Attention Please

Quite frankly, the only time I had all (well, who are we kidding? most) of the students' attention today was right at the end of the day (no joke), when I started showing them the movie "It's a Wonderful Life."

(Now, if you've never seen this movie, I honestly don't know what to say except get yourself to the nearest movie rental place or Netflix webpage and watch it right away. There is no excuse.)

It's true, I had my doubts about showing it to the class - it does have some serious issues like suicide contemplation, abusive drinking, bankruptcy, etc. at its heart - but I think this class needs to see it - and, to take it seriously. I know they can do it.

Funny thing, I don't usually show movies. In fact, last year's movie list consisted of "It's a Wonderful Life," 2 versions of "Oliver!" (the musical and the Disney cat/dog one) because we had done it for read aloud, "The Sound of Music" (there was no music class for awhile, and I needed a break), and maybe one or two more. So, when I show a movie, I make I figure I need to make it count. We'll see how this movie plays out the rest of the week...

As for the rest of the day, I don't think there's much I have to show for it, except for a small headache and quite a bit of frustration. The science lab was pretty cool, though, as we modeled the rock cycle with crayon shavings, going from sedimentary to metamorphic (using an iron) and finally to igneous (using a toaster). Just fascinating...

Here's praying that Tuesday brings a little more peace and quiet - if it's like this till Christmas break, I don't think I'll make it.