Our writing, on Wednesday, took a turn for the dark side.
I displayed a picture on the SMART Board while students wrote with the lights off.
These "special" few minutes inspired students to write.

Remember, I will be out of the classroom, this Thursday and Friday, due to my involvement as a delegate for the Missouri State Teachers Association.  I will travel to Columbia, Missouri, after school, Wednesday, and return home, Friday.  While attending the meetings, I will address a number of state education issues, voting as a representative of the membership of Joplin teachers, and attend breakout sessions for professional development.  My concern is always for my students to represent themselves respectfully and responsibly in my absence.  Parents, please emphasize the importance of proper behavior in the presence of a substitute teacher.  I appreciate it.

Take three and a half minutes to watch this video:

Four Hoggatteers were honored on this past rainy Tuesday.  Congratulations to these four who scored at the Proficient or Advanced level on their third grade MAP test in Communication Arts and/or Mathematics.

At the same time, it was amazing to see 12 fifth graders representing the Hoggatteer legacy at this event, as well as a number of wonderful middle school students.

I am in the process of editing and revising my new novel, Out of the Wind.  Since I enjoy writing, it is often a way for me to deal with stress.  I also get to sort through a variety of emotions by writing characters in intense and trying situations.

In this nearly 300-page book, I explore the tornado that swept through Joplin on May 22, 2011.  I wrote the book in first person, but with five people telling their own version of what is happening.  I also utilized present-tense voices in order to draw the reader into the situation. (A preview is available on my Hoggatt the Author site.)

I have read parts of the story in class, in order to get students to see the difference between editing and revising.  I show them where I have deleted entire chapters, rearranged the timeline, and added or removed characters to help the story flow better.

The first narrator is a high school junior named Carly.  She just watched her boyfriend pick up his diploma at graduation, and she is about to drive home, when she hears the storm sirens.

Another character is her friend Madison.  Madison is sort of the anti-Carly and has a completely different outlook on life.  She considers the sirens to be just another overreaction by the weather people.

A ten-year-old girl named Hailey is at home when the power goes out.  Her family hunkers down in the hallway of their house as she worries about her dad getting home safely from Wal-Mart.

A boy from Carl Junction, William, rides in a pickup truck with his grandfather behind the wheel, when he spots a lump lying in a nearby ditch.  Considering the storm that just passed, he wonders if the lump might be a storm victim.

The fifth character, Mark, is a young paramedic who takes interest in two boys who have suddenly been thrust into a very imperfect world.

In the background is the account of one church's response to the tragedy.  The church's building provides a central hub for many of he characters as they interact with members of the community and volunteers from outside of Joplin.

This is a story that has not been widely told.  It is a fictionalize version of the many accounts I myself witnessed and was a part of.

I still have some work to do, but hopefully I will be able to make it available for purchase within the next few weeks.  I hope, through my own enthusiasm for the art of writing, I can instill enthusiasm in my students.

When we break apart the skills involved in reading comprehension, we are constantly amazed at how many skills there really are.  We use the same skills when we watch TV shows, listen to music, and view advertisements.

They are everywhere:  in magazines, in newspapers, on the radio, at the movie theater, and on television.  It is important that we protect ourselves from marketing "tricks", which are intended to "hook" the viewers/readers/
listeners.  Perhaps the product is cheaply made.  Maybe it isn't as it appears.  Is it worth the price?  Is it something you need?  Let's dive right in to a commercial and hone our reading skills along the way.

The commercial below is for a product we all know - sugar.

What a day!  Students were quite energetic from the very beginning, and Mr. Gweedle reports that several did not take him seriously.  Some were even reported as calling him a nerd.  While I agree, that Eddie can be different, and maybe even a little odd, it is simply not acceptable that my students would call him, or any other human being, names.  I guess I will address that, tomorrow morning, when I return to the classroom (Students will learn the parts of a friendly letter, during writing time, and write a letter of apology to my friend.).