Tweets of the Week

In a tough world, kids need to be there for each other. We do, too.

 Life can be tough; and this certainly isn't a kids' world.
The need to be there for kids is
unprecedented. Kids of all ages.





http://developingchild.harvard.edu/topics/science_of_early_childhood/toxic_stress_response/



Students can sharpen their brains with better focused emotional and social training. We can, too.

 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2009/01/24/resources-to-help-students-build-emotional-intelligence/

You know you have crossed a bridge to narcissism when you quote yourself, but I think these might help with the previous tweet:

Writing is a wonderful form of self-expression.
http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2012/04/writing-prompts-to-sooth-kids-toxic.html

The comradery of poetry. When your comforting friend is Tennyson.

 http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2012/01/five-poems-to-soothe-kids-toxic-stress.html

 Empathy through reading about a character.

Makes you want to grab a book with pages, huh? I'm thinking Beverly Cleary.

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2012/01/books-to-sooth-kids-toxic-stress.htm

In Berkeley, California. The edible schoolyard. The Garden as teacher. I wonder if they have fresh garlic.

 http://edibleschoolyard.org/

It's organic, man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC3H0sxg4tY&feature=autoplay&list=PL3B4723DD57BCB41A&playnext=8

Never underestimate the autistic or any student.

 http://imhome.org/index.php/latest-news/entry/can-children-on-the-autism-spectrum-participate-in-interactive-metronome-im.html

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/bay_area/news/article_ef3d0ba6-aa92-5e5f-8ad0-8345de6e737a.html

She fits right in--where is she anyway?

The girl in the article has autism and is now a black belt.

Teaching kids to be science heroes. You go Landry Middle School!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in_wHiw9hkY&list=PL3B4723DD57BCB41A&index=7&feature=plpp_video

My alma mater! Girls and even guys need opportunities! Kids: our greatest resource.

http://www.msmc.la.edu/about-msmc/spotlight-archive.asp?item=12960

Just a little plug.

Here is the quote of the week, from the President of Mount St. Mary's in Los Angeles.

 “This is a great moment for all of us to come together and talk about the really relevant issues of access and affordability in higher education on a national platform.” McElaney-Johnson said.

 I am very concerned about access and affordability for K-12 also. There is a trend toward technology, along with less responsibility for transportation of students, that will further create a social divide in education. We'll create a new ghetto that busing won't effect. How many students will never have at-home access to technology, therefore, no access to school? No access to charter schools or online schools?  Many students can't accommodate the distance to technology at their school or library. Some areas are too dangerous for kids to be out and about looking for computer access. And millions of  kids live in rural areas.

We cannot leave these kids behind. Kids are our most important resource.

An OCD Bee!

This is to honor our busy-as-a-bee gardeners up in the East Bay, and their bombus pennsylvanicus (American bumble bees.) Here is some music to inspire a beeline:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp5QiDEkoeA&feature=related

Love both the young musicians. What fun.

I never watched the program Clash of the Choirs, but this rendition of the Flight of the Bumble Bee by  Rimsky-Korsakoff is really creative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zs4PPk5kg

And a poem by Emily Dickinson about a garden and cycles.
                                                  

Warbling!

III. NATURE.

I.

New feet within my garden go,
New fingers stir the sod;
A troubadour upon the elm
Betrays the solitude.

New children play upon the green,
New weary sleep below;
And still the pensive spring returns,
And still the punctual snow!

Good Day Sunshine

July 1963; first sunny day in England since James I.

Laughter in the morning is the best

Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine.
I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about,
I feel good, in a special way.
I'm in love and it's a sunny day.

Maybe the clouds will form a daisy chain, too.

That must feel so good.

Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine.





                                                   
                                                     We take a walk, the sun is shining down,
                                                     Burns my feet as they touch the ground.

In the moment...

She knows she's lookin' fine.

Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine.







                                                    And then we lie, beneath a shady tree,
                                                    I love her and she's loving me.


                                                     She feels good,
                                                     she knows she's looking fine.                                    

                                                     I'm so proud to know that she is mine.

                                                     Good day sunshine,
                                                     Good day sunshine,
                                                     Good day sunshine.
                                                     Good day sunshine,
                                                     Good day sunshine,
                                                     Good day sunshine,
                                                     Good day sunshine.

         
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL7YxIxHepI

           
The animation is good if you're not quite awake yet.



 If you live somewhere it is overcast or raining,
       my sincere apologies from SoCal.

Good Morning, Spring, Time To Get Up

Spring, just waking up from a dreamy winter's sleep

Morning by Edvard Grieg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKRBeG-sGQ&feature=related

Written for the play Peer Gynt by Ibsen, who thought this music was too cheerful for his play. Oh well, morning is like that.

The Raven--Flying To A DVD Near You

E. A. Poe; with this portrait, no wonder he would be the prime suspect.

 A film called "The Raven" will be debuting April 27, and it looks like an excellent briefing of Poe's various horror stories. He invented the genre way back in the 1840's.

His stories are completely compelling to read. In California, "The Tell-Tale Heart" is standard reading for Eighth Graders, who can really appreciate the fantastical machinations of the deviant mind. Seventh graders read "Annabelle Lee," but I think they are too young to be exposed to a character that emotionally disturbed. Grade 9 reads "The Cask of Amontillado," Grade 10 reads "The Masque of the Red Death," Grade 11 reads several selections including "The Raven." There is no 'poe-verty' in the California State Standards. (Sorry about the pun.)

http://www.poestories.com/

Poe, a journalist in Baltimore, Maryland, for awhile, no doubt was exposed to truly extreme crimes that would make "Criminal Minds" seem like Sesame Street. He had a tough enough start in life as it was, and combined with intelligence, talent and America in the 1840's, et voila, the ingredients for very, very strange stories and poems. Attending West Point prior to the Civil War probably didn't help either.  I find his life sad, but his stories, especially the murder mysteries, complicated and interesting. The Rue Morgue...

Jeffrey Combs-great job.

 In Vegas last year was a great performance of Poe's works called "Nevermore." The actor Jeffrey Combs, of Star Trek fame, presented a one man show. It was great. I'm pretty picky about my famous authors, but he really nailed it. In a frenetic version of "Bells," his Edgar Allen Poe was especially convincing as the character became increasingly intoxicated.

Scientifically cool?

  In 1963, a B movie was made of "The Raven," with Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. It was called a horror/comedy. You'd think that would be an oxymoron. Jack Nicholson was in it, too, before the 'here's Johnny' line.





This preview reminds me a little of Johnny Depp's attempt at Ichabod Crane in "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" which diverged greatly from Washington Irving's hilarious story. However, I am not expecting the supernatural in this film, but the premise of "The Raven" to base its horror on the depravity of the human heart, whether its  tell-tale or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeLFDaZ-7NU

Here is the trailer. John Cusack plays Poe, but, thank heavens, doesn't resemble him that much.

Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morninguh!

 The Beatles "Good Morning," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqXMM8v9vn0

Teaching Is...

Something Beautiful for the Soundtrack of Your Life

Good Morning!

 Arabesque No. 1, Claude Debussy


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLaRRff4O2Q&feature=related