2009 AVID T-Shirts

First look at our new T-Shirts. What do you think?

I am one lucky teacher.

Teaching is not an easy job. But, with kids like this... I am pretty lucky to be a teacher.

Failure

Just remember... before you can succeed... sometimes you have failure. Just don't give up.

If an elephant can paint... you can go to college!

Elephant Artists Link

UnEmployment Rate. Ouch.

Unemployment Rate Link - MSNBC

Super (Bowl) Commercial

Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner and most of you know that Mr. Duez grew up in Pittsburgh. So here's another installment of essential Steeler history.

This year there will be a new #1 greatest super bowl commercial ever.

This is going to be great!



For those of you too young to remember the original...


Mean Joe is the man!

But maybe the very best version is the Sesame Street one:

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

We took a look at it today to begin our semester. And boy were we inspired!

Transcript:

Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won’t go by in your life you won’t regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I’m not going home. We’ve come too far! And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. You’re going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that’s fine, we’ll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That’s how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you’ve got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You’re like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death… that’s the Chicago Way! Who’s with me? Clap! Clap! Don’t let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let’s fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Independence Day!

This was indeed a lovely think to behold!

So what is your favorite inspirational speech? (leave a comment - hint, hint...)

Want to be a better writer?

How to Write (in a thousand words or less)

This is a great little blog post on some tips on writing. Here's a preview:

# Hook ‘em early. Start with the headline, which should say why I should read this. Then write a strong introduction that draws your reader in and makes them want to read on. Tell a story, make a bold statement, offer up a surprising fact. Don’t open with "According to Wikipedia…" or "According to Webster’s…". YAWN!
# Use topic sentences. Every paragraph should clearly say what it’s about. The topic sentence might not be the first sentence — it might even be the last sentence, or the first part of the third sentence. But somewhere in the paragraph there should be a line that, taken on its own, says what the paragraph is about.
# Have a conclusion. People fuss a lot over introductions, and slack on conclusions. Tell your reader why they bothered to read your piece. Remember, the conclusion is the part your reader is going away with — make it count.
# Explain yourself. Never assume your reader agrees with you. If you say someone’s bad because he barbecues puppies, you’d better explain why barbecuing puppies is a bad thing. Maybe your reader thinks puppies are delicious and nutritious — can you afford for that reader to completely miss the intent of your writing?
# Have a trusted reader. Whenever possible, get your work read by someone you trust to be honest with you. Listen intently to their responses, even when your reader tries to blunt their critique. For example, if they say they didn’t get a part, but that’s probably because they didn’t know anything about the topic, you need to rewrite that part so that, even knowing nothing about the subject, they do get it.

Pretty good advice and very well written (interestingly enough).

For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me.
Jack Dann

2008 - Goodbye

I thought these pictures were really striking:
NBC News 2008 Year in Pictures

2008 was a good year, but I am glad to say goodbye and welcome a great new year - 2009. Looking forward to the progress we will make this spring. :)

Christmas at the "Last House Standing"

Christmas at the last house standing

(CNN) -- The streets are dark and the town is deserted, but Pam and Warren Adams still put up Christmas lights outside their Gilchrist, Texas, home. It is one of the few remaining after Hurricane Ike devastated the area in September.

When Ike hit Gilchrist on September 13, it destroyed nearly everything in its path. Most of the 200 or so houses there were flattened by the storm surge, and the Adams home was the only one left standing on the Gulf Coast side of the town.

Now, the couple has returned to repair their battered home. Warren Adams is living in an RV trailer on their beachfront property. Pam Adams, 53, who spends the week at an apartment in Baytown, Texas, drives more than an hour to visit their home each weekend.

Life goes on, even when it seems like doesn't go on all around them. Everything inside the house is waterlogged, mud-coated, and it is a mess. It looks like it is going to be a very long time before it is completely livable. The couple plans on building elsewhere and using this home as a weekend house.

"I'm so proud my house survived," Adams said. "I didn't realize how much I loved the house until I moved into this apartment."

Adams said she and her husband would sit on their balcony and watch the ocean and sunset in the evenings. "I want everything back the way it was," she said. "I want my neighbors back."

That has to be hard. I can not imagine every house in my neighborhood being GONE. My house still standing. I was not surprised to hear that they haven't seen a dime of insurance money yet. This year there will be no present opening in Gilchrist, but 2009 should be much better.

There will be no presents or visits with friends and family. It didn't seem appropriate, Adams said. "Everything's so depressing. We didn't feel like we should be celebrating when everyone's suffering so badly."
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But the couple has big hopes for next year. "It'll be a big Christmas with the neighbors," Adams exclaimed. "We'll fry turkeys, and there will be a lot to celebrate."

Adams said she's looking forward to 2009. "I just want to get back home and watch all the structures go up in Gilchrist. We want to be the welcoming committee. We just want everyone to return."

Amazing. I am ready for 2009 as well.

Breakfast with Santa @ AHS

We had a Santa Breakfast at our school this morning, sponsored by the National Honor Society. Aidan had a nice time, but he was soooo shy. All the pretty girls in santa hats just set him off. He kept hiding behind my leg most of the time.





He had a nice time listening to the choir, orchestra and seeing all the other little kids there. But, he didn't go near Santa Claus. One of my former students was dressed up in the Red/White with the beard, pretty funny). We kept trying to get Aidan up there, but he refused. He was too shy. Such is the life of a 4 year-old.


I hope they do it again next year. They did a super job with it.

Let it Snow!

I told you it was cold!

It snowed tonight, and I mean REALLY snowed for the first time since we have lived here - since 1994. It is really amazing. I am still shaking my head about it. Aidan had a ball!


Snow balls! The snow was so perfect that it packed into snow balls. I couldn't believe it. Heavy, wet and perfectly 'packable.'



Aidan threw a snowball for the first time in his life. He said to me a few weeks ago, "Daddy, I want to see snow." I felt bad, but I said, "Son, I'm sorry. We don't live in a place that it snows. It may never snow in Houston in your lifetime." Guess Daddy isn't so smart! Less than a month later, he's licking snow out of the air. His comment was, "It tastes like lemons!" I'm not sure what that means.



Aidan said, "Daddy, it's just like Christmas Town." He was thinking about "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." It really made me smile.



A crazy night. We went to Target and bought an electric blanket. We have no heat because our heater isn't working. Dude is going to come and fix it tomorrow, but for tonight we wanted Aidan to be warm. So he's sleeping in our bed and we'll have a nice cuddly and warm blanket to keep us resting comfortably tonight. Tomorrow the heat will be fixed and we'll probably never need the blanket again!



What a night. We were driving back from Target and people were outside taking pictures on cell phones like crazy. It made me wonder if the cell phone companies saw a spike in texting and pic sending tonight! Tomorrow morning we have 'late arrival' for the kids. We always do on Thursday mornings. From 7 to 9 the teachers are in meetings, so the kids stay home until then. Then we have periods 2, 4 and 6. This gives teachers and opportunity to plan and meet. And tomorrow it'll give students the chance to get out in their yards, have snowball fights and they are going to be pretty wild come 9 am!

Pearl Harbor Day

December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day. We should never forget our wounded and fallen veterans. Last Friday in AVID we were lucky to have Sargent Brown visit us and explain how the military benefits system for education works. I came across this website this weekend and thought it made a lot of sense to look into:

Wounded Warrior Project.org

How can you get involved? What can you do? According to the site they mention what just a few have done here:

One gentleman and his two friends took three days to walkover 130 miles from Miami, FL to Key West, FL, not as a fundraiser but to simply raise awareness for Wounded Warrior Project. Decked out in WWP shirts, with a flag, literature, and stickers, they spread the word to drivers and locals passing by. On their walk they did receive checks for WWP, but more importantly were able to let more people know that there are opportunities through WWP to help take care of these young men and women when they return severely injured from war.

Little things mean a lot. You can also buy some gear - like backpacks - at the site. Proceeds go to help our wounded warriors.

Want to meet some of our wounded warriors: Meet the Wounded Warriors

Have any ideas on what we can do to help?

YouniversityTV.com - Great resource

YouniversityTV.com -- It's a great resource of college information!

Party Time!

All the tutoring, questions, hard work, and studying have paid off. We had a chance to celebrate a bit last Monday. So let's relive a little of the fun...





Grades for the second six week's period were GREAT. So last Monday we enjoyed a party to celebrate everyone's hard work. It was a lot of fun.







Keep up the good work! The only grade that matters in your classes is the one that you will get at the end of the semester. So don't sit around and rest on your laurels. We have finals waiting for us that will be 20% of your grade. We need to start preparing now. Good luck! It's going to be even more fun to celebrate in January when those semester grades are in the book and look great!

Higher Education Woes

There is a problem with this economy, less money all around. As the stock market plunges, higher educational institutions are finding that money that is usually there is lacking.

How can it effect you?
*Money for grants and loans for school
*Money for funding of campus housing and books.

The video below documents what is happening at many schools right now:



What can you do? Start saving now. Start looking for scholarships now. Plan, Plan, Plan. Also, start to widen your search of possible schools. Maybe the economy will not be great when you have to chose a school. So you might have to look at some state schools, local schools, or community colleges.

Aidan Says Thanks for the Party Hat!

Thanks Lexus and 7th Period AVID I Freshmen!

We had a great party today in 7th period. So much fun. Pictures to come later.

Socratic Seminar - "Good Boy Beau"

Tomorrow we are going to be doing our first Socratic Seminar of the year. We are going to use our tutors to facilitate the discussion in small tutoring groups. The text I have chosen is a column by Anna Quinlen of Newsweek Magazine. It is about her old dog Beau. It is a touching article that dives into the meaning of what it is all about to live life to it's fullest and then realize life has a way of wearing us all down.

I am hoping the article can pose a few questions about all of our humanity and make us realize that life is to be lived to the fullest.

Anna Quinlen's "Good Boy, Beau. Stay."
Put a pork roast in the oven, and the guy still breathes as audibly as an obscene caller. The eyes and ears are gone, but the nose is eternal.
By Anna Quindlen | Newsweek Web Exclusive

excerpt: I once had an editor who hated dead-dog columns. (I did one anyway.) This is a live-dog column. It's a shame that obituaries and eulogies come only after people are gone and unable to appreciate them. How many times after a memorial service have you said of the deceased, "She would have loved it"? Rumor has it that certain celebs, knowing The New York Times writes important obits well in advance, have tried to get a peek at their own. The expressed rationale is fact-checking, but I suspect it has more to do with self-esteem. Beau, of course, will have no idea what is said about him. But he does seem to know that a laptop in its case near the front door means a trip to the country, which even now, gimpy as he is, sends him into a fandango.

The life of a good dog is like the life of a good person, only shorter, more compressed. Beau started off wild and crazy. My most enduring memory of his youth is of him galloping around the yard, purloined needlepoint yarn streaming from his mouth. One summer he was skunked three times and spent weeks studded with spines after indulging his taste for advanced decomposition by rolling on a dead porcupine. He did not learn to swim until he realized it was the only way to keep geese off the pond.

But he also ran with his master every morning, posed in front of the fireplace in winter in a recumbent position like an insurance ad, and suffered the addition of a female yellow Lab to the household six years ago. He stayed off the furniture and did not jump on guests. People admired his self-control, on the street and at dinner parties, although one New Year's Eve he was discovered with his muzzle buried to the ears in a bowl of chocolate truffles.

What did you think of the article and our first Socratic Seminar? Would you like to do more?

Sam Houston State University

On Monday November 3rd, Mr. Duez's sophomores will head up I-45 and visit Sam Houston State U. Thought I would post a few tidbits before our trip.

Sam Houston State University official site
Facts:
Enrollment of approximately 16,416
Average class size of 31 students
Faculty:student ratio of 1:20
Beautiful 272-acre main campus
Every office, classroom and residence hall room is equipped with a high speed Internet connection
Located only 70 miles from downtown Houston in Huntsville
Nickname: Bearkat Since the animal in the saying was thought more mythical than real, the spelling settled upon was "Bearkat."
Moto: "The measure of a Life is its Service."
Alma Mater:
Hail to Sam Houston, School we love best,
Mighty in battle, True to the test.
Bearkats so loyal, Ever we’ll be.
Orange and white Will lead us to victory!

Hail, Alma Mater Hats off to you,
Ever you'll find us Loyal and true;
Firm and undaunted Ever we'll be,
Here's to the school we love
Here's a toast to thee.

Bearkat Fight Song:
Fight, Fight, you Bearkats!
Fight on through!
We're here in back of you!
You know again we're here to win,
so fight on to the end.

Fight Fight Fight
Loyal we'll ever be and true to SHSU
We'll fight and fight with all our might
for Sam Houston's Orange and White.

2 Million Minutes - Controversy

We have watched 2 Million Minutes in class and the students are coming up with a good question for philosophical chairs.

What did you think AVID students? Is this a controversial documentary?


Educators comment at the end of this clip about the concept that America is behind India and China:


Are Indians not "well-rounded" when compared to Americans? Apoorva and Rohit offer their opinions.