Hi Folks.
This page is a sorta info center for my students.
Mr. Seezen's Choppin' Blog
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Greetings from the United Parking-lots of America.
The flight was smooth enough, except for the fact that they only movie they showed was that crappy one with Queen Latifa and Steve Martin. Nothing against those two personally except that they agreed to do the movie. It degrades humanity on so many different level. And seeing Queen Latifah's big fat legs over and over was too much.
This is my final entry for a while. At least my final entry written from Dresden for two months.
IMPORTANT note for those few students who for one reason or another took a final exam in Mr Schubert's class instead of in mine, click on "more".
Flying to Nashville today. I'd love to stick around, but I have a wedding to go to, a newborn nephew to meet, and a 10 year highschool reunion to attend.
The way things go with English teaching, there's not a lot of takers in the Summer. And while I could try to get with a band and go on tour, as I have done in the past, experience taught me that people don't care so much for indoor venues in the Summer.
So 'tis off to Nashville. I'll work in an office with a tie, do some data entry, and hang out with my old college buddies and reminisce about how great it was to be a student. But I digress...
Just so you know, I've sent in all test and Vortrag notes. Only one student remains missing as far as Vortrag note, and he's been notified. But as mentioned above, those who tested with Kay click on more. [more]
Hey everybody, Claudia and I are having a party. If you are reading this, you are invited.
Click "more" for more.
In case you were wondering about the future of this here section of Seeznet--I know I am--then rest "assured". I think I will keep updating it with stuff, and continue to write the blog. But since the semester let out, I think I will take it down a notch and post less frequently.
But may be now would be a good time for me to start putting more informative stuff up on the site, as was the original idea yet sort of got sidelined by other stuff. Oops.
That's all for this here semester, kiddies. Thank you all, you've been a great crowd.
Some of you didn't seem to understand the system as to how I was to tell you what grade you got. I had my reasons for doing things that way, but who cares. SO, if you did a Vortrag this semester, but for some reason did not learn what you grade was, but would like to, then click on the fuzzy teddy bear button to the left. Send me your name and matrikel no.
And if anyone out there has any question about your "Schein" or why your presentation grade was so low and what to do about it, follow suit. Drop me a line.
Today is also the birthday of Woody Guthrie, boxcar hoppin' Okie Dustbowl Bard, hero of the common man and more than a few rockstars to boot. He wrote This Land Was Made For You And Me (originally titled God Blessed America) because he hated Irving Berlin's God Bless America. I particularly like one of the lesser known verses:
Was a high wall there that tried to stop me A sign was painted said: Private Property, But on the back side it didn't say nothing -- [God blessed America for me.] This land was made for you and me.
Here's a recent article about Woody, Bob, the Folkies, and the times that are ever a-changin'.
Anyways, on a different note, Guess the Dictator or Sit-Com Character is a fun little site which guesses the Sitcom character you are thinking of by posing yes-or-no questions... Boole would be so pround. I was impressed. It guessed correctly my character--Rochester, Jack Benny's cheeky manservant--in about fifteen guesses. Seeing as most of my students never heard about stuff from the seventies, like Styx or Christopher Cross or Boston, they probable have never heard of the penny pinching Jack Benny of the 40's. So here's a tidbit to make you sound in the know: Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Elmer Fudd, Porky, Tweety, Captain Caveman, was a regular feature on Jack's show.
It's always a real treat to sit down and grade a hundred tests, particularly when you yourself thought up the questions. There are lots of little surprises, like, "oh, that question was too hard" or "oh, that question was too easy", or better still, "ha ha! I knew everyone would get that question right," or "tricked ya! Not feeling so smart now, are we, Mister know-it-all?" Of course I'm being facetious. But it is indeed surprising what turns out to be too easy and too hard.
Writing good test questions is hard, man. After all, that's why those standardized tests involve enormous panels of knowlegable stiffs to poke and sniff every single question submitted by the hundreds and hundreds of educators who yearn to write just one time a question good enough to be included in said tests.
Anyways, I thinks I'll have my L1 kids try them out on monday so as to have one more frame o' reference before adjusting the curve.
Guys and gals, I am so sick and tired of hearing my students mispronounce the word "developer". No matter how many times I tell em, they always say "devil-loper". Ooooh that makes me so mad...
Fortunately, my good friend Steve Ballmer put together this highly educational music video which will surely straighten out my little guys once and for all as to how the word "developer"--or rather "developers"-- is pronounced. Right click to save!
I visited Kulturinsel Einsiedel with Claudia, our friend Jana, her 12 year old daughter and two of her little friends. It's a huge adventure playground right on the most-eastern part of the German border. The experience was extremely enriching, but I will have to fill in the details another time. I'm exhausted. But I will say that 1) the earthy vibe was invigorating even despite the fact that 2) our short trip from Dresden was pockmarked--nay--pot-holed with Pech.
Apparently the new Harry Potter book is selling like hotcakes-- in English.
Where this might be considered newsworthy to HP fans, or delightful for that embarassingly immature group of people known as "Frog Bashers", one part stood out to me:
Rowling shocked her young fans when she hinted that Harry Potter could face mortal peril and be killed off. One young fan asked her whether she planned to write books about an adult Harry. She said: "You have to wait and see whether he survives to be a grown-up.
Oh, come on now Sister. You are richer than the Queen. There's no need to have to frighten the crap out of little kids just to sell even more books. Of course Harry will make it to adulthood. Then he'll grow a beard, get a beerbelly and move to Paris to write serious poetry. Then he'll die.
Here's another smart-ass kid to help me feel bad about myself. He's working on Phds in four different fields, and then wants to be the president. Which is good, because being a genius does seem to be prerequisite number one for getting that job.
Of course, in case you have a kid who gives you crap by throwing the goat or smoking a jay or generally has been getting uppity ever since your divorce, worry no more! It's a great read.
