Archive for the 'Current Events' Category

Feb

The Weekend of 2/4

It’s Superbowl Weekend. I’m sure some of you will be coming in to school bleary eyed after watching the game and all of the commercials. Don’t forget to check out the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. It is always a fun show (at least for a few minutes).
We even watched a few minutes of the Puppy Bowl and Kitty Halftime Show during Laughs and Lunch.

Speaking of the Superbowl, I’m going with the Patriots on Sunday. It might not be a popular decision but I think they are the better team at this point.

We finished watching Batman. We’re now going to spend a few weeks watching Looney Tunes cartoons. Our next session is Friday during Lunch.

Politicians need to watch what they say at all times. Even when they have the best of intentions, a sound bite can come back to haunt them. Mitt Romney experienced this earlier in the week when he said that he didn’t care about poor people because they have a safety net in place to help them. Of course, the media outlets just focused on the first portion of that statement.
Check out this political cartoon about Mitt Romney and his need for a safety net.

It was nice to see an article recently on the Port Washington Patch about Schreiber students participating in a technology competition. Four of those six students are former Green House students. Congratulations (and good luck) to Greg, Matt, Paul and Peter.
Click here to read the article.

My worst nightmare!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,School,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comment (1)

Feb

Thursday, 2/2

It is Ground Hog Day today. But really, even if the groundhog sees his shadow does it matter? I don’t necessarily have a problem with 6 more weeks of winter if it is going to be the winter we’ve had thus far.
Sadly, Punxsutawney Phil is no longer the most famous resident of that otherwise quiet area. Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco is also from Punxsutawney. He’s set to have a bigger year than Phil.

Good luck on your Earth Science test today and tomorrow. While it would be wonderful if you make the class, remember that it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t. Students should be in classes that they are capable of handling. If it becomes clear that the class will be too challenging that is okay. I didn’t take Earth Science until high school and I’m perfectly fine. Taking Earth Science in Middle School is not your ticket to an ivy league school.

For those of you still following the Republican primaries, Mitt Romney had a pretty big win in Florida earlier this week. It seems like he’s going to be the candidate for the Republicans. While all the Republicans don’t necessarily like Romney because of his more moderate stance, I believe having someone closer to the center politically makes a candidate more electable. That is especially true if the opponent (Obama) is considered to be very far left. If Romney can gobble up some undecided voters or Democrats that aren’t extremely fond of the President, that could be the difference in November. I guess time will tell what will happen. It is still early in my book.

Speaking of books, make sure you have your outside reading books for the rest of the week. You may not need all of the time for your Earth Science exam.

The other day in Hofstra the topic of soldiers returning home came up and we discussed the youtube clips of soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan to surprise family members. Check out one of those clips below. As Chris would say (and I said in class), if you don’t get emotional from watching these clips, you have no soul!

These men and women risk their lives for us. We need to be very thankful for the sacrifices they (and their families) make.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,School,The Reds,Uncategorized and have Comments (5)

Jan

Thursday, 1/19

Good luck on your Math Midterm today. There will probably not be a blog entry tomorrow so good luck on tomorrow’s Science Midterm as well. If you studied/prepared/attended extra help/paid attention in class since September you should be fine. If not…

Did you hear about the tissue boxes that had traces of radioactivity that were found in local Bed, Bath and Beyond stores? This cartoon pretty much says it all.

It always worries me when such things happen. I suppose I have too much trust in the government to regulate the safety of items that we are going to purchase.

Earlier this week, the Reds signed outfielder Ryan Ludwick to a one year deal. He’s going to split time with Chris Heisey in left field. I don’t hate the deal, but I don’t love it either. I would have liked to see Heisey get the bulk of the playing time in left to see what he is capable of during a full season. Also, I don’t think we’re getting the Ryan Ludwick from 2008 when he hit over 30 HRs and drove in over 100 runs. If he can be anywhere near those numbers this year I will be thrilled.
Bottom line, with the Reds adding Mat Latos, Sean Marshall, Ryan Ludwick and Ryan Madson, the team should be improved and ready to compete this year. I can’t wait for the season to begin.

Lots of random thoughts today. Here’s another one: I like kettle corn. Sweet and salty together as one. Can life get any better?

Speaking of food, what is your favorite food to eat when you go to a sporting event? I usually just get a soda and maybe some peanuts but last time I was at CitiField I had a burger from Shake Shack. It was delicious.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,Food,School,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (5)

Jan

Monday, 1/16

My predictions for Sunday’s games were much better than Saturday. Although I’m not a Giants fan, I was glad to see that they will be playing another week. The playoffs without a New York team is just not the same. That’s why I’d like to see the Knicks make the playoffs this year.
Speaking of the Knicks, they have an early tipoff today. It is a tradition for the Knicks to play an afternoon game on Martin Luther King Day.

I’ve decided after yesterday that from now on I will be entering my classroom the way Ray Lewis enters the field. I just need a smoke machine, fireworks and dancing skills.

Can you imagine me doing this?

If you’ve been following the Presidential race, you know that Jon Huntsman is dropping out. I guess that means we are now down to 5. The experts on television/radio predicted that a candidate or two would drop out before the South Carolina primary. They want to see if they can get a conservative candidate a victory in SC rather than having a bunch of candidates split the vote against Romney. If Romney wins in SC it could basically be all over.

Don’t forget to study for tomorrow’s test.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,School,Uncategorized and have Comment (1)

Jan

Thursday, 1/5

I just finished reading Educational Leadership: Promoting Respectful Schools. While I did not meet my goal of completing a book during the vacation, I did manage to finish reading this lengthy magazine on respect in the school.
This magazine had great articles written by teachers, administrators and even a college student on promoting anti-bullying, tolerance of differences and how to promote a positive classroom environment. Obviously, this wouldn’t be a magazine for students to read as it is geared to educators but I found that there were great ideas that will find their way into my classroom, parent meetings and my every day life.

Speaking of Tolerance…
I only heard about this early this morning. Apparently, after the Winter Classic, an NHL game that is put on annually at an outdoor venue, a bunch of Philadelphia fans beat up a guy who was wearing a Rangers jersey.
Check out the article here.
These stories bother me and they happen more and more often. It is a game, a sport. This isn’t life or death. Why fans have to shout insults, profanity or resort to violence is beyond me.
As a fan of a team outside of my local area, I often have to see the Reds play in other ball parks, CitiField being the most common place for me to see games. A game doesn’t go by that doesn’t involve someone yelling something, throwing something or being belligerent. And a lot of this is taking place in front of children. Guess what they will be doing in about 10-15 years…Aren’t we great role models!!!???!!!
Part of the problem is that Philadelphia fans have gained a reputation for being rowdy and nasty and some of those fans are doing everything in their power to maintain that “lofty” status. Time to grow up!
Hopefully some of these people will wake up and realize that sports are designed to take our mind off of the stress of everyday life, not add to it. Just enjoy the game, win or lose.
As for me, to avoid confrontations where it is 5 guys against just me (alone with Mrs. Dowling), I just don’t wear Reds gear any more to ball games. It is much safer but sad that it has to come to that.

What’s your opinion? I’d like to know.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (3)

Jan

Wednesday, 1/4

If you’re reading this before going to school, dress as warmly as possible. I was just outside and it is bone-chilling cold!

The Iowa caucus has come and gone and we had the closest race in Republican Iowa caucus history. Mitt Romney defeated Rick Santorum by 8!!! votes. I would consider that a victory for Romney and Santorum. Ron Paul also had a respectable showing. The bottom three of Huntsman, Bachmann and Perry are in danger and will have to do some heavy thinking as to whether they continue their campaigns. I heard this morning on the news that Perry is already questioning his chances going forward.

Casey

Have a great day in school today. There’s a homework assignment tonight.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Casey,Current Events,Uncategorized and have Comments (2)

Dec

Wednesday, 12/28

I’m looking forward to January 3rd rolling around. No, not because we return to school on that date (although I don’t have a problem with going to work). Actually I’m looking forward to 1/3/12 because that is the date of the Iowa caucus. For weeks we seem to be in a holding pattern. We haven’t had any debates between the Republican candidates, just bluster. The Iowa caucus will finally give us something new to talk about. I don’t know what the results of the entire race will be. I’m not even 100% sure that the Republican candidate is among those currently in the race. I guess time will tell. The next few months will sure be exciting to those who follow politics somewhat closely.

Has anyone else noticed that Republican candidate (and former Speaker of the House) Newt Gingrich bears a striking resemblance to comedy legend Oliver Hardy?

Newt Gingrich or Oliver Hardy?

Top Blog Stories of 2011

Couple Married Over 70 Years Die Holding Hands

I’m not overly sentimental but something about this story was rather heartwarming. In an age when marriages don’t last for 72 days (Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries), this was a couple that had a strong love for one another. Perhaps it is couples like this one that should be celebrated and not the ones we hear about all the time on reality shows.
Here’s what I had written when this story was originally posted on 10/20/11:

Is there a more heart warming story than this. First, the idea that two people were able to stay married for 72 years is amazing. I don’t think Kim Kardashian will make it that long. Then the fact that they died holding hands shows the love they had for each other.

Gordon Yeager died at 3:38 p.m. He was no longer breathing, but the family was surprised by what his monitor showed.

“Someone in there said, ‘Why, then, when we look at the monitor is the heart still beating?’” Sheets recalled. “The nurse said Dad was picking up Mom’s heartbeat through Mom’s hand.”

Click here for more info.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,Uncategorized and have No Comments

Dec

Tuesday, 12/27

If you’re a sports fan, you probably saw this last weekend. If not, you have to check this out.

By the way, I’m not a Cincinnati Bengals fan but any time I can see a team from Cincinnati beat the Cardinals I’m happy.
I’m actually a Dolphins fan. They have a big game against the Jets this weekend. I know the Dolphins love playing spoiler against the Jets.

New Washington Crossing the Delaware Painting Unveiled
I’m not going to go into too much detail about this yet because I’m planning on discussing it in class when we get to it and also in Core Extension with a bit more depth.
A new painting was created just recently that is more historically accurate than the most famous painting from the 1800s.
Here is the new painting:

Here is the older version:

You can read more here.
By the way, the man who commissioned the painting is former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.
While I like that the new painting is much more accurate, I never had a problem with the old painting. Once I knew the real story, I always considered it a painting to show the heroism of Washington and to inspire Patriotism.
What do you think?

Top Blog Stories of 2011

Woman Wakes Up With An Accent
This story still makes me scratch my head.

How Did This Happen?

Foreign Accent Syndrome? This is a wild story.

Great movie.

Odd Question: If you could wake up with an accent, what accent would you want?
I’d go with a New York/Long Island accent. I wonder what that would be like!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,Uncategorized,history and have Comments (5)

Dec

Cat With 26 Toes

December 26 seems like a fitting day to share with you an article I came across. It seems that a cat was rescued at an animal shelter with 26 toes. What is amazing is that 26 toes on a cat isn’t even the world record. According to the article, 28 toes is the Guinness world record.
It is actually a pretty nice story. In short, the rescue center used the cat’s toes to solicit donations to build a new home for the animals. They ended up raising over $100,000, mostly in $26 dollar donations.

My favorite part of the story is that the cat’s name is Daniel. What a purrrfect name!!!

Top Blog Stories of 2011

Man Eats 25,000th Big Mac
Here’s the article and what I had to say about it earlier this year:

Check out this article: Man Plans To Eat 25,000th Big Mac

Questions I have:
How is this man still alive?
Who counts how many hamburgers they have eaten?
Why does this man suspiciously look like the Hamburglar?

How is it that this guy doesn’t have the record?

In honor of the cat with 26 toes donation story and the 25,000 Big Macs story, I’m requesting that all of you donate $25,000 (one for each Big Mac) to socialstudieswithasmile.com!!! You can send the money directly to me! It’s not to early to start fund-raising for our Superbowl Commercial.
My goal this year is to catch the guy in the article. I’ve probably had 2 Big Macs in my life so I have a long way to go. If I eat 68 Big Macs per day I should meet my goal!

I also want to add a question to the questions I asked a few months ago: Who the heck keeps track of how many Big Macs they eat???
If you could meet Don Gorske, what questions would you have for him?

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,Food,Uncategorized and have Comment (1)

Dec

Merry Christmas

The entire staff here at Socialstudieswithasmile.com would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We’re going to be away until December 26. To everyone: Enjoy this precious time with your family.

Top Blog Stories of 2011

The End of Caption Craziness
One of the early things we did here at the blog was caption craziness. I’d post a picture and then we’d try to come up with as many humorous comments as we could. Sometimes it worked, other times it did not. After about a year, we discontinued Caption Craziness. However, in honor of the 7th biggest story of 2011 I’ve decided to revive (for one day only) Caption Craziness.
Let’s see what we can do with this one:

Was Rudolph Bullied?
A CW Post professor sure thinks so and he wrote a book about it. In the book, he charges that Rudolph had to go through unnecessary taunting because of his red nose. Furthermore, Santa did nothing about it.
Critics point out that Rudolph eventually becomes a integral figure in the story and everyone turns out to love the red-nosed reindeer.
Check out the article here.
What do you think? Are we too sensitive? Does the author have a good point?
I can see the professor’s point. However, I think the story also shows how someone has to cope with the negative behaviors so that he/she can be strong enough to overcome the mean actions of others.
I do agree that we shouldn’t be bystanders and that adults should come to the aid of those being bullied.
I don’t think (I hope) that young kids do not take their cues from fictional cartoon characters and instead listen to their teachers and parents.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Caption Craziness,Current Events,Uncategorized and have Comments (12)

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