Simplify, Simplify

Random Awards of Awesome

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:31:29 -0500

Period 1 (Journalism) wins the award for best inquiries. There are a few people who are asking important people amazing questions. Made my day.

Period 2 wins for best sonnets. Super impressive. Made my day.

Period 3 wins for best discussions and best questions. Made my day.

Period 5 wins for making me laugh with borderline inappropriate sonnets and Sweat Jar Avenue.

Period 6 wins for best cafe-like atmosphere with finger snap applauses and love-infused poems.

Today was one of the best all-around days I’ve had in a while.

Christmas cheer!

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 17:06:55 -0500

Christmas cheer!

:)

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:32:14 -0500

A nice reminder for the holiday season. Thanks, Yogi Tea. :)

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 14:19:30 -0500

A nice reminder for the holiday season. Thanks, Yogi Tea. :)

ameliawordsworth: curiousquail: Please Help! We’re in the...

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:05:09 -0500

ameliawordsworth:

curiousquail:

Please Help! We’re in the finalists to open for The Shins, Jack White, Of Monsters and Men, Metric and Gaslight Anthem. You can vote once per day!

Vote Here on a Computer
Vote Here on a Phone!
Facebook Group

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE GUYS

THIS IS MY OLD ENGLISH TEACHER’S HUSBAND’S BAND. THEY ARE SO RAD. PLEASE VOTE. GO SAN JOSE BASED BANDS PLEASE <3

Two things:

1. Yes, please vote. They are quite rad. You can vote every day.

2. Ann is the best. :)

Getting ready for my first timed 5k tomorrow! I am also going...

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 23:58:12 -0500

Getting ready for my first timed 5k tomorrow!

I am also going to try to get there early to cheer on Ms. Stubbe and Mrs. Wygant as they take on the 10k!

What an awesome way to start off Thanksgiving!

please-remind-me: Johnny Cash, when asked for his definition of...

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:58:37 -0400

please-remind-me:

Johnny Cash, when asked for his definition of paradise.

Student recommendations

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:45:48 -0400

One of the perks of teaching high school is that kids know what’s funny. And they tell you. And you watch whatever they tell you. And they laugh.

One of my awesome seniors (hi, Lloyd!) let me borrow Mean Girls because I hadn’t seen it before. I was a bit skeptical, mainly because it stars Lindsay Lohan, and, well, need I say more? But when the opening credits started and I saw “a Lorne Michaels production,” I was intrigued. Then I saw Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, and the guy who plays the janitor on Scrubs, and I knew I was in good shape. It was awesome and funny.

Another senior had made an It’s Always Sunny reference in class that I hadn’t recognized, and he said, “You have to watch that episode! It’s so funny!” Joey randomly purchased Season 7 yesterday, so I watched that episode- Chardee and MacDennis: The Game of Games. The reference Drew made in class was that someone would have to eat a cake, but one ingredient at a time. It was indeed so funny, and might be my new favorite episode. It’s tough to top the Nightman musical episode, or the intervention episode, or the World Series Defense episode, but this one is up there for sure.

Thanks, kids!

jrsdphotography: My little rock star. I had so much fun at...

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:38:30 -0400

jrsdphotography:

My little rock star.

I had so much fun at Echo’s birthday party yesterday. :)

“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid...

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:09:13 -0400

“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.” — Anne Lamott

Some people aren’t very smart. Stay in school, kids.

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:50:07 -0400

Some people aren’t very smart. Stay in school, kids.

"I guess the real metaphor is not you-can-only-make-stuff-if-people-hold-you-up; the real metaphor..."

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:37:59 -0400

“I guess the real metaphor is not you-can-only-make-stuff-if-people-hold-you-up; the real metaphor here is that together-things-happen-that-can-never-happen-alone, which is a very important thing for an introverted and socially anxious person like me to realize. I guess these days this is a politically charged statement, but it seems to me manifestly true: You make nothing alone. Human beings are not mere competitors, and human life is not merely competition. We are collaborators. To be human is to catch the falling person.”

- John Green (via bakazaru7)

"If we lose great teachers, we lose a great society."

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:35:18 -0400

“If we lose great teachers, we lose a great society.”

- Debbie Padilla, principal of Ann Sobrato High School

I invited Ms. Padilla in to my journalism class for a press conference. My journalism students had amazing questions prepared for her, and she happily answered them honestly and thoroughly. Many of her answers were touching, but this one really struck me.

Dear students who made me smile today,

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:22:03 -0400

Thanks. It was a tough one.

Also, talking to students about books and helping students who don’t often read find a book they’re interested in is easily the highlight of my week.

Wear pink tomorrow!

"My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations."

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:13:34 -0400

“My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations.”

- Augustus, The Fault in Our Stars (via alexandsebring)

So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:23:42 -0400

So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do.

—Dead Poets Society

Einstein and his therapist. “Happiness in intelligent people is...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:22:44 -0400

Einstein and his therapist. “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” -Hemingway

I love how often this shows up on my dash. :)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:38:39 -0400

I love how often this shows up on my dash. :)

So it's been a while ...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:15:57 -0400

I haven’t updated since school started, and I’ve had a few students who have asked why.

The easy answer: I’m busy!

The real answer: There are reasons this school year is already sad, and I haven’t wanted to write about them.

So I won’t. Yet.

If you’re one of my students and are wondering why I have a Tumblr, I have a short explanation. I was going to use it as a way to add to stuff we’re doing in class. I wanted to link to current events and resources that would help in class. Then I figured out how to make a Google site. Then over the summer I learned how to make my own website. So now my Tumblr is just an online place to connect with you and other like-minded people.

My favorite people on Tumblr are John Green and his brother Hank Green. They’re known as the Vlogbrothers on youtube, and I just love them. John is one of my favorite authors, and Hank explains science in a way that inspires and excites non-sciencey people like myself. What I love about them both is the fact that they love identifying as nerds, and they encourage teenagers to be proud of the fact that they are smart. To enjoy their thirst for knowledge. To not be ashamed that they know stuff and want to know more. It’s crazy to me that teenagers actually tease other teenagers for being smart. It’s so easy to see that it’s their own insecurities talking, but that’s another post for another day.

I follow other authors like Maureen Johnson (she’s especially hilarious on Twitter) and Neil Gaiman (or I used to, can’t find the link). Also authors I have read and adore.

I reblog a lot of John Green quotes and gifs from his and Hank’s Vlogbrothers videos. I follow a lot of people who watch Doctor Who, but I don’t watch it, so that’s awkward.

I’m also part of the #education community, so sometimes I reblog other teachers and funny or poignant things they have to say about their classes.

My Tumblr may be boring to you, so don’t feel obligated to follow. But every now and then, I might not be able to resist the urge to share something funny someone said in class. Or how sad I was during the second half of the football game on Friday. I mean, wow. The first half was just so exciting! And then …

Sometimes, as you can see if you read a few posts back, my Tumblr where I share my feelings about what’s going on at our school. Last year was hard for many of us. I doubt there’s one student who was at the school last year who wasn’t affected by one of the tragic events. I know there isn’t a teacher who wasn’t. We keep telling ourselves that this year has to be better, but it’s already hard. I see it in my students. I see it in the teachers.

What I love about our school is the community. Students come to Sobrato every day to a support system. To administrators and campus supervisors who help them, watch them, protect them, and keep them in check. They come to school and see many teachers who care about them and many teachers who are happy to be there. They talk to counselors who know what they need and help the students get it. They come to Sobrato to rise above the sadness. To grow from it and move on from it. Not forgetting what has happened, but knowing that moving on and growing up is the right direction.

I’m happy to be back at Sobrato this year, and I hope you are too. :)

"I got dumped when I was, like, twenty-two and it was really devastating to me and I said to someone..."

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:48:07 -0400

“I got dumped when I was, like, twenty-two and it was really devastating to me and I said to someone I cared about, ‘I don’t understand why this hurts so much,’ and she said, ‘It hurts because it mattered,’ and that was a huge thing for me to realize—that these, y’know, there are things in life that hurt and they hurt because they were important and as you say, it’s a real loss and one that needs to be grieved.”

- John Green (via just-andy)