Wishing my students and their families a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, with or without turkey. Looking forward to the next three weeks as we finish up with our book groups and argumentative essays. It will be a fast and furious three weeks!

Useful Links for a Middle School Language Arts Teacher

Assessment Tools Comparison

Seven Good Teaching Resources from the Library of Congress

Chromebook Resources

Classroom Instructional Video Resources

I've noticed, in my students, an increased desire to spell correctly once we began blogging. This made me think of them...

Now we need to tackle the capitalization and punctuation.

Saturday Training

Another day in the trenches with Nick Provenzano a.k.a. The Nerdy Teacher. I'm convinced he never sleeps. The man is the human equivalent to a Google search for educational technology applications. My brain hurts! Thank you, Nick!

created with tagul.com

Kid President

What is the Harm?

"Wishing You Bright Merry Christmas." Christmas Pictures, Images, Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.

Every year at this time I like to listen to Christmas music. I do not subject others that prefer not to listen yet they still argue with me that I shouldn't be listening until after Thanksgiving. That I am short changing that holiday. I assure you, I am not. Thanksgiving is every bit a part of the entire holiday experience.

It was during Thanksgiving week that my father and I would deck the house in Christmas lights. (My father had to be the inspiration for Clark Griswold's character.) On Thanksgiving evening each year our guests, usually numbering in the twenties, would gather on the sidewalk across the street, neighbors joining in. My father would assign immediate family members to their stations and on his count we would plug in, flip switches, drop the needle onto the album and await the cheers from outside.

Just as memorable and just as enjoyable for me was helping my mother in the kitchen Thanksgiving morning. I loved the hustle and bustle, the smells, the chit-chat, the steamy windows indicating pots are bubbling and the roaster's roasting. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade would be showing on the television in the background finishing up with the traditional arrival of Santa and his sleigh.

Every moment of Thanksgiving Day was a feast for the soul. The laughter was always plentiful and uproarious. The younger cousins entertained whether with or without intentions. The stack of Christmas albums played softly in the background after the football game was over. These moments played an important role in my holiday merry making. Thanksgiving was the first big hoorah of the season.

In 1988 our traditions had to undergo some changes. In July, my father was diagnosed with cancer and given three to six months to live. By the end of August his health had deteriorated drastically. By the end of October it was clear our days with Dad were numbered. My oldest sister, mother of two toddlers and expecting her third child, had expressed the need for us to be ready. Ready not only for our father's final days, but also for the holiday season. It was important that we be able to enjoy the holiday's without stress, that the inevitable loss would be tough to endure without the added stress of creating a merry Christmas for my nieces.

Ever since that bittersweet holiday season my sister and I have always striven to "be ready". No longer do we put off the shopping until December, in fact, we pride ourselves on having our gift shopping completed or near completion by Thanksgiving. When the baking/food prep moments are upon us we work methodically yet leisurely. The goal is always to have a no stress holiday. Christmas music is an important presence in my baking and wrapping. You can also bet it is playing in the car on the way to and from the store or any other destination for that matter.

Is it so wrong that I like a musical accompaniment to my activities? Like I stated in the beginning, I'm not forcing anyone to listen. I'm also not judging those that choose to wait until after Thanksgiving. After all, this IS a free country, right? Isn't that something we are celebrating during Thanksgiving? So listen, don't listen it matters not to me what you choose. Frankly, I'm more concerned about the people that take their Christmas tree down on December 26th. What is that about?

Quick, Someone Teach Me How to Draw!

This was our writing prompt today. My choice is simple. I would draw my father. I would need drawing lessons first so I don't bring him back looking like he walked out of a Picasso. I want him to look like...

Only, I'll draw some more modern glasses for him. ;)

I love you, Dad. I miss you.

A Gift for My Students

I have a gift for you.

It isn't wrapped with paper and bow.

The gift will be good whether there's sun or snow.

It isn't a gift card or a bouquet of flowers.

This gift does, however, hold special powers.

It isn't for a special occasion.

It isn't attached to any school vacation.

I'll ask you to share it with others you meet.

No worries, by sharing you'll make it complete.

The gift is knowledge, a most powerful thing.

No strings attached, and yours for the asking.

I Changed the Title

This was a challenging day. More so than most. Is there a full moon on the rise? The students were more talkative than usual, less attentive than desired. The school day has come to a close, for the students at least, and I find myself wanting desperately to be home sitting in a sunny corner of the family room with the two cats vying for my lap while I blissfully read the latest find from www.bookbub.com. 

Reading is an escape for me. I don't worry while I read. I don't do a mental creating, tweaking, recreating of lesson plans. I'm not distracted by the mess in the kitchen, the laundry that was washed, dried, folded, but then left in the basket waiting to be put in the dresser drawers. I don't think about what lies ahead in the days and weeks to come. I am totally lost in the words crafted by a clever author. Reading rejuvenates me.

Alas, I've too much homework to do. One being to post on my new blog. As much as I would like to just put things off until tomorrow I know that would not be in the best interest of my students. If the teacher won't do her homework, how can she expect her student's to do theirs? 

So,here I am, tackling the "to do list" as I should. Keeping my nose to the grindstone because I know that eventually there is a book waiting for me and that will be my reward.

Mom's Crisp Recipe

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Is there a recipe used in your family that you know for certain you will have in your own repertoire when you leave the nest? For me it was (and still is) my mother's apple crisp. It was always a hit with us when we were growing up. For a really special treat she would use peaches in place of apples. Yum! I use this recipe all the time. I rotate my fruit choices using apples, blueberries, cherries, or peaches. It is super simple and simply delicious. A great "go to" recipe that takes little time to prepare but always is met with rave reviews. Give it a try...

Fruit Crisp

Prepare 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Place a generous layer of fruit in dish. (On occasion I will make a blueberry compote to use as my fruit layer. Cherry pie filling also works nicely.)

In separate bowl mix together...

1 1⁄2 cups brown sugar

1 1⁄2 cups oatmeal (Old Fashioned Oats, not quick oats)

1 cup flour

2 sticks margarine

Crumble mixture on top of fruit, bake in 350° oven until golden and bubbly.

Create a blog.

Professional Development Assignment: Create a blog.

It was suggested that I start blogging. It was suggested that I simply reflect. It was suggested that I only do so Monday through Friday. Ah well, two out of three...

A month ago I learned I would have a Saturday PD in October. I wasn't thrilled, my Saturday's are already packed. It was very wise of our IC to give me a month's warning. That gave me plenty of time to grieve the loss of my precious Saturday hours and come in to today's PD with a desire to be here. It was time well spent. I learned A LOT!! Some of what I learned I have already put to practice. Some will take a few moments to be ready for release. 

In the meantime, I want to tempt my students with a Chromebook trick... If you comment on this post I will teach you how to get to activate CAPS LOCK on our Chromebooks. Keep in mind, this is a reward for posting, don't share the secret with your friends/classmates that didn't take the time to post. Your post doesn't need to be anything elaborate, a simple comment or emoticon will suffice.