An interesting quote

I came across this quote today, and I thought it related well to what you've been doing in class the last few weeks.

"When you collaborate with other people, you tend to regard your own individual contribution as the most important." 

                                       -Yang Jiang, Chinese writer and translator

This could provide some interesting discussion.

The PowersShuffle

What do you think The PowersShuffle is?

Hints:

It's not a dance move or my iPod.

Mr. Bryant coined the phrase. *Update: Mr. Hammerman coined the phrase. Mr. Bryant simply uses it often. Well, as often as is necessary. I guess. *Update to the update: Mr. Bryant did coin the phrase. I was right the first time. I should always go with my gut.

First person to get it right, wins a prize.

A Haiku Tribute to Jonas

Last year, a magnificent student began an email haiku extravaganza with me.  It was amazing. We wrote I don't know how many emails back and forth all written completely in haiku.  I love the creativity, love of words, and images in this idea.  In Jonas's honor, my next post is a haiku.

Lounging by the sea,

My mind wanders aimlessly.

Pure relaxation.

Post your own haiku.  Any topic. (No copycats like the top ten debacle.) Even respond to a haiku previously posted. (Cat, you are great at that.)

Can't wait to read them!

Places For Aspiring Student Writers

I realize our core writing curriculum this year has focused on expository and persuasive writing. Remember that the concepts behind the lessons are a foundation which can be applied to all good writing. I also realize that most of you would rather write creatively, and I want you to explore this, too.  Further, you can and should use creative writing techniques to add voice to any of your writing!

One great site I have referred students to in the past is:  Merlyn's Pen . You can submit your writing to be reviewed by professional editors who will even provide feedback. You can also enter contests and become a published writer!

This weekend, I read this article in The New York Times (duh):   Web Site for Teenagers With Literary Leanings, so I checked out the newly launched site:  Figment: Write yourself in. I'm pretty impressed with the idea behind the site. It would be amazing to follow a few of you on the site.  If you decide to join, please let me know so that I can follow you.

I Can't Play Scrabble

Facebook is down. Usually that wouldn't matter to me too much, but it means I can't play Scrabble.  *Sad* I don't have any papers to grade. *Happy* My kids are all too busy to play with me. *Bored*

It's official. I'm a Scrabble addict. I have known this for some time... just ask my previous students; they know it, too.  Every once in a while, I'm still shocked by this addiction although I guess it could be worse. This is a healthy addiction.  ;-) --- On a side note, "addiction" has such a negative connotation. Is there a word that means the same thing with a more positive connotation? I couldn't find one...

I found this article and thought I would share. It's old but still relevant to me. Meanwhile: Addicted to L-U-V

Do you have any healthy addictions?

My List of Top Ten

Check out this article:  What Top Ten List Would You Make?

My Top Ten Ways to Procrastinate Grading Papers
1. Playing Scrabble
2. Reading
3. Watching mindless TV
4. Playing with my kids
5. Cooking
6. Finding interesting articles to blog
7. On-line shopping
8. Texting
9. Facebook
10. Running (I hate running...)

Building Vocabulary

What's the value of a word?  Why increase your vocabulary?

As a communicator (reader, writer, speaker), it's imperative to know a variety of words and how to use them. Understanding the nuances between synonyms helps a communicator achieve the elusive feeling of euphoria that comes in using the perfect word.  Finding the perfect word for your idea is like finding the perfect shoe:  when that shoe slips on your foot and hugs it just so... when you stand up and the shoe feels like air when you walk, yet protects you from the nastiness on the ground.... when the perfect shoe provides the ultimate complement to the outfit...That's the same feeling as when you find a word that says "it" just right.

How can you expand your knowledge base?  12 Ways to Learn Vocabulary With The New York Times - Check it out.

When you comment, don't forget to include a snazzy new word.

Another way to add to your vocabulary. Take these Quia Quizzes:  Flocabulary: "Transformation" and  Flocabulary: "Shakespeare is Hip Hop".  Try making these SAT words part of your vocabulary!

Extra Credit

In an effort to put off grading some papers during BAT, I scanned the Internet for some interesting articles.

This one grabbed my attention immediately.  Why Extra Credit is Extra Wrong  I've always thought of extra credit (especially in the way described in the article) as wrong, wrong, wrong.  I also abhor giving extra credit when the assigned work hasn't been done. I mean what's the point in that, really?  Over the years I've succumbed to the pressure, so I offer a bit here and there just because. Although my feeling on the subject is really in line with this article, I still offer it. I'm starting to rethink it again....

Did you know?

(Thanks for sharing, Ryan G.)

Director George Lucas had trouble getting funding for Star Wars because most studios thought that people wouldn’t want to see it.

All the major Hollywood studios passed on Lucas’s script until 20th Century Fox gave in to his final desperate attempt (even though they also thought the film would flop!). Star Wars went on to become the highest grossing film ever at the time! Shows how much studio executives really know... 
(source)

Nov 27, 2010 09:00 AM by Emily L, IL - Facts

Grammar Nerd: Less or Fewer?

Grammar Nerd: Use adverbs, people!

Exercise and IQ

I find this interesting. 

For years, there has been a cry for help in the fight against childhood obesity.  Our kids are too overweight.  Kids are not exercising. They are too plugged into technology. Kids are not going outside to "play" anymore. People depend on the schools to keep children active by making physical education mandatory. Is this enough? What about those students who "opt out" of PE by taking another elective with parental permission (like band) or even completing the course on-line. With recent budget cuts, some schools are cutting the program all together.

Read this article:  Phys Ed: Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter? (shared by Francisco Rivera - thank you).

What are your opinions?  Can you find any other related articles?

Proofreading Matters

A question: Why would anyone submit written work without following the basic, elementary-level rules of conventions?  

I find myself asking this question almost every time I grade an assignment.  I just can't rationalize how my students would turn in anything where they didn't capitalize the first word of a new sentence (for example). Some of you may be giggling, but it's true. It's not just one student either. It's many. 

I just don't get.

Is it laziness? No pride? Do you expect to earn good grades regardless?

can u emagine if i posted this blog without any concern to the basic rules of grammer wat would u think of your teacher that jsut refused to proofread edit or put any thought into writeing can you imagine? u may think im exagerrateing but just look at some of the coments posted and u will see that im not.  

What does the writing (any type: assignments, emails, comments, even texts and status updates) you publish say about you? Are you proud of the way your writing represents you?

Read this article published in The New York Times Not the ‘Hook’ the Admissions Office Had in Mind . The article isn't the only part with interesting information; read the comments, too. Some of them are especially insightful.

Also check out: About.com Top Ten Proofreading Tips .  I love the quote by Mark Twain,

You think you are reading proof, whereas you are merely reading your own mind; your statement of the thing is full of holes & vacancies but you don't know it, because you are filling them from your mind as you go along. Sometimes--but not often enough--the printer's proof-reader saves you--& offends you--with this cold sign in the margin: (?) & you search the passage & find that the insulter is right--it doesn't say what you thought it did: the gas-fixtures are there, but you didn't light the jets.

Are there any tips you can begin to apply on a regular basis?  

*Note:  Commenting on this blog post is optional. However, check your Gmail, for required homework response to the NY Times article.

Homework or Facebook? Maybe a little of both.

How many of you study or do homework with Facebook open on another tab? Chat? Maybe the iPod is on shuffle, or the TV is on. Are these distracting or helping your focus? Many of you try to convince me, at one time or another, that music "helps me concentrate." Look, I will openly admit if my computer is on, Facebook is open on one tab in my browser 90% of the time.  I also usually have about 15 games of Scrabble going at once, and when my iPhone gives me the familiar notification, my attention is directed to my next move.  Question:  Does multi-tasking with technology help or hurt?

Read this interesting article about a middle school teacher who put his eighth graders to the test:  Test of middle-school students shows learning, iPods don't mix.

 

"The Freedom to Read"

Did you know that in the United States, people try to ban books?  Often books are challenged because the content or ideas presented offend some people's beliefs.  Does this concept go against the First Amendment?  Are there any benefits to banning books from schools and libraries? Who gets to decide what can and cannot be read?

As an English major and avid reader, I have actually read almost all of the books that appear on the top 100 Banned/Challenged Book List for 2000-2009.  In fact, many of them are among my favorites. Some I read as a young girl, and I learned important ideas from them. Some I read as assigned novels in junior high school, high school, and college. Still others I read because my students recommended them!  In fact, I think some of you will be surprised by number one on list (actually a series); it may be one of your favorites.  

Read this article from the "Teaching and Learning" section of The New York Times 10 Ways to Celebrate Banned Books Week. Be sure to scan the list of the top 100 books (under number two in the article). Have you read any of these books? Are any of them your favorites?

Most importantly, how will you celebrate Banned Books Week?

Study Habits: What works for you?

As you guys write another essay for me (I know, I know), I'm sitting behind my computer grading Summer Reading Projects in an effort to get ahead of the 260 essays I need to grade, and my mind wanders.  I need a break I decide.

I bet you all wonder, "What's a break for Mrs. Powers?"  Honestly, most days, it's a few Scrabble moves. Alas, the district blocks all access to games, and my iPhone doesn't have reception in the blackhole of my classroom, so Scrabble is out.  Instead, I open up my link for The New York Times. Interestingly enough, I find an article about study habits.  As I read it, I find that some of the research actually sort of applies to the situation I'm in right now.

Read this excerpt:

Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills. 

OK, I know I'm not studying, but I am concentrating.  When I'm grading your papers, I want to give as much consideration and time to each of you. You deserve that.  My assumption is that you all worked equally  hard on the assignment, and you would want me to put equal effort into grading it. However, sometimes my mind wanders, and my level of attention is not as great as when I started, so I take a break.  I think it benefits you and me to do that once in a while.  Now, this research on studying says the same thing really.  Sometimes our brains need alternatives to stay stimulated, and when we do that, we actually retain more.

Read the entire article here:  Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits

How do you study? Did this article make you think about changing the way you study? Does it go against or for the environment your parents have established for you?

Directions for commenting to this post:

In your required comment to this blog, please begin with a sentence or sentences copied and pasted from the article, Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits,  which made you think about your study habits. Be sure to place quotation marks around the sentence or sentences. It can be something you agree with, disagree with, or just find interesting. Use that sentence as a starting point for your comment.

A Trip Around the World

What if your parents decided to take you out of school for one year to travel the world?  The trip wouldn't be all 5-star accommodations.  There would be adventure and everyday would be a learning experience.

This is exactly what my cousin and his family are doing this year.  After a year of planning, a few weeks ago, Bryan, his wife, Molly, and sons, Dorian and Julian took off on the adventure of a lifetime.  Dorian is a seventh-grader, and Julian is a fifth-grader.  They are learning on the road this year! 

Check out their blogs, comment if you wish, and follow their adventure.

The Family Blog

Dorian's Blog

Julian's Blog

Would you ever want to embark on a journey like this?