New Blog for a New Year Due 1/11/13 by 3 PM

As the new year begins, it seems like a good time to consider the wisdom of one of the first teachers many of us, including me, had.  Dr. Seuss was a man who wrote his first book, And to Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street, at a time when children's books were seen as, "...antiseptic and boring" with the children in them, "...unnaturally clean".  Seuss had established a reputation for his writing and illustrations in advertising and in short articles in some magazines, but Mulberry Street set him up as a children's writer for the remainder of his career.  His first "big book deal" came from Houghton Mifflen and Random House publishers who gave him a contract to write a children's book that would introduce 220 vocabulary words that young children should know.  That led to, The Cat in the Hat, the very first Dr. Seuss book that I remember reading by myself and the first that my children read alone as well.

Okay.. history lesson over.  What I've included here for this blog is a list of eight "life lessons" learned from Dr. Seuss.  What you'll need to do for this week's blog is take one of the life lessons, read the interpretation of it provided, and then relate it in some way to your own life, your goals for the future (maybe relate it to a New Year's resolution, if you made one) and describe why this particular life lesson is meaningful to you.  I need at least 300 words for this one and you have to be careful with spelling, grammar, punctuation, and paragraphing.  As always, please be sure to sign your blog.  This is due Friday, January 11, 2013 no later than 3PM.  I won't even be looking at these until after the break, but anyone who wants to write it early should feel free to do so.

8 Must Read Success Lessons from Dr. Seuss:

1. Be Who You Are

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

If you can’t be yourself with your friends, then they’re not your friends, or at least they’re not very good ones.  The sign that someone is a good friend is how comfortable you are with them.  If you can be who you are, and say how you feel, then hang with those folks, they’ll surely keep it “real.”

2. Trouble Your Troubles

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

When troubles show up, you have to show up bigger.  Don’t let troubles trouble you; you trouble your troubles by showing up with a “big bat!”  But not literally….  You show up with a “big bat” by showing up with big courage, big faith, and big determination, if you do, you will trouble your troubles….

3. You Decide

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own.  And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

How simple, yet how profound!  You decide where you go, only you.  You are only limited by your ability to believe in the impossible.

4. It’s Up To You

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

No one is going to rescue you, they’re not.  You have to dig yourself out of the ditch.  You have to care enough; you have to be motivated enough, to change things.  It’s up to you.

Things only change, when someone cares an awful lot.

5. Think

“You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.”

My greatest discoveries have come from sitting alone in a quiet room.  Dr. Suess said, “Think left, and think right, and think low, and think high. Oh, the things you can think up, if only you try!”  What can you think up?  Just try.

6. The More You Know

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.”

Reading expands your mind to the possibilities; once your mind has been expanded it can never go back to its original shape.  Commit to expand your mind, commit to know more.  The more you know, the more places you will go!

7. Your Mountain Is Waiting

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting.

So… get on your way.”

Everyday you’re presented with a mountain.  You can climb the mountain, or you can play in the valley.  If you climb more than you play, you will truly be on your way.

8. You Are You

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

No one can be you, youer than you!  That’s good news all by itself….

Good Luck!

  Ms. Mott

Your assignment for this week is an odd one; you are to read the following diatribe on the English language and come up with at least three other examples that could be added to it.  That means no repetition of anything that is posted before you get around to doing it.  If you read this and five classmates have responded, you can't use the same examples either from my post or from any of your classmates.  The good news is, your examples will be very short and sweet this week.  Making me laugh is always a good thing!

This one is due the 14th by 3PM and will be your last blog of the year.  No response to a peer is necessary for this one.  Good luck!

Ms. Mott

No wonder we all struggle so much with the English language. 

This took a lot of work to put together! 
 1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
 2) The farm was used to produce produce.

 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

 4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

 6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
 7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

 8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

 9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

 10) I did not object to the object.
 11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
 12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

 13) They were too close to the door to close it.

 14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

 15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

 16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
 17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

 18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..

 19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

 20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?    Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

 And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

 If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

 How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

 English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

 PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

 You lovers of the English language might enjoy this ..

 There's  a two-letter word that has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'
 It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?  At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it  UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
 We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP  a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock  UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning.People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UPexcuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

 We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of  UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takesUP almost 1/4th of the page and can add  UP to about thirty definitions. If you areUP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will takeUP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP  with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearingUP.When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP .When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

 One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP,so........it is time to shut UP! 

The person I am going to talk about is one of the guys in my class. He is six foot and one inch, he has blue eyes light brown hair. He loves basketball, he is the number one player on the team, but is to scared to dunk it. He can make threes and jumpers like a boss. He misses layups from time to time. His favorite brand is Nike he always has something on with a Nike symbol. He also has an obsession with Dom Mazetti, in his spare time he is on youtube looking him up. Which leads me to the next thing about him he lives by the motto Y.O.L.O and hes about it everyday. In case you don't know what Y.O.L.O means it mean you only live once. I don't know how he lives by it but he says it at least once a day so he must be doing it. He also  likes the philosophy F.I.S.H. He has an older brother named Nate, they look a lot alike. He may live, eat, and breathe basketball but he also plays football and baseball.

Characterization - due November 30th at 3PM

Okay Gang, here we go.......

For this blog, you are to describe a classmate or teacher using both direct and indirect characterization. You should not name the person you are describing, and please don't hurt anyone's feelings! You should write a thorough description of this person; if you're not sure about direct/indirect characterization, please be sure to see one of us well before the due date and we will help you.  This blog should be at least 300 words long.

For your response to another's writing, guess who that person is describing and provide at least one additional character trait of that person in no fewer than 150 words.

Good Luck!
Ms. Mott

Your Choice, Within Reason

Hey Gang,
 
For this week's blog, I'd like you to each think about the music you like best.  Think about the style of music, an artist you like, consider whether it's the beat of the music you like most or the lyrics.  When you've settled on a favorite song, I'd like you to find a YouTube video of that song and post the link to it in  your blog response.  Posting a link is easy; click on the blue "Link" button on the toolbar, paste your link in the box, and click "done".

Once you have posted the link to your song, you need to write a MEANINGFUL paragraph about why you like this type of music the most.  This is the last blog of the marking period; I tried to make it an easy one for each of you.  There are a couple of rules you MUST follow or you are GUARANTEED to receive a ZERO for your post.. here they are:
   1.  Do NOT post a link to a video that depicts any group in hateful manner; I don't want to see any videos of abuse or videos that present abusive, hateful messages.  If that is your musical style of choice, I would recommend for this blog that you find a nice Broadway show tune that you can substitute instead.
  2.  While I don't like or use a lot of "foul" language myself, I do understand that there are tons of songs out there that are loaded with language that is considered inappropriate for school.  I don't mind a little bit, but please keep in mind the words that you KNOW will make me crazy.  If you have questions about a particular song or lyric, see me before you post.  I will remove objectionable videos and your grade will upset you.
  3. For your paragraph, please NAME the SONG and the ARTIST, tell us why you chose that song, and discuss either the song or genre in terms of your personal preferences.  If you have a personal story that goes along with your song and you're willing to share it, please do.  That makes it more interesting to read and more meaningful as well.  Sometime early next week, I'll do this blog myself so you'll have an idea of what I'm looking for if you're confused.

This one is due by 3:00 on November 9th.  Good luck and come see me early if you have any problems or questions!

Ms. Mott

What Have We Done? Due 10/26 by 3 PM

Hi Gang,

  For this blog, you need to view the YouTube video by The Veer Union, "What Have We Done".  There are a couple of variations, but I want you to watch the one at this link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IScT3j_Afq8. If you are having a hard time with the lyrics, after you've viewed the first link, you may go to the lyrics version for that. The lyrics are pretty simple and repetitive though, so you should be okay with my link.  Either way, please watch and listen to the video and then write a reaction essay about it using at least four paragraphs.  Please follow the structure below for your essay:

Introduction (Paragraph 1) - What was the video you watched, who was it performed by, in general, how did it make you feel? Compare (no detail, just name) the video with one book, one local, national, or world event. { For example, "This video made me think of _______________by _____________.  It reminded me too of _____________________ going on in Deposit (NY, the US, Costa Rica, etc.)"}

Paragraph 2 - Give details about why you compared the video to a book.  Be sure to mention the author and underline the title of the book.  I can easily compare this video to events in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. If you can too, write here how you can compare the two, be specific. If you choose another book, that's fine too, no worries.

Paragraph 3 - Explain your comparison of the video to a local, national, or world event.  There are so many comparisons to make, I don't think I need to give you an example.  Be descriptive and clearly relate the lyrics or images from the video to your event.

Paragraph 4 - Summarize your thoughts here.  Can you put a positive spin on any of it, if so, please do.  Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned from this video, what would it be?  Why do you feel the way you did when you first viewed the video?  Just do a nice summary and you're done.

GRADING - You will receive 30 points for connecting the video to a book that you have read using proper formatting and naming the author.  You will receive 30 points for relating the video to an event in the local, national, or world news.  You will receive 25 points for your summary.  What did you get out of this video, feelings/thoughts/lessons, etc.  Your last 15 points will come from the usual formatting.. paragraphs with a space between them, spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.  This, like all blogs, will count for two grades.  This is a good opportunity to boost your grade.

Please see me if you have questions.  Thanks..

  Ms. Mott

Destiny Due 10/12/12

Hi Everyone!  For this week's blog, I'd like you to read the cartoon below and think about your destiny.  Is your future planned in advance by the stars, your parents, or do you make your own destiny.  Many different belief systems teach differing ideas of destiny; are you guided by that?  Please write at least 200 words about  how you interpret the idea of destiny and how it applies to your life.  This is due no later than 3 PM on  Friday, October 12th.  

Good luck!

Ms. Mott

Blog #2 - This one is due on Friday, 9/28 by 3 PM

Hi Gang,
  Please read the following quote and tell us what you think about it.  I need you to explain the quote and tell us whether you agree or disagree with it and why.  I'll need to see at least 250 words for this one, so be sure to give a lot of detail.

 (( I noted some problems with last week's assignment; in order to let you gain the maximum number of points, I would suggest the following:
     1. Be sure you sign each post, capitalizing the first letter of your name
     2. Be sure to spell check and grammar check each post; use MS Word to write your post and use those features there.
     3. Be sure to use the word count feature on MS Word to be sure you have enough words to get credit.  I expect you to be within 50 words of the requirement to get any credit at all.  (For this blog, if you don't write at least 200 words, you won't receive credit.  If you write fewer than 250, you will lose points.)  A good way to raise your word count is to re-word the question being asked, you can repeat the quote and author in your response, you can add in another quote or work of literature that you think will support your answer.
    4. Please skip lines between paragraphs since Blogger doesn't seem to respect indentation.
    5. DO NOT USE TEXTING LANGUAGE.. I DON'T WANT TO SEE HOW R U OR ANY OTHER RIDICULOUS ABBREVIATION LIKE THAT IN YOUR WRITING EVER!))

Here's your quote:  "If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it."  Jesse Jackson

Just say hi here (by Friday the 14th) and you get 100%

Hi All,
  Please just respond with a hi, hello, or how are you and you get your first 100 for a blog.  Thanks..
 Ms. Mott