Archive for April, 2010

Apr

How “Sweep” It Is

The Mets aren’t the only team capable of pulling off a sweep. The Reds just finished sweeping the Astros to extend their winning streak to 4 games. They have now returned to .500 (11-11) thanks to great starting pitching by Arroyo and Joey Votto’s 2 run HR late in the game.
You might think, “Big deal…they beat the DisAstros.” But last night they managed to beat Roy Oswalt. Entering the game, Oswalt had a career record of 23-1 against the Reds. They hadn’t beat him for 4 years, until last night.
The Reds are currently in 2nd place but are going to St. Louis to play the first place Cardinals and Albert Pujols. It won’t be easy to extend their streak to 5 games but you never know.

Electronics Anger
I bought a brand new video camera not to long ago in preparation for the birth of my first child. Like any proud dad I video taped as much as I could during the first few days. Then the disc stopped working. Must be something wrong with the disk…Nope, because I started to film my youngster yesterday and 3 minutes in, for no reason the disc stopped working again and I was given a message of “Disc Error” along with a lot of buzzing/humming.
I’m annoyed that I have to go through the process of returning it but I’m also annoyed that I’ve lost 2 discs of DJ. UGH!

Manifest Destiny Project
Today we begin out Manifest Destiny project. It is a group project. There will be plenty of time in class and at home to work on the assignment. This is especially true since we have so many disruptions (state testing over 2-3 different days).
You’ll get an explanation of the project, a short lesson on Manifest Destiny and then you groups. You might even get time to start working with your partners.

Remember, stay out of the hallway during Core Extension. Some students are not taking advantage of the time that some of the teachers give you to get help and/or catch up on work. By not following directions/congregating in the hall, you will end up ruining it for all of the students. That is exactly why I teach during Core Extension.
I think it is important to work on the project this weekend, especially if you are in the Spring Concert on Monday.

Hopefully Manifest Destiny is clear to you and the project expectations are clear to you. We’ll get right down to business on Monday. Manifest “Deskiny” is always interesting. The hygiene talk is always worthwhile too. Even if it doesn’t apply to you, it could apply to the person next to you which means it can help you also.

Have a great weekend! Go Reds.

posted by Mr. Dowling in DJ,School,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (28)

Apr

Hated Teams In Baseball

Reds Among Most Hated Teams in Baseball
Hard to believe but the Reds are in the top 3 for most hated teams in baseball, according to Wall Street Journal research.

The Hatred Index

Using an algorithm designed by Nielsen Co. that measures positive and negative reactions on the Internet, here are the 10 most despised teams in baseball (scale is -5 to 5).
Team Score
1. Cleveland Indians 0.9
2. Boston Red Sox 1.1
3. Cincinnati Reds 1.5
4 Houston Astros 1.8
5. New York Yankees 1.8
6. Washington Nationals 1.9
7. Chicago White Sox 2
8. Baltimore Orioles 2
9. New York Mets 2.3
10. Los Angeles Dodgers 2.4

So if this is true, you should feel my pain. I’m a fan of a team that is completely hated…even more than the Yankees!
Without much knowledge of the research involved, I’m guessing that a lack of POSITIVE fan support for the Reds accounts for a negative reaction. I believe they have taken into account the difference between the amount of supporters vs. the amount of haters. The Reds don’t have many supporters so the haters seem like a much larger group.
My second reason for this showing is that many, many, MANY fans have no idea that there is a difference between the Reds and the Red Sox. You wouldn’t believe how many people ask my why I’m a Red Sox fan or if I tell them I’m a Reds fan will ask me if I’m from Boston.

However, despite the Reds string of losing seasons, fans in New York (Shea Stadium and CitiField) haven’t always been nice to me. I’ve had peanuts, insults, beer bottles thrown in my direction. Uncalled for in my opinion. I’m just there to watch a game and enjoy myself, quietly I might add. It has gotten to the point that I don’t even wear Reds shirts or hats to games anymore.

As the Mets continue to improve, it appears that the Reds are doing the same on a smaller scale. They have won 3 in a row to improve their record to 10-11.

Last day of the ELA today. But we’re only starting this process. Next week (Friday) we start the Math test. It continues May 10 and then the end of that week we have another state test to practice questions that the state wants to use in the future. I like the old way of giving the tests when one was in January, one was in March. Think about what the 8th graders are going through in a 6-7 week span they will take state tests in Math, English, Social Studies, Science and Foreign Language. Yikes!

This Day In History
1996-Rent debuts on Broadway. Little known fact: Rent is the only show I’ve seen on Broadway.
Today is the birthday of Jerry Seinfeld, Andre Agassi and Eve Plumb (from the Brady Bunch). It also would have been the birthday of Japanese emperor Hirohito and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Hirohito was in charge of Japan during World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (18)

Apr

The New Feature: Caption Craziness

Every so often, I’ll post a picture.
Your job will be to come up with a caption, comment, or quote for one of the characters in the picture. Sometimes you see this in magazines as a contest.
We’re looking for humor and creativity (hopefully not too big of a challenge). Of course, keep it clean!
This first picture is from the Dowling archives however not all of them will feature yours truly.
Here we go:
Daniel Ryan Jr 128

If successful, we’ll do this on a semi-regular basis (once or twice a month perhaps).
Good luck on the ELA Exam.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Caption Craziness,DJ,Uncategorized and have Comments (31)

Apr

Tuesday, 4/27

The Monroe Doctrine was the United States’ proclamation to European powers to stay out of the western hemisphere. The U.S. was concerned that European countries would attempt to take over newly independent nations in Central and South America. This would be a threat to the United States so Monroe told them to stay out.

I knew someone would say 29 is considered elderly, I just didn’t expect it to be Alyssa!!! Now I’m definitely crashing your party.

This Day In History
1521-Magellan was killed in the Philippines. He would later go on to become the first to circumnavigate the world. You figure it out.
Earlier in the week, we marked the birth of Edward R. Murrow, an important journalist. On this day, he died in 1965.
Birthdays today include Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals, Jack Klugman of The Odd Couple, radio legend Casey Kasem, and football coach Herm Edwards.
The Odd Couple was a great show…or at least had a great theme song. Question of the DayWhat show/shows do you feel has/have the best theme songs?
Batman

Bonanza

The Munsters

The Odd Couple

Perhaps, my favorite: Hawaii 5-0

Today also would have been the birthday of Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph and Morse code, Ulysses S. Grant, and baseball player Rogers Hornsby.

Hopefully you did well on the test. I’m working feverishly (well not really, but I did make a lot of progress today) on getting the tests graded. My personal goal is Monday but we’ll see how that goes. Grading at home has gotten much harder for obvious reasons. I haven’t quite mastered the one arm grading technique yet.
Today I FINALLY (it only took 5 years) cleared out the last of the file cabinets that belonged to the teacher before me Ms. Cariello. The recycling guy isn’t going to like me after carrying that bag away.

Laughs and Lunch Question: Would it be better to meet this week tomorrow or Thursday because the library is closed or does it not matter? We can stick with Friday. I know Mr. Joseph has been showing movies at Cinema 2, so we can close down Cinema 1 until Friday.

Tomorrow I’m going to introduce a new feature to the blog. It involves you ability to be humorous and creative. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully this one will be more welcomed than Wrestlemania Moments and the blog face-lifts.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Television,Uncategorized and have Comments (25)

Apr

Monday, 4/26

Today we’ll finish up our notes and hopefully even have some time left over to review.

I watched some of the America The Story of Us show last night. What I saw was pretty good. The show was visually appealing with their computer-generated footage and the narration was chock full of information. Eventually I’ll watch the entire thing (thank you DVR). This is the type of show that would be great in Core Extension.

The Reds managed to pick up a W after a big hit in the 8th by Ramon Hernandez. They’re off today but I’m hoping they have a good road trip against the Astros and the Cardinals. A week from today it is Mets vs. Reds live from The Great American Ballpark. My money is on the Reds!

Yesterday my church had an Elder Appreciation Day. My question for you is: At what age do you become an elder? Although they did honor grandparents, aunts, uncles, fathers and mothers, I don’t exactly feel like an elder.
So when do you become old? I always used to think 34 was old.

This Day In History
1865-John Wilkes booth is captured and killed after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. That would come out to about 2 weeks between assassination and capture.
1989-Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy died.
This is a classic clip but perhaps you’ve never seen it.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Television,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (21)

Apr

Chapter 11-12 Practice Quiz

The Practice quiz for Chapters 11 and 12 has been added to socialstudieswithasmile.com. There will be no other practice quiz created.
Good luck.
Remember, the test is on Tuesday.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Uncategorized and have Comments (5)

Apr

The Weekend Starts Early

Am I the only one tired of all the coverage of the NFL Draft? I want my sports section to go back to normal. Of course if you don’t read the newspaper (or the sports section) this doesn’t really apply to you. I just don’t understand why they make the NFL draft into such a big deal. It stretches out over 3 nights now. Ridiculous!

No bowling this week. My bowlers in my league are away at a tournament somewhere in Illinois or something.

Things aren’t getting much better for the Reds. As I pointed out before the season even began, this team needs to cut down on strikeouts and they haven’t done that. They are becoming tough to watch…even though I will continue to do so.

The ELA exam is this weekend. Be sure to get plenty of rest, come mentally prepared and relaxed. Many students feel these tests don’t really matter because they don’t factor into your final grade. Trust me, they do matter. The taxpayers are watching and when the results are posted in Newsday, Port Washington is compared to all other schools. If the results aren’t good or there isn’t improvement, there is just another reason for taxpayers to justify voting against the budget.

According to my school district’s budget mailing, Port Washington has one of the lowest per pupil spending totals.

Birthdays today (Sunday) include Al Pacino, Talia Shire (Adrian from Rocky), Hank Azaria from the Simpsons, Renee Zellweger, and NBA great Tim Duncan. I can remember when Duncan was a great college player. Ugh! Time flies by quickly.

It also would have been the birthday of musician Ella Fitzgerald. Naturally, as a child I thought her name was Elephants Gerald. I couldn’t figure out why someone would name his/her child Elephants. It also was the birthday of Edward R. Murrow, the great news broadcaster.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Bowling,School,Television,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (17)

Apr

America The Story of Us

Andrew C. shared with me this new series that is set to debut on The History Channel this weekend. The first two topics are Jamestown and Pilgrims and then The American Revolution. I’m going to check it out (or at least DVR it). You might want to do the same. If you end up watching it, share your reaction to it here on the blog.
Based on the list of topics that are in each program, the show looks like it will be awesome.
One criticism I will make is that I’d love to see the History Channel make movies based on the important historical events rather than just the re-enactments enhancing the historians talking about what happened. Perhaps one day they will do that.

John Adams was a great series. Why not do something similar to that on a smaller scale?

Try the history quiz. It is a timed quiz. You get more points for getting the question right in a short amount of time. It gets to be a bit addicting.
History Channel Quiz Challenge

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Television,Uncategorized and have Comments (8)

Apr

There’s A Reason We Watch Cartoons

Spongebob Maneuver
We watch a lot of cartoons during Laughs and Lunch. Who knows, maybe one day you will save someone’s life because of something you learned from Bugs and Friends.
Then again maybe not! (Avoid anvils, dynamite, martians, stray dogs…) And especially avoid any ACME Company products!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Television,Uncategorized and have Comments (10)

Apr

My Newest Idea For Overcoming Blogger’s Block

posted by Mr. Dowling in Uncategorized and have Comments (7)

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