Christa Allan

DAY 3.5: REPORT FROM DAYTONA

No beach walking this morning. Rain. Tracey and I walked across the street for breakfast, but we had umbrellas. I forgot my sweater and my sunglasses, but super nerd had her ‘brella. In fact, it was an AP umbrella; one of the end of scoring gifts from my first reading.
Yesterday at [...]

DAY 1.5: REPORT FROM FLORIDA AP READING
Daytona Hilton

My roommate Tracey and I walked along the beach this morning before breakfast; therefore, I felt fully justified eating carrot cake as my lunch today.
Follow up on the coffee maker: Coffee’s actually not bad for pod coffee. Last night we had only DeCaff pods. We drank it anyway. [...]

Reading over yesterday’s post I learned I’m not so coherent when I’m attempting to write in an airport before my plane boards.
I’m actually writing this Tuesday afternoon because Wednesday breakfast is served beginning at 6:45, and since my body will think it’s 5:45, I’ll need to focus on moving myself across the street in time.
One [...]

I’m at the airport, specifically in the Delta terminal, waiting for my flight.
Can I tell you that the person who named the waiting areas “terminals” needs undergo psychiatric evaluation? What kind of sicko makes you think about the end when you’re sitting around waiting for the beginning?
Too many rhetorical questions, I know.
Where am I going [...]

One of the bountiful blessings of the internet is site-linking, which can either provide endless hours of entertainment, education, or endless procrastination. A recent serendipity was finding Angela Maiers on Twitter, and that discovery brought me to her blog, Angela Maiers Educational Services.  She had me at, “Teachers need to be great learners to lead [...]

In January, my “mentor” English II teacher, Shelley E., strolled into my classroom with, ahem, an idea. In teacher-land, this generally signals one of those “we’re about to embark on one of those missions where no teachers have gone before and no student will want to follow them.”
Discounting the fact that I’m old enough to [...]

One of the required ninth grade readings is THE ODYSSEY. Not all twenty-four books of it, of course. Those who determine selections in textbook anthologies tend to underestimate the endurance and curiosity of high school students. But that’s a rage for another day.
Homer’s epic poem, which consists of over 12,100 lines, covers the ten-year period [...]

A recent survey showed that two-thirds of today’s teens use “nonstandard elements” in their school writing assignments. 
This is news? OMG.
I’m LOL with my BFF who’s a real QT.
“Half of the teens surveyed say they sometimes fail to use proper capitalization and punctuation in assignments, while 38 percent have carried over the shortcuts typical in instant [...]

 
DIRECTIONS ON HANDOUT:
1. Write an essay consisting of five paragraphs.
2. Staple this handout to the back of your paper before submitting it.
3. Your essay is due at the end of class.
QUESTIONS TO TEACHER FROM STUDENTS:
1. Does it really have to be five paragraphs? What if I write only four?
2. Where do I staple this handout?
3. [...]

Mathematicians at Work

 
hunker down on their hands and knees
and sniff the problem
poke it with ungentle fingers
rub it raw with steel wool
wad it up in a ball and cackle

then pound it flat with little mallets
watch it rise like dough (uh oh)
resume its original shape
screech, [...]

 
Celebrate the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day!
The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends on April 17.
SUBSCRIBE TO A POEM-A-DAY HERE.
 
 

Peonies by Mary Oliver
This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers
and they open —
pools of lace,
white and pink —
and all day the black ants climb over them,
boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking [...]

I don’t remember when, why, or how I stumbled upon teacher and poet Taylor Mali. I’m just glad I did. (This does have a smidgen of language generally not heard on my blog. But, as Flannery O’ Connor tells us, it’s all about the total effect.)Enjoy.Taylor Mali - Def Poetry[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpog1_NFd2Q]

SEE COMMENTS UNDER THE WORD GAME FOR THE ANSWERS.

Overheard: “I have Mrs. Allan. We don’t learn anything in that class.”
Well, if you learned you didn’t learn anything, wasn’t that learning?
Too many students measure learning using the following formula: student + worksheet = work of consequence. Sad. How did that happen?
Recently, one of my students, writhing in her desk, alternately moaning and whining said, [...]

OXFORD WORD CHALLENGE: Fiendishly Difficult Word Game
Anagrammed Places

Rearrange the letters of these words to make the names of countries, towns, or cities.Example: Diagnose Answer: San Diego.

1. Ancestral.
2. Launder.
3. Retches.
4. Blarneys. 
5. Throwing. 
6. Dominates. 
7. Gartered. 
8. Pairs. 
9. Solo. 
10. Stoned. 
11. Ordeal.  
12. Loiters. 
13. Hasten.

14. Salvages.
15. Oration.
16. Erect.
17. Hordes.
18. Solemn.
19. Laity.
20. Also.
21. Chain.
22. Serial.
23. Penalties.
24. Regalia.
25. Ignorant.

ANSWERS TOMORROW!

Oxford Word Challenge
Answers: Hermans

1. Lena.
2. Winnie.
3. Fleur or Flora.
4. Mimi.
5. Rose.
6. Violet.
7. Nola.
8. Lulu.
9. Charity.
10. Anastasia.
11. Victor.
12. Frank.
13. Isadore.
14. Doug.
15. Neil.
16. Josh.
17. Seymour.
18. Adam.
19. Toby.
20. Roger.

Fiendishly Difficult Word Game from the Oxford Word Challenge
Hermans

‘Hermans’ are sentences that use a pun on a person’s name, modelled on the sentence: ‘She’s my woman,’ said Herman. Hermans can include more complicated examples like: ‘What comes after H?’ said I, Jay, Kay, Ella, and Emma.
Suggest appropriate female names for the speakers of the following [...]