Grammar Police Officer

Thursday Meme

Onesome: World-- Okay, you've been here; you've been there. ...or maybe not. Is there someplace you think it would be cool to spend a holiday? Christmas in the Alps? St. Patrick's Day in Erie? Oh, sure, take the entire family if you'd like! I've been to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve (it was actually for Y2K!). Last year for Veterans' Day I went to Hapuna Beach. I've spent practically every summer at my grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania. I've been to Latvia twice to visit family. (If you go look at the Latvia link, check out the church steeple...it's the 4th picture down on the right side. That's where my grandmother was baptized, confirmed, and married!) I went to Ireland once for Spring Break, though that was for a Missions Trip (planned by Jeep ... yay Break on Impact). But I'd like to go to Australia. And back to Hawaii. And I'd like to go to Niagara Falls again. And I'd like to go on a Sharon Creech road trip, mimicking the one in Walk Two Moons. And I'd like to go to all the continents. Take a rail tour of Europe. And live in Europe, particularly Latvia, for a while. But then come home and be a spoiled American again.

Twosome: Weary-- Have you ever had to deal with jet lag? How have you handled it? ...and which direction is worse for you, going East or going West? Just curious... I have had to deal with jet lag, though it was a while ago and I didn't really struggle that much. When I was flying back and forth to Hawaii, there was a touch of it, and it was harder coming east than going west. But when I came back from Latvia those times, it was harder coming west than it was going east. I've just handled it by requiring myself to get by with short (20 min) naps to get through the day and pushing myself to adjust to the new daytimes.

Threesome: Traveler-- When you've traveled, what conveyance has bothered you the most? That camel in Morocco? The train ride through the Rockies? Your brother-in-law's Dodge? What just set your nerves on edge? Oooh, I am hating planes more and more. They seem so boxy. Or sardine can-ny. I also don't like cars with bad suspension when driving in the Colorado mountains. And the small Russian car we rode in while in Latvia was small and small.

I got this meme from Backporch.

Literary Journaling Topics: Poetic Thinking

These are journaling topics I've provided for my students. As I answer them here in GrammarQueen's blog, I'll embolden them.

~Does the book/poem answer any questions or solve any problems you have faced? Which ones? Why?

~How does the setting compare to your own surroundings?

~Did the poem add anything to your particular store of facts, information, or images? Did it give you a greater understanding or enjoyment of any particular art, science, or other field of activity?

~Have you ever met the same problem in newspaper, motion pictures, or in another story? Describe.

~How does the poem increase our understanding of the relations between men and women, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends, young and old, employers and employees, leaders and followers, city and country, etc.?

~Do you have more sympathy for and understanding of the thoughts and feelings of people who are not exactly like you and of people you once misunderstood?

~What inspired the author to write this poem? What mood was he or she in at the time?

~What was your favorite symbol from this poem and why?

~Do you agree with the author’s message/theme/assumptions about reality?

~When you think of reality, what comes to your mind first?

~What is the most beautiful thing about people?

~What is the most sacred thing you know?

~What is the most overwhelming thing you know? The thing that makes you feel most humble?

~What is the greatest value that guides your life?

~If you could smash one thing, and only one thing, what would it be?

~For what do you think you would lay down your life?

~What do you feel when you stand on the shore of an ocean?

~How would you symbolize the human soul? (Examples: a rose, a sunset, a well.)

~What emotion is strongest in you?

~What is the most beautiful thing you have seen?

~What makes you feel most secure?

~When you think of soft green grass, what do you think of?

~What is your greatest fear?

~What do you love the most?

~What person would you follow the farthest? (Don’t answer Jesus. He’s not physically here.)

~How do you pray? (Journal, out loud, silently, kneeling, standing, etc.)

~When do you pray? What moves you to prayer?

~What passage of Scripture means most to you?

~What passage of Scripture do you not understand?

~What concept do you hold most basic to you as a person?

~What area of conversation do you find hardest to talk about?

~What is love?

~What rights does a baby have?

~What historical event of your own memory have you internalized the most?

~What historical event of your own memory has appalled you the most?

~Do you think that all men and women are fundamentally alike at the same basic level of their humanness?

~Hope is the key to an alive person. How would you define hope? What examples can you give?

~When do you feel most alone?

~Of all the symbols you know, which symbol means the most to you?

~What illusion was or is part of your life?

~What is it like to lose illusions?

~What do you hold to that others think is an illusion? How does that make you feel?

~What is your biggest worry?

~What flame (item) consumed you today—used up your life today?

~When do you die a little?

~When is your imagination most alive? What place?

~When do you feel most productive?

~Who has the hardest task today? Parent, child, baby, teacher, student, husband, wife, etc.

~When will you die?

~How much emotional satisfaction do you get out of music?

~Should a man ever cry?

~When do you feel most free?

~When do you feel the most joy?

~An old pine tree teaches wisdom, and a wild birch is crying out truth. (Interpret.)

~If you do not get it from yourself, where will you go for it? (Interpret.)

~“A nation without vision will perish.” (From Proverbs, interpret.)

~What wisdom do you seek? What understanding do you gain? (From Proverbs 2)

~What are you doing to hide God’s word in your heart?

~What would you like to be like at the age of 75?

~What 10 things would you like to do before you die? Explain as much as necessary.

~What topographical feature do you most like to visit/spend time around? (Mountains, lakes, rivers, ponds, prairie, ocean, etc.)

~What question would you like to have added to this list?

Another Good Poem, Which is Appropriate for My Lesson These Days from My Jesus

Holy Sonnet 14

Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor even chaste, except you ravish me.

by John Donne

Good Poem for Tomorrow

I am teaching this poem tomorrow.

Velvet Shoes
Elinor Wylie

Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk,
And you in wool,
White as a white cow’s milk,
More beautiful
Than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.

(Any comments or insights on the poem? I like it because it feels like I'm in an Ansel Adams shot of a winter field or a winter forest. But I can't get into it any deeper.)

Gardner's Slice of Intellectual Theory

Learning theory. It's really interesting, I think, and here's a bit of it.

There are Eight Intelligences. "Gardner points out that intelligence isn't a singular phenomenon, but rather a plurality of capacities...Each intelligence represents a set of capacities that are brought to bear upon two major focuses: the solving of problems, and the fashioning of significant cultural products." This list is verbatim from my source.

1. Linguistic Intelligence. The understanding of the phonology, syntax, and semantics of a language, and its pragmatic uses to convince others of a course of action, help one to remember information, explain or communicate knowledge, or reflect upon language itself. Examples include the storyteller, orator, poet, editor, and novelist.
2. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence. The ability to control one's bodily motions and the capacity to handle objects skillfully. Examples of those proficient in this intelligence include the actor, mime, craftsperson, athlete, dancer, and sculptor.
3. Spatial Intelligence. The ability to perceive the visual world accurately, to perform transformations and modifications upon one's initial perceptions, and to be able to re-create aspects of one's visual experience (even in the absence of relevant visual stimuli). Examples include the architect, mapmaker, surveyor, inventor, and graphic artist.
4. Musical Intelligence. The ability to understand and express components of music, including melodic and rhythmic patterns, through figural or intuitive means (the natural musician) or through formal analytic means (the professional musician). Examples include the composer, pianist, percussionist, music critic, and singer.
5. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence. The understanding and use of logical structures, including patterns and relationships, and statements and propositions, through experimentation, quantification, conceptualization, and classification. Examples include the scientist, mathematician, logician, computer programmer, and statistician.
6. Intrapersonal Intelligence. The ability to access one's own emotional life through awareness of inner moods, intentions, motivations, potentials, temperaments, and desires, and the capacity to symbolize these inner experiences, and to apply these understandings to help one live one's life. Examples include the psychotherapist, entrepreneur, creative artist, and shaman.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence. The ability to notice and make distinctions among other individuals with respect to moods, teperaments, motivations, intentions, and to use this information in pragmatic ways, such as to persuade, influence, manipulte, mediate, or counsel individuals toward some purpose. Examples include the union organizer, teacher, therapist, adminiatrator, and political leader.
8. Naturalist Intelligence. The capacity to recognize and classify the numerous species of flora and fauna in one's environment (as well as the natural phenomena such as mountains and clouds), and the ability to care for, tame, or interact subtly with living creatures, or with whole ecosystems. Examples include the zoologist, biologist, veterinarian, forest ranger, and hunter.

Isn't that fascinating? What is your strength/intelligence/intelligences? How does that serve you? How can you develop intelligences which aren't natural strengths?

Source: Armstrong, Thomas. The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing: Making the Words Come Alive. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003. Taken from pp. 12-14.

limericks by students

I assigned my Freshmen to write limericks. They were due today. Here are a few of them.

There once was a man from Quebec
Who thought that his life was a wreck
When he saw the Grim Reaper
And his hole getting deeper
He thought to himself, "What the heck?"

--by L. S.

Why do you skate more and more?
It's not safe; you'll see why for:
You will go up the ramp
And come down with a cramp
And then you won't skate anymore.

--by Z. D.

"My Limerick: Forgetfulness"

There's something I'm forgetting to do
It's on the tip of my tongue too!
I feel like a goon!
It must be due soon!

--by M. H.

Funny; Go Read It

This is funny. Go read it.

Friday Meme or, I'm Still a Meme Addict

• Name your top 5 favorite movie characters (or, if you don't watch movies, literature characters. Or do 5 of both) Movies: The Gwyneth Paltrow character from Sliding Doors. The black guy from Shawshank Redemption (I just saw that movie for the first time last weekend with the BF. It was a really good movie!) Any of the sisters from Little Women (the version with Wynona Rider). Miriam from The Prince of Egypt. And Jodi Sawyer from Center Stage. And literature characters...I like Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter from The Chosen and The Promise by Chaim Potok. Thursday Next from the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten). Christy Miller from the Christy Miller series (she also cameos in the Sierra Jensen series) and the Todd and Christy: the College Years series by Robin Jones Gunn. Yay Christian Romances! The one by Robin Jones Gunn are real quality, people. Don't be prejudiced. And for the last pick...Orual from Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis.
• Name a band/musical artist and 2-3 songs you feel best represent them for me or others to check out. I will listen to them and (potentially) post my thoughts on them in a subsequent entry, and if I like them, I will probably buy the albums as well. James. Their Best-of Album is great. My favorites on that disc are "Ring the Bells," "Destiny Calling," and "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)." That's just the first band that comes to mind. I have many others I like, too, but you just get to hear about one today.
• Name one television show you would wipe off the face of the earth if you could, and one television show you would like to see get more positive recognition. To use as a baby wipe: any of the "100 Most Bootylicious"-type shows that seem to be on VH1 these days. Why, people, don't you play music videos? Why show crap like that...the "Top 100 Hottest Women Sponsored by Maxim?" Why? To get more recognition...um, I'd say "Monk." I like mystery shows. And this one is not fomulaic. And tied with "Monk" is any of the PBS-Does-Reality Shows like "Manor House" or "Colonial House." That's real reality TV, and educational, and just darn good TV.

And Last for Today...a meme

1. What were the last 3 fun things you've done with friends/coworkers/etc.? My coworkers are great. Monsieur Bible stopped at Panera this morning and surpised us with bagels for our morning devotions. Senor Spanish and I are so tired so we got giggly. And Mrs. Social Studies has a great sense of humor. She was cracking jokes about Kerry vs. Bush, and it was funny. So this morning was fun.

2. What did you do/Where did you go on your last 3 vacations?
The first weekend in August this summer (2004) Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, and I all went camping at Lynx Pass Campground in nothern Colorado. And went to Steamboat Springs to the hot springs. And to Fish Creek Falls. I love it there. I could definitely live in the Yampa Valley.

Hmmm...July 4th Weekend 2004 Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Aunt and I all drove to Canyonlands National Park and hiked. Loveliness. The best was moonlight hikes. You haven't seen beauty till you've seen Navajo Sandstone gilded silver by the full moon. Whoa baby. Go see it before you die. You really must.

Over Spring Break 2004 Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law and I all drove to Canyonlands National Park and hiked etc. there. We also hiked along the canyon at Natural Bridges National Monument. That was excellent and differently beautiful. If you haven't gone to see the desert then you must. It's so different than anything else here in America, definitely worth the travel time and expense to see more of God's creativity.

Last year for Christmas Break I flew home to Colorado from Hawaii. That was super. It was wonderful to be home. To finally be not lonely. Just wonderful.

3. Name off your top 3 most memorable moments, even if it's laughing at someone falling on their butt.
Being the maid of honor at Sister's wedding and seeing Brother-in-Law's face as he promised her himself as long as they are both alive. Whoa. That was the face of love.

Graduating from Covenant. It's a long road, hard work, and it all culminates in our graduation ceremony with bagpipes, marching in when all the profs honor us, singing the college hymn one last time, and hearing your name as you walk across the stage. What a bittersweet day.

The first time I experienced seeing a student learn as a result of my teaching. The light bulb moment, man, it's like crack. What a high! I'll never need to do drugs now! It's such a thrill, like lightning. It's joy. I was student teaching when I first got that experience, and it never gets old now. It just gets deeper and more meaningful. It's a gift, because I'm working hard at exercizing my calling here, and it's God's blessing to me.

From here.

Music

I'm grading...now planning...to Alison Kraus + Union Station Live. It's great disc. A 2-CD set that's totally great. Worth the money! A really good live bluegrass set. There's not one song I don't like. Not a one.

My favorite, though is "There is a Reason," the last track on the second disc. I heard it on the radio on a local country station back in Colorado back in April or so. Read the lyrics:

I've seen hard times and I've been told
There isn't any wonder that I fall
Why do we suffer, crossing off the years
There must be a reason for it all

I've trusted in You, Jesus, to save me from my sin
Heaven is the place I call my home
But I keep on getting caught up in this world I'm living in
And Your voice it sometimes fades before I know

Hurtin' brings my heart to You, crying with my need
Depending on Your love to carry me
The love that shed His blood for all the world to see
This must be the reason for it all

Hurtin' brings my heart to You, a fortress in the storm
When what I wrap my heart around is gone
I give my heart so easily to the ruler of this world
When the one who loves me most will give me all

In all the things that cause me pain You give me eyes to see
I do believe but help my unbelief
I've seen hard times and I've been told
There is a reason for it all

I went through serious crap last semester. Really. It was really poopy. And then I froze. It hurt enough that I could only survive by freezing. And this song was part of my thaw. It spoke to my pain and make me think for the first time in months.

The BF

So, new thing number 6 is the boyfriend. This was a surprise to me...I did not move to Penna for him! I didn't know he was thinking of me that way till I was already here.

For you Covenanteers, my bf is a fellow member of the class of 2002. He is also an English teacher. And as I have a new policy of being superstrict about people's names here, this man's first initial is I. Yes, he's the Kansan cross-country runner. Seriously.

You may ask yourselves, "K's boyfriend is that guy? The Kansan crosscountry runner?" Many people react that way. But let me assure you (and I don't speak alone here) that it's surprisingly good and real and wonderful. It's the best thing ever! Somedays it feels like a hot fudge sundae, other days it feels like a big cold refreshing glass of water, other days it feels like a nutritious sandwich (egg salad sounds good, right, mister?), and still other days like a steak dinner. Regardless of the day, being in this kind of relationship with BF is great. We haven't gotten to the stage where it feels like a big fat enema. God's saving that for later.

It's great. And here in blogland I'll call him BF. Hey BF, I like you. :)

The coffee is good. A peppermint mocha with three sugars. And grading is done...the daily homework is done, I should say. The WorldLit tests are not even touched yet.

All Things New

New me!

New things about me:
1. New home: Central Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River Valley.

2. New job: small Christian school, teaching 7,8,9, 10 English. I LOVE love it.
2b. The school has a new building for the secondary, so I have a brand new classroom too.

3. New church. It's The City's Gate. We're a small PCA church plant that meets in a movie theater in Harrisburg. I love it. I love that the people miss me when I'm not there and greet me like they remember me (and they do) each week.

4. New Car. It's a red 2003 Toyota Echo. It's great. It's called the Red Hot, and Landen named it this summer. He's in a band.

5. New Outlook. God's good and faithful even when I am faithless and in a deep freeze.

6. New Boyfriend. At best this is permanent. At worst this is the best dating relationship in the history of humankind. Or at least in K's history.

Can't think of anything else. I love where and how I am now. I've also been losing weight. That's always nice. The thing about that is...I have not been trying! It's just falling off me. Kind of like my pants, cause I've lost all those inches. Yes, my bf tells me it's really inches. Isn't that great???

Gotta go pay for my coffee.

I'm Back

Yes, that's right, the Grammar Queen is back. Stay tuned for an update on me. I have to go buy coffee and wait for my fingers to thaw. And I have to get some grading done.