Extra Credit Opportunities

OK, students. Here are some things we need this week:

10.6 - Do you have access to a nice printer? Each chapter of A Tale of Two Cities was published with etched illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne. The pictures go along with the plot of each chapter, and would be nice to have in class. How does 10 points sound for bringing in all of them?

A slideshow or other visual presentation for this week's vocabulary words would also be a great asset to the class. Find a way to illustrate the meaning of the word, use a mnemonic device to help us remember the definition and/or spelling, and find a use of the word in music or pop culture. 5 points for 20 words!

10.4 - create a 4-5 minute presentation on the complete plot of either short story, "Everyday Use" or "Marriage is a Private Affair." Use as many visuals as possible, and list other forms of media (songs, poems, movies, etc.) that deal with the same topic as the story you select. 10 points.


Creative Writing - find a website with good ideas for collaborative writing assignments and email it to me. 2 points.

Somebody get on that. :)
Thanks!

NFL Picks ~ Week Ten

I'm back on a Thursday to bring you my weekly NFL picks. As I've done every week for over twenty years, and continue to do purely for fun, here are my picks against the spread for the NFL:

Indianapolis giving 3.5 to Jacksonville
WIN
Indianapolis 27 - Jacksonville 10




Buffalo getting 11 from New England
WIN
New England 37 - Buffalo 31

NY Giants giving 4 to Cincinnati
LOSS
Cincinnati 31 - NY Giants 13

San Diego getting 3 from Tampa Bay 
LOSS
Tampa Bay 34 - San Diego 24

Denver giving 4 to Carolina
WIN
Denver 36 - Carolina 14

Miami giving 6 to Tennessee
LOSS
Tennessee 37 - Miami 3

Oakland getting 7.5 from Baltimore
LOSS
Baltimore 55 - Oakland 20

New Orleans getting 2.5 from Atlanta
WIN
New Orleans 31 - Atlanta 27

Detroit giving 2.5 to Minnesota
LOSS
Minnesota 34 - Detroit 24

Seattle giving 6 to NY Jets
WIN
Seattle 28 - NY Jets 7

Philadelphia getting 1.5 from Dallas
LOSS
Dallas 38 - Philadelphia 23

San Francisco giving 11.5 to St. Louis
LOSS
San Francisco 24 - St. Louis 24

Houston getting 1 from Chicago
WIN
Houston 13 - Chicago 6

Pittsburgh giving 12.5 to Kansas City   
LOSS
Pittsburgh 16 - Kansas City 13

WEEK TEN RECORD: 6-8-0

2012 - 2013 Record: 66-78-2
2011 - 2012 Record: 129-126-11
2010 - 2011 Record: 130-130-7
2009 - 2010 Record: 138-125-4
2008 - 2009 Record: 139-120-8

Election Day

It feels like this blog is quickly becoming Thursdays with Swindy. Last Tuesday was Superstorm Sandy, and this Tuesday was election day, both of which kept me from posting on time.

Here I am two days later, and I have just one quick election thought this week.

Pennsylvania's ballots should have a "None of the Above" option for every race, instead of just the "No Vote" option at the bottom of the ballot.


If a person does not wish to cast a vote for either (or any) candidate in one given race, but still wishes to vote for candidates in all the other races, he or she does not currently have that option, other than to do a write in for the race in question.

For many of us, not showing up to vote is simply not an option, yet there are times when we can not support either candidate running for an office. I understand the statement made by going to the polls, waiting in long lines, and then casting "No Vote," but ONLY if all the other races didn't matter so much.

I would like to see a "None of the Above" option for each individual office up for election on our ballots.

NFL Picks ~ Week Nine

I'm back on a Thursday to bring you my weekly NFL picks. As I've done every week for over twenty years, and continue to do purely for fun, here are my picks against the spread for the NFL:

San Diego giving 7 to Kansas City
WIN
San Diego 31 - Kansas City 13

Denver giving 3.5 to Cincinnati
WIN
Denver 31 - Cincinnati 33

Arizona getting 10.5 from Green Bay
LOSS
Green Bay 31 - Arizona 17

Miami giving 2 to Indianapolis
LOSS
Indianapolis 23 - Miami 20

Baltimore giving 3.5 to Cleveland
WIN
Baltimore 25 - Cleveland 15

Houston giving 10 to Buffalo
WIN
Houston 21 - Buffalo 9

Washington giving 3 to Carolina
LOSS
Carolina 21 - Washington 13

Detroit giving 4 to Jacksonville
WIN
Detroit 31 - Jacksonville 14

Chicago giving 3.5 to Tennessee
WIN
Chicago 51 - Tennessee 20

Minnesota getting 4.5 from Seattle     
LOSS
Seattle 30 - Minnesota 20

Oakland giving 1.5 to Tampa Bay
LOSS
Tampa Bay 42 - Oakland 32

Pittsburgh getting 3 from NY Giants
WIN
Pittsburgh 24 - NY Giants 20
            

Atlanta giving 4 to Dallas
WIN
Atlanta 19 - Dallas 13

Philadelphia getting 3 from New Orleans
LOSS
New Orleans 28 - Philadelphia 13

WEEK NINE RECORD: 8-6-0

2012 - 2013 Record: 60-70-2
2011 - 2012 Record: 129-126-11
2010 - 2011 Record: 130-130-7
2009 - 2010 Record: 138-125-4
2008 - 2009 Record: 139-120-8

What to do when the power's out...

 The power was out for us and millions of others on Tuesday, so I missed my weekly post. It is still out for me as I write this post, but we are living in a world where many of us can still get the Internet on our phones, or drive a little way to find friends with heat, electricity, and running water, so I can NOT complain about having to go five or six days without electricity. So many have it so much worse all the time, and thousands more were dealt a much harsher blow than we were by Hurricane Sandy.


When the power is out, we have to go without heat, lights, television, wireless Internet, and running water.

But from the online conversations in my networks, it seems the most frequent complaint is... boredom.
"What do we do?" seems to be one of the most common refrains, especially after the electricity has been of  for more than a day or two. Just reading these words makes me feel guilty for how much we have, and how much we take for granted. People I know are basically saying, "Oh no, the power's out. I guess I'll have to update Facebook and Twitter using 3G!" This is truly an example of #firstworldproblems.

Despite being a tech savvy person, I have found the shutdown from electricity to be refreshing. It's a return to previous times, to an old world, with different priorities. I love it. Well, I love it for now. Parts of it.


It is COLD at night, but the family is camping out in the same room using our tents, sleeping bags and blankets, we are cooking on the grill, eating food from our camping coolers, and we've got countless gallons of water in containers we filled before the power went out. TIP - filling the bathtub with water prior to a storm is a great move. Grab a bucket and you've got everything you need to flush.

So to my friends who are asking what to do, here are a few things we've come up with so far:

• Exercise - if you belong to a gym, it's a great place to go to warm up and get a shower, but if not, go for a jog or walk around the neighborhood to survey the damage and get the heart rate and body temperature raised.
• Read - it took my eyes a little bit of adjusting to read by candlelight, but only a few minutes passed before I hardly noticed. I've been able to make great progress on my current novel (A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin).
•  Draw pictures - it has been a great pastime for my kids to hone their artistic skills
• Carve pumpkins and tell ghost stories - our particular power outage encompassed Halloween week. Different activities would certainly abound during Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, etc.
• Do puzzles
• Play the ORIGINAL Words with Friends - Scrabble! Any board game will do, really. Take turns picking which game to play.
• Grill - cook all the food in your fridge that might spoil and have a big feast. You'll need those extra calories to keep warm, anyway!
• Play hide & seek - this gets even better as it gets darker, though more challenging
• Light candles - your house looks different by candlelight, doesn't it?
• Do yard work - no time like the present to clean up hurricane damage. It will keep you warm, too!
• Do dishes the old-fashioned way - boil some water and pour it in a basin. Some wash, some dry. It takes time, but hey... you've got time to kill, right?
• Tell stories - how many can you remember without Internet access? Don't worry if you're a little rusty!
• Enjoy it - the difference between a catastrophe and an opportunity can be a matter of your state of mind, so find ways to accentuate the positive and make the most of the situation!Stay safe, everyone & take care. See you next week ... possibly by candlelight ... hopefully with electricity.

NFL Picks ~ Week Eight

I'm back on a Thursday to bring you my weekly NFL picks. As I've done every week for over twenty years, and continue to do purely for fun, here are my picks against the spread for the NFL:

Tampa Bay getting 6.5 from Minnesota
WIN
Tampa Bay 36 - Minnesota 17

New England giving 7 to St. Louis
WIN
New England 45 - St. Louis 7

Indianapolis getting 3.5 from Tennessee             
WIN
Indianapolis 19 - Tennessee 13

Jacksonville getting 15 from Green Bay
WIN
Green Bay 24 - Jacksonville 15

San Diego giving 3 to Cleveland                    
LOSS
Cleveland 7 - San Diego 6

Philadelphia giving 3 to Atlanta
LOSS
Atlanta 30 - Philadelphia 17

Seattle getting 2.5 from Detroit              
LOSS
Detroit 28 - Seattle 24

Miami getting 2.5 from NY Jets              
WIN
Miami 30 - NY Jets 9

Chicago giving 7.5 to Carolina          
LOSS
Chicago 23 - Carolina 22

Washington getting 4.5 from Pittsburgh
LOSS
Pittsburgh 27 - Washington 12

Oakland getting 1.5 from Kansas City               
WIN
Oakland 26 - Kansas City 16

NY Giants giving 2 to Dallas    
WIN
NY Giants 29 - Dallas 24

New Orleans getting 6 from Denver    
LOSS
Denver 34 - New Orleans 14

San Francisco giving 7 to Arizona
WIN
San Francisco 24 - Arizona 3


WEEK EIGHT RECORD: 8-6-0

2012 - 2013 Record: 52-64-2
2011 - 2012 Record: 129-126-11
2010 - 2011 Record: 130-130-7
2009 - 2010 Record: 138-125-4
2008 - 2009 Record: 139-120-8

Free Writing

The creative writing class is currently in the middle of a two-week unit of writing in response to prompts in the style of "free writing."

Free writing is a pre-writing technique where the person writes continuously for a set amount of time without regard to spelling or grammar, and without stopping to fix mistakes.

The goal is to generate as many potential pieces of writing as possible, At the end of our two weeks, students will select one piece that is most worthy of revision, and work on finishing it for a few days in class. They will only be required to turn in one piece of writing from the unit by posting it in their online portfolio, our class wiki page.

As we write each day, students are encouraged, but not required, to share their day's writing with the class, either by reading it or summarizing it. It is not a full conference, as we do with other revised pieces of writing, but a chance to share where they took the prompts and benefit from each other's ideas.

So far we are off to a good start. I found some good writing prompts at daily-writing-prompt.com, and modified several of them for our own use.

What writing prompts have you used? What experiences have you had with free writing that worked well? Please share in the comments below!

See you next Tuesday.