Each year, I like to have my students re-write Walt Whitman's poem, "I Hear America Singing." It allows me a glimpse into how they see America in its current state. My only criterion is that they have to entitle it and use the first line "I Hear America __________," where they include the word they feel is appropriate.
Last year, this was a success and I received two very well-written responses. They were very personal and very insightful.
This year, one of my favorite students, TP, wrote a great free verse poem that actually gauged the current state of affairs quite well. He wants to be a journalist when he grows up and I think that's a fantastic idea.
I Hear America in Need
I Hear America in need
In need of a leader that can settle everything
That can bring balance between the parties
That can handle healthcare
That can handle employment
That can handle taxes
America is in need of a change
America needs a leader
Can't you hear the crying?
The pain that our economy is in?
It's not that bad as of now
In the future - it will be
I open my ears and I try to see
I hear America in need.
Boom.
TP: 1 - Walt Whitman: 0
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Middle School Dating
Today, I was allowed an ultra-exclusive glimpse into the dark world known as "middle school dating." I went in not knowing what to expect. It was a scary place. It all started with a conversation.
EW: "Mr. Lowe, I'm going on a date tonight! To church!"
Me: "Wait, you're going on a date? You're 13. And to church?"
EW: "No, it's a halloween party at church. Well, it's not really a date because we're not seeing each other, but we're going together."
Me: "What's the difference?"
EW: " 'What's the difference?' Well, the difference is that we're not dating or seeing each other, but we're going together. Huge difference, Mr. Lowe."
Me: "I'm lost."
EW: "Well, there are five steps to dating someone and we're not on step five yet."
Me: "Five steps? That's too complicated. You like him or you don't. You date him or you don't."
Obviously, I'm not learned in the arts of middle school relationships.
EW: "Yes, there are five steps and you have to follow them closely to get anywhere."
She said it in such a condescending, Duh-Mr.-Lowe tone that I almost felt like I was an idiot for even asking.
And the steps are as follows (and don't you DARE deviate from the list or your relationship will never, ever, in-a-million-years work for you.
1. You like each other
2. You text each other
3. You talk to each other
4. You're seen in public together
5. You're in a relationship
At first, I thought this was a bit absurd, but as I measure up the steps of my relationship with my wife, I realized that these 13-year-old girls might be onto something.
My wife and I were set up on a blind date by my fraternity brothers. So we didn't really have the chance to like her prior to speaking, but I had seen pictures and that was enough to spark an interest. Then I called her (instead of texting). We talked. We were seen in public. Then we were in a relationship.
I guess middle school relationships never end....until 4th period.
EW: "Mr. Lowe, I'm going on a date tonight! To church!"
Me: "Wait, you're going on a date? You're 13. And to church?"
EW: "No, it's a halloween party at church. Well, it's not really a date because we're not seeing each other, but we're going together."
Me: "What's the difference?"
EW: " 'What's the difference?' Well, the difference is that we're not dating or seeing each other, but we're going together. Huge difference, Mr. Lowe."
Me: "I'm lost."
EW: "Well, there are five steps to dating someone and we're not on step five yet."
Me: "Five steps? That's too complicated. You like him or you don't. You date him or you don't."
Obviously, I'm not learned in the arts of middle school relationships.
EW: "Yes, there are five steps and you have to follow them closely to get anywhere."
She said it in such a condescending, Duh-Mr.-Lowe tone that I almost felt like I was an idiot for even asking.
And the steps are as follows (and don't you DARE deviate from the list or your relationship will never, ever, in-a-million-years work for you.
1. You like each other
2. You text each other
3. You talk to each other
4. You're seen in public together
5. You're in a relationship
At first, I thought this was a bit absurd, but as I measure up the steps of my relationship with my wife, I realized that these 13-year-old girls might be onto something.
My wife and I were set up on a blind date by my fraternity brothers. So we didn't really have the chance to like her prior to speaking, but I had seen pictures and that was enough to spark an interest. Then I called her (instead of texting). We talked. We were seen in public. Then we were in a relationship.
I guess middle school relationships never end....until 4th period.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Proving Me Wrong
Baby days are upon us! The "Teen Living" class at the school issued out plastic, crying, life-size babies to students so that they can have a smack in the face of how bad it sucks sucks sucks to have a kid when you're not ready.
In one of my classes yesterday, there were four plastic offspring that wouldn't shut their soundboxes off. Finally, all of them were silent at the same time and it was bliss.
At the beginning of the 8th grade hall at my school is the classroom that houses the severely-challenged or mentally disabled students who have around the clock care. The door is always shut and nobody really knows they're there because the classroom is entirely self-sufficient (stove, washer, dryer, etc.)
Yesterday, as soon as my room was free of crying babies, the door swung open and a young girl ran in. I had never seen the girl before, but it was immediately apparent that she had severe problems. Somehow, she had broken away from her teacher and had, for some reason, picked my class to enter.
Now, I was a 14-year-old kid once, so I know how easy it is to find the faults in someone else and laugh them to scorn. In my experience as a teacher, I have found that more often than not, kids will jump at every opportunity to tear someone else down. When the girl ran in, I thought that the kids would erupt laughing and make her the center of attention for the wrong reasons.
I was wrong.
The entire class sat there silently and watched as the embarrassed teacher ran in to corral the young woman. When the girl and her teacher left the classroom, nothing was said and we were able to get right back on task.
I'm not sure if they noticed their behavior, but I absolutely did. I was very impressed at how they all decided to not make this girl's life harder than it already is. I was impressed that they had the maturity to understand that it's not her fault that she's disrupting our class. I was impressed that they understood the magnitude of the girl's problems and chose to give her the benefit of the doubt.
There are many days when my students reinforce my belief that 8th graders make stupid, careless decisions.
But there are also days when they prove me wrong. Very wrong.
Yesterday, I was proud to be their teacher.
In one of my classes yesterday, there were four plastic offspring that wouldn't shut their soundboxes off. Finally, all of them were silent at the same time and it was bliss.
At the beginning of the 8th grade hall at my school is the classroom that houses the severely-challenged or mentally disabled students who have around the clock care. The door is always shut and nobody really knows they're there because the classroom is entirely self-sufficient (stove, washer, dryer, etc.)
Yesterday, as soon as my room was free of crying babies, the door swung open and a young girl ran in. I had never seen the girl before, but it was immediately apparent that she had severe problems. Somehow, she had broken away from her teacher and had, for some reason, picked my class to enter.
Now, I was a 14-year-old kid once, so I know how easy it is to find the faults in someone else and laugh them to scorn. In my experience as a teacher, I have found that more often than not, kids will jump at every opportunity to tear someone else down. When the girl ran in, I thought that the kids would erupt laughing and make her the center of attention for the wrong reasons.
I was wrong.
The entire class sat there silently and watched as the embarrassed teacher ran in to corral the young woman. When the girl and her teacher left the classroom, nothing was said and we were able to get right back on task.
I'm not sure if they noticed their behavior, but I absolutely did. I was very impressed at how they all decided to not make this girl's life harder than it already is. I was impressed that they had the maturity to understand that it's not her fault that she's disrupting our class. I was impressed that they understood the magnitude of the girl's problems and chose to give her the benefit of the doubt.
There are many days when my students reinforce my belief that 8th graders make stupid, careless decisions.
But there are also days when they prove me wrong. Very wrong.
Yesterday, I was proud to be their teacher.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Arkansas Lovin'
A couple weeks ago, we were reading the story, "On The Sidewalk Bleeding" by Evan Hunter, which is about a gang member who gets stabbed and is lying in the street, dying, and contemplating the life decisions that led him to this point. I was trying to teach my students how to use context clues to determine certain details about the story that the author doesn't just come out and say. We read the following passage...
He wondered if Laura would be angry. He had left the jump to get a package of cigarettes. He had told her he would be back in a few minutes, and then he had gone downstairs and found the candy store closed. He knew that Alfredo's on the next block would be open. He had started through the alley, and that was when he had been ambushed.
...and then I asked my students who they thought Laura was to the main character, Andy. Based on very little information, guesses ranged from girlfriend to fiancee to cousin to sister. All were legitimate guesses because this is the first time we had heard about Laura. We then read...
He could hear the faint sound of music now, coming from a long, long way off. He wondered if Laura was dancing, wondered if she had missed him yet. Maybe she thought he wasn't coming back. Maybe she thought he'd cut out for good. Maybe she had already left the jump and gone home. He thought of her face, the brown eyes and the jet-black hair, and thinking of her he forgot his pain a little, forgot that blood was rushing from his body.
Someday he would marry Laura. Someday he would marry her, and they would have a lot of kids, and then they would get out of the neighborhood. They would move to a clean project in the Bronx, or maybe they would move to Staten Island. When they were married, when they had kids.
...and I re-asked the question: "Who is Laura." Everyone shouted out that it was his girlfriend.
I asked, "How do we know it wasn't a family member?" A student replied that he would never talk about marrying a family member or fantasize about her hair or eyes.
I then said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "Great answer, at least I hope he's not talking about his sister."
One student who is pretty funny, but pretty quiet and doesn't say a whole lot, raises his hand and I call on him, thinking he has something good to add to the conversation. I was wrong, but couldn't stop laughing at his response.
AB: "Mr. Lowe, I get what you're saying about context clues, but don't you think it would change depending on where you read the story?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess so, why?"
AB (completely serious for humor's sake): "Well, we in Tennessee think there's no way it could be his sister. But have you ever been to Arkansas? I bet they read this in Arkansas and think, 'Yeah, that could probably be his sister.' "
The classroom erupted and I tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help but bend over laughing because the joke was set up so well and the delivery was phenomenal.
Being a smart-alec myself, I can appreciate a good joke at Arkansas's expense.
Which leads me to my dad's favorite joke:
"How do you know toothpaste was invented in Arkansas?"
"How?"
"Because if it were invented in any other state, it would be called teethpaste."
Cue the laughtrack.
He wondered if Laura would be angry. He had left the jump to get a package of cigarettes. He had told her he would be back in a few minutes, and then he had gone downstairs and found the candy store closed. He knew that Alfredo's on the next block would be open. He had started through the alley, and that was when he had been ambushed.
...and then I asked my students who they thought Laura was to the main character, Andy. Based on very little information, guesses ranged from girlfriend to fiancee to cousin to sister. All were legitimate guesses because this is the first time we had heard about Laura. We then read...
He could hear the faint sound of music now, coming from a long, long way off. He wondered if Laura was dancing, wondered if she had missed him yet. Maybe she thought he wasn't coming back. Maybe she thought he'd cut out for good. Maybe she had already left the jump and gone home. He thought of her face, the brown eyes and the jet-black hair, and thinking of her he forgot his pain a little, forgot that blood was rushing from his body.
Someday he would marry Laura. Someday he would marry her, and they would have a lot of kids, and then they would get out of the neighborhood. They would move to a clean project in the Bronx, or maybe they would move to Staten Island. When they were married, when they had kids.
...and I re-asked the question: "Who is Laura." Everyone shouted out that it was his girlfriend.
I asked, "How do we know it wasn't a family member?" A student replied that he would never talk about marrying a family member or fantasize about her hair or eyes.
I then said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "Great answer, at least I hope he's not talking about his sister."
One student who is pretty funny, but pretty quiet and doesn't say a whole lot, raises his hand and I call on him, thinking he has something good to add to the conversation. I was wrong, but couldn't stop laughing at his response.
AB: "Mr. Lowe, I get what you're saying about context clues, but don't you think it would change depending on where you read the story?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess so, why?"
AB (completely serious for humor's sake): "Well, we in Tennessee think there's no way it could be his sister. But have you ever been to Arkansas? I bet they read this in Arkansas and think, 'Yeah, that could probably be his sister.' "
The classroom erupted and I tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help but bend over laughing because the joke was set up so well and the delivery was phenomenal.
Being a smart-alec myself, I can appreciate a good joke at Arkansas's expense.
Which leads me to my dad's favorite joke:
"How do you know toothpaste was invented in Arkansas?"
"How?"
"Because if it were invented in any other state, it would be called teethpaste."
Cue the laughtrack.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
My Mini Michael Jackson
We just finished up our short story unit, where we learned about the parts of plot diagram (introduction, rising action, climax, etc.). To introduce plot summary, we took notes on each part and then we watched the entire 13-minute version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
All of the students LOVED it because they were familiar with the song and it's one of the coolest videos of all time. Throughout the day, I'd see students mouthing the words and getting into it, but all of that paled in comparison to one student, DJ, who is in my last class and got to groovin'. It's my last period of the day and I was sitting at my desk when he began dancing. It was so good that I had to pull out my phone discreetly and put it behind a stack of books to capture the greatness.
I'd like to especially note how he's still dancing even when he's filling out his plot diagram. Also, the twitching about the 0:23 mark is mirroring the beginning of the "Thriller dance." Hilarious.
Enjoy.
All of the students LOVED it because they were familiar with the song and it's one of the coolest videos of all time. Throughout the day, I'd see students mouthing the words and getting into it, but all of that paled in comparison to one student, DJ, who is in my last class and got to groovin'. It's my last period of the day and I was sitting at my desk when he began dancing. It was so good that I had to pull out my phone discreetly and put it behind a stack of books to capture the greatness.
I'd like to especially note how he's still dancing even when he's filling out his plot diagram. Also, the twitching about the 0:23 mark is mirroring the beginning of the "Thriller dance." Hilarious.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
I Better Watch My Back
Today, my classes took their first unit test of the year. On the test I included a section that assessed the vocabulary words that we have covered so far this year. A question required the students to use the word "hesitate" correctly in a complete sentence.
I didn't have any hiccups until one boy, HK, an honors student, raised his hand while taking the test.
HK: "Are you going to be grading these?"
Me: "Of course I'm going to grade them."
HK: "Oh, okay, I just wanted to make sure."
It struck me odd that he would ask that, but I moved on with my day. As I was grading his class's tests during a later period, I figured out why he wanted to know if I was grading them.
Response: "Before TPing Mr. Lowe's house, we all hesitated for a moment to think of the possible consequences."
I better get my hose and flood lights ready for the assault. Except that I have his address, but he doesn't have mine, so I might go on the offensive. HK won't even know what hit him.
Other funny responses:
TP: "I predict that we will beat Snowden on Monday because I'm sick and tired of losing." (He's the starting quarterback of the 0-3 football team)
KJ: "I predict that B & R will win homecoming king and queen because they are the perfect couple." (Young love)
And DR's gems...he mos def got an F.
Question: "What does AIMS stand for?"
Answer: "Am I Missing Something?"
DR's Response: "It's a disease."
Question: "What does ISLAND stand for?"
Answer: "I'm So Lost And Need Details."
DR's Response: "Where ppl go for vacations."
Question: "Find two examples each of direct and indirect characterization."
Answer: "Anything remotely associated to ANY character in the story."
DR's Response: "Yes."
Oi vey, he's got some work to do.
I didn't have any hiccups until one boy, HK, an honors student, raised his hand while taking the test.
HK: "Are you going to be grading these?"
Me: "Of course I'm going to grade them."
HK: "Oh, okay, I just wanted to make sure."
It struck me odd that he would ask that, but I moved on with my day. As I was grading his class's tests during a later period, I figured out why he wanted to know if I was grading them.
Response: "Before TPing Mr. Lowe's house, we all hesitated for a moment to think of the possible consequences."
I better get my hose and flood lights ready for the assault. Except that I have his address, but he doesn't have mine, so I might go on the offensive. HK won't even know what hit him.
Other funny responses:
TP: "I predict that we will beat Snowden on Monday because I'm sick and tired of losing." (He's the starting quarterback of the 0-3 football team)
KJ: "I predict that B & R will win homecoming king and queen because they are the perfect couple." (Young love)
And DR's gems...he mos def got an F.
Question: "What does AIMS stand for?"
Answer: "Am I Missing Something?"
DR's Response: "It's a disease."
Question: "What does ISLAND stand for?"
Answer: "I'm So Lost And Need Details."
DR's Response: "Where ppl go for vacations."
Question: "Find two examples each of direct and indirect characterization."
Answer: "Anything remotely associated to ANY character in the story."
DR's Response: "Yes."
Oi vey, he's got some work to do.
Friday, August 19, 2011
..........And We're Back!
So, after a terribly boring summer on the Trentoblog, packed full of random funny things that I put up just to keep you reading to fill that horrible void in your life, SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION!
It's the end of the second week of school and I feel pretty good about things. I've moved to a new school due a demon in Memphis City Schools called "surplussing." Basically, a school receives a projection of how many students they'll have the next year and if that projection is lower than the current number, teachers have to go. I really loved my old school, Kingsbury Middle School; it was run incredibly efficient, which is a testament to the great administration and teachers there, but all good things must come to an end. I was the least senior teacher on staff, so I got my packing orders. I am now at Kate Bond Middle School, a brand-new school in northeast Memphis and it's a dream come true. Wonderful facilities, great resources and great kids. They're all (well, not all, but a good chunk) so well-behaved, it's kind of scary that I'm not more stressed out. Oh well, I'll take it. But, more behaved means less hilarious stories from kids who speak without thinking about it first. But I'll do my very best to bring you the funnies.
Journal Prompt: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10 years? What can you do now to ensure that you get there?"
AJ's Response: "I see myself being a biomedical engineer. A biomedical engineer makes leg implants and hip implants. In five years, I see myself in high school preparing to go to Princeton..."
Way to go, A, way to go.
Journal Prompt: "If you could fly somewhere for 7 days, where would you go and why?"
DR's Response: "I would go to Mexico to visit all of my family there...The last day I would get me some nice intelegent fine looking girls & party with them."
Well, at least they're intelligent.
It's the end of the second week of school and I feel pretty good about things. I've moved to a new school due a demon in Memphis City Schools called "surplussing." Basically, a school receives a projection of how many students they'll have the next year and if that projection is lower than the current number, teachers have to go. I really loved my old school, Kingsbury Middle School; it was run incredibly efficient, which is a testament to the great administration and teachers there, but all good things must come to an end. I was the least senior teacher on staff, so I got my packing orders. I am now at Kate Bond Middle School, a brand-new school in northeast Memphis and it's a dream come true. Wonderful facilities, great resources and great kids. They're all (well, not all, but a good chunk) so well-behaved, it's kind of scary that I'm not more stressed out. Oh well, I'll take it. But, more behaved means less hilarious stories from kids who speak without thinking about it first. But I'll do my very best to bring you the funnies.
Journal Prompt: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10 years? What can you do now to ensure that you get there?"
AJ's Response: "I see myself being a biomedical engineer. A biomedical engineer makes leg implants and hip implants. In five years, I see myself in high school preparing to go to Princeton..."
Way to go, A, way to go.
Journal Prompt: "If you could fly somewhere for 7 days, where would you go and why?"
DR's Response: "I would go to Mexico to visit all of my family there...The last day I would get me some nice intelegent fine looking girls & party with them."
Well, at least they're intelligent.
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