Spring Has Sprung!

It has been a crazy few weeks and spring break is not yet close enough to be the "light at the end of the tunnel". But, as the springtime arrives I am trying to take notes from the flowers and bloom here in Vegas!

Ahead in this blog:
1. Grandma Margi visits Las Vegas!
2. Baby pictures on the board
3. Adopting Pepper the dog! (Not mine)
4. St. Patrick's Day in Vegas

Grandma Margi sits in on my English classes!

I was so excited to have a visit with my wonderful Grandma, who worked as a librarian for many years. She read through the entire 9th grade textbook during 5th and 6th periods. When kids walked in they saw a curly-top like me and knew immediately that my Grandma was visiting! In addition to sitting in on classes she brought in some Ms. Landau baby pictures for my white board. We decided to add a little note to tie them into the class norms and they were a huge hit with the students! (See below)

It is always fun to have visitors but seeing my Grandma smiling as I taught the students truly felt like a compliment. She has always been a role model of what a strong, brilliant woman looks like, and I feel that as an educator I am working hard to emulate her.

My Friends Adopted a Dog! 

Originally, my teacher friends and I planned on going to an event called "PugaPalooza" Saturday morning. (Yes, this event is as incredible as it sounds, filled with pugs and their owners, pugs up for adoption, pugs in a bouncy house, and pugs in kissing booths) However, when we arrived at the location, we were told the event had been cancelled because the space allocated would have been too small. So, we decided to go to a nearby Petco and satisfy our craving for adorable puppy petting time. Jessica and Cecalie have been thinking of adopting a second cat for a while and recently mentioned maybe they would go for a dog. And when we met "Pepper", a black and white terrier, we knew it was meant to be. She is sweet and friendly, always kissing us and happy to sit in our arms. Long story short, we all brought the puppy home and are excited to have a new pet in the group!

As I said earlier, teaching can be exhausting and become difficult when there is no three day weekend or big break in the near future. So with Spring Break still four weeks away, a few of us decided to go out (ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!) and celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We walked around Freemont Street which is filled with bars, street performers, and great people-watching everywhere. It was a lot of fun and we felt devious for going out on a weeknight, but we were back home in bed by 11p.m.!

My UNLV classes have been going well and I just finished up a group presentation with a few peers. Luckily, what I'm learning in my education classes is extremely applicable to my daily life. Lesson planning is much easier when your peers, all teachers, discuss their strongest and weakest lessons with you. The input is invaluable and allows me to strengthen my teaching practices each week. And receiving a masters degree when it is all said and done won't be too bad either!

All My Best,

Danielle

(Pictures below - With one friend named Jessica and another other friend named Jessica, out on the town!)

Updates from Teacher Land!

1. I attempted "stations" with my 38-student 9th grade English classes. (See above) 

     Shockingly, it worked! Last week we were finishing up a unit on allegory and symbolism. One station had an excerpt from "Alice in Wonderland" which the students had to read (as the characters). Another station had an article about the characters on "SpongeBob SquarePants" representing the seven deadly sins. The final station was a video, "Star-Bellied Sneetches", a Dr. Seuss story, playing on my laptop. After reading or watching at their station the students discussed the tone, symbolism, and allegory in each text and filled in a worksheet. I thought the groups would be too large or that hearing would be an issue, but the students loved the freedom of choosing their groups and self-teaching so they worked to make it a smooth activity. 

2. Cecalie and I attempted twin day again... and failed again. 

      For some reason my color-identification skills are terrible. I told her I was wearing a green dress, black sweater, and black leggings. And this is how we looked. Not quite what we were hoping for, probably because my dress was a teal or aqua-of-sorts. Oh well! You can't win 'em all!

3. My 12th grade student's are LOVING Frankenstein! 

     I really do not think I can take credit for this, as Shelley's writing is complex and intriguing. Events are constantly changing the reader's opinions of the characters and the question of "how we treat others and why" is constantly on our tongues. But they especially enjoy drawing pictures (like below) to explain events! This student was doodling the scene when the creature sees a girl drowning in a river, saves her, and is then shot by the caretaker of the girl. I think it is very clear and miles better than any of my sketches!

4. I'm ahead of the other 9th grade teachers so I'm doing a week of poetry! 

     This is an English teacher's (at least it is my) dream! To have a few extra days to teach my favorite part of English, self-expression, is a blessing. I announced this week of poetry and heard 1/2 groans/moans and 1/2 yays/hoorays. Luckily, I had anticipated that my students would be all over the board with interest levels, so I brought in a video of spoken word that I hoped would excite them. I am attempting to post it right here (but I've never done this, so the link is below). To be frank: the video worked. The students, even the moaners and groaners, were hooked, engaged, and nodded along at the end out of respect. They left my room that day a little less afraid of poetry... or so I hope!

Link to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY

5. Cecalie and I are the BIGGEST flag football fans!

     Sadly, we missed the two biggest games of the season (the playoffs) last Monday and Tuesday because we had UNLV classes. We told our students we were sorry, but school had to come first (a good lesson). BUT WE WERE THRILLED when we received a text from the coach (a fellow English teacher) that the girls had dominated both games to win the county title! These are the "selfies" (pictures) that we sent in reply to the text. The girls got a kick out of them!

Sending love but not quite smiling because my wisdom teeth recently ran away,

Danielle  "Master Landau"

P.S. Some of my students call me Master Landau because I told them that I am getting a masters degree from UNLV. They think my title will be Master when I graduate, and why correct them when it sounds so cool?!