Valentine's Day, Mathematical Style

As a little surprise for our beloved math teachers, we're going to spend some time this morning creating little math valentines! I know that this is a bit of a stretch, but one fearless freshman lady and I have been working to create some love-ly options for you for your valentines. Here are some of your choices for your very own math-inspired valentines:

"The Meaning of Zero" by Amy Uyematsu

Some interesting math expressions from a variety of people

Select a line from a math love poem

Math N Love poem

Hopefully, these links will give you some inspiration for your valentines. If not, you're welcome to create your very own! We'll march over to the math room later today to drop off our valentines.

Honoring Our Nation's Veterans

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day in the United States. Our observance of this important day comes on the heels of the death of a Maine soldier, Spc. Andrew Hutchins, who was killed in Afghanistan on Monday. The proximity of these two events makes me wonder how you all feel about war. You were probably fairly young when the United States entered Iraq. So, you have grown up with war in the background (or forefront for some of you) of your lives. Your perspective is unique, as you are the first generation since those who grew up during the Vietnam War to see and hear about war for most of your childhood.

We talked last week about pacifists and conscientious objectors. Most of you did not know of these terms, but in our short story "Klaus Vogel and the Bad Lads," a man is persecuted by his community for being a conscientious objector, or a "conchie". This story by David Almond highlights the stigma that can come from deciding to not participate in war.

So, what do you believe?

Today, you're going to suss out your beliefs on war. This is a huge topic, but there are plenty of threads to choose from in your exploration of your beliefs and opinions. You're going to select two strains or topics to research in today's class and you'll write one or two blog posts about the topics you choose. (Some may be combined into one post.) Here is the list to choose from:

The organization called Veterans for Peace: Who are they? What is their mission? What are two interesting facts from their website? (Make sure to link back to their site in your post!)

An obituary for Spc. Andrew Hutchins. What was he like? Where was he from? How old was he? (Make sure to link back to this site in your post!)

The organization called Iraq Veterans Against the War. Who are they? What is their mission? What are two interesting facts from their website? (Make sure to link back to their site in your post!)

The history of Veteran's Day. How did this holiday come to be? Who created it? When?  What is the purpose of it?

React to the poster for Veteran's Day 2010. How does it make you feel? Do you recognize all of the names/ locations on the list for this poster? Also, which poster was created the year you were born? How do you feel about that poster? What are the differences between the 2010 poster and the one from your birth year?

Look up the definition of the terms "pacifist" and "conscientious objector." Do you consider yourself to be a pacifist or CO? Why or why not?

Quote of the Week

This week's quote is inspired by the fact that April is National Autism Awareness Month. Our state Autism Society is hosting three Walk for Autism events today in Farmington, Bangor, and Biddeford. Come out and join in the fun if you get a chance!

One of the most fascinating people I've ever read about, listened to, or learned about is Temple Grandin. She is famous for having developed more humane ways to slaughter animals and has written several books. She also is an adult with Autism. Her ideas about animals and her revelations about what it's like to live with Autism have revolutionized both areas of study. Here is a quotation from Grandin:


Here are some links where you can find out more about Autism and programs that are available for families in the state of Maine. You can also find out more information about how volunteer in Maine and/or become a donor at this site. For national statistics and facts, see the Autism Society of America.

Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare

Though school is not in session right now (April break), I'm going to celebrate William Shakespeare's birthday by reading one of his plays. I've read about fifteen or sixteen of his plays, and I really want to read all 37 plays before I go the way of King Lear or Lady Macbeth.

We may have some time to have a little post-birthday celebration for the Bard when we return to school, but if you're anxious to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday on his (supposed) actual birthday, here are some tips/ ideas from about.com: Shakespeare.

Or, you can check out how others around the globe are celebrating Shakespeare's birthday this year. Add your own pic and Shakespeare celebration story to show others around the globe how you honored this great poet today!

Take the Dr. Seuess Challange!

Dr. Seuss's classic Green Eggs and Ham is one of the best-selling children's books of all time. Published in 1960, it quickly rose in popularity and became the legendary success that it is today. What most people are unaware of, though, is that this book was written as a dare. There was a friendly bet between Dr. Seuss and his publisher that Seuss could not write a book using only fifty words. If Seuss won the bet, he would win the $50 bet. If he lost, well, he'd have to pay up.

Dr. Seuss won the bet, and the rest is history. Today, you're going to challenge yourself to write a story in 50 words. You may start or end with a bank of 50 words, but when you submit your story, I need a list of your words. Here are the words Seuss used in his story:

Notice that all but one of the words are a single syllable. Simple words. Your story does not need to be complex, but it should make sense!

Honoring Our Presidents

This President's Day, I thought that it might be a powerful exercise to pull together some quotations about reading, books and education from some of our presidents:

John Adams (1797-1801)
"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
"I cannot live without books."

James Madison (1809-1817)
"A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people."

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
"The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read."

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
"Law without education is a dead letter. With education the needed law follows without effort and, of course, with power to execute itself; indeed, it seems to execute itself."

James A. Garfield (1881)
"Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained."

William McKinley (1897-1901)
"Illiteracy must be banished from the land if we shall attain that high destiny as the foremost of the enlightened nations of the world which, under Providence, we ought to achieve."

John Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
"We all know that books burn—yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire. . . [W]e know books are weapons. And it is a part of your dedication to make them weapons for man’s freedom"

Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers."

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.”

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969)
"Literacy is not a luxury, it is a right and a responsibility. If our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century we must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens."

James Earl Carter, Jr. (1977-1981)
"If you're totally illiterate and living on one dollar a day, the benefits of globalization never come to you."

William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001)
"Literacy is not a luxury, it is a right and a responsibility. If our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century we must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens."

George W. Bush (2001-2009)
"In this job, there are some simple pleasures that really help you cope. One is books, I mean, books are a great escape. Books are a way to get your mind on something else."

Barack Obama (2009-Present)
“We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible.”

Lookin' for Love? Send a Poetic Message!

This Valentine's Day, don't worry about finding money for flowers or candy. There's a cool new site that will allow you to send an email "Poem Flow" (a flowing script of a poem) with an image to someone you love (or want to love). Here's a link to the site where you can make this happen!

More of a hard-copy person? Here's a link to a site where you can print our multiple quirky-cool (and traditional) Valentines for your sweetheart(s) this Valentine's Day.

Or, if you've already picked your bouquet and you're ready to deliver some fragrant love petals this February, here are some preselected poems that can add a little high-steppin' language to your flowery gift.

Have a Heart: Help To End Teen Dating Violence

Unfortunately, young love does not run as smooth as some books and movies would have us believe. Violence and abuse can occur in relationships no matter the age of the people involved. Violent and abusive tendencies that are learned and/or experienced in the teen years can lead to some pretty serious problems.

Here is a sobering statistic:


Nearly 25% of 14-17 year-olds surveyed know at least one student who was a victim of dating
violence, while 11% know multiple victims of dating violence. 33% of teens have actually wit-
nessed such an event. Empower Program, sponsored by Liz Claiborne Inc. and conducted by Knowledge Networks, Social Control, Verbal Abuse, and Violence Among Teenagers, (2000).

What's this mean? It means that even if you're not currently dating anyone or don't know of anyone who's in an abusive relationship, you might eventually. So, how can you help?

First, you can learn more about dating violence. Here are a couple of sites to explore issues related to this issue:

Teen Violence Prevention Project

Love Is Respect

The Safe Place

Second, you can participate in the Have A Heart campaign. I have the materials ready for us to make hearts in today's class. Feel free to get thoughtful and creative to show your solidarity and awareness about this important issue!

Quote of the Week

February is Black History Month. So, all of our quotations this months will come from African Americans who have made a profound difference or contribution to the struggle for equality in our nation. For our first quotation of the month, I decided to look to our esteemed, history-making president, Mr. Barack Obama. Here is a simple, yet powerful quote from our nation's president:

"Yes we can."

Only three words, but such deep meaning. What we have to keep in mind is that the "we" in this quotation is all of us. And, "we" need to be thinking about our roles in our lives and what we can do to make this town, this country, this world a more accepting place for everyone. Thank you, Mr. Obama, for your inspiring words and positive attitude.

Send a Message

This past summer, a bunch of other teachers and I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for a conference. While we were there, we did some sightseeing. One of the most important stops on this trip was to see Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthplace. It was so powerful to see where this amazing legend was born. I cannot tell you what it meant to stand on his porch and to take a stroll around his neighborhood.

Part of seeing King's birthplace included a tour of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park. (It's not really a park; it's more like a little museum.) I have to say that the museum exhibits and the condition of the museum itself were not very impressive. There were a ton of powerful artifacts and photos, but the building felt a little rundown. By the time we hit the gift shop, I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed and almost sad. I decided to ease my sadness by purchasing all kinds of stuff to show you guys. But, even the gift shop was not as cool as it could have been.

When I saw some postcards featuring quotations from Dr. King. I loved the messages on the postcards, but the images that went with the postcards were kinda ugly. Quickly, Mr. Ryder and I thought up a plan: Mt. Blue students will make better ones. And we'll do it for Dr. King's birthday. In January, 2010. Now.

So, here we are. We've found some powerful quotations from poetry about the Civil Rights Movement. You have your laptops. You have access to thousands of photos on Creative Commons. You have a keen eye for design. We'll hang our final products in the cafeteria this coming Tuesday. We'll inspire our community with tons of positive images and words from our nation's greatest thinkers.

Let's do this.

Dream Flag Project

To honor the birth of one of the most famous dreamers of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the passing of Miep Gies, you're going to create a Dream Flag.

The Dream Flag Project is an international effort to collect and display the hopes, interests, and wishes of individuals all across the world. Since a huge part of our focus this year has been for you all to advocate for your goals and dreams, I thought that this would be an appropriate way to demonstrate some of the interests and passions you have.

So, have fun with this project and be creative in your expression of your dreams. We'll hang our completed flags in our classroom next Tuesday.

I've included some examples of flags that have been developed by children and teens from around the world in this post.

Making Connections: One Dystopia to Another

Though we have a half day today, you're going to complete some important work. Next Monday we'll celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In thinking about all that Dr. King accomplished during his life and the struggles that he and many, many others faced (and still face) during the Civil Rights movement, I found myself thinking about the Hunger Games series.

The more I thought about this, the more connections I made between the two worlds. In both, civil rights are not guaranteed to all. In both, people are controlled and repressed by the laws and regulations of their governments. In both, there were many people willing to risk their lives to affect change.

Today's assignment asks you to find a photo in one of the these three texts:

Marching For Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge
Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison
Lest We Forget: The Passage from Africa to Slavery and Emancipation by Velma M. Thomas

After selecting a photograph from one of these texts, you need to post the photo in your blog and write about the connection between the photo and the Civil Rights issues presented in the Hunger Games series.

Here are a couple student posts from this lesson:

Student 1
Student 2

Civil Rights Poetry

Today is a half day. Some of you are excited about this fact, but I wish we had lots more time together! But, since we don't, I thought that we would use our time to start our preparations for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, which is next Monday.

Today, you're going to read through some poetry that relates to the Civil Rights movement. I found a site that has a collection of amazing Civil Rights poems. You're going to:

-Read through some of the poems
-Choose one you like
-Select a line or two that can stand on their own
-Email me your line(s) and the author
-Explain in the email why you chose those lines

We'll use the information you emailed to me next class. Happy half day!

Resolution Generator

Having trouble coming up with a New Year's resolution? Have no fear, the resolution generator is here! Simply click the button and a resolution appears for you. And, if you don't like the first one you receive, you can just push the button again. Pretty handy, eh?

I'd LIke To Give A Shout Out To...

Here are my instructions for the Holiday Break Reading Challenge # 10:

There are so many blogs on the Internet that it would be impossible to keep up with all of them. So, your challenge is to:

1 - Go to Google or one of your favorite search engines and find search for blogs that cater to your tastes. Try to find at least 3 blogs to share.

2 - Keep track of their title, web address, and a short summary of what you like about it.

3 - Post something on your blog about these blogs with the title I'd Like To Give A Shout Out To...

* * *

1. I found this blog recently and have been following it to see what this super creative woman comes up with. She's chosen to paint her nails in a new style every day for a year. I don't actually paint my fingernails because they chip so easily and it annoys me to have chipped fingernails, but The Daily Nail makes me want to paint my nails. I've passed on this site to a few of my students who're interested in coming up with a daily activity that they can blog about. It makes me think about what I could do every day for a year. Hm. Food for thought.

2. Food and thought reminds me of my next favorite blog. It combines baking and storytelling. It's written by a teen girl and is expertly formatted and engaging. Not to mention that the photos make you want to climb right inside your computer and take a seat at her table! This blog is called 17 and Baking and it's one that I've used with my students as an example of excellent blogging.

3. And, on to education. I'm a hopeless teacher geek when it comes to thinking about lesson planning and innovative teaching. So, I follow all kinds of teacher/ teaching blogs. There is one, though, that inspires me to teach more than the rest. It's called Two Writing Teachers and it's pretty fabulous (as far as teacher blogs go)! It's chock full of great ideas and the two women who run it write intelligently and are an excellent model of creative, collaborative work.

So. There you have it. These are the blogs that I look forward to reading on a daily basis. I hope that you all find time to enjoy them as well!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Assignment #7

Assignment #7:

1 - You need to choose the BEST Book-to-Movie Adaptation you've seen and the WORST Book-to-Movie Adaptation you've seen.

2 - Post the pictures of the book cover next to the movie poster for each pair.

My "Best" Goes To:

My "Worst" Goes To:

Holiday Break Reading Challenge

Take the Holiday Break Reading Challenge!

I came across this challenge late in the game, so I don't think that I'll be able to participate in all aspects of the challenge, but I'm gonna try!

Happy holidays and best wishes to all of you!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Assignment #5

Here are the instructions for Assignment #5:

1 - Pick up the book you are currently reading.

2 - Since it is December 22nd, turn to page 22 in your book.

3 - Count down to the 22nd line on the page. (If there is a partial word on the line you can leave it off.)

4 - Post a picture of your book cover along with the 22nd line from the 22nd page on your blog.

* * *

"...me. I jumped in, and was surprised to see Mrs. Nesbitt sitting..."

Poems for Ornaments

Today we decorated our classroom for the holidays with some Poetic Ornaments. I got this idea from the poets.org site, and decided that this lesson would lend itself to some creativity, cheer, and expose you (and me) to some new poets and poems. Boy, was I right! Everyone who has walked into the room has mentioned how much they love the ornaments we have hanging around the room. Some students even asked me if they were "allowed" to make some. My answer: "OF COURSE!"

Here are a couple of links for you to browse for your lines:


Christmas Poems

Winter Poems

Here are some sample finished products:

Facebook Status Clouds

I'm a fan of this new facebook status cloud application. It's super easy to use and is interesting to see the most common words you use when you update your facebook status. For our purposes, we might think about using this application to reflect on our past year or or last few months together.

If you'd like to create one of these at home (since facebook is blocked at school) and would like to share it with me, please email it to me directly as an attachment or post it on your school blog (as long as it's school appropriate). Here's mine:
Happy holidays everyone! I can't wait to see your posts!