A Beautiful Man: A story about teen domestic violence

Click Here To Download Story

This is a narrative about a young woman who becomes aware that her best male friend abuses his girlfriend.

I was inspired to publish this when one of my female students declared that Rhianna must have done something to make Chris Brown mad. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded. How do you rationalize this with a 14 year old child?

This is definately a discussion that needs to be had. It also comes with a great variety of questions: literary analysis, literary terms, character analysis, and personal response.

This is not the the final draft so be ware of TYPO's. You can use this as an EDITING lesson as well.

I hope this sparks a meaningful discussion between you and your students.

All My Single Teachers: Have a Great Summer

Five Ways for Single Teachers to Have a Great Summer!


As teachers, we all look forward to hearing that last bell of the year. There is a certain euphoria as we lock up our classrooms and say goodbye for the summer. However, as a single person, if you don’t have a plan, then that euphoria can soon turn into boredom and depression.
There are several reasons why the summer can be challenging for single teachers:
1. During the school year, you are crazy busy, and you don’t even have time to think about certain issues or problems. So during the summer, when you have more down time, you are forced to deal with certain issues, such as sick parent, an alienated sibling, or a break up. During the school year, we are so busy that we can avoid dealing with these issues by throwing ourselves into our work.
2. You are used to being needed, in demand. Even though we complain that we are being pulled in 100 different directions during the school year, when that demand for our attention suddenly stops, we may feel like we don’t have a purpose, that we aren’t needed.
3. You’re on vacation, but your friends and family are not. Suddenly, you’re free to travel, shop, and go to the movies, but you look around and your friends and family are working. They may not want to hang out late with you because they have to get up and go to work. And, even if you have teacher friends, if they are married, they will have family obligations.


So how can you ensure that you have a great summer and come back in the fall happy and refreshed? Well I’m glad you asked.
1. Decide on at least two projects that you will complete by the end of the summer.
For example, I am determined to have a body like Rhiana by August, so I hired a personal trainer. I am also writing short stories and working on my blog.
You may consider publishing a workbook, an educational book, or a novel. Check out this blog on self-publishing: http://freethingsforteachers.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-self-publish-your-teacher.html
2. Make sure that you have a plan for each day. I try to write down at least five things that I intend to accomplish each day. I also set my alarm clock for 8:00 a.m. each morning. (I am not saying I don’t hit the snooze button 5 times, but it’s a start.)
3. Volunteer This is a great way to learn new skills and meet new people. I found the following sight to be helpful: http://www.volunteermatch.org/.
4. Set up lunch lunch dates with your family and friends who are not on vacation. It is a great way to reconnect.
5. If you are dating someone, don’t be clingy because you are not working. It is easy to ruin a relationship (especially a new one) if you are constantly calling your significant other and expecting him/her to entertain you. Continue to be the strong independent woman (or man) that he/she fell in love with. And if you just got out of an unhealthy relationship, avoid contacting him/her just because you are bored or lonely.

The bottom line is RELAX and ENJOY your summer. The fall will be here before you know it!

The beauty of the vocabulary story!

This for all of my fellow English teachers. If you are like most English teachers, you give out a weekly vocabulary list. The vocabulary story is a great activity that you can do, and it takes no planning on your part. It's also a great activity that the students can do with a sub if you ever need emergency lesson plans.

Well here it is, simple and to the point:

1. You must use ten vocabulary words.
2. You must underline the words.
3. Your story must have at least FOUR paragraphs.
4. You must include: (place literary term here) (This step is optional. If you are working on a particular literary term or concept, you can ask the students to include it in the story. For example: dynamic character, static character, verbal irony etc.

Hope this makes your life a little easier. Happy Lesson Planning!

Happy Easter

Here are the lyrics to my favorite Easter song:

Go ahead drive the nails in My hands, Laugh at Me where you stand. Go ahead, and say it isn't Me, The day will come when you will see,
'Cause I'll rise again. There's no pow'r on earth can tie Me down. Yes, I'll rise again, Death can't keep Me in the ground.
Go ahead mock My name, My love for you is still the same. Go ahead and bury Me, But very soon I will be free.
'Cause I'll rise again. There's no pow'r on earth can tie Me down. Yes, I'll rise again, Death can't keep Me in the ground.
Go ahead, and say I'm dead and gone, But you will see that you were wrong. Go ahead, and try to hide the Son, But all will see that I'm the One.
"Cause I'll come again. There's no pow'r on earth can keep it back. Yes, I'll come again; Come to take My people back Yes I'll come again; Come to take My people back.

Spring Break Poem

Hope you had or are having a wonderful spring break! Here's a poem for YOU and YOUR STUDENTS to complete when you get back.

I suggest you do one as an example, and then have the kids do them. For some reason, kids like hearing about their teacher's lives outside of the classroom....it's like that can't quite fathom that you actually have a life (such that it is in my case LOL) outside of school.

Anyway, here's the activity-- Spring Break Poem

Scholarship Recommendation Letter Template

It's that time of year. Kids will be asking.....

Check out this article that I wrote for EHOW; it includes a template too!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4769330_write-scholarship-recommendation-letter.html

Would you eat School Lunch??

When I think of cafeteria food, I think of pizza squares and chocolate milk. Or BBQ sandwiches(people from the south know what I'm talking about) and chocolate milk. OR hot dogs with thick cold chili and of course chocolate milk.

I wonder why they serve everything with milk? I mean where else except at school, would you ever eat a hamburger and milk. Okay, I am going to stop rambling and get to the point. And there is a point!

There is this teacher who decided to eat school lunch for a whole year in order to bring attention to the unhealthy food that our children are eating. You should check out her blog: http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/