What's on your Santa list?

Describe your favorite food. What's so great about it?

Stare at the above painting, Turkey Pond, by Andrew Wyeth, for 60 seconds. Then write about it. What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel? How did you react to it on a mental level? A spiritual level? A physical level?

Weird Art

Write about this guy.

(Thanks Spencer.)

If you could give any holiday gift to any recipient in the world, what would it be, and why?

How do you feel about Christmas Trees? What's the coolest one you've ever seen? Any cool Christmas Tree memories you'd like to share?

How do you feel about snow days?

List your top ten favorite Holiday songs.

Give me three ideas for future blog posts.

What do you think of The President's Address last night? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up.) Write at least 200 words on this topic.

Describe your favorite
place.
(It doesn't have to be real.)

How do you feel about the way our society handles misbehavior? Is our system working? Is it flawed? How do you think it could be better? Do you know of any other culture that does it differently, and/or better? What changes would you make if it were up to you? How does this relate to the way misbehavior is handled in our school? (In your discussion, do NOT mention names!)

Here is a poem by Emily Dickinson. Read it and write about what it makes you think of. I'm NOT asking you what it means, but what it brings to mind.

YOU left me, sweet, two legacies,—
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content,
Had He the offer of;
You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea,
Between eternity and time,
Your consciousness and me.

So, how do you feel about Thanksgiving? Any good Thanksgiving stories to share? Any big plans for this year? How do you feel about turkey? Football? Macy's?

My favorite saying is OH HORSE POOP!

What's your favorite saying? Where did you get it? Do you think you will use it forever? Why or why not? Paraphrase your favorite saying in three different ways. Repeat your favorite saying to yourself 20 times. Has its meaning changed?

Write about how much you miss me when I'm not there!

JUST KIDDING!

No really, you have just landed your first recording contract.

What is the name of your first album? What are the names of the fifteen songs on this album?

Here's mine:

Album Title: Carrot Dip

Track 1: A Little Bit of Nothing
Track 2: Invisible Turtles
Track 3: I Love Margaret Chase Smith
Track 4: Get a Little Mud on the Dashboard
Track 5: That Don't Rhyme
Track 6: Power Button
Track 7: Bad Paintings and Lysol
Track 8: I Love English Class
Track 9: Adopt an Ugly Duckling
Track 10: Lemonade and Salsa
Track 11: 99 Street
Track 12: Not My Best Work
Track 13: Some Guy I Met in High School
Track 14: I Broke Farmville
Track 15: I Love Flannel

Had any crazy dreams lately? (That are appropriate to share?)

So what do you think about this snow?

Weather

Pretend you are the weather. Forecast your next twenty-four hours. Create a weather prediction that serves as a metaphor for your day.

For example, here's mine:

Dress the kids warmly today, because it is snowing. But dress in layers because we expect it will warm up to the mid-fifties by noon. By late afternoon, you will need sunglasses because there won't be a cloud in the sky. Expect to build a fire tonight, as the sky will be clear due to a high pressure system, and temperatures will drop below freezing again.

Happy Halloween???

Does the phrase "Happy Halloween" make sense? Is it an oxymoron?

How do you feel about Halloween? Is it really a holiday?

How was your Halloween this year?

New Facebook Application

You have been hired to create a new Facebook Application. What would it look like? How would it work? How would it differ from and outshine current applications?

Man in Black

Using only song titles from ONE ARTIST, answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title.


Your Artist: Johnny Cash

Are you male or female: The Ways of a Woman in Love

Describe yourself: Busted

How do you feel about yourself: You’ll Never Walk Alone

Describe where you currently live: Don’t Take Your Guns to Town

The first thing you think of when you wake up: Why Me Lord

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: I’ve Been Everywhere

Your favorite form of transportation: One Piece at a Time

Your best friend is: I Still Miss Someone

Your favorite color is: Orange Blossom Special

What's the weather like: You Are My Sunshine

If your life were a TV show, what would it be called: Come Along and Ride This Train

What is life to you: Train of Love

What is the best advice you have to give: The Man Comes Around

If you could change your name, what would it be: A Boy Named Sue

Your favorite food is: Sugartime

How I would like to die: Ghost Riders in the Sky

My soul's present condition: Mercy Seat

The faults I can bear: Cocaine Blues

How would you describe your love life: Ring of Fire

What are you going to post this as: Man in Black

How was your weekend? ; )

Write a love song to Friday.

60 Minutes

On 60 Minutes this weekend, an interviewed Afghan citizen said, in regards to the Americans fighting the Taliban, "You can't block the sun with two fingers." What do you think he meant by this? (Think for at least two minutes before you say "I don't know.") Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Superstitious?

Are you superstitious? Why or why not? Describe some of your superstitions. Discuss some crazy superstitions that you've heard from other people. Or are they so crazy?

Anybody Want to Go

HERE?

I Want Wednesdays

I just discovered the coolest meme.

A meme is a way to make new friends in the blogosphere.

Today is Wednesday. I want it to stop raining.
And I want all of my students to come into my room
and say, "Teach me something."

Prompt

Describe wind to an alien.

Candy Criminals

What do you make of this?
CLICK HERE!

Dream Car

Describe your dream car. Feel free to think outside the box!

Annoying Songs

Good Morning!

Make a list of annoying songs, and briefly explain why each one annoys you.

Don't forget that people are actually reading your posts, even the one who is giving you a grade for this, so write with pride. Avoid silly grammar and spelling errors. I know that you all know to start your sentences with a capital and end with a punctuation mark. Come on people!

School Shut Down

What do you make of this?

Homeless Shelter in Skowvegas

Did you know there is a homeless shelter nearby? Read this story. What do you think of this? Would you volunteer there? Do we need a shelter even closer? A woman's shelter maybe?

Good Morning

So, anybody going to the Common Ground Fair? Find an image and post it on your blog and talk about the fair. What is your opinion of the tradition? Have you ever been? What kind of experience did you have? I am sooooo excited to go. : )

Write a love poem to October

I love school so much
that I love any month
when school happens.
Oh October, every day
with you in school
is a day well spent.

All Students!

Good Morning!
Blog about your weekend.
Do anything interesting?
See anything cool?
Have any epiphanies?
Tell the world!

For English III Students -- Billy Joel

Watch these two videos, which feature two songs written by Billy Joel. Embed both videos into your new post on your blog. Write a reaction to these songs. It might also be a good idea to find and post the lyrics. : )

Senior Seminar & Creative Writing -- The Boxer

This is my favorite song. Please listen and react in your blog post! (Embed the video in your post too.) Leave a comment and tell me your favorite song!

Blogging Ideas for Wednesday and Thursday

Seniors: How are you feeling about college right now?

Juniors: How does the Vietnam conflict affect you?

Welcome to the Blogosphere

Dear Students,

Sigh. You should all have blogs by now. Sigh. I won't say it was an easy task, but I'm proud that you're all bona fide bloggers now! Thank you for making me laugh until I cried in the process!

So, for your blogging pleasure, I ask you to ponder this question: how is journaling online, with an invisible, unknown, but actual audience, different from journaling in class and emailing your entries to me? Do you think your journal entries will change? How so? Which method of journaling do you like better? Why? Why do you think I've added a blogging component to this class? Do you think it's a good idea? Why or why not? (Saying it's a bad idea will not be held against you.) How does the audience affect the writing?

Have a fantastic week!

My Actual Students: Do This!!! (My virtual visitors don't have to.)

1. Click on "Customize" in upper right hand corner of your blog.
2. Click on "Settings" in upper left hand corner.
3. Click on "Formatting."
4. Change Time Zone to "Eastern Time."
5. Scroll down and click on "Save Settings."

Thank you.

Sorry about the spam warning!

I have no idea why I attracted the attention of the anti-spam gods, but I apologize if it startled you. Please be confident that I will never spam any of you. And you'd better not spam me either! Extra credit if you leave a comment that defines "spam!"

Welcome to My Classroom

I am a high school teacher at a super awesome teeny tiny high school in the middle of nowhere. Welcome to my blog home! Pull up a chair and stay a while! I don't have much to eat ...