Lineage Poems, continued

As I promised, here are some of the amazing poems from my 8-2 class:

Untitled
by E.B.

I am from a Mexican coke
from beans and fajitas
I am from white walls in my bedroom
(dirty, shadows
that say things in silence)
I am from gifts that my aunt
gives me with much love and
the desire to show how much
she cares for me.
I am from my mom cleaning at Howard
Johnson and
from my dad being a supervisor.
I am from the don't give up and
the push yourself
from don't depend on a guy
and from your education will
take you out.
I am from Bimbo and Valentina
from a good lunch and a coke
Under my bed a plastic bag
Spilling dirt and the feeling of
being left behind.



I
by J.R.

I wake up every morning in a cloud
Feels like heaven.
Drink up a cup of coffee
Feels like home.

I listen to my dad playing his brown guitar
It fills the air with tunes
I get uncontrollable feet
My problems fade away.

In my
head, heart, and dreams
I keep all my memories
The nice ones
Not the ones that open my skin and kill THE SOUL.

Telling jokes
The ones you never hear coming from my dirty mouth
Make family
Smile.

My iPod
The brain
Where everything goes and flows
The creator of my ideas and thoughts
What will I do next?
Sorry KEEP OUT!

Hugs and kisses
For a special one
And baby hands wrapped in mine
From someone who will look up to me
Two more people to LOVE.

Nights when I don't want to go to bed
Where I talk to GOD and say
"Thanks for a wonderful day!"

September 4
1996
I am...



My “Where I’m From” Poem
by C.T.

Yards of none,
Apartment of one,
Toy cars of many times one,
Tables of dad hand-made done,
A BIG BrOkEn Buddha a-more-brownin’,
A bird clock a-chirpin’,
A gray old chair a-sittin’

A daddy,
A mommy,
A mammy (grandma),
A pappy (grandpa),
A step-ma mammy,
A [cousy] (cousin)

A chino,
Vietnamese[o],
Americano,
Tejano,
Houston[o].

A spring roll this,
A noodle con egg rolls that,
A CAKE here,
A rice bowl there.

To Kansas Air,
From Beaumont there,
In desk chair

“Có sau không? (“Are you hurt?” or “Is there anything wrong?”)” I say to Ariel.
“Không có. Đi chơi nè anh, (“No. Let’s go play brother”)” Ariel say to I.

Calvin Han Trieu Ta



Untitled
by N.R.

I am from accordians and six string basses
From cowboy hats and snake skin boots.
I am from the king of mountains and hills
From cities and streets.

I am from an original style of hamburgers and
Smoked goats
From a long distance love story and an adventure
Towards happily ever after.
I am from a small plastic sphere being kicked
Into a net
And spiked shoes hitting the grassy field.

I am from music and dancing
I am from the hugs, the love and support my
Family offers me,
We love you 'Mija' and we'll always be
here for you.
I am from those words.

Where I'm From: A Poetic Lineage

This week, my students have been working on the first stages of becoming great poets. Well, right off the bat, they have truly impressed me with their writing ability. As one of their first assignments, they were asked to write a "Where I'm From" poem. Unlike a geneology or family history, the poem goes far beyond who or where they are from. They were required to think about traditions, family norms, inside jokes, house-decor, and everything in between in order to demonstrate who they really are.
Below are a couple examples from 8-1. I will post poems from 8-2 tomorrow. (PS: the first poem was written in the form of a coffee mug...very cool. Unfortunately, I can't quite display that here).

Poems from 8-1 students:

The Cup of Coffee
by S.M.

I am from a cup of coffee
My life, sometime bitter; sometimes sweet
If you add more sugar the coffee gets sweeter
I am from the milk that lightens up
The great smell eliminates the bad odor for good
I am from the cup that receives all these things
But yet I still stand
I am from the water that rinses out the remains
I am from the soap that brings shine into play
From the base that is there to bring support
From the handle that will give you and extra hand
The contents come and go
New ones will come much different than the previous ones
I am from the cup that will be ready
But yet I will still stand


Where I'm From...
by J.R.

I am the MESS
that makes up my house,
the open books,
the DVDs
I am the barbeque pit
the shared meals
I am the family

I am the herb gardens
failed tomato plants
bean sprouts, carrot plant
I am the peach tree
the peach pits,
unpicked weeds,
that haven't the concience still

I am the new.
Of bonds forged
the Reyes' and Silvas'
a family plan
I am the seed
of a new tree grown

I am of the
better late than never clan
a shared mentality
of family unity
and I am the family's all;
a certain type
of bond that joins us all

I am tamales shared
together cooked,
together eaten,
I am carne asada
all for one andoneforall
I am Christmas cookies
made with love
too much sugar
and 'secret' recipes

Most of all,
I am from never lost memories
hopes and dreams
Guatemala
of lonely travels;
I am from...
I am from my family,
I am their love,
I am from
everything and anything
that has ever been
in my heart


Untitled
by A.M.

I am from a dirt road
One just outside of town
I am from the infinite fields
The fields that stretch on
I am from that helpful tree,
The one that destroyed many lives
The one that caused a loss but embraced a love
I am from that brave traveler
Who crossed that line for family and freedom
I am from the ashes of celebration
that almost could have turned me into ash
I have come from that square,
The empty one that is full of conversations
But over all, I am from a dream
the dreams of a child in 1979

TAKS Olympics 2011!

Let the games begin! Friday marked the fourth annual TAKS Olympics ceremony in which the students participate and get excited for the testing season that begins tomorrow with the 7th grade writing TAKS.
This year, my homeroom elected the University of Buffalo as our college inspiration. Although many think I had some something to do with it, I assure you it's just a coincidence... :)
Below are just a few of the images I snapped of the homerooms getting pumped for the ceremony.
Enjoy!


My homeroom, the Buffulo Bulls, getting ready for their performance!


The guys getting ready for their dancing debut.


Whatever Stocker did, he thinks it's really cool...


We're all about group hugs at Chrysalis!


Don't let their innocence fool you. Inside, they're thinking, "We're totally gonna kick everyone's butt today."


Math problem of the day: If the badger pinata is 3' tall...


Ya can't count the sixth graders out...they came to play!

And Now, the group photos of each HR:
6-1: Oxford


6-2: Rice University


6-3: Yale


6-4: Cambridge


7-1: Duke


7-2: Wisconsin


7-3: MIT


7-4: Harvard


8-1: Michigan State


8-2: USC


8-3: University of Buffalo

Speak Pre-Reading Assignment

Students,

As we begin our novel study of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, you are being asked to consider some major real-life situations that a person might face in high school. This novel takes the readers through a traumatic experience that the narrator faces. How she responds to the situation is a key factor in the outcome and impact of the experience.

Select one of the four opinion statements below to respond to. Your response should not only include your opinions, but it should be a thorough analysis/evaluation of the statement. If possible, make a connection to the statement in order to fully support your perspective on the issue. Remember, once everyone has posted, you will need to sign back on and respond to at least one classmate's opinion.

The Four Statements:

1. Students who are depressed are simply afraid to deal with their real or perceived problems.


2. Students should not tell teachers about their personal problems, no matter how serious.


3. If someone is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, that person is not responsible for his or her actions.


4. Girls are more likely than guys to say they have been sexually harassed.

The opposite of love is...

As we wrapped up our Holocaust unit and reading of Elie Wiesel's Night, I asked the students to respond to any one of the quotes that we have discussed in the unit, and explain what was so significant about that quote. I was ecstatic at all of the amazing responses the students were writing. I wish I could post each and every one of them on here. However, I have selected one response that, in my opinion, nailed the aspect of the assignment perfectly. This student truly wrapped her brain around the concepts in the text and used some high level thinking in her response. So, please enjoy the following excerpt from Jackie's reflection:

____________________________________________________________________

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference”

-Elie Wiesel

Love is one thing, and hate is another, but Indifference, it is many things, and it takes many forms. It can be hard to distinguish, and even harder to get rid of. It creeps up, like your darkest nightmares, your deepest fears. It stalks you, ready to jump at the first chance it gets, and you let it. You let it overcome you, you let it take your soul and stain it black, let it fill you with fear and hate and hurt and guilt.

During the terrible time of the Holocaust many men weak of spirit and with not a sliver of hope allowed indifference to overcome them, and ended up losing themselves to it. Not just themselves, but their lives. They stopped believing that the end to their torture would come and that one day they would be liberated from their oppressors, the Germans. Letting themselves be lost to their indifference made them lose their love for one another, their dignity for themselves, and hope in this world. They did not hate each other, they were indifferent to one an other's death, their despair in the camps.

Son’s killed their fathers. For what? Food, yes food. A crust of bread, a stale bit of soup, anything that would fill their emaciated bodies, so they could last another minute, a second, a day. They did not hate their fathers, because how could you hate the man who made you? It just didn’t matter anymore. They were inhuman, losing everything but hunger, every trace of humanness, of themselves. As if every bit of their identity had been striped off, shaved off, washed away in one of the showers, they had become shells, empty of all but the most primitive human emotions and feelings. And yet, some still did not give in to Indifference.

Elie Wiesel was not one of them. He may not have hated his father, who would have given it all up to see his son live, but Elie was indifferent to his last wish, to his death even, He lay there, hearing his father’s last dying cries, letting the SS beat him to death, wanting to move, and yet not wanting to be hit, pretending to be indifferent. Indifference is a mask. Man wears it over his face, and man grows to fit it. Elie grew to fit the mask, and even thought for a second, Elie let his father die, not with hate, but with his indifference.

Elie, like many others succumbed to the deathly grip of indifference, and although it may not have killed him, it certainly ripped his father from this Earth, leaving Elie with nothing. The soldier’s indifference took his mother and sisters, and his own got rid of his father. Worse than any other death imaginable, Indifference killed so many of the Jews of Europe. Many can argue that it was Hitler, but in reality, it was Indifference that did away with them all. Indifference ruled the world at the time. No one cared to see or even know what was happening in the innermost parts of Hitler’s plans and actions. They all let one another fail and become evil, to let this indifference claw at them form the inside, a cruel deathly guilt that ripped at their insides and in the end, none other but it succeeded.

-J.R.

Super Bowl XXV the Best Ever?

The NfL Network aired the best Super Bowls of all-time. Super Bowl XXV, featuring the Bills versus the Giants came in at number 4; however, many argue it should have been no. 1. The game took place during and emotional Gulf War, it featured the league's best offense, in the Buffalo Bills, going against a group of over achievers in the NY Giants.
Watch this clip and decide for yourself--was Super Bowl XXV the best ever?

Click here to watch the video.

My Walls Reflect Their Excellence!

The student-work on my wall reflects the units that the students have covered the past two months. First, parents will notice several posters depicting social issues, such as bullying, abortion, and drug addictions.

The students created ad campaigns in order to persuade their audiences on the negative effects of a social issue of their choice.

Furthermore, the students' goal was to inform the audience on the impact of each topic and what the audience can do to help fight the issue. The posters are persuasive in nature--full of statistics, rhetorical devices, and powerful images.


Secondly, the students have been going through a novel unit in which they are learning about the Holocaust. As you know, this is a very emotional and powerful topic. The students recently created "Found Poetry" based on Elie Weisel's Holocaust memoir. A found poem is a poem that is entirely made up of lines and words from the text they are reading. The challenge of found poetry is taking sections of the text and creating a cohesive, thematic, and powerful poem.

The students were amazed at the different interpretations of the text that were expressed in each found poem.

All in all, I am completely proud of my students. They are engaging in high school level material on a daily basis. In fact, the memoir that the students are reading is a book I read in eleventh grade!

The students have been working relentlessly to go above and beyond expectations; they have set high standards for themselves and try, everyday, to achieve even greater goals than they set for themselves. It is a privilege to teach these students. The work on my wall is much less a reflection of my teaching than it is a reflection of the excellence and academic abilities of the students.
The picture below depicts one of the coolest features about my classroom: the reading lab is a cool place that is joined to my class. Here, the students can allow fantasy and fiction to collide into one powerful journey. The lab allows the students to grab a favorite book, select their ideal reading spot, and let their imaginations do the rest. I must admit, the couches are QUITE a comfortable alternative to the traditional desks! :)

Uh Oh! Olive Garden Feast

I love food. I love all kinds of food. I have never been one to discriminate. American, Asian, Mexican, Greek--I love all types of delicious cuisines. But there is one cuisine that I like above the others: Italian. I can't get enough of the breads, sauces, pastas, and spices. For this reason, my wife and I have been quite frequent patrons at Olive Garden. And why not? Olive Garden is very affordable and over all, quite good.


We usually get the all-you-can-eat soup, salad, and breadsticks meal (under $10). Besides walking away satisfiably stuffed from my meal, I used to think I was walking away from a pretty healthy meal as well. Boy was I wrong!





According to a recent article on Yahoo! Health, the bottomless portions of salad and breadsticks are ranked among the worst "free" foods that restaurant chains give out. In fact, after eating just one serving of salad and two breadsticks, you will have consumed almost half of your daily caloric intake...and that's before you even tasting the soup! Ouch! And I thought I was doing my body good by selecting Olive Garden over a local burger joint.
So, will this stop me from eating Olive Garden? Heck, no! But, I might feel a little more guilty the next time I finish a meal from there.
Here is the article from Yahoo! Health: Click Here

Garden-Fresh Salad (1 serving with dressing)
350 calories
26 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
1,930 mg sodium
22 g carbohydrates

Breadstick (1 with garlic butter spread)
150 calories
2 g fat (0 g saturated)
400 mg sodium
28 g carbohydrates

Divisional Playoffs Selections

(Picture created by The New York Post)

Today and tomorrow, there will be some excellent football being played. Eight teams will compete for the final four slots, and the Conference championship games. Below are my selections for today's and tomorrow's winners:

Baltimore v. Pittsburgh: Baltimore's stout defense will not be able to defend Big Ben's powerful offense. Pittsburgh wins 24-17

Green Bay v. Atlanta: Aaron Rogers is on fire and Matt Ryan is bound to make a mistake in today's game. This will be a thrilling shoot-out, but GB will win 35-31.

Seatle v. Chicago: Last week's victory over the Saints made Seatle look like a team with a winning record after all. Marshawn Lynch's ground shaking run was something for the ages. Unfortunately, the train stops in Chicago. The Bears will win 28-10.

New England v. NY Jets: Rex Ryan has a big mouth, literally. He will struggle to turn his words into player-actions. Brady and the Pats will make the NY Jets look like NY Jills. Patriots win 21-14.

Reaching High Standards!

Congrats to the 8th grade students for BLOWING the practice TAKS out of the water. Just as I have said all year, when you are continually working at such a high level (high school reading passages, high school critical thinking levels, etc), the 8th grade TAKS becomes almost insulting to your intelligence. Well, here is proof that you all are true allstars!

Results for 8-1: 96% passing and 87% commended!

Results for 8-2: 100% passing and 65% commended!

Across the entire 8th grade, your overall Commended percentage was 76% with an overall passing percentage of 98%.

Well done! While we still have work to do if we are going to surpass our goals of 100% passing and 85% commended, these scores are something to be proud of.

8-3 Buffalo Bulls

Each year, the Chrysalis students select a university to represent the homerooms. This year marks the third straight year that we have done this; this is, of course, in correlation with our college-bound culture and TAKS Olympics celebration that we have on campus.
In the past two years, my homeroom has represented Spring Arbor University and The United States Marine Corps. Although each of those homerooms did an excellent job, I am so excited that the students wanted to select the University that's close to my home.
Below is the tentative design that my students have created for our homeroom tshirts. Personally, I think it looks pretty darn good! Kudos to Ashley for getting the ball rolling with her design. I can't tell you how excited I am to be representing B-lo for our university!
Go Bulls!

11 Years is an Eternity

Today marks exactly 11 years since the Buffalo Bills have been to the playoffs. In the grand scheme of their 50 year history, 11 years might not seem too bad. But consider this: Some of the current sixth graders were not alive when the Bills last played a playoff game; 11 years ago, the iPod had not yet been invented; Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and NSYNC were "cool" 11 years ago.

Interestingly enough, the Bills made the playoffs 10 of the previous 12 years before the year 2000. They were a dominate force of the 1990s. But those days are gone. The current young generation only knows the Buffalo Bills as a group of pitiful, pathetic, perennial losers.

For those of you who were too young, not yet born, or simply want to relive the infamous "Music City Miracle" play that eliminated the Bills from their last playoff game in over a decade, here it is. By the way, this is clearly a forward lateral and everyone knows that had the Refs made the right call, the Bills would have gone to the Super Bowl. Instead, the Titans went and lost by a yard.

Bringin' in the New Year with a Smile

I am three days into 2011 and am already labeling it a great year. Why? Well, let me rewind to way back when in 2010...

Two weeks ago. The final day of the fall semester at Chrysalis was amazing. We took a trip to Memorial City Mall for an Ice Skating extravaganza. Besides the event taking me back to my New York roots of cold winters and ice hockey on frozen ponds, it was a blast to see so many students ice skate (or perform moves that sort of resembled the activity called ice skating). By the end of the two hours, most of the students who stayed out on the ice were getting the hang of gliding gracefully--one foot in front of the other.


Next, I drove to Florida with Kiera, Macy, and Maverick to spend the Christmas season with family. While there, I ate a TON of great food, went bike riding, started bonfires, played Disc Golf, and saw a couple of movies: Tron and The Little Fockers.























But, nothing compares to this next thing. Kiera and I went to a diagnostic center to find out the gender of our baby...and we found out that it's a beautiful girl! The process of looking at the Ultrasound was pretty incredible. The technology that the doctors have is absolutely amazing. We were able to watch the baby move, stand, and practically do back flips inside Kiera's womb, all on a 32'' LCD TV screen. The 3D ultrasound allowed us to get a more detailed picture of what she looks like. Looking at the screen, staring at my future daughter, it's a feeling that I simply can't describe. I can only imagine what it will be like to see her smiling, crying, kicking, and screaming in just 6 more months! I am just so thankful that God has blessed us!

The picture below is everyone in the room looking at the ultrasound on the screen. If you look hard enough, you can see the tear marks on my mom's cheeks. We shared this awesome moment with Kiera's mom, her sister, and our brother-in-law.







Here is our beautiful Isabella; it serves as proof that there is a God...and He is good!

Always a New Yorker

Something struck me today. I realized that I have now spent the same amount of time in Texas as I did in Michigan for college. After four years of college, I had a lot of Michigan pride. I felt a connection with the state and even considered it my home away from home. In my time as a Michigander (Mish-ih-gan-der), I acquired a University of Michigan hat.
In my time in Texas, I have a pair of cowboy boots, a pickup truck, and a taqueria saved into the contacts of my cell. While I do not have much Texas pride at this point, I sure have begun to look like a Texan...and that is a little scary.
Here's what's crazy. I am a New Yorker, or at least that's what I identify myself as. However, I have not lived in New York for nearly 9 years! So, this begs the question: What defines us? What constitutes as our "home"? I reckon (see, there I go again) I will always identify myself and my home as being New York, even though I don't think I will ever live in New York again.



If the Buffalo Bills relocate to Toronto, I will feel extremely upset even though I am not longer in the Buffalo area.
Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe it's not so bad to realize that I am slowly becoming a Texan, at least in the material sense of things. But somehow, for some reason, deep down, I will always be living in Western New York. I will always be a New Yorker.

Sailing in Galveston Bay!

This past weekend, Kiera and I took some sailing lessons. It was a blast--the weather was beautiful and so was the sailing. Here are some pictures of our past experience.

Penicillin

This week, one of our vocabulary words is penicillin. Now, I taught the students that penicillin is an antibiotic derived from molds. Job done, right? Well, what kind of a teacher would I be if I didn't take my lesson to a whole new...applicable level? Behold, I show you what happens when you leave a fresh loaf of bread in the cupboard too long:


Now, I don't know if this is the exact types of mold that penicillin is made from; nonetheless, it's still pretty cool...and gross at the same time. To my defense, this bread is actually only two weeks old. I guess this is a great example of what happens to bread if it is not injected with a ton of preservatives and unnatural elements.

Enjoy!

Science Experiment, Anyone?

I have been absolutely disgusted at the articles that have been circulating the web about how Mcdonald's hamburgers defy the natural laws of science (literally) and do not grow mold or decompose, no matter how long they are left out.

Recently, a NYC artist left a McD's hamburger sitting out on her bookshelf for six months. Yes, SIX MONTHS! What do you think happened to that hamburger? Well, if you are slightly messy and sometimes dirty like me, you have probably left food sitting out for a couple of days. If you have done this, then you also know that when food is left sitting out, it begins to grow mold on it. If you don't believe me, just ask Miguel Lara. Last summer, he had to clean out my mold-filled coffee pot. The coffee was only sitting for about a week and a half and, I swear, it had already amassed an entire fungus colony.

Back to the hamburger. After six months, the hamburger looks exactly the same. Not one speck of mold can be found. What's even more disturbing is that this is not the only example of someone doing this. According to Yahoo! News, there is a school teacher who has left a McD's burger sitting out for the past 12 years! Apparently, she has done this to prove to her students that they should never eat fast food.

Here is a picture of the burger that had been sitting out after 145 days...it still looks as edible as day 1.

After reading this blog and looking at the picture, what do you think? Do you believe it to be true? Does your perspective of eating at fast food restaurants change now? If I were the science teacher, I know what I would be giving out as an extra credit assignment...