Jo Ann Nash

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” ~Dr. Seuss

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Author’s Notes:

“Daily, we are bombarded with messages telling us we aren’t good enough.”

“Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be.”

“So go on. Take a good, long look around and come back often. I’m happy you’ve chosen to visit me here. The front door’s open, water’s on for tea, and there are cookies in the oven. Only problem is, it’s likely my husband is baking them. Since my life turned crazy busy, he has moved into the role of family chef. And he’s still learning. (And burning stuff.)”

And perhaps, rendering…

http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/perfect/
Create your own Hopkinsesque poetic form - see Handouts
Satire for my Seniors:

"Baby Cakes" by Neil Gaiman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA0oucKIe_0

“In reading, one should notice and fondle details."~Vladimir Nabokov

Anecdotal Info: Ms. Nash as a student...

Thank you Gretchen Polnac

UTeach Liberal Arts

The University of Texas at Austin

“Two men possessed...

One to do the impossible, one to do the unspeakable."

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/

“The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his ‘World’s Fair Hotel’ just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.”

http://ibistro.roundrockisd.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=v6U2upL9nc/RROC/196280384/9

Passage Excerpt and Graphic Organizer

“…wake students up to what they have inside of them.”

~Sir Ken Robinson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

“Why I Teach” poem in Handouts

“Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.”

http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/

Rebecca Skloot's inspiration for the organization of the book:
The Hurricane
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174856/

My Potato Experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exBEFCiWyW0&feature=player_embedded

CareerCruising.com (Assessment) and Survey Monkey

Two career fair pre-assessments:

Part 1: http;//www.surveymonkey.com/s/Lvx9kvx

Part 2: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L2kbnhf

“Is America’s Top Young Scientist in Your Classroom?”

2012 Young Scientist Challenge

NOW OPEN for Entries

ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS COULD WIN $25,000!

The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is now accepting entries for the 2012 competition. Open to students in grades 5-8, theYoung Scientist Challengeprovides the opportunity for one lucky student to win:$25,000, a once-in-a-lifetime trip with Discovery Student Adventures, and the distinguished title, "America's Top Young Scientist."

Ten finalists will have the opportunity to work directly with a 3M scientist during an exclusive summer mentorship and bring their innovative ideas to life.

Visitwww.youngscientistchallenge.comto find:

"I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can’t find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that –- openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work." -President Obama 2012 State of the Union

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/us/politics/state-of-the-union-2012-transcript.html?_r=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes&pagewanted=all

Changing Education Paradigms

This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's
Benjamin Franklin award.
For more information on Sir Ken's work visit:http://www.sirkenrobinson.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

"This is Dr. Seuss' view of prejudice: Some Sneetches have a star on their bellies, and some of them don't. The ones that don't have a star on their bellies are trying to be accepted..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3yJomUhs0g

“I've come up with only two hard,
incontrovertible facts; there is a God, and, I'm not Him.”
~ quote from movie Rudy

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108002/quotes
My Superhero:  Charles S. Dutton
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001165/bio

Anecdote: Referee fumbles “incontrovertible” in championship playoff.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incontrovertible

Super Bowl

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/23/145627766/giants-patriots-to-meet-again-in-super-bowl

                         http://www.studentsfirst.org/pages/essay

6 word essay – what makes a great teacher/______?

Jan 27 deadline

http://charactercounts.org/chron/2012/01/13/mission-impossible-how-to-create-a-culture-of-kindness/

My son was in a pretty precarious place.
~ Rick Riordan

http://abcnews.go.com/US/california-ravine-rescue-emergency-workers-speak/story?id=15369348

Precarious:

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/precarious

Two career fair pre-assessments:

Part 1: http;//www.surveymonkey.com/s/Lvx9kvx

Part 2: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L2kbnhf

Normal. One of the most important words in the English language – almost all of us want to be it. We want to "fit in" rather than stick out. We don't want to be "different." But, do we even know what being normal means? Who defines what is "normal"?

Percy Jackson is the polar opposite ofnormal. He accidentally causes trouble wherever he goes, he is dyslexic, has attention deficit disorder, and has a D-average in school. His father was never around and his mother scrambles to make ends meet to support him and his rotten stepdad. Nobody (except his mom) believes he will amount to much in life.

http://www.shmoop.com/percy-jackson-lightning-thief/
http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx
Interview on Rock Center:

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10081420-changing-the-way-kids-look-at-the-world-one-book-at-a-time

http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between
lightning and a lightning bug.”

~ MarkTwain

Obama: 'There is nobody who can't serve, nobody who can't help'

President evokes MLK's words while celebrating civil rights leader's life during volunteer project with family

“The inscription on the King memorial, located on the National Mall, currently reads: ‘I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.’ The phrase is modified from a sermon known as the ‘Drum Major Instinct’, which King delivered just two months before he was assassinated in 1968.

In the speech, King's words seem more modest than the paraphrased inscription: ‘Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."’

"The time is always right to do what is right." MLK quote painted by the President

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46012962/ns/politics/