Student: 3:06PM :: Teacher : Summer

Category: Relationship to each other. (The reason why we come to school!)

Hey folks,
Submit your best analogies here, be sure to include the category you aimed for!

Luck,

Mrs. V.

Alright folks, I have a confession to make.
I did not read a single Harry Potter.
I read two of the Uglies series.
I read ONE Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events) book.

The Twilight Sagas have drawn me in. Rather, the amount of energy that surrounds it has sucked me into reading the first of the series, Twilight. Students, teachers, sisiters and the general public alike have convinced me.
I cannot say I will see the movie (I can’t even remember the last one I did see), but reviews are rolling in. Check out the first one I came upon in my WWW search. Teachers on both sides of the walls rave. It suprises me that someone so geographically close to Forks would give it such a dismal review.
Tell me of your Twilight knowledge…movie, books, silly reviews….I want you to be the true compass of interesting literature.

Check out the movie trailer for some inspiration!
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View the video below. This will offer perspective as an partner with The Things They Carried.

Answer the following in the space provided:

How does this video compliment TTTC?
What does the real soldier perspective do for you as a learner?
Compare coverage of war today to coverage of the Vietnam war….what similarities and differences do you notice?

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Hey Fresh-people:
It’s Mrs. Veglahn, you’re biggest fan!

I know research and writing can be mind-numbing sometimes. I get it. On the other hand, I know writing can be satisfying if you are connected to your topic.
SO- connect yourself.

Tell the world: What is your landmark, national or international?
Why did you choose it and what do you know about it already.
Keep it brief. Just share so others can see your CONNECTION to the topic you chose. Wish I could say that we’d all go on a roadtrip to tour your landmarks, but my passport expires this December. Swing and a misss.

here to inspire,
Mrs. V.

Last thing, I promise. If you are researching at home and want to remember the site I told you about for research sources go to Library Spot.

Hi gang,

Well, with your first post undreway, most of you have gotten a response from little ‘ole me. Next post is to pull in those fans and readers of yours (duh, your classmates).
You mission:
Go on YouTube and find a video that a)sends a strong message b)encourages people to be better humans c)embeds an idea or perspective in your reader’s mind. In other words, you need a video that motivates in a clean, academic way. Save your favorite youtube video viewing sessions for home. Here at school we need wholesome connections to academics.
Wondering about key words? Try: motivation, inspiration, self improvement….and so on.
If you’ve got something in mind, great. If not, shop on. It is your job to be the sensor for what is posted on the blog.

Remember, this skill will help build your “digital footprint.”

Need an example? Check out my post Just When I Think My Life Is Tough

Last night I was lucky enough to hear a speaker at Viterbo University.
Immaculee is her name.
She is a survivor of the 1994 Rawandan genocide, also known as a modern day holocaust.
Immaculee spent 91 days in a 3X4 bathroom with seven other women as she was hiding from her killers. She was being hunted because of the culture she was born into. I can’t help but recall what is known today as the Holocaust and the daunting similarities these two horrific events share.

Watch the video and tell me what you think. It’s hard to complain about my own problems and struggles when I remember what she shared about the time she was hunted.

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I attended a workshop this summer in which a presenter, Will Richardson, reminded me that we need to teach young people how to leave a positive “digital footprint” on the world wide web. For those of you who have a MySpace account, consider this song. My techy-teacher friend passed this along to me. I dig it.

Did you laugh? Does it make you think twice about what you post (about yourself and others) online?

For those who may care, I am changing the face and feel of this blog to better appeal to my future high school students who will (maybe) care about a post or two.

Hang in there. I know some of you are clearl NOT on the edge of your seat awaiting my new everything, but someone may accidently stumble on this post and be curious why the page is changing.

Oh, if you do read this post and want to let me and other readers know what you are up to so far this summer, endulge us!

Mrs. V

Well, you asked for something new; so here it is!

We’re currently on the topic of Adjectives….you know the words that modify nouns and pronouns?

Write a short story…no more than a few paragraphs in length. My challenge to you is to use as many adjectives as possible. Now, this story can be true or, more likely, made up. Be creative, make someone laugh, and of course, use ADJECTIVES.  If you can bold them do so, if you can capitalize them do that instead. We can have a friendly competition to see who can use the most adjectives effectively.

Give ‘er a try!