I finished reading another book this weekend. The book was Making Inclusion Work: Effective Practices for ALL Teachers. This was definitely a teacher book and not something a student would want to read. In fact, it read like a textbook more than anything else. There were a few ideas/thoughts that were helpful. Overall I was disappointed. I was looking for a book that would give me examples of lessons or assignments that I could use in my classroom.

Giants
I’m not a Giants fan but I’m glad that they are going to the Superbowl. Any time a New York team is in a big game there seems to be a little extra juice for it.
Anthony A. from Hofstra has his work cut out for him to get the Giants to win on February 5. We set the bar pretty high this week for a Giant victory. Anthony needs to correctly answer 37 questions in class before Superbowl Sunday. He’s already down to 35 (with 9 more class sessions).
Fittingly, last week he did not meet his goal until he came in early on Friday morning to answer 4 additional questions. It was a form of overtime you could say. Oddly enough, the Giants won in, you guessed it, overtime.
Anthony and I might be on to something here.

The Reds signed Willie Harris to a minor league deal. Mets fans, what can you tell me about Willie Harris? Is he good? Will he make the team? What kind of player is he?
I don’t see him making the team but it is early.

Since it is Superbowl time I’ve decided to dust off the old Socialstudieswithasmile.com Superbowl Commercial. Check it out.

Still working on grading the tests. The results seem to be below expectations. Some of the essays were written as if we never discussed/practiced DBQ essays. We spent more time this year than any other year that I’ve been a teacher discussing how to write an essay. Those lessons weren’t just to prepare us to write a slavery DBQ. They were to prepare you to write DBQ essays for the rest of the year and beyond. If you get your test back and you did not do well on your essay, you need to see me.
As far as not finishing, you must work at a more productive rate. State tests and the SATs are timed exams. Giving your additional time would be doing a disservice to you. You can’t become an Olympic swimmer without ever getting into the pool.

Football Predictions
It looked grim for awhile, but Anthony A. from Hofstra came in on Friday to make sure that the Giants would win on Sunday. He had to answer 9 questions over 2 days of class this week. Not exactly an easy task for anyone. I’m going with the Giants. The superstition has worked for a few weeks now.
In the AFC, I’m going with the Ravens.
Giants vs. Ravens Superbowl.

Interesting Fact I Read This Week
This came from a Cincinnati Reds blog that I read:

Barry Larkin’s induction means the Reds had at least one Hall of Famer player on their roster every year from Frank Robinson’s rookie season in 1956 to Larkin’s retirement in 2004. Junior’s eventual induction will make it 2008.
Neither the storied Dodgers, Cardinals, or mighty Yankees can put up a streak that comes close.

Very interesting. Perhaps it will be Joey Votto that will extend that streak beyond 2008.

Eating Dinner With Your Family Is Important
Check out this article on the importance of having a family dinner.

Compared to teens who eat family dinners 5 to 7 days per week, those who only eat family dinners fewer than 3 per week are:

* Nearly twice as likely to use alcohol
* Twice as likely to use tobacco
* One and a half times more likely to use marijuana

When I was growing up, my family always had dinner together. It is a tradition that I’ve continued to this day. If you aren’t doing it, encourage your parents to do it, even if it is only on the weekend. There isn’t much that is more valuable than family but we don’t always treat it that way.

Question of the Day: Do you have a family dinner frequently?

Enjoy the weekend. Hopefully we don’t have too much snow.

Last night the Reds managed to sign closer Ryan Madson to a one year deal. I like the moves the Reds have made this offseason. Adding Mat Latos, Madson and Sean Marshall should help to put the Reds in the hunt for post season play. Having Madson and Marshall in the bullpen also gives Aroldis Chapman the opportunity to start, which could potentially help the Reds.
I doubt the Reds will make any other moves this offseason. That means Chris Heisey will get the bulk of the time in Left Field. I’d like to see what he can do in a full season.

I went to the Board of Education meeting. It appears that the district is looking to cut over $2 million. That won’t be easy. While watching the two presentations last night (one on Elementary education and one on the Middle School), there didn’t seem to be many cuts that I would be willing to make.
In fact it seemed that the Board was looking to ADD to the program.
If all of the cuts come from the Middle School (which I doubt), the school would have a drastically different feel to it next year.

Question of the Day: I heard this one on the radio yesterday. What unusual food combination do you enjoy? Examples that were mentioned were Doritos on a bagel and french fries dipped in ice cream. Can’t say I’ve tried either one of those.

For those following, Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary. The next step is South Carolina in a little more than a week from now. The picture is becoming clearer but we still have a long way to go before we know for sure that it will be Romney vs. Obama.