Classroom Blog

So, from what I can tell so far, Tim is the only one here. HELLO Tim! [echoes, Hello Tim! hello Tim!] 

Honestly, this is a much safer forum than is facebook. We won't have anyone posting their quiz results and other such things...just a wacky teacher and her darling students talking about whatever is hot or not in Mount Carmel.

The first official BLOG post is titled Summer and Your Brains. Here's what I originally typed on the facebook group:

So...if you got the phone call from the automated system, you are aware that you will NOT see me until Friday at which time you will be expected to write an essay.  You will all 80 minutes to write this.  I will in put an announcement for Mr. Cheesman to read tomorrow that tells you 1) to check here for prompts, and 2) that you can pick up the prompts from my classroom during lunch and after school (I will have test-takers the rest of the time, and their final takes all class period).

I am changing my mind just a bit from what we talked about in class on Tuesday.  Five choices appear below.  You should think about how you would approach them all.  I will narrow it down to three in class, so you will still not know which ones I am choosing for you to write in class.

Prompt Choice #1: EVSC and several other southwestern Indiana schools had a 2-hr delay due to the weather.  Many locales that HAD school today reported having busloads of children slide off the roads into ditches.  To my knowledge, no children were injured during these mishaps.  District 348 did NOT have school today and as a result did not have bus incidents. Keeping in mind that hindsight is 20/20, what, in your opinion, was the right call for schools (using Wednesday, December 17) to make, either cancel completely or 2-hr delay?

Prompt Choice #2: Guilt

Prompt Choice #3: "The truth will set you free."

Prompt Choice #4: Given the teen pregnancy trend (or whatever we're going to call it) at MCHS and the limits on educators that society places, how would you proceed if your goal is to reduce the number of teenagers getting pregnant?

Prompt Choice #5: "Don't sweat the small stuff."

Well, you heard the down-and-dirty version of what is the Savage Family Thanksgiving day.  We will spend the rest of the time hanging the outdoor lights (Leah, you know I have major OCD when it comes to Christmas lights), putting up the tree, Martha-Stewarting the house, and doing other Christmas-type chores.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year.  I love it that people are nicer to one another, and I love it that children are, for once, the focus.  Y'all get the short end of the stick the other 363 days of the year.  (NOT a math issue, you also get attention on your birthday, so 1+1+363=365) 

I do think it's difficult to be teen-aged this time of year.  You're still expected to maintain the family rituals, but you're also trying to make some new ones with your dearest friends and the person you're convinced you love.  Trust me: you will make it through the mine field.  You may have some shrapnel wounds on your hands and about the face, but they're superficial and heal quickly.  The people in your life are just wanting to have your smiling faces in the pictures, and yes, they really do want to see you (so stop acting difficult to try to make them push you away)!

I hope every one of you has a VERY blessed holiday weekend with your family.  Give thanks for all you have, Mrs. Savage

If you are willing to have an absence (one of your 10 possible days this semester) and your parents call the school as usual, you can work for a candidate or a party Tuesday.

I believe this is the opportunity of a lifetime.  This will be an historic election.  So many important issues will be decided by the next President, and either ticket offers Americans an historic choice.  Even if this wasn't an historic year, I would tell you that working in the polls or with one of the parties on Election Day provides you with a view of the process you will not gain from sitting in a classroom.  Additionally, this experience is most definitely worthy of mention on your resume, on college and scholarship applications, and on job applications.

If you are interested in working for Goldman, email or text me!  If you want to work for a party, call a representative of the party.  The Democrat chair is Gene Siverly.  I don't know who the Republican chair is currently, but Angie Crum and Chris Quick are currently running on the Republican ticket.  No matter which person or party you choose, you will have great learning experience. 

I will offer you 25 bonus points for working for an individual candidate, a party, or at the polls in general on Election Day.  You just need to bring me something signed by an election official.

I hope you consider this opportunity.  Talk to your parents and their friends to find the right candidate/party for you. 

And most importantly for Tuesday, if you're old enough--VOTE!

See you Monday.

CCW students this year ROCK!  I have to say you all impressed me with your blogs about the test and your comments.  It's something that I feel SO strongly about, and I have to say it has restored my faith in the future to hear/read you comment that you believe it's wrong.

True story: when I was in high school several students cheated off me until I caught them.  From that moment on, I approach tests diffrently than I used to.  I start from the back page of the test and work forward.  I pick a strategy for filling in the answers.  Sometimes I do the evens starting from the end first and then go back from the front and do the odds; sometimes I do the prime numbers first (from end to beginning) and then go back and fill in the rest.  I may choose multiples of a number, or I may skip 1 then 2 then 3, etc.--always starting from the back.  I cannot tell you how many kids learned the hard way to NOT waste their time cheating off me.

How will you ever know what your potential is/was if you don't do things for yourself academically?

So, here I am with the rest of the people in our nation who enjoy watching the convention waiting to see Hillary speak.  So, do we have any betters on what her TONE will be?  Do ya'll see her as being gracious or biting?  We will definitely have things to talk about tomorrow.

By the way, I hope you will all go to the volleyball scrimmage Thursday night.  It would be nice if some of you could go support your classmate, Erica, at tennis, too.

See you tomorrow.

Good job to those of you who...

1) read your email before Friday

2) created an account

3) posted your introduction

4) used what is technically summer to get ready for school

If you're reading this, you're ahead of the "average" student--this is a good thing because this class expects more than the "average" class!

I left some things on the page from last year so that you could familiarize yourself with how we'll use this.  I will try to interact with y'all from time to time.  I will post things that we've talked about (look at the inquiring minds post for an example), and I will post things to get us talking (look at the post on my blog about cheating).

OH, I have 2--as the administrator, I am the same name as the site.  As your teacher, I am savageteach.  When I reply to you, I am savageteach.  Most assignments will be as the administrator.  Writing samples I do will be as savageteach.  YES, I actually DO the writing assignments I give you. 

SO, experiment with your page.  Make it your own.  Have fun.  And we will begin our journey Friday.  I should probably also tell you this class will be unlike any you've ever taken.  You will definitely grow as a writer.

Seniors in CCW...you have found your way to the classroom BLOG.  You need to send me an email after you join so that you're active.  Then, you will want to answer the first prompt.  The students who used this last year did all kinds of things to their pages including pictures and colors.  Feel free to make your page your very own.  DO NOT post your text as private.  Because I am adding a commenting criteria to the grading structure (more about that the first day), your BLOG responses need to be public.

ONLY our class can comment on this page.  I will NOT give access to anyone who is not in class, so don't invite your friends to join.

On the right-hand side of the main page you will see links.  If you're having difficulty with the plagiarism quiz, look for the step-by-step directions for it.

I hope you enjoy the next 3/4 days (depending on how you count them).  Either way, see you Friday.  SAVAGE

Yes, I Should Have!

            At what point during the formative years from wee tots to adults do Americans lose the wonderment we all once had for gift giving and gift receiving?  I don't recall any child in first grade refusing a gift or refusing to make a gift for Mom.  I don't recall sitting under the tree at recess listening to my classmates complain about the presents they received.  I certainly don't recall hearing my tot friends impugn the holiday season with a list of sixty-three reasons why so-and-so shouldn't receive a gift.

         The mirth and merriment I have for the holidays often leaves me feeling self conscious and lonely.  Maybe in my heart I'm still the wee tot who loves making ornaments; making presents; picking out just the right things; wrapping presents; giving presents.  It's not a chore to me.  I don't complain about Christmas shopping or gift wrapping.  But my friends-wow, it's as if Christmas shopping required the stamina of push mowing the greens at the golf course!  "Kvetching all the way!" Isn't that a line from a carol?

         I complain that I don't have enough money to give something really nice to everyone I want to give something to.  This is a grown-up version of Christmases past when I insisted upon making all of my relatives a folded-glued-Christmas-card-star ornament replete with red or green yarn for hanging on the tree.  Did all of my relatives cherish the ornament?  Probably not, sniff sniff.  Did I feel warm and fuzzy inside to have something to give each person I saw at Christmas dinner?  

         It is with zeal that I continue to spread Christmas cheer.  Yes, spread Christmas cheer--even to the grinches with whom I share the holiday who are loathe to celebrate the spirit of giving at Christmas, who are first to switch on the TV during the family dinner, who are most shrill expressing their disdain for the Season of Giving.

Choose from one of the following. (You're welcome to choose more than one, but only one is required.)

If you've had me before, you know I would tell you to reflect, react, and respond to the quote.  If you haven't had me, that's what I'm saying to do (I'm guessing you figured that out!  You're bright kids!) 

You should address both the surface (shallow, just responding to what it's saying such that every reader at every level will get that from it) and the iceberg (deeper, beneath the surface, looking at responses now that enlightened, educated readers will get but that others may not).

The nail that stands out gets hammered down. - Chinese Proverb

Fools look to tomorrow; wise men use tonight. - Scottish Proverb

Tell the truth, but keep one foot in the stirrup. - Arabian Proverb

Truth is the safest lie. - Jewish Proverb

A man is not where he lives, but where he loves. - Latin Proverb

At the end of the game, the pawn and the king go back into the same box. - Italian Proverb

How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterwards. - Spanish Proverb.

A man has no business to marry a woman who cannot make him miserable; it means she cannot make him happy. - Proverb (origin unknown)

Too much humility is pride. - German Proverb

Bad news rides a fast horse. - Cowboy Proverb

Act honestly and answer boldly. - Dutch Proverb

Only a fool tests the water with both feet. - African Proverb