Well, left really.

I'm in Colorado this week for the AP Reading...I realized on the plane this morning that I hadn't really told anyone I was going to be gone since I haven't seen anyone in a while. Sorry about that!! I'm going to spend the week grading AP essays -- So if I post anything on here that doesn't make sense it's because my brains have been scrambled trying to decipher teenaged gobbledygook about Africa. Yippee!

In my world history classes we're talking about Medieval Europe right now. Today was all about kings, knights, serfs, and all that fun stuff. So as the kiddies in 5th period were starting on their writing assignment, one of them asked me the craziest, funniest question EVER!! Here's the dialog:

Student: "Ms. B.? I have a question." (He beckoned me over, saying it wasn't exactly appropriate for school and he didn't want to ask in front of the whole class. In my head I was thinking: Danger Will Robinson!!) "I heard somewhere that the origin of the f-word came from the acronym Fornication Under the Certification of the King. Is that true?" Those were his exact words! No editing here!!

I just stood there for a minute and blinked at him, trying to put together an answer the strangest question I had ever heard. I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot, but I was too busy trying to figure out how to answer that one.

Me: Well, I'm not sure... (It was lame, I know.)

At that point I guided him back to the assignment about kings, knights, and serfs...

We had Homecoming last week at school -- even though it's ridiculously early for Homecoming, since it was only the fourth week of school and the second home football game. But at least it's over early.

Anyway, I'm one of the teachers in charge of the Junior class, so I've been running around like a crazy person trying to get our float started and finished ever since we got back from DragonCon. I was lucky this year in that the officers had a plan and they were organized about getting the float finished. I'm not used to that kind of organization -- the kid's I've worked with for the past two years on Homecoming were so unmotivated about the float that it was like pulling teeth to get the thing finished. Not so this year -- we were finished almost early the night before the Homecoming parade. Yay!

The best part of the whole thing was that our float turned out to be really cute and it won first place in the class competition!! I'm so proud of my kids!!!

( Read more... )

In my email from school I found a link to an article about how reading online differs from reading a book or something like that. One of the biggest points in it is about how our attention span is shorter when reading online. I know I fall into that. If I find something online that is just a huge block of text I tend to just skim it if I read it at all. It's even worse in my work email. If there is a post from my AP listserve that is a huge block of text I don't read it as carefully as I do the shorter messages. I worry about what that's doing to our overall attention spans. But it's not going to stop me from reading on the 'net :)

It turned out to be a pretty interesting article even though I don't agree with some of it. Anyway, here's the link:

How we read online

Swiped from everyone...

I guess this is a good reason to avoid the gorillas at the zoo!

Just wanted to let everyone know I got home from Colorado last night :)

Yay!

(I was going to post last night, but I was so tired from flying almost all day that I just went to sleep when I got home)

I'll post pictures soon! :)

So this week I'm in Colorado to grade the free response questions on the AP World History exam. It's been a bit like DragonCon for world history teachers...only no costumes. Over 600 world history teachers and college professors descended upon colorado state university to read essays. For a week. And the name badges aren't nearly as cool.

Colorado is so pretty! I'm definitely more of a mountain person than a beach person. I just like to look at the mountains. I'll post pictures once I get home and find my card reader...

Despite it sounding nerdy, it's been a really neat week. On Monday they trained us to grade the essays properly and since then I've probably scored a couple hundred essays. I've met a lot of people that I've only seen online before and I've learned a lot about how to teach and grade essays. The only downside is that since I'm scoring the question about the Olympics, I NEVER want to hear about them again. Don't think I'll be paying much attention to the Olympics this summer...

I've got two days left here and then I'll be home :) Yay!!

1) Spell your name without the letter E?
Not a problem for this droid!

2) Are you in a relationship?
Sadly, no.

3) When you're at home alone, do you still close the door when you shower?
Yes

4) Do you like your life right now?
Mostly

5) What was the last item you bought?
Indiana Jones tickets :)

6) What was the last thing you drank?
Cherry Coke Zero

10) What plans do you have for tomorrow?
GARF!

11) What do you hate?
I try not to hate things, but there are things I strongly dislike.

12) Where was the last place you fell asleep?
My bed

14) Do you have a best friend that is a girl?
Yes

15) How are things between you and your friends?
Happy :)

16) What is your favorite romance movie?
Charade -- It has romance, intrigue and Cary Grant :)

18) Do you forgive or forget?
I try to do both.

22) What are you thinking about right now?
That this is a stupid question.

23) Who was the last person to tell you they love you?
Mom

24) Do you think they meant it?
Yes

25) What time did you go to bed last night?
12:30ish

26) What are you currently doing?
Answering this quiz. What kind of question is this??

27) What did you do today?
Work, played phone-tag with Toastr, watched Indiana Jones, packed for GARF

28) Do you hate anyone?
Not at the moment.

29) What was the last thing you ate?
Quesadilla from Moe's

30) Who sits behind you in math?
My last math class was a really long time ago...you expect me to remember?

31) What are you listening to?
The Colbert Report

32) Who does it remind you of?
Stephen Colbert?

33) What was the last movie you watched?
Indiana Jones

34) What CD is in your stereo?
I listened to the new REM album on my iPod the other day...

36) What did you do yesterday?
Work

37) Do you like your music loud or at a reasonable level?
Reasonably loud

38) Are you a beach or a snowy mountain person?
I'd like to be a snowy mountain person

39) What are you doing later?
Sleeping

40) Do you like someone?
Yes

41) Where is your biological father right now?
At home, probably asleep by now...

42) Do you have any piercings?
Yes -- my ears

42) Do you have any tattoos?
No

43) Have you ever been tied up?
no

44) Have you ever had two dates in one night?
As if -- dates are few and far between here :(

45) What do you get complimented about most?
My smarts

46) Do you get distracted easily?
What??

47) What was your childhood nickname?
I didn't really have any as a child...

48) What would you change about your life right now?
I'd be more outgoing than I am now

49) How do you feel about public displays of affection?
I'm okay with it as long as it's not excessive.

50) What's the dumbest thing you have done in a car?
Crammed six people in a car made for four

51) Do you live alone?
yes

52) Can you keep a secret?
yes

53) What was the best year of your life?
This year

55) Have you ever played Twister?
yes

56) Have you ever been drunk at school?
No

57) Last thing received in the mail?
Junk from the Science Fiction Book club.

58) Have you ever kissed someone whose name begins with a D?
no

59) Do you have trust issues?
sometimes

60) Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Mom

Yesterday at school I was grading a stack of essays on World War II while my kids were working. As I was grading one of the last ones, I was scanning through the essay, making sure it had all of the required elements. Near the end of the essay I saw this sentence:

Chamberlain's viewpoint may be skewed, however, as he was British.


It made sense in the context of the essay since it was talking about Neville Chamberlain and the conditions that led to WWII, but out of context it's just random and REALLY funny.

It seemed more amusing at the time since I had just graded a billion essays (well...maybe not THAT many) before that one...