The Star Wars Marzano Reading Scale

The Fine Five - August 30, 2013

(1) The Wellington Directional Signpost was put together a few days ahead of schedule, thanks to the miracle of quick-drying paint. The silver spray paint was a no-brainer; one side of the 15 signs were painted yesterday, the other side this morning, and they were easily dry by the time the varsity debate class entered the classroom at 2 p.m. Then it was time to grab the small paintbrushes and can of blue paint and add words and mileage information to said signs. In all, 14 destinations were noted, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Fairfax VA, Gainesville, The Bronx, Kansas City, Boston, Orlando, Birmingham, and Duffy's (which isn't a tournament location, but what the heck ... I'm there way too often, and we do monthly fundraiser benefit nights at the Royal Palm Beach location!). The 15th sign was for proclaiming "Welly World" to the masses.

(2) I did learn that double-sided sticky tape does not tend to stick very well to spray-painted plastic signs, so I had to do some creative thinking and staple the sticky tape to the signs, then add a second layer of sticky tape to secure the signs to the metal pole. If only it had been a wooden pole; then I could have secured the signs using a staple gun. THAT would have been fun!

(3) I also learned that spray paint doesn't always stick to cabinet tops. (This is a good thing.) Apparently, some got under the newspapers that were supposed to keep the counters silver-free, but that didn't work as effectively as I'd hoped. But the paint actually wiped up with use of Windex today ... but I did warn the students not to sit on the counter, as they could end up with silver paint on their pants. I'm sure that would not have been a good thing.

(4) Today's English class was an opportunity to wrap up our unit on Native American mythology with a 50-minute presentation of "NMAI: Identity by Design," an online presentation of Native American dresses at the National Museum of the American Indian (part of the Smithsonian). I had the opportunity to visit the museum in 2008 when visiting my friend Tamara Rosov in Washington, D.C., as part of my 20-day, 4,000-mile road trip through the midwest and along the east coast. It was simply amazing, and I am so thrilled the exhibit is now on-line as well. The students were mesmerized by the various dresses, and asked both myself and my co-teacher Tawny Anderson tons of excellent questions about Native American lifestyle, the culture, and how they lived. It was a great way to wrap up the week. (Having a five-minute walkthrough by administration during one of the presentations was an added bonus.)

(5) Next up: working on my "Star Wars Marzano Reading Scale" ... because if I'm gonna have to do this Marzano shit, i may as well have some fun with it!

Scary News of the Day

From The Denver Channel: "'Affidavit: 18-year-old Aurora woman, Isabella Guzman, stabbed mother 79 times in face and neck" - "Isabella is a good kid, she's a good hearted," father Robert Guzman said. "I don't know what could've happened, honestly, to provoke this kind of reaction."

Weird News of the Day

From The Huffington Post: "Ania Lisewska, Polish Woman, Wants To Have Sex With 100,000 Men" - 284 down, 99,716 to go ... I think ...

Stupid News of the Day

From CBC: "Paralyzed snowboarder gets go ahead to sue" STEP 1: Sign a waiver. STEP 2: Lie about your age. STEP 3: Consume an energy drink. STEP 4: Take a snowboard for a trial run. STEP 5: Attempt a stunt. STEP 6: Break your neck. STEP 7: Sue the board manufacturer and the ski hill. STEP 8: Get the go-ahead to continue with the lawsuit.

Florida News of the Day

From WPTV: "Brent Roberts escalator stunt Mall at Wellington Green: YouTube inspired stunt leads to arrest" - And to think, usually it's helicopter PARENTS who are the real assholes in life ...

Video of the Day

Live from the R&RHOF in Cleveland, it's ... A FRIGGING AMAZING ENSEMBLE!