We went earlier in the year, but later in the day to the corn maze this year. In fact, we finished it in the dark! Angie wanted to leave the maze and get a flashlight, but I convinced her to press on and we found the last two checkpoints in quick succession.
Here, Angie is faced with the first of many decisions we would have to make that day.
TODDCAST RADIO, WWW – After several consecutive weblog entries about movies he’s seen recently, Toddcast Radio has gone dark. Will it return to the Web once again to propagate ripples of zeros and ones through the information superhighway? Or has its signal silenced permanently? *crackle, buzz, static* Hello, faithful listeners! I thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to. If I just said “work,” no one would be impressed, so let me share with you some details on the exciting new initiatives I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of at our school.
…let me share with you some details on the exciting new initiatives I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of at our school.
First of all, I’m in charge of our school’s AIMSweb management. AIMSweb is an online software tool that assists in student benchmarking and progress monitoring. I’ve been putting in “overtime” learning the program, managing login accounts for our school, and putting together tools and resources for our assessment team to utilize during this year’s three benchmarking periods. As the year goes on, I’ll be working hard behind the scenes taking and managing our school’s data and generating all manner of reports from the program, in preparation for its use in our building’s “response to intervention” (RtI) implementation over the next few years.
Speaking of schoolwide initiatives, (more…)
After jotting down some notes in Angie’s file, after recommending she drink lots of Gatorade (for the electrolytes), after she explained about how sick she’s been after last week’s recess duty in close to one hundred degree weather on a shadeless blacktop playground … after all that, our doctor looked at us and smiled. “My wife and I just saw a movie I think you two would really like. It’s called The Proposal.”
I’d seen the trailers before. Kind of a “chick flick,” I had thought at the time. Not that I was being dismissive; there are many “chick flicks” I have enjoyed watching. Fifty First Dates was good fun. The Legally Blonde movies were entertaining as they gleefully poked fun at the legal profession. Come to think of it, when I used the word “chick flick,” I really meant “date movie.” A “chick flick” is something you’d see on the Lifetime network or Oxygen. Date movie is a much better description of what I’m talking about, and is more inclusive of great comedy-action movies like The Princess Bride and The Incredibles. (more…)
When faced with a child who misbehaves, I usually work with the homeroom teacher to try to determine what may be causing or reinforcing the behavior. Standard procedure, I know. But when developing a plan to help manage the child’s behavior, one thing I usually say first of all is, “We can’t ‘make’ a child behave in an appropriate way. What we have to do is take what we have learned about the child and create an environment that compels the child to make the right decisions with regard to his behavior.”
I’ve always thought that was a rather accurate and wise way to put it, if I don’t say so myself. I’ve been explaining it that way to general classroom teachers for over a decade. But I recently went to a conference on PBS, positive behavior supports, and was privileged to hear one of my old grad school professors, Dr. Tim Lewis deliver the keynote address. As he went through his speech which sounded so familiar, I had to chuckle when I heard him say this:
I’ve always been quick to internalize things that work, without attribution. Isn’t it amazing the impact a good teacher can have on students, even when the student is a teacher, too?
I’ve always liked Star Trek, so I guess you can call me a “trekkie,” but I’m not a “dress up like an alien and go to a convention” kind of trekkie. In fact, I really only like the original series, though there are certain isolated episodes of the subsequent shows I have enjoyed. As a whole, the newer ones tend to be more arrogant and preachy in tone. They “tell” while the original episode “showed.”
I guess this gives me an unusual perspective on the new movie. While I found it entertaining, it felt disconnected from the original series it was supposed to connect to. The characters were all a little off, and without supplying any spoilers, I suppose there is a good reason built into the story for that. Still, taken by itself, it was an entertaining movie, and I’d have to give it my recommendation. The less you are attached to the original series, the more you will like this one, I think.
Okay, so this movie isn’t going to sweep the Oscars. In fact, it could be described as silly fun. But sometimes you want nothing more from a movie but a comedic escape. If that’s what you’re looking for, check out Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
I’ve been a fan of Kevin James’s work for awhile. From his role on television’s King of Queens to his hilarious dance lesson from Wil Smith in Hitch, James never fails to deliver the laughs – especially when the comedy is physical. There’s no shortage of physical comedy in Mall Cop, but, as is typical of James’s work, the story also has a heartwarming side. It’s at its heart, Mall Cop is the story of an underdog being thrust into a seemingly impossible situation and rising to the occasion.
In short, where a lot of today’s movie comedy is sarcastic and mean-spirited, this movie is a good, light-hearted alternative. Angie and I got a kick out of it.