First Day Of School (For Teachers)

Posted on September 3, 2010 at 7:24 am in

Yesterday was our first day of school. Besides a few meetings in brutally hot rooms, I did manage to get some work done in my classroom. I wish I had more time to be fully prepared but I’m happy with the progress I made.

Thankfully we have a few days off before school gets into full swing. My suggestion to students is to slowly transition back to your normal sleeping habits. Otherwise you’ll be up all night before school and when your alarm sounds you won’t be a happy camper at all. It happens to me every year. I’m used to sleeping late and bam! the alarm sounds at 5. UGH!!!

I finished off the summer with some light reading: Baseball Brainteasers. Elizabeth, you and your dad would probably enjoy challenging each other’s rules knowledge with this one. I’ll bring it to school eventually. If any of my new students are interested in borrowing this book, I always have a library of books in the back of my room (mostly baseball and history) that you can borrow at any time.

Enjoy the rest of your vacation and be safe with the bad weather we are possibly going to get the next day or so.

10 Comments on First Day Of School (For Teachers)

Chapmania Is Running Wild

Posted on September 1, 2010 at 8:38 am in

Too bad I couldn’t be there. You could feel the electricity in the stadium while watching on TV. The Reds are now 7 games ahead of the 2nd place Cardinals. WOW! Chapman topped out at 102 MPH!

MVP…The V stands for Votto! 2 Doubles 3 RBI last night and some fine glove work. The guy can do it all.

Bad News…It is September…For teachers, school starts tomorrow. I’d prefer summer vacation but there’s a lot worse places to be than in school. We have to remember all those people who are unemployed and think about how fortunate we are.
The worst part about going back to school is that after 2 months at home I’m going to have to leave DJ behind (perhaps I can just bring him to work every day…do you think anyone will notice?)

Enjoy the rest of your vacation and I’m looking forward to seeing my former students and new students on Tuesday.

6 Comments on Chapmania Is Running Wild

Question of the Day

Posted on August 31, 2010 at 8:40 am in

At what age is it necessary to have a cell phone?
When did you first have a cell phone?

Although it was a different time, I got my first cell phone when I was 18. I barely used it then and I still limit my use.

16 Comments on Question of the Day

The Cuban Missile Is About to Launch

Posted on August 31, 2010 at 8:37 am in

No, no, no…Don’t get worried…there isn’t another Cuban Missile Crisis. The Reds are set to call up their Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman. Chapman signed with the Reds this winter for $30 million and his fastball has been clocked in at over 100 mph. In fact, last week it was reported that he threw 2 fastballs in 105 mph!

Other than Stephen Strasburg, Chapman got the most press this offseason. By the way, Strasburg is done for the rest of this season and will likely miss all of next year with an arm injury.

Reading is FUNdamental
I just finished reading The Cincinnati Reds. Although the book is an “Illustrated History”, there was a lot more reading than expected. I learned a lot about the teams of Reds seasons past. This book was a gift from a former student a few years ago so thanks to Tom G. (although I doubt he is reading, there was no blog back then).

Speaking of the Reds, they now have a 6! game lead over the 2nd place Cardinals. This weekend they face the dreaded St. Louis Cardinals with the opportunity to bust the race wide open.

The last day of August….UGH!

5 Comments on The Cuban Missile Is About to Launch

New Students

Posted on August 30, 2010 at 2:22 pm in

As we posted a few days ago, Welcome!
If you intend to post a comment on the blog please be sure to post your name. Since I don’t know who any of you are yet, it would be helpful if you posted your first AND last name. If you only post your first name, you run the risk of having your comment deleted (at least until I know who you are.).

5 Comments on New Students

The Last Weekend of Summer…

Posted on August 28, 2010 at 7:17 am in

…at least for teachers. We go back to school on Thursday (for one day). It shouldn’t be too bad but it is the first time we’ve gone back to school before Labor Day.

Finished Another Book
I finished reading Game Change, a book about the 2008 Presidential Election. It is actually a pretty good book. Surprisingly, there were a lot of things that went on during the election that I had forgotten. It is a great read into what makes an election and the amount of time, energy and money that goes into running for President. The book will also give you an idea how the small states like Iowa and New Hampshire are really important in picking our nominees for President.
Everyone in this book (except for perhaps Obama) comes out looking less than good. Even if you aren’t an Obama fan, this is a book worth reading if you are into politics.

Reds Rolling
It takes 3 home runs by Jay Bruce to overshadow the Sports Illustrated cover boy. Bruce’s 3 homeruns, along with the first career HR by Chris Valaika and 8 solid innings propelled the Reds to a big victory over the Cubs.
The Reds are a bit banged up with injuries to Brandon Phillips, Laynce Nix and Mike Leake but it looks as if Aaron Harang is just about ready to return and we could be seeing Aroldis Chapman soon.
If you check out the top left corner of our page, you will see the Reds magic number. Any Reds win or Cardinals loss reduces that number. If it gets to 0 the Reds will be in the playoffs.


Next week is the big weekend…3 games against the Cardinals. In addition to the Cardinals being in 2nd place, there is a lot of bad blood from the brawl these two teams had a few weeks ago.

A Message to the Oblivious
A drove past a certain oblivious blog visitor twice yesterday. Despite honking my horn repeatedly, this person did not notice. Perhaps this person could not hear me because of his I-Pod. I won’t give away his name, but his initials are C.H.
Don’t play your music so loud…you won’t be able to hear anyone! Besides, it is bad for your hearing.

32 Comments on The Last Weekend of Summer…

Back By Popular Demand

Posted on August 27, 2010 at 1:47 pm in

Caption Craziness!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Go!

12 Comments on Back By Popular Demand

Welcome

Posted on August 25, 2010 at 10:24 am in

My new students are checking out socialstudieswithasmile.com for the first time and are probably stumbling upon the blog.  This is one of my favorite parts of the website.  I hope it gives me, students (current and past), and possibly even parents the opportunity to communicate about things that don’t always have to do with school.

I am excited about getting to know my new students. We have a great team this year!

See you soon in school!

22 Comments on Welcome

The Reds Are Jinxed???

Posted on August 25, 2010 at 10:24 am in

They say being on the cover of Sports Illustrated is bad luck. Uh Oh!!! Look at this week’s coverboy:

Judging by the Reds performance the last two nights, there might actually be some truth to the Sports Illustrated Jinx.

5 Comments on The Reds Are Jinxed???

High Five Anyone?

Posted on August 23, 2010 at 7:59 am in

What do you think the record is for most high fives in a 24 hour period? According to the article from The Daily News, a man broke the record with 3,132 high fives.

Personally, I think the record should be taken away from this guy (Sam Kass). If you look at the picture below, he wore gloves on his hands to high five people. If you are unwilling to actually touch the hand of another person, it shouldn’t count as a high five!

Do we know anyone as passionate about food as this guy?

How about the Reds taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers. Joey Votto came up big with 3 RBI including a 2 run single in the 9th against Broxton. The at-bat was a ten pitch classic with Votto fighting back from an 0-2 count to slap a single to left on 3-2.
Now it’s on to fact the Giants. The Reds are currently 5-1 on their current West Coast trip. This is usually where Reds teams go to die but there’s plenty of fuel left in the Big Red Machine.
On the left hand side of the page, you’ll find the Reds current Magic Number. As of Monday, a combination of 37 Reds wins and Cardinals losses will put the Reds in the playoffs.

7 Comments on High Five Anyone?

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