Give me some shuga...

I really love sugar.

Ooooyeah. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

When it comes to sweets, mozzarella-filled empanadas aren't the first things to pop into my mind, but my sweet tooth and I are always up for trying new desserts. But why am I randomly posting food porn?

Let me start from the very beginning-we came back from winter break. I didn't feel like teaching, and the kids didn't feel like learning. So we journaled about the food we ate over the holidays.

Then the journaling took on a life of its own as the students voted to create a class cookbook in which every single student agreed to contribute his/her holiday dish recipe.

When I saw the finished product that was 100% their own creation, my heart burst with pride. So in my enamored state, I promised them that they could bring in their dishes on Friday, and we'd have a party.

And party we did. Never had I seen anything as vicious as a group of 35 seventh graders attacking 2 groaning tables full of food. The empanadas were the first to go, and I couldn't even get a taste of it. That is until my adorable student made another batch, brought it to school, and sprinkled my Monday with sweetness.

Ghetto Fab

I internally cringe whenever I catch myself starting a sentence by purring, "Girl...".

I was confused about how to pronounce Tupac's name for the longest time.

I could never pull off a white T-shirt with my name emblazened on it in with spray paint.

So why is it that I love the show, Pimp My Ride?

From the theme song, to Xhibit's commentary, and the mad upgrades those cars come tricked out with, I just love it! Turns out that the show is actually going to help me teach because I could improve my students' revision process with my own activity dubbed Pimp My Write!

I stole this idea from Kelly Gallagher's book, Teaching Young Adolescents How to Write. You can teach students the different between surface and deep revision by using the show as a framework:

1. Discuss the surface-level vs. deep-level improvements as seen on Pimp My Ride:

Surface-Level Deep-Level

A new paint job Putting a more powerful engine

Replacing tires Outfitting the car with hydraulics

Reupholstering Inserting a movie projection system

2. Then introduce the concept of surface-level vs. deep-level revision.

Surface-Level Deep-Level

Changing a Changing the

-word -thesis

-phrase -purpose of the essay

-sentence -organization of paragraphs

Fusing car remodeling with writing revision is a fun way to make dorky old revision seem cooler and slightly ghetto. And let's face it, who doesn't want to be appear ghetto?

Authorship

I've been reading a great book called A Fresh Look at Writing by Donald Graves, when I stumbled upon a perfect explanation of what I've grown to understand teaching as,

"You may have noticed that you express yourself more easily in media not associated with school: you pick up a hammer, brush, pencil, or camera, or you turn on your computer or sewing machine. In a corner of your life, you maintain tools for your kind of expression. You savor your medium, whether it is clay, wood, food, flowers, a well-exercised body, paint, cloth, paper, or words, and the smell is sweet.

...

You want to teach. You want to help children create and take pride in their work, just as you have. You see teaching as another kind of authorship, which encourages students to express what they know. You observe them on the playground and overhear them talking. You sense the stories and ideas embedded in a single written line. You witness their expressive potential and help them realize their own intentions."

Green

Being back at junior high as a teacher sadly hasn't changed my desire to appear cool. Just as I had hoped as a homely little asian girl, I secretly wish to be part of the in crowd. Except now the cool kids aren't the ones wearing brown lipliner and oversized windbreakers, but the popular teachers. You know, the ones with the relaxed swagger, casually acknowledging the legions of students who desperately wave hi to them, and whose slingback messenger bag bounces lightly on their hips.

There is one particularly cool teacher I envy. He teaches history of course.

As one student put it, "Oh, you know Mr. D, he's like HI-larious".

I wish I was Mr. D.
...
Upon one student complaining that the soft classical musical in the background inhibits his reading, Mr. D quipped, "Oh really? What was your excuse for not reading the last 14 chapters?"


When 2 male students came in late into his class and merely gave a head nod to serve as an apology, he sent them out to get late passes. When they had returned, they found their desks pulled to the front of the class, placed next to each other so that when they sat their backs were touching. He explained that they had to copy a ten stanza discipline poem BUT the one who copied the slowest would have to rewrite the entire poem again. If the two tied, they would both have to rewrite it-thereby ensuring that they would be against, and not helping, one another. He had the whole class, including the 2 boys, in stitches as he made the boys write furiously, encouraged the class to put in their bets, and gave sporadic play-by-play commentary.

Then while studying the Incas, he digressed to spend the whole period talking about the history of his favorite lake, Lake Titicaca.

How am I supposed to compete?

And we're back!

Being on vacation can do some weird things to you:

You start drinking tea instead of coffee.

Exercise becomes spiritual as opposed to torturous.

And you develop a sense of entitlement about life-believing it to be yours to be enjoyed as well as lived.

Strange.

One lingering effect of winter break is my slower pace. I wasn’t given much choice upon seeing that 75 friggin percent of my students had failed their grammar test.

With first semester counting down and so much curriculum left to cover, it’s surprisingly hard to teach what needs to be taught. In my rush, I’d love to skate over concepts, but I must dive first and guide my 7^th graders through the murky waters they believe NOUNS, pronouns, and adjectives to be. How they end up in 7^th grade without fully understanding nouns is a topic for another entry.

THE BATTLE PLAN

1. Have them in groups of 4, taking notes on one grammar concept. Notes consisted of writing a definition in their own words, 5 examples, 3 sentences using the examples, and drawing 3 symbols or pics that relate to the grammar concept.

2. Then they had to form new groups of 4 and teach the other group members about their one grammar concept because by now I know how much effect my own teaching has upon them.

This activity became fun for me when I witnessed the 25% who passed the test, and the students who managed to understand the grammar concepts upon the review session, tutoring their classmates. Just as I was about to kick my feet up and really get back into vacation-mode I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks.

I asked this student, "Uh, what are you doing?"

He responded, "Isn't this number one?" pointing to the first noun he circled. When a student creates an imaginary problem, follows imaginary directions, and circles nonsensical answers, you know that vacation is definitely over.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

Before, this lesson was just an idea.

After a long trip to the grocery trip where I picked up 17 different types of candy and shoved them into paper bags labeled as "Mystery Bags", it become a day's lesson. Here are their finished posters with 3 similes and 3 metaphors about their mystery treats...

Mystery Treat Reese's peanut butter cup

Mystery Treat: Chocolate gold coins

Mystery Treat: Lifesaver gummies

Verdict: This lesson was much too short to impart any deep meaning upon students. Like all quickies, it just wasn't worth all the trouble.

I should've gone thorough review of similes and metaphors before giving students any supplies. Also should've given students a rubric to check their poster for correct similes and metaphors.

That would've helped students correct their mistakes instead of sheepishly presenting their posters while other students noted the mistakes.

It could've been better. Next year.

Hello Muse

There are so many moments in a day, most of them passing by like the debris in a goldminer's pan. It's often the smallest, seeming insignificant specks that ends up staying and turning out to be a glint of gold.

I was snaking in between rows of students' desks, stamping their homework, when I noticed this displayed on the front a student's binder:

I giggled upon reading this and couldn't stop myself from nerdily stating, "That's a metpahor."

As I walked away, my mind started drifting and I computed:

cupcakes = sweets

cupcakes > muffins = metaphors

and thereby

sweets=metaphors

A riddle game with metaphors and similes! I'll call it Sweet Treats! (The name of the game needs some work if anyone has ideas).

By the time I reached my desk I had envisioned:

1. Paper bags filled with different candies- starbursts, mini reese's cups, lemonheads, airhead, etc.

2. Students partnering up and being handed a paper bag with a sweet treat inside. Students making a poster with 3 similes and 3 metaphors about the mystery treat, illustrating it as well.

3. Then presenting their posters to the class and the class guessing the treat solely based on the 6 given similes and metaphors. For every mystery treat the class guesses, the class earning a point. And by the end of the day, the class that has earned the most points winning ALL of the treats in the paper bags.

That means this Friday's P.A.T. is covered. The kids will be happy and learning, there'll be a great prize giveaway, and it's all thanks to a sticker on a student's binder.