December 14

It is difficult to react or to respond to something as senseless as violence against children. I have a child in kindergarten - she is sitting there at this very moment - and the news coming out of Connecticut makes me physically ill. I will never understand what makes a person harm others, but especially innocent children. I feel for the parents who have lost their babies, for the parents who have to put their tramatized children back together again, and for a commuity which will need to be "normal" again long before they are ready to be.

I have the urge to hide under the covers, bringing my two kiddos with me, forever. I will definately be hugging them extra hard today.

Respect, you older ones.

We've been working with theme in my classroom, and all this work culminates in them discovering the themes in the novels they have self-selected to read. I have to say that grading their themes makes me ridiculously happy, if only because of the awesomeness I get to read.

Teens' brains, especially young teens, operate on a completely different level of reality than a normal human brain. They are, I promise, their own species wrapped in ridiculous nightmares fun crazy. The following are actual themes written by actual teens. I did not change them or correct them ... they are pure thoughts of life-lessons the reader can learn from the story straight from the minds of teens. They are in no particular order.

To be loved is more than words
I had a difficult time typing this because it could have also read To beloved is more than words. Either way, I giggled. She sounds so poetic, so wise, so cliché... it's awesome. Too bad neither version makes total sense.

Don't trust something about someone saying you are ...
Clearly this student didn't have any idea where he was going ...

Never go into the woods full speed on a snow mobil
This is excellent advice, y'all. Take heed!

Never be seen if you are a spy
James Bond strolls into a casino, MI6 written all over his cocky walk, like he owns the place, drawing all kinds of attention to himself by hooking up with the hottest yet most high-maintenance girl he can get to. I'm gonna go with James's way ... it's so much cooler.

Sometimes you try to hard to attempt it.
Unless she is referring to a social situation, I'm not sure what she's talking about.

in a post-apolyptic world, you would not find supplies easily, you would have to be brave.
In a post-The Hunger Games world, there are a lot of new post-apocolyptic novels out there. But this is my first encounter with a "post-apolyptic" novel. Sounds interesting.
Also, I forgave all grammar and spelling mistakes because this kiddo remembered his hypen, and whether he copied it from the book or not doesn't matter to me because he has demonstrated that he is terrible at copying words from a book, but he still got the hypen!

Respect you older ones.
Of course this student forgot a comma. It should read Respect, you older ones.
I imagine a 90s era hero tapping his chest twice with his fist as he demands respect from "older ones." Word, yo!