Sorry everyone! I have been in a total funk so not in the mood to surf the net. Basically it is a combo of school burnout (MCAS are about a week away plus I'm swamped with correcting plus my little darlings would rather aggravate me than listen to me) and stumbling blocks on the house hunt.
I haven't been very vocal about our house search in fear that I would jink our attempts and also because we want to keep it on the downlow just in case things don't work out. However, I am tired of having no one to complain to (not including the DH.... he hears it all the time lol). We've put four offers in on four different houses since the New Year and they have all fallen through for some reason or other, which is very discouraging. We have our eye on one property right now in an older part of town (a cute ranch that needs a little TLC) which is quite different from the cute and charming capes we have been focused on (I have the dreams of living in my own cottage someday, right down to the beadboard in the dining room and a stone fireplace in the sitting room). This house that we have our eye on now does have alot of charm and potential in terms of my "cottage dream" so keep your fingers crossed.
I haven't been very vocal about our house search in fear that I would jink our attempts and also because we want to keep it on the downlow just in case things don't work out. However, I am tired of having no one to complain to (not including the DH.... he hears it all the time lol). We've put four offers in on four different houses since the New Year and they have all fallen through for some reason or other, which is very discouraging. We have our eye on one property right now in an older part of town (a cute ranch that needs a little TLC) which is quite different from the cute and charming capes we have been focused on (I have the dreams of living in my own cottage someday, right down to the beadboard in the dining room and a stone fireplace in the sitting room). This house that we have our eye on now does have alot of charm and potential in terms of my "cottage dream" so keep your fingers crossed.
Other than that, it has been pretty uneventful. Lent is flying by (as usual) and I am looking forward to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Now that I am a Eucharist minister, I can sign up for these special events in the Church, which is very exciting!
In my class we have been working on our poetry unit. I am using a similar technique I used last year with my sophomores called TYPCASTT. It is a fun and interesting way to analyze poetry. Each letter stands for a different thing to look for in the poem:
T= Title (Write down what the poem is about based on the title only
Y= Your dictionary (look up any words you are not familar with)
P= Paraphrase (put poem in your own words)
C= Connotation (looks for poetic devices, imagery, symbolism, etc)
A= Attitude (The mood of the poem and tone of the speaker)
S= Shifts (Where does the poem change either in tone, topic, rhyme scheme, etc)
T= Title (Look at title again and write down what you think poem is about now)
T= Theme (What is the moral or lesson of this poem)
I'm sorry to say I don't know who originally created this amazing tool. My advisor last year at the high school I worked at gave it to me to use and I borrowed it again this year. Of course I have made it appropriate for middle schoolers and I don't expect them to get everything out of the poem. I am most interested in their paraphrasing because they have no idea how to put something in their own words!!!!! It has been a great activity in class. We finished our second poem yesterday (The Road Not Taken and Sonnet 18 we did as a class) and next week they will be working in groups of three to TYPCASTT a poem (I've selected 12 different poems for them to choose from) on their own. It should be fun!
Well, I'm going to get back to cleaning the apartment and finishing my tea and warm blueberry muffins I just made. Hubby is off to the golf course with our neighbor so I'm a single gal for the day. It is too early for me to start golfing... I need at least 60 degree weather!!!! Hopefully I'll be taking my pink clubs out very soon!!!!!
In my class we have been working on our poetry unit. I am using a similar technique I used last year with my sophomores called TYPCASTT. It is a fun and interesting way to analyze poetry. Each letter stands for a different thing to look for in the poem:
T= Title (Write down what the poem is about based on the title only
Y= Your dictionary (look up any words you are not familar with)
P= Paraphrase (put poem in your own words)
C= Connotation (looks for poetic devices, imagery, symbolism, etc)
A= Attitude (The mood of the poem and tone of the speaker)
S= Shifts (Where does the poem change either in tone, topic, rhyme scheme, etc)
T= Title (Look at title again and write down what you think poem is about now)
T= Theme (What is the moral or lesson of this poem)
I'm sorry to say I don't know who originally created this amazing tool. My advisor last year at the high school I worked at gave it to me to use and I borrowed it again this year. Of course I have made it appropriate for middle schoolers and I don't expect them to get everything out of the poem. I am most interested in their paraphrasing because they have no idea how to put something in their own words!!!!! It has been a great activity in class. We finished our second poem yesterday (The Road Not Taken and Sonnet 18 we did as a class) and next week they will be working in groups of three to TYPCASTT a poem (I've selected 12 different poems for them to choose from) on their own. It should be fun!
Well, I'm going to get back to cleaning the apartment and finishing my tea and warm blueberry muffins I just made. Hubby is off to the golf course with our neighbor so I'm a single gal for the day. It is too early for me to start golfing... I need at least 60 degree weather!!!! Hopefully I'll be taking my pink clubs out very soon!!!!!
