UIL weekend

UIL trips and Buc-ee's go hand in hand. Next year, we should probably forgo having t-shirts made and just wear the beaver ones.

Congrats to Nancy, Karina, Emily, and Bianca on a great season. We'll miss you guys next year, for sure!

Class away from class

Metz, Nancypants, Bianca, and Yoali take their make-up exam at Starbucks tonight. Not pictured, but also present: Claudia, Brian, and Willy.

Let's just have class there the rest of the year.

Public service announcement

I'm not going to lie. When preparing for tonight's tutorial, I wasn't sure where to begin. Prepping for Friday Night Writes took no thought at all. I just sat there and sliced up your papers with you.

Some AP materials I ordered a while back arrived on Wednesday like manna from Heaven, complete with 20 ready-made lessons. And better yet, they are good lessons I don't have to tweak.

So I want to brag on my first five guinea pigs: Lupe, Bianca O., Nayeri, Sami D., and The Uriel. We had such a great time dissecting stuff on the cafeteria deck that the first time we checked the time, we'd gone ten minutes over.

I'm expecting about eight folks Sunday night at Starbucks and am really looking forward to it. If you want to add yourself to the list, just let me know so I have enough copies. Not turning anyone away. Am also not paying for your frappucinos. :D

In other news, if you haven't had a chance to see Mrs. Benavidez on Channel 2's segment today, watch this video. "Amazing" doesn't begin to cover it.

Good luck to everyone doing the MS-150 tomorrow! My thoughts will be with you. I'll put a mile in at the pool tomorrow in long-distance support. Enjoy your three-day weekend, lucky ducks.

Tutorial schedule

We have less than a month. You are required to attend at least one of these sessions. Any more than that, and it's all extra credit and warm, fuzzy feelings.

I'll give you a calendar tomorrow in class, but in case you lose it....

Friday, April 16: Room 7, 5 - 6 p.m.

Sunday, April 18: Starbucks on Rowlett Road (near Wal-Mart, the closest one to school), 6 - 8 p.m.

Wednesday, April 21: Room 7, 2:15 - 3:45 p.m.

Saturday, May 1: Starbucks, 10 - noon

Thursday, May 6: Starbucks, 5 - 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 8: Antonio's (6325 Lyons), 10 - noon. Because God forbid I stab Sussy in the heart!

Triplets

Happy Birthday, Alex and Gloria!

April blood drive

This blood drive was our sixth one since January 2009. It also marked the 1,000th life saved by Wizard donors. I couldn't be prouder of those of you who helped out. We had an enormous turnout today; I'm pretty sure it was a record number.

Over 50 percent of the senior class turned out, almost one-third of the junior class, and 20 sophomores came out for their first donation today.

Mrs. Johnson gave for the first time ever and was a champ!


Jesus shows off his purple armband, re: status symbol.


Eliud and Yesii are beasts!


Martin and Olga representing the Class of 2011:



And my favorite moment of the day was from the Delgado siblings. I must recreate the conversation that took place in my classroom this afternoon.

While discussing Shakespeare's malapropisms, the door opens.

Jesse: Did you faint?

Sami (across the room): Jesse, we're in class!

Jesse: Did you faint? I heard you fainted.

Rayburn: Come in and see her, Jesse.

Jesse crosses the room and talks to his sister: I fainted, too.

And then tough chica Sami D got teary and hugged her little brother. I had to take a picture. She wouldn't pose. We were all touched.

They are both fine, and they saved six lives today. The Delgados are rock stars.

Extra credit opportunity

April is National Poetry Month. We haven't had much of a chance to look at poems this year, other than our war unit, although I do plan to spend some time on them in May.

If you were unhappy with your progress report today, or if you just want to share some poetry with the world, here's what you can do:

Find a poem you really love. Perhaps you've already run across it in your life. For me, one of my favorites is Gary Soto's "Ode to El Molcajete." I'll share it with you in morning meeting tomorrow.

You should share your favorite poem in a morning meeting sometime this month. In my ideal world, we'd have a different someone shar a different poem every day. You'll read it nicely and clearly so everyone can understand. We'll listen seriously and clap for you if you do a nice job. We'll probably clap for you even if you do a crummy job. But you won't do a crummy job.

Email or FB me if you're interested, and I'll put you on the schedule.