It's Official-I am old

I learned to type on a typewriter. Therefore, I learned to place two spaces after a period. I just did it. I just did it again. I have been trained; I can't change. BUT you can.

Here is the MLA rule: ONE space after a period is all that is required; two is fine but not necessary.
If you would like to read more, I have created the above sentence as a link.

Yep, I'm old. I still remember my typewriter class in the basement of my school. It was so fun!

Ash Wednesday-a day to be open to light

Praise God for new beginnings. Our chapel was filled with ideas to help us journey with Christ toward the cross of forgiveness. Take off our masks. Peel back layers of images that have hidden our true selves. Let God's healing light come into our hearts. Be open to god. Surrender our spirits to God.

I pray that God's goodness, His graciousness, and His promise of joy fill will fill your heart. May you feel God take you by the hand and lead you on this today and all days to come.

A Whole Nother Butt Gusting Class Session

I misspoke the other day. When I wanted to say "Gut Busting" joke, I said "Butt Gusting"; it was pretty hilarious. In addition, this connected with the commonly used saying "whole nother." There was quite a bit of laughter as we discussed the definition of a whole nother novel: another novel, an other novel, or a whole another novel. It took a while for students to see that another novel is all that needs to be said. Anyway, it was a butt guster none-the-less. I do believe that laughter was the key for learning. I think students will readily remember the problem with "whole nother" because we all were laughing. This blog is dedicated to Matthew P.-he is definitely a whole nother funny guy!

The Thirty-Second Floor written by Erick F.

The Thirty-Second Floor

Run! Do you not hear that?
The crash the boom the roar of
Rubble falling to the floor,
22 people on the thirty-second
Floor but only two heard the monstrous
Roar outside the walls of the
Thirty-second floor-

Run! No time to waste danger
Lurks within these walls; we
Must descend to the ground
Where all is safe and nothing
Will break unlike the walls of the
Thirty-second floor-

Run! Leave those behind to
Meet their fate make no
Mistake the end is close for
Many but far for few
Who choose to make haste and
Escape their fate
Let them be irate about the
Claims you make-

Run! Out the door
On to the street do not
Turn back to watch the steel
Beast burst through the walls of the
Thirty-second floor
Do not be unsure about
Decisions you have made
But the decisions you must make
As you flee the cries of plea
Which were once irate but
Now cry desperately for
An escape from the walls of the
Thirty-second floor.

written by Erick Forson Junior
Based on family personal story

You say farther; I say further

Every since I watched the movie Finding Forester, I have tried to educate the world on the difference between FARther and Further. I did not recognize the difference between the two words. Now I know and I want you to know!

Notice in FARther the word FAR. Far, of course, is marking a distance. Therefore, farther is noting an item or a thing that is away, not close, or at a distance. If you want to go into more depth about an idea then you would discuss it further.

I hear it misused probably every day. Do you? Let's discuss it FURTHER!

Reflecting Myself

I keep hearing the pronoun "myself" being misused.  Just this morning, I heard a caller misuse it on Cities 97.  Let me make this easy.  In a mirror, I see my reflection:  I see MYSELF.  So, Myself is a REFLEXIVE Pronoun since it is a mirror to the eye (I).  Get the pun??  

It is therefore incorrect to say: "Sam, would you like to go to the game with Jack and myself?" 

It is correct to say: "I am so upset with myself for not studying for the test."  

Cliff's Notes

How come students use Cliff's Notes rather than read the text? Minnehaha has written in the student handbook that substituting the reading of a text with the reading guide is considered cheating. It certainly is reassuring to read someone else's thoughts about a text to know one has the right idea; however, the intrigue of reading is to read for one's self by discovering the place, the meaning, the character in one's own mind. Perhaps I am answering my own question. Maybe, if a student is choosing to read a reading guide, there is no instrinsic motivation for discovering the mystery, the beauty, the message individually. Or perhaps there simply is no time in a teenager's life to enjoy the craft of writing and the pleasure of reading.