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Thursday, May 22, 2008
A package from Amazon came yesterday. Inside was, first, a book recommended to me by Steph: Steering the Craft, by Ursula LeGuin. I haven't looked at it that closely yet, but she tells me it's a great resource for teaching creative writing--with activities, tips, all that. I expect it will come in handy next year as we keep trying to build up the Creative Writing Club at school. It's been kind of hard this year because all we really have available for meeting times is lunch--any time we try to schedule an after-school time, nobody shows up. So kids are wanting to be social and not sit and write quietly--understandable. We did some short activities through the year, but much of the time has just been sitting around talking and eating lunch... not much of a club. But the other English teacher and I have been talking about it, and our big idea for next year is to put together a kind of notebook full of writing prompts and activities and such, and the kids can bring that and we'll work through it together as the year goes on. Then we the teachers don't have to have the burden of planning each week, and it will be more active and fun all around. The very fact that it's late May and I'm totally excited about this aspect of teaching next year is a very good sign.
Sooo, about the other item in my Amazon box... (You had forgotten about it, hadn't you? Admit it.) Well, I read recently on my friend Lynette's blog that a new book about our favorite redhead was coming out. No, not Pippi Longstocking. Not Ron Weasley. We love them, of course, but this book is all about dear old Anne. It's called Before Green Gables, and a fairly well-acclaimed Canadian children's author was commissioned to write it. It's a prequel to the series that starts before Anne's birth and tells the story of her childhood, based on the hints that are given in Montgomery's books. It was approved by the people running Montgomery's estate and, I have to say, having read to page 133 (out of 387), I LOVE it. It's not written in Montgomery's style exactly, but I don't mind that because it would be worse for them to try to mimic her and fail, and so far the story is just sweet and heart-wrenching and dear. But not candy-coated or overly precious. I had to exert some serious self-control to put the book down and turn out hte light last night. So, my fellow Anne friends, consider this your permission from me to venture into the dangerous land of authorized prequels and order this one (you know you wouldn't be able to resist anyway...)
Sooo, about the other item in my Amazon box... (You had forgotten about it, hadn't you? Admit it.) Well, I read recently on my friend Lynette's blog that a new book about our favorite redhead was coming out. No, not Pippi Longstocking. Not Ron Weasley. We love them, of course, but this book is all about dear old Anne. It's called Before Green Gables, and a fairly well-acclaimed Canadian children's author was commissioned to write it. It's a prequel to the series that starts before Anne's birth and tells the story of her childhood, based on the hints that are given in Montgomery's books. It was approved by the people running Montgomery's estate and, I have to say, having read to page 133 (out of 387), I LOVE it. It's not written in Montgomery's style exactly, but I don't mind that because it would be worse for them to try to mimic her and fail, and so far the story is just sweet and heart-wrenching and dear. But not candy-coated or overly precious. I had to exert some serious self-control to put the book down and turn out hte light last night. So, my fellow Anne friends, consider this your permission from me to venture into the dangerous land of authorized prequels and order this one (you know you wouldn't be able to resist anyway...)
Labels: books
2 commentsSunday, May 18, 2008
For your safety...
How to Spot a Cylon
Labels: battlestar galactica
0 commentsThursday, May 15, 2008
This has been a week of great technological advancement in the life of Devon. First, I inherited a nearly-defunct laptop from my brother. The keyboard had broken keys, and it had very little memory, no DVD drive, and no internet capability. But, free is free, and I've been wanting a laptop for awhile, so I took it. Then, my mom and I got online and started digging around, and lo and behold, we came across the website of some guy, who claimed he had the exact same problem with the same model. He described step-by-step how to fix it, with pictures, and it involved taking the whole sucker apart and unscrewing things and drilling things, but we thought, what the heck? It was free anyway. So my mom and I followed the instructions, and my dad helped with the drilling part, and lo and behold, the keyboard works (as evidenced by the fact that I'm using it to type this very blog.) So then, I went to Walmart and bought a USB internet thingie (my tech vocabulary is so advanced, c'est ne pas?) and ordered some memory online, and now...voila. A super laptop.
Also, Verizon sent me a nice little flyer to let me know it was time--past time, actually--to get a new free phone! So I got a super new little phone that has a keyboard and takes video. I might actually be able to text-message now without taking five hours. Very exciting.
School's winding down. It's very hard to teach when there are track meets and festivals and sunny weather and people who take their kids on vacation in May for some reason and field trips and extra assemblies, but I'm trying. It helps, I'm finding, to throw in an extra quiz every now and then--reminds everyone that school is still in session, all evidence to the contrary. Anyway, I suppose I can last for three more weeks. Probably.
Oh, and I saw Prince Caspian this weekend. I thought it was quite good--at least as good as the first one. They did change the plot quite a bit, but I'm okay with it because I get that the book is not particularly movie-friendly plot-wise. I especially liked the part where they consider summoning the White Witch back... and the freaky bird-woman. Someone remind me: is it harpies who traditionally look like birds, or are part birds, or something? Or sirens? I can't remember. Anyway, the only part that I really took issue with--and I'm going to go ahead and spoil you all on this because it's completely ridiculous--was when Caspian kissed Susan. Puh-lease. There was no call for that. Can we just have a movie that's about kids and adventure and talking animals? Does there always have to be romance? Always? I mean, I'm as big a fan as anyone of onscreen smoochies, but come on, everything in its place. 3 comments
Also, Verizon sent me a nice little flyer to let me know it was time--past time, actually--to get a new free phone! So I got a super new little phone that has a keyboard and takes video. I might actually be able to text-message now without taking five hours. Very exciting.
School's winding down. It's very hard to teach when there are track meets and festivals and sunny weather and people who take their kids on vacation in May for some reason and field trips and extra assemblies, but I'm trying. It helps, I'm finding, to throw in an extra quiz every now and then--reminds everyone that school is still in session, all evidence to the contrary. Anyway, I suppose I can last for three more weeks. Probably.
Oh, and I saw Prince Caspian this weekend. I thought it was quite good--at least as good as the first one. They did change the plot quite a bit, but I'm okay with it because I get that the book is not particularly movie-friendly plot-wise. I especially liked the part where they consider summoning the White Witch back... and the freaky bird-woman. Someone remind me: is it harpies who traditionally look like birds, or are part birds, or something? Or sirens? I can't remember. Anyway, the only part that I really took issue with--and I'm going to go ahead and spoil you all on this because it's completely ridiculous--was when Caspian kissed Susan. Puh-lease. There was no call for that. Can we just have a movie that's about kids and adventure and talking animals? Does there always have to be romance? Always? I mean, I'm as big a fan as anyone of onscreen smoochies, but come on, everything in its place. 3 comments
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I just can't get over this.
2 comments
Monday, May 05, 2008
So, you may not have heard, but I've changed careers. I'm now a hairstylist....
Ok, not really. It just feels like it sometimes, like when I help my little sister and her friend get ready for Formal, which was last weekend. We spent about five hours in the bathroom, with hairspray and curling irons and mascara. It was very girly. But here's the fabulous result:
0 comments
Ok, not really. It just feels like it sometimes, like when I help my little sister and her friend get ready for Formal, which was last weekend. We spent about five hours in the bathroom, with hairspray and curling irons and mascara. It was very girly. But here's the fabulous result:
I was quick to remind Brenna that I did not go to Formal until I was a junior, but she somehow doesn't see what that has to do with her, exactly, so I let it go.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
One very important thing I forgot to mention about the Teen Idol competition is that the girl from our school is very, very good--one of the best, in my opinion. I go every week primarily to hear her performance--not just because she's my student either, but because her songs darn near bring me to tears every time.
If you're interested, here's a video of her performance from two weeks ago. You can't see her very well, but you can at least hear the music. This girl is 16. Someday, I'm going to be bragging that I taught her about dependant clauses, mark my words.
**Sorry, I seem to be unable to post the video. Here's the link instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPjBXx6HTpY
In other news, today and yesterday I worked on my yard and it is just looking so lovely. One of these days I'll take some pictures. 1 comments
If you're interested, here's a video of her performance from two weeks ago. You can't see her very well, but you can at least hear the music. This girl is 16. Someday, I'm going to be bragging that I taught her about dependant clauses, mark my words.
**Sorry, I seem to be unable to post the video. Here's the link instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPjBXx6HTpY
In other news, today and yesterday I worked on my yard and it is just looking so lovely. One of these days I'll take some pictures. 1 comments
Friday, May 02, 2008
All the 10th graders are gone up to Portland today for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, which leaves me all by my lonesome for two periods and with a drastically reduced class for two more. (Not complaining, though, oh no.) So, in Geometry, I'm hauling out the colored blocks and the isometric dot paper, and we're learning how to draw perspectives. That is, I expect there will be about 20-30 minutes of education and 20 minutes of high schoolers reliving their preschool days by building giant towers and then knocking them down.
Labels: teaching
3 comments