Well, most of today was a disaster. I secured the "laptop cart" that contains 30 MacBooks for my kids to use on the quasi-webquest they are doing this week and next.

- First, the roofers made the classroom atmosphere a very accurate reproduction of that hotels.com commercial where the husband is trying to talk to his wife over the sound of jackhammers.

-Secondly, there was something wrong this morning with our Apple network. During my first period class, only 25% of my laptops were able to connect.

Arrrrrgh! (Insert image of Charlie Brown beating head against the wall.)

This situation improved only slightly during my second and third period classes. Somehow, someway things got better during my fifth and sixth periods, and then went totally south during seventh period.

On the up side, I thought to include the link to a geography game in my links. The kids loved it, and it served as a great informal pre-assessment. I love when kids are learning and they don't know it, but then they like that too. :) "Mr. Dickinson! I got three out of twelve countries right!" "Well, it sounds like you have some work to do, play it again." "Oh, can I? Really?" "Yes, play it till you get 12/12 twice in a row." "Sweet! Thanks Mr. D.!" THAT was the good part of my day.

I just got through grading an assignment I gave the kids earlier. During my previous unit on Mexico they watched a film in which they showed the "Day of the Dead". I explained that to them (my students) the ritual may seem strange, but in reality it wasn't, and that when you get to thinking about it we all have rituals. I had them write and describe two rituals that they observe, and explain why it is important to them. In the end, I wanted them to come away with an appreciation that everybody and all cultures have things that are important to them. The advantage for me, as their teacher, was it allowed me a window into their lives that I would not have otherwise. In reading their responses, I learned a great deal about them. Some were very moving and sweet. Some were . . . . well how do I put this . . . well, let's just say there are some things you don't want to know. :o Seriously though, I liked doing this, and I think that for most, it caused them to reflect on their lives and examine what was important to them and why.