Why We Read and Write Poetry

Also on my personal blog. Since I keep hearing this on commercials, I thought I'd post a video of the original speech, from Dead Poets Society.

Crappy Notes

Out of context, these notes I put on the board are terrible. I almost feel sorry for my students.

Think Different

I posted this on my personal blog, but I wanted to post it here too. It's an Apple ad from 1997 (it's also in the movie Jobs). This is the real one, and it's for all the people -- especially students writing about the world -- who say things like "That's just the way it is" or "Things will never change." Maybe what we all need is a little more crazy!

Halloween Film Festival

There's a Halloween Film Festival today and students can submit scenes. I like to have a few ready, just for fun.

Trailer:

Scene:

Scene:

Death:

Poetry pre-brainstorm

I ask students to brainstorm some poetry terms/ideas before we discuss poems. Here's a list.

Dia de los Muertos

I walked past Ms. Finney's room and noticed the students doing something that looked like it might be interesting. So I stopped for a second and I was kindly invited in. The class was making skulls for Dia de los Muertos, which they'll later decorate. Looked like fun!

Bat Dad

We listened to some music during peer review sessions today. The music was from The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. One student told me about Bat Dad on YouTube. I thought it was funny, so I'm posting it here.