Movies in Consideration: Beginners, The Artist, Hotel for Dogs, The Mask, My Dog Skip
Composite Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74.8
Analysis: Math doesn't lie! The delightful Jack Russell Terrier really is the king of movie dogs, even with Hotel for Dogs factored into the score.
In writing we had a mini lesson about composing a series of short poems on a single theme. I shared my poems about things I observed while kayaking. Students went away from my mini lesson to make a list of subjects they might tackle in poetry. Next they chose one topic and put down a series of words or phrases that went with that subject. These were the nucleus of the series of poems. I was impressed with how quickly and eagerly they got on with the project. Later in the session we had poems being read to each other on subjects as diverse as paintball shoots; flutes; pitching; shark fishing; touring St Petersburg, Russia etc. These polished up were word processed and on display at "Poetry in the Park." Below are some of my poems that got us started. I'm slowly posting poems by each student on a separate page of this blog. The link is at the top.
Kingfisher Noticed, But Not By All
Sighted my first kingfisher.
Well, heard it first.
Flew from sailboat mast
Perched on bayside locust branch
Briefly, then
Flew back.
A blue heron nearby
Didn’t look up.
Connections
Two big powerboats
Roar past far off.
Many minutes later
Their wake in triple waves approaches
Just in time
I remember to turn into them.
Splashes over bow
Wet this notebook.
Dock Information (alt titles: Dock Signs or Reading Docks)
Caution: manatee zone
Key West boatworks
Johnson outboard motors, inc.
Pro-Lift 800-521 3118
The kingfisher
Following me
Can’t
Read
Discovery
Sighted small beach
between mangrove sprawl
I glide in
Step ashore
Claim “South Shore Park
City of St Petersburg”
Columbus didn’t get
A welcome sign or bench.
Perception
Lemon slice of a kayak
Sit in,
not on.
Yellow and black color coordinated
Paddles, life jacket
Fishing pole tube too.
Yard sale find
Paddle alone, retail
More than I spent.
Dive, Float, Walk-on Water, Fly
Orange beaked cormorant
Surfaced just off bow.
Didn’t notice him dive.
Saw his walk-on water take—off though.
What Do Pelicans Know?
Sleepy pelican
On “Idle Speed/No Wake Zone” piling
Flies off at my approach
As if I could really grab him
Or want to.
But what does a pelican
Know about how long kayak paddles
Can extend?
After I pass, he circles back, lands
And continues napping.
It is my privilege to designate Erin Wilson the Shorecrest fourth grade Citizen of the Month. Our school community is enriched by Erin’s character and effort.
Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, once said, “It’s not always the same thing to be a good person and a good citizen.” But I believe that Erin’s values, hard work, humor, sense of fairness, and dependability combine to create both.
What’s more, Erin is a self-starter. She sees something that needs to be done and she hops to it. Erin befriends someone who needs a buddy, delivers effectively a presentation on an author/artist she finds inspiring, and takes seriously her class job.
Recently Erin was selected to share her thoughts with the visiting accreditation committee evaluating our school. She willingly gave up her time.
Finally, Erin is a creative person, a dedicated and talented musician and artist, and our world needs more such people. With a lively, informed, yet caring intelligence, Erin is a citizen-student of fine
character.
Jobs usually had little interest in public self-analysis, but every so often he’d drop a clue to what made him tick. Once he recalled for me some of the long summers of his youth. I’m a big believer in boredom,” he told me (J. Cayeiro). Boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity, he explained, and “out of curiosity comes everything.” The man who popularized personal computers and smartphones — machines that would draw our attention like a flame attracts gnats — worried about the future of boredom. “All the [technology] stuff is wonderful, but having nothing to do can be wonderful, too.”
In an interview with a Smithsonian oral history project in 1995, Jobs talked about how he learned to read before he got to school — that and chasing butterflies was his passion. School was a shock to him — “I encountered authority of a different kind than I had ever encountered before, and I did not like it,” he said. By his own account he became a troublemaker. Only the ministrations of a wise fourth grade teacher — who lured him back to learning with bribes and then hooked him with fascinating projects — rekindled his love of learning.
