Busy Week(s)

Last week was pretty interesting. My Speech students presented informative speeches--which were, of course, informative. I learned quite a bit about a variety of topics and thought that the students did a great job presenting their information. Everyone has improved so much over the course of this term. They've got a persuasive speech coming up in a couple of weeks--a 10-12 minute speech--that will be especially challenging. They've got to choose a topic (one that can be argued/debated), choose a side, do some research, create a visual or audio-visual aid, prepare the speech, and present the speech. The difficulty comes with the argument--basically, the persuasiveness of the speech. Topics last term ranged from "the use of steroids in baseball" to "women in the workplace." I'm sure this term's topics will be just as varied and interesting.

This is a busy week for me and several of my students. The Spring Play (The Importance of Being Earnest) will be performed on Thursday for the grade school and Friday and Saturday night for the public. The cast and crew have been working so hard for months--and their efforts are definitely paying off at practice. Josh Wall is in the lead role as Jack Worthing. There are a couple of *kissing* scenes--so the play should be a hoot. It's a romantic comedy--something I hope will appeal to a variety of people.

So, for the final update... Today might have been the funniest / silliest day of the whole year. As many of you know (because most readers are my students), my students have worked super-hard all year long. We haven't had many "fun" days or really any days off at all. We did manage to watch one whole film--but, as it was work-related, it wasn't considered a "fun" movie. Okay, back to the fun part... Last week, several of my students threatened to bring in Super Soakers in retaliation (for what, I don't know). I took the initiative and got my own water pistol (for a buck at DG). After Patrick and Brennen each hit me with a ball during Speech, I decided to put my water pistol to good use--effectively soaking most of the people in my English classes.

Unfortunately, today was payback time. My 7th hour students ganged up on me and soaked me with numerous water pistols. My hair was soaked, my shirt was dripping wet... It was hilarious. The funniest part, though: Brennen doing a slip-n-slide. Bwahahahahahaha!

At any rate, I'm so proud that I teach at St. Anthony. Not only are my students quite brilliant, they're just plain wonderful kids. You guys made my week!