a-lifetime experience. (i realize that that last statement is a judgment call, but it happens to be true, which gives it the extra force of veracity.)

ultimately, this was my choice. since i've had so many things on my plate in my personal life, and since i didn't think it was cool to give the fourth grade teachers 6 extra students each, i asked the principal if i could stay behind with these students and take care of some unfinished business at home. this would not only help me, but eliminate the problem of placing more students in already-crowded classes--a win-win situation.

thankfully, he was cool with the idea, and thankfully, the students were great! the mutuality of their situation helped these students from disparate classes form an instant community, and we had an awesome little tribe by the end of our first day! we reviewed math concepts in geometry, did some reader's workshop, and i got to confer with students on their realistic fiction writing (my favorite). of course, i also had to get some buy-in, so i promised that i'd bring in my drum set on friday if their temporary tribe maintained decorum.

it worked. i brought in my kit, and the students took turns trying it out. i taught them all about the components of the set and how to make a simple beat. since one of the students already knew how to play, (he's been playing since he was 6.) we jammed together. it was awesome--i played guitar, and he rocked the beats, while all the other students sang and clapped their hands to their hearts' content!

v-day show!

we played an awesome valentine's show last night at a pirate-themed bar in LA called the redwood. it was even the LA WEEKLY pick of the week!! plus, there were star sightings, too! that creepy dude from lost (ben?) was there, and rumor has it, spiderman (t-mac, as he let's me call him) was also... my buddy james got ben's autograph, and after the show, kim fowley gave us his card and said he wanted to play us on his radio show! (kim fowley is probably most famous for creating the runaways with joan jett and lita ford--you can check out his wiki info here.)

we played a great set, and we got a great response from the audience. it was nice to have a whittier alum, laura velez, show up and support us, not to mention our wonderful LBC fans who made the trek on such a hectic/romantic night.

thank you all--i really appreciate everyone's support!

"we're just that lazy"

this is definitely NSFW, but it's just too funny not to post... especially since my former-favorite aunt lupe had one of these in her house in DF which we made fun of before we got kicked out!

enjoy!

trailing clouds of glory...

here's the wordsworth poem, "intimations of imortality from recollections of early childhood" that the blind mr. randolph knows by heart in the great gilly hopkins. mind you, it's 208 lines (7 pages in the oxford book of english verse: 1250-1900), but here's the beginning of my favorite stanza (line 59) quoted in TGGH:

our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
the soul that rises with us, our life's star
hath had elsewhere its setting,
and cometh from afar:
not in entire forgetfulness,
and not in utter nakedness,
but trailing clouds of glory do we come
from god, who is our home...

interactive read aloud

one of my favorite parts of reading workshop is the interactive read aloud. right now we are in the middle of the great gilly hopkins by katherine paterson. it's about an ingeniously manipulative and racist foster child that gets sent to live with an unflappable "religious fanatic" and a "mentally retarded" boy. throw in a blind neighbor who loves william wordsworth, a hippy mom who strings her "sweet galadriel" along, an african-american teacher unwilling to give up on her (titular) student, and you've got a compelling, newbury award-winning novel. my class is completely captivated by it. and it's the perfect book to stimulate students' "thinking journeys."

that's why when i was asked to demonstrate the interactive read aloud at our staff meeting today, i chose to read it instead of a picture book. the book is an instant conversation-starter, a book that causes adults' and students' metacognitive voices to literally scream reactions out loud. as a matter of fact, when i read it in my class, that's usually what happens: students' metacognitive voices burst forth, spilling from their brains out of their mouths! it's pretty fun to hear...

but our staff was a different animal. so stoic. so expressionless. so silent. as i modeled my thinking journey aloud, their silence made me very uncomfortable and threw me off my game. i'm used to the give and take "on stage"--the reciprocation-- whether i'm performing with an instrument or a book. i got next to nothing. i was about to read more, then i thought i should cut my losses because it seemed i was boring everyone...

once i got back to my seat, i did get a few questions and comments about the book, not to mention some very nice emails afterward, but overall it wasn't what i expected. i felt intimidated and a bit silly for putting myself out there. it definitely made me appreciate my class all the more!

this is why you're fat

i gotta admit: when i first saw this SNL parody, i thought it was just satire...

but after seeing this website, i'm not so sure it was satirical!

corndog pizza

Mega Pizza

A pizza with a hot dog wrapped in bacon pigs in a blanket crust. The center is filled with italian sausage, ham, bacon, bacon bits, sliced tomato, mushroom, onion, peppers, garlic chips, basil, black pepper and tomato sauce. It can also be flavored with maple syrup and ketchup.

some of the students at my school look like they might eat some of this stuff... good thing teachers know CPR!

john bolton gets told

i've had this video lying around my desktop for a while, so i thought i'd share it. this is for all (2?) of those people that still think getting rid of saddam was a great thing for the people of iraq.

an iraqi woman tells john bolton what's up...

favorite line:

i've lost more relatives in the last 4 years than under 30 years of saddam, so i don't think you can tell me how dangerous saddam's dictatorship was.

ouch. he got told.

of course he still acts like a smug m'f'er in my opinion...

elizabeth alexander

i loved watching the inauguration with my class on tuesday! it was incredibly moving, and aside from one of my african-american boys falling asleep, my class was transfixed. they clapped, cheered, and basically acted like they were actually on the mall. (of course i had to explain to them that this wasn't the kind of mall they thought it was...)

i especially enjoyed the poet, elizabeth alexander, although my colleague and i agreed that she didn't do the best job delivering her poem...she wasn't exactly a shining example of fluency.

the next evening, one of my favorite political pundits, stephen colbert, had her as a guest on his show and made her explain the difference between a metaphor and a lie.

hilarious. enjoy.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Elizabeth Alexander

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Funny Political News

Christian Bale Parody
Joke of the Day

theresa anderson@hotel cafe

she was amazing! she performed her first song completely a capella at the front of the stage, stomping her platform heels to keep the beat. i was immediately transfixed to say the least. she then proceeded to take off her shoes and captivate us with her blend of soulful folk (soulfolk?) and humorous anecdotes, all the while skillfully manipulating her delay pedals with her bare feet (podipulating?).

and just like her video in my previous post, her whole record, hummingbird, go! was recorded alone in her kitchen in NOLA, so when she mentioned her "back-up singers," the kitchenettes, and actually introduced each "singer" by name, describing their physical attributes and personalities, we all had a good laugh. she was so cute!

after the show i got to briefly talk to her about our mutual musical friend (mike dillon), holding up the line to buy her CD as she autographed it for me with a heart! (::sigh::)

a.m. letter test prep

here's what it looks like with a little test prep thrown in...

i heart the a.m. letter

i love the morning letter for many reasons, but mostly because i get to come in and begin teaching right away. before i began using it, i felt like i wasted valuable teaching time with students fumbling around for journals or pencils, chatting at their seats, checking homework, etc. now i get right down to business.

here's the routine: students drop off their backpacks at their seats, "park it on the carpet," (my new catchphrase), and i begin teaching a language arts content standard immediately. then, they go back to their seats and try it with another letter i've composed that hits the same content standard that i taught in the letter. it takes about 15 minutes--quick and painless. i like it WAY better than DOL (or "D.O.HELL"--my other new catchphrase). it's way faster, and it models what good writers do: they write everyday.

i can also teach a lot more than just punctuation, grammar, and spelling. last november, before we tracked off, i used it to teach the revision strategy of combining sentences. and since the CST has questions like, "how would these sentences best be combined?" i get test prep in too. bonus!

here's what that looked like:

5th grade camp

while i'm excited and relieved that our 5th graders will indeed get to go to camp this year--albeit for only 2.5 days at the YMCA's camp oaks--i'm saddened that the 60 year tradition of LBUSD students going to camp hi-hill is over...

from what i've heard, some people on the school board have had it in for hi-hill for a long time... that's why it was so encouraging to see our superintendent and other head honchos at the 60 year anniversary party last may (where i was lucky enough to help provide some musical entertainment).

this article in the district raises some interesting questions as to why LBUSD closed hi-hill...

obviously it's more politically expedient for the district to site fire and safety concerns than it is to say we don't want to pay for the poor kids to go to camp, but either way--super sad.

theresa anderson

wow.
talk about talented.
watch/listen to this one-woman performer from NOLA and see/hear what i mean.
she's playing in LA this month, and
i can't wait to check her out!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

hey gangsta! need help deciding if today will be a good day?
check this hilarious flow chart. (warning: NSFW)
(based on "today was a good day" by ice cube)

ELVIS!!!

i don't want to go to chelsea, by elvis costello

kinda like saying, i don't wanna go to orange county.
doesn't have the same ring, though...
this is a super tight live version. a little different from the album.
cool breakdown section.

btw, i don't like the "late nights" name. i still want to feature some of my favorite music videos, but i've got to think of a better name...

late nights with DJ C.

hey yeah, by oukast

an oldie but a goodie.
i love the breakdown/"ice-cold/shake-it-like-a-polaroid-picture" part!

happy holidays!

late nights with DJ C

crazy, by gnarls barkley

(i've got a theme going here these last few nights...)

i love this band!
so versatile.
the live "marching band" version of this song rules,
but
the groovy-melancholia of this rendition seemed
perfect for the rainy weather we've been having.

a special place in hell for punsters & mimes...

man who steals wig will have toupee (AP)

;>

happy 70th birthday, sophie!

out of control, by reggie watts.

dedicated to my crazy poodle.
i've had the pleasure of seeing reggie watts live a couple times in seattle.
once at bumbershoot and once at an after-hours loft party on 1st, near safeco field. he's an incredible musician and a really funny guy.
the video is kinda long, but the harmonies at the end are worth it.

late nights with DJ C.

twisted, by annie ross

tip o' the energy dome to pops for letting me steal all his
lambert, hendricks, and ross records.

check out the piano player at 1:59.
that's why live music rules.

thanks reagan. pt. II

...for explaining why the policies of your party-to-be
failed then, as they have now.

thanks reagan.

my favorite air america host, thom hartmann, takes the GOP
(and reagan, specifically) to task for their
failed economic ideology.

one of these things is not like the other...

tip o' the energy dome to mike morrisonic for the video recommendation.

i love this band!

" a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity" *

*AP quote.

see. that's why bush should just make iraqi journalists take off their shoes and kneel before him. you know. for freeing their country and all...

i wonder if this incident will give journalists in this country the temerity to insist that bush finish his job, get his party in line with the auto loan, work every last day of his term on the economy, and not leave EVERY problem he's created (or just ignored) for obama to fix.

let's HOPE.

Prop Hate--The Musical!

tip o' the energy dome to moms for the link!

BICS & CALP* -- it's not a country band

since we've been moving away from the
open court regiment and towards
standards-based instruction,
i've been teaching vocabulary a little differently.
basically, every monday the students sit on the rug and
generate vocabulary words from
looking at some kind of photo (usually from a magazine)
then, using a thesaurus,
i ramp up the students' words with more academic language.
(i.e. crack --> fissure) next, as per dr. kate,
we practice saying the new words orally a few times;
we clap out and count their syllables;
we look for any cognates, or spanish "cousins;"
we discuss their parts of speech; then,
i model how to use each word properly in a sentence and
give my students an opportunity to practice as well.

finally, students write the new vocabulary words on their papers,
so they can do their homework for the week...

monday: they write the dictionary definition of each word.
tuesday: they write sentences with each word.
wednesday: they write synonyms for each word.
thursday: they write antonyms for each word.
friday: QUIZ TIME--they write a synonym for each word and
use each one in a sentence.

i like this method for several reasons:

first of all, my mission is to get my students
mentally ready for the challenges of middle school
(and hopefully, beyond)
so
improving cognitive academic language proficiency
is critical to my goal.

this procedure builds-in opportunities for students to
orally practice the new vocabulary, and
increasing the amount of "time on the tongue" is integral to
academic language acquisition.

the picture itself provides students an image
to associate with the more rigorous academic vocabulary,
so the new words are not so
abstract.

(besides, having students use the same piece of paper every night
builds in the responsibility piece.
not to mention, they have a handy resource
from which to study for the test.)

this method also creates
greater buy-in,
especially if the students bring in the pictures
themselves.
(like the example above)
when the students have more agency,
they feel more responsible for their education,
so
their effort increases.
this usually results in more successful
(and hopefully, in this case, more eloquent)
students.


*BICS=basic interpersonal communication skills
CALP=cognitive academic language proficiency

a.m. letter

i've been doing this instead of DOL every morning...

more soon...

what is it to you?!

PRESIDENT OBAMA!

a sample of the electoral map my students filled out after the election.
they also added up the number of electoral votes for each candidate.

election eve

it is with a huge appetite that i am preparing to eat crow tomorrow.

for those of you who don't already know--i've long maintained that john mccain was going to be our next president. he's been a press darling for years--the self-proclaimed, "maverick," the "reformer," the "war hero," and quite frankly, the lingering racism still extant in this country alone seemed like it could send mccain to the other side of pennsylvania avenue. besides, how hard could it be to defeat an african-american candidate with such a funny-looking name? (now it might be a different story if his name were spelled, "BAROCK O' BAMA!")

well, barring another stolen election--and the race is still close enough to not rule that out--it looks like barack obama will be our 44th president. (i've now crossed all my fingers and knocked on every possible piece of wood in sight.)

but, even as i type, the pseudo-right-wing are dusting off their phony outrage machine that has lain somewhat dormant since the '90's and are gearing up for a "legitimacy" fight. (remember how clinton wasn't "legit" because he didn't garner 50% of the vote in '92, but we didn't hear a peep when bush didn't even win the popular vote in 2000? yeah--that phony outrage.) the seeds have been sewn--ACORNS, if you will...

should obama pull this off, get ready for a deluge of legitimacy-challenging, pseudo-scandal, anti-obama books ready for your beach reading enjoyment! it's how the pseudo-right has operated for almost 20 years. and the mainstream press have agreed not to care! (bush might still be shaggin' flies with the rangers down in texas, while gore exited the white house had the 4th estate cared, but i digress.)

no matter what the outcome tomorrow, obama has run a brilliant campaign. he's risen above the personal attacks and made this campaign about serious issues affecting our whole country. he's inspired and energized millions of people worldwide without going negative, without lowering the discourse down into the dirt, without slinging mud, and i think that that is really smart. especially for a growing progressive movement... to wit:

recently, i had a conversation about politics with a colleague that's more conservative than i am. this person had voted republican in the last two presidential elections, but refused to do so this time. it seemed like we were in complete agreement! mccain and palin were clearly unpalatable and were not going to get this person's vote... but, then neither was obama. so close! while they seemed to share the same views on many positions, this person would rather choose "neither" than vote for obama.

this lit my fuse, and i smoldered until prop. 8 (gay marriage) was mentioned. tempers flared, and we were in complete disagreement. i was saddened because, while progressive ideals may have won a mind, i failed to win a heart. that's when i remembered what bob somerby had said about the "culture of resentment" and the "culture wars" (gays, guns, and god) created, stoked, and inflamed by "the pseudo-right."

somerby (10/18/08): Polling has made it clear for some time: If we could agree to drop “the politics of cultural resentment,” the [progressive] side...would most often win. Indeed, “the politics of cultural resentment” was dreamed up by the [the pseudo-right] to counter that very fact.

i'd recommend reading the whole post. it's instructive that he notes the sheer dumbness of a growing progressive movement that would conduct itself as the "pseudo-right" have since the RISE OF RUSH--belittling and berating people, then expecting their "hardened hearts" to find "harbor" on our side. how smart is that?

in conclusion... well, take it away bob...

somerby (10/18/08): As a general matter, nothing is dumber than fighting on turf the other side has chosen. And that’s what pseudo-liberals do when they keep this “culture war” going...

go obama.

for my republican readers...

order yours now... before it's too late!

COTSEN observation

one of the best parts of being a COTSEN fellow is the opportunity to visit other classrooms--in and outside LBUSD--and watch other artful teachers instruct. last thursday we visited heidi fernandez's 4th grade class at roosevelt elementary school in santa monica. hiedi uses no textbooks... for any subject. instead she utelizes her encyclopedic knowledge of children's literature and the internet to teach all content areas, including science and math.

i wished i could have observed her the whole day, but since my focus is reading, i only watched her reader's workshop. her lesson was how good readers employ comprehension skills (questioning, inferring, predicting, etc.) "simultaneously," notice this "thinking journey," and write their "reactions" on sticky notes. i loved her terms d'arte. (sticky notes were "tools, not toys.") she was dynamic and knowledgeable. her lesson was tight. not a word was wasted...

i scrambled to scribble every syllable she said.

i was comforted in the fact that our grade level was not that far off from her model. her "mini-lesson" took 30 minutes, she had to re-focus a few of her "readers" throughout the lesson, and her class was "still working on transitions" from the carpet to their desks. all familiar problems in my room.

the thing that really caught my eye, though was the work she'd done with her class on the election. not only were all the candidates' pictures labeled with their names and party affiliations, but she also had a bulletin board displaying propaganda and students' comments on the effects of media on public perception. i loved this! all i've done this year is hold a mock presidential election (obama, 25; mccain, 5) and buy the schoolhouse rock, election collection DVD, which i haven't even shown yet! for such an historic election year, that's soooooo sad!

senator paul wellstone in memoriam

the progressive movement lost one of its foremost proponents 6 years ago today. watch (at 2:46) as senator wellstone mentions the one thing that can reduce poverty, sustain a middle class, keep us competitive in an international economy, and produce thinking citizens--education.

if all goes well, al franken will follow in wellstone's progressive footsteps when the people of minnesota elect him to the senate over norm coleman in november. (can you imagine bill o'reilly--who derisively calls franken "stuart smalley"--having to address him as "senator franken?")

fifth-grader suspended for wearing anti-obama shirt

not at my school. story here.

gotta love mandatory school uniforms!

THE EDUKATORS!

Gimme What I Want !
the edukators are:
mr. al - drums
mr. c. - guitar, vox
ms. d. - keyboards
mr. s. - bass, vox

debut performance,
long beach, ca @ 2nd annual laborless day party,
7/30/2008
tip o' the energy dome to laura velez for the video...
(the shadow was created by a tarp that i put up,
so my bad.)

ever felt like doing this to your printer?

...that's what i feel like doing every time the "needs more ink" warning appears! luckily, i found this helpful article about how your printer tricks you into buying ink and toner when you don't need it. check it out--you may be able to save some cash--which is nice, especially if your printer has already felt the wrath of your baseball bat!

lego artist nathan sawaya

watch a slide show of his work here.

TK-421 realizes his mistake...

zappa on crossfire, 1986

Zappa on Crossfire | Viral | SPIKE.com

watch frank zappa mop the floor with robert-traitorous-douchebag-novak when he says, "the biggest threat to america today is not communism--it's moving america towards a fascist theocracy."

i wanna new drug

make your own medicine, here.

did we date once?

click on image to enlarge

i get mean

music and drawings by edie brickell.

pew news IQ test

i got 10 out of 12 correct--83 percentile--meaning i scored better than 83% of americans that participated. according to the survey, 84% know that oprah winfrey campaigned for obama, but only 24% know the current senate majority leader, and only 28% know how many americans have died in iraq... that's our inept corporate media for ya!

what's your news IQ? take the test here.

I'm Glad I'm Not A Mollusk

thanks to kathy speake (our wonderful school secretary) for the opportunity to play at her 4th OF JULY EXTRAVAGANZA! here's an outtake of THE THINGZ doing their patriotic duty...

tip of the energy dome to laura velez for the video and support!

war hero dies of drug overdose

sad...

Editor & Publisher:

PINEHURST, N.C. A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war has died of an apparent overdose, police said.

Joseph Patrick Dwyer died last week at a hospital in Pinehurst, according to the Boles Funeral Home. He was 31. The photograph, taken in March 2003, showed Dwyer running to a makeshift military hospital while cradling the boy. The photo appeared in newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts worldwide, making Dwyer became a symbol of heroism.

His mother said the military could have done more to help with post-traumatic stress. “He just couldn’t get over the war,” Maureen Dwyer said. “He just couldn’t do it. Just wasn’t Joseph. Joseph never came home.” Read on…

from crooks & liars

new ride

for the last few years, my garage could have be considered a "battle ground state:" two red mountain bikes (of course!) versus a blue BMX and chamille, my blue altima. but this election year change is in the air. once stalwart red states are looking more purple--some have turned almost completely blue, sick and tired of republicans running roughshod over the constitution. the sea change is evident in my garage as well. say hello to. . .

miles
(seems like a good name since he looks kind of blue in this picture!)

my "lanyard"

talk about a time machine--this image sent me reeling back to 1979, scooby doo cartoons, and minnesota summers... THE GALAXY EXPLORER

read all about the "secret lego vault" that contains all the sets ever made (with video!) here.

poetry pt. II

after my students struggled with "the lanyard" (see previous post), i saw the title of this poem--also by billy collins--and immediately thought of my students.

The Trouble with Poetry

The trouble with poetry, I realized
as I walked along a beach one night --
cold Florida sand under my bare feet,
a show of stars in the sky --

the trouble with poetry is
that it encourages the writing of more poetry,
more guppies crowding the fish tank,
more baby rabbits
hopping out of their mothers into the dewy grass.

And how will it ever end?
unless the day finally arrives
when we have compared everything in the world
to everything else in the world,

and there is nothing left to do
but quietly close our notebooks
and sit with our hands folded on our desks.

Poetry fills me with joy
and I rise like a feather in the wind.
Poetry fills me with sorrow
and I sink like a chain flung from a bridge.

But mostly poetry fills me
with the urge to write poetry,
to sit in the dark and wait for a little flame
to appear at the tip of my pencil.

And along with that, the longing to steal,
to break into the poems of others
with a flashlight and a ski mask.

And what an unmerry band of thieves we are,
cut-purses, common shoplifters,
I thought to myself
as a cold wave swirled around my feet
and the lighthouse moved its megaphone over the sea,
which is an image I stole directly
from Lawrence Ferlinghetti --
to be perfectly honest for a moment --

the bicycling poet of San Francisco
whose little amusement park of a book
I carried in a side pocket of my uniform
up and down the treacherous halls of high school.

why i weep not for tim russert

i stole this directly from this modern world. written by the always succinct and brilliant jonathan schwarz of a tiny revolution, based on sam husseini's correspondence with him, it gives but one (BIG) reason why i never liked tim russert--his cheerleading for the invasion of iraq.

December 19, 1999: With Al Gore as guest, Tim Russert says on Meet the Press: “One year ago Saddam Hussein threw out all the inspectors who could find his chemical or nuclear capability.” Russert asks Gore what he’s going to do about this.

Soon afterward: Sam Husseini leaves a message on Russert’s answering machine, and speaks to two of his assistants, telling them the inspectors were withdrawn by the UN at the request of the United States.

January 2, 2000: With Madeleine Albright as guest, Tim Russert repeats the error on Meet the Press: “One year ago, the inspectors were told, ‘Get out,’ by Saddam Hussein.” Russert asks Albright what she’s going to do about this.

January 21, 2000: Sam Husseini writes a letter to Russert, again laying out the facts, and requests a correction.

January 22, 2000-March 19, 2003: Russert never corrects his error.

March 19, 2003-present: Hundreds of thousands of people die in Iraq War. Russert dies, not in Iraq War. Official Washington weeps copious tears for Russert and his Extraordinary Journalistic Standards.

More details with Sam Husseini’s letter.