Tea Party Fun!

These pictures are from my Downton Abbey-themed birthday party at tea time at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee.  33 is my favorite number, so I wanted to do something special.  I was quite impressed with the outfits my family members came up with!

Verbal Irony TED-Ed Video

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-verbal-irony-christopher-warner

Field Trip to See "Ragtime" at the Milwaukee Rep

The MSL Composting Project: Year Two

This year's Writing Lab class is continuing the composting project started by the 2012-2013 class.  Thanks to the Hodels for taking care of our red wigglers over the summer!

Greek Theater

It's time to start Oedipus Rex!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNAM3PzGcow

The Future Site of the Hawks' Nest Little Library

Our Writing Lab class is excited to partner with the Kops Park Neighborhood Association to create a "Little Free Library" in our school's neighborhood.  This week, Ms. Jess Jones visited our class to listen to students explain our ideas and to offer some of her own.  She also generously offered to pay for the registration fee of our library to the Little Free Library organization.  We are working with Mr. Beason's third hour students who will construct the library, and we will be organizing a book drive in the coming months.  We have the go-ahead from our principal Mr. LaBonte, as well as from Alderman Jim Bohl of District 5. We plan to open by April 2014!

Below is a photo of our students receiving the check from Ms. Jones on the future site of the Little Library. 

Milwaukee Art Museum Field Trip 2013

We spent Thursday morning browsing the first and second floor galleries of the Milwaukee Art Museum, and then students spent an hour in the afternoon sitting in front of the painting of their choice, sketching and writing about the painting, taking time to really "see" and take in the artwork.

Brave Knights and Heroic Courage...Almost Time to Read Beowulf!

Borges' "La dicha"

La dicha

El que abraza a una mujer es Adán. La mujer es Eva.
Todo sucede por primera vez.
He visto una cosa blanca en el cielo. Me dicen que es la luna, pero qué puedo hacer con una palabra y con una mitología.
Los árboles me dan un poco de miedo. Son tan hermosos.
Los tranquilos animales se acercan para que yo les diga su nombre.
Los libros de la biblioteca no tienen letras. Cuando los abro surgen.
Al hojear el atlas proyecto la forma de Sumatra.
El que prende un fósforo en el oscuro está inventado el fuego.
En el espejo hay otro que acecha.
El que mira el mar ve a Inglaterra.
El que profiere un verso de Liliencron ha entrado en la batalla.
He soñado a Cartago y a las legiones que desolaron a Cartago.
He soñado la espada y la balanza.
Loado sea el amor en el que no hay poseedor ni poseída, pero los dos se entregan.
Loada sea la pesadilla, que nos revela que podemos crear el infierno.
El que desciende a un río desciende al Ganges.
El que mira un reloj de arena ve la disolución de un imperio.
El que juega con un puñal presagia la muerte de César.
El que duerme es todos los hombres.
En el desierto vi la joven Esfinge, que acaban de labrar. Nada hay antiguo bajo el sol.
Todo sucede por primera vez, pero de un modo eterno.
El que lee mis palabras está inventándolas.

-- Jorge Luis Borges

---

Joy

He who embraces a woman is Adam. The woman is Eve.
Everything happens for the first time.
I have seen a white thing in the sky. They tell me it's the moon, but what can I do with a word and a mythology.
The trees frighten me a bit. They are so beautiful.
The calm animals come near for me to tell them their names.
The books in the library have no letters. When I open them, they come up.
When I peruse the atlas I project the shape of Sumatra.
He who lights a match in the dark is inventing fire.
In the mirror there's someone else lurking.
He who looks at the sea sees England.
He who utters a verse by Liliencron has entered the battle.
I have dreamed Carthage and the legions that devastated Carthage.
I have dreamed the sword and the scales.
Praised be the love in which there is no possessor or possessed, but the two surrender themselves.
Praised be the nightmare, which reveals to us that we can create hell.
He who comes down to a river comes down to the Ganges.
He who watches a sand clock sees the dissolution of an empire.
He who plays with a knife foretells the death of Caesar.
He who sleeps is all men.
In the desert I saw the young Sphinx, that they just finished carving. There's nothing old under the sun.
Everything happens for the first time, but in an eternal fashion.
He who reads my words is inventing them.

http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/nyh/bokuchi/lng/corpus/ladicha.html

Some Reasons to Travel

"Facts That Will Make You Want to Travel"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEfPzNS3Shg

http://genesisworldtravel.com/

These Words Make Me Happy

FERNWEH (noun-German): a craving for travel; being homesick for a place you've never been.

MERAKI (verb-Greek): to do something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into your work.

Enjoy more here: http://imgur.com/gallery/8Fy0D

Pay Attention

Today on Facebook, author Anne Lamott cited a great passage on the connection between literature and paying attention from Frederick Buechner's Whistling in the Dark:

"From the simplest lyric to the most complex novel and densest drama, literature is asking us to pay attention.  Pay attention to the frog.  Pay attention to the west wind.  Pay attention to the boy on the raft, the lady in the tower, the old man on the train.  In sum, pay attention to the world and all that dwells therein and thereby learn at last to pay attention to yourself and all that dwells within."

"Prove them wrong."

This video focuses on how we can overcome our disabilities by using our abilities.


Link:There's no dishonor in having a disability

"Where is home?"

Glorious TED talk by Pico Iyer called "Where is home?"

 
http://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_where_is_home.html?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button__2013-07-17

Stepping Stone School of Horsemanship

My family toured the Stepping Stone School of Horsemanship in Franksville, WI, yesterday to check out opportunities for service-learning for my Writing Lab students and for my husband's fifth graders this school year.  The farm offers equine therapy, riding lessons, and team-building activities.  For those of you who live in the Milwaukee area, Stepping Stone director Lia Sader would be happy to share more information with you about this great place for both horses and people! http://www.steppingstonefarms.org/ssf/index.php