If you were a cartoon character, who would you be, and why? Insert a picture or a video of your cartoon doppelganger.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
I would be Lois Griffin from Family Guy. I used to have the same haircut as she does, a bob, and my friends think I have the same sloping nose. It's okay with me because I kind of love her.
2. Inessential or unrelated to the topic or matter at hand; irrelevant.
Extraneous means that it's something extra, something not 100% necessary, something that could be thinned out or pared down quite a bit. The guy in the video is great at adding extraneous lyrics to popular songs and singing them perfectly to the beat. We're going to do the same thing with some of our favorite songs.
Choose a song you like - it must be a song you can find the lyrics to online (so it can't be a song you made up or one with indiscernible lyrics). Use AZLyrics or MetroLyrics to find the song. Then copy and paste the lyrics into your blog - TWICE. Once to show the Original Lyrics, and another time for you to show the new, improved Extraneous Lyrics. Use at least 1 verse or 1 chorus. You can use the Thesaurus to look for other words that mean the same thing. This is sort of like what Weird Al Yankovich does, but you also want to use really long, big words.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
Song: Britney Spears Till The World Ends
Original Lyrics:
This kitten got your tongue tied in knots I see
Spit it out cuz im dying for company
I notice that you got it
You notice that I want it
You know that I can take it to the next level ba-by!
If you want this good sh*t
Sicker than the remix
Baby let me blow your mind tonight
Extraneous Lyrics:
This offspring of a feline has that muscle in your mouth with the tastebuds on it twisted I can view with my eyes,
Say what you want to say because I'm about to expire because I'm lonely,
I acknowledge that you have possession of it
You acknowledge that I desire it
You are aware that I can elevate it to the higher plane, young child
Last night, President Barack Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden, the head of Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, had been killed and that the American forces had possession of his body. This ended a search that some thought might never end.
Think back to September 11, 2001. What do you remember about that day? How old were you? It was a Tuesday, so most of us were at school or on the way to school. Do you remember how you felt? Do you remember hearing a lot about it, or was it just another day? Tell about your day on September 11, 2001.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
I was a sophomore in college, and since it was the beginning of the year, my roommate and I had not gotten the cable connected yet. My mom called to wake me up after the first tower had been hit. Or maybe after it fell. I remember listening to the coverage on the radio through static and hearing coverage of the second tower falling, and everyone realizing that this wasn't anaccident. Everyone was terribly sad and very afraid. Many people went to donate blood that ended up not being needed because no one who was at Ground Zero lived.
Watch the video Ostrich Attacks Kid on Pony. What was your most memorable experience with an animal, as a child or recently?
Ms. Davis's Answer:
My best animal memory was when a group of my friends and I took a road trip up to Oklahoma the summer after graduation. There were 2 cars full of us, and we went up to Turner Falls one day, and then to Arbuckle Wilderness, the drive-through petting zoo, the next day. We were in a small car, and our friends were in an open-top jeep behind us as we drove through the park. You could buy feed and the animals would come right up to your car and you could feed them. Mostly it was deer, ostriches, emus, and pretty docile animals, but there were signs everywhere about the zebras. "Do Not Feed The Zebras! They Bite!" They really were everywhere. About halfway through the park, there was a little hut where you could buy more feed if you already fed all the greed emus along the way, so as we are stopped, I lean out the window and yell back to my friend Jimmy in the Jeep behind us "This lady says the zebras are really sweet and we should try to feed them if we can!"
Fast forward to 3 minutes later when Jimmy gets nipped on his hand by a zebra. Hilarious. Why would he listen to me when there were signs everywhere? And the lady selling the feed didn't say anything even though she heard what I said. Ha ha.
Watch the video of Lil Buck improvising to world famous cellist Yo Yo Ma at an event to bring arts back into schools. Do you think this qualifies as 'art'? Sure, it is neat to watch, but what does this add to the quality of our lives? Some might say it doesn't put food on the table. Do you think arts should be emphasized more now in schools? Why or why not?
Ms. Davis's Answer: I think that the benefits of arts education are not so easily quantified by "what does this add to our lives?" and "how will this pay the bills?" Watching the unbelievable motions the human body (something everyone possesses) is capable of is mind-altering in a way that learning the geography of the US is not, and vice versa. Since feelings and ideas and thoughts are not tangible, people can overlook their value, but it exists nonetheless.
Watch the video of the President of the Czech Republic stealthily slipping the commemorative pen into his pocket. Pretty funny. It's only a pen, right?
Have you ever stolen something, and what did you steal? Do you think it matters how big the item is that you steal? Did you end up getting caught? If you got caught, what was your punishment? Do you regret that you stole?
Ms. Davis's Answer:
I stole a cookies 'n' cream ice cream sandwich in the lunch line in 2nd grade. When I got to the front of the line, the lunch lady asked me about it, and I gave it to her. I was SO embarrassed and super worried about what my parents would do. This was on a Friday, and the teacher sent home a note about it for my parents to sign, and I waited the whole long, worrisome weekend before finally confessing on Sunday night. I don't even remember what my punishment was. I think my mom probably knew that I had punished myself more than she ever could already. I do regret that I stole because I could have just asked my mom for a quarter for ice cream. I have no idea why not. I think that even though a thief is a thief, obviously the theft of something very valuable is worse than stealing an ice cream.
Watch the video Best Friends Forever about the orangutan and the hound dog who were instant best friends. Think about your best friend. It can be your current best friend, or someone you were best friends with a long time ago, and it doesn't even have to be a human being (remember, the orangutan and the dog weren't the same species). What is their name? How did you meet him or her? Tell 3 things you like about this person. Tell 3 things you like to do together. What is one way you wish you were more like them?
Ms. Davis's Answer: Marcus was my best friend when I lived in Korea. We were instant best friends like the animals in the video. We met in Seoul on our first weekend in Korea at New Teacher Orientation. Marcus is from North Carolina and is really funny. He's a brilliant beat-poet and well-liked by everyone. He is great with a microphone in his hand. We did everything together (no - we were not dating at all), met up for dinners with friends, traveled to Thailand with another one of our friends, and we wrote his stand-up comedy routine together. I wish I was as bold and brave as Marcus is - he can command people's attention onstage and I have always had stage-fright. That's probably why I like him so much, because I admire him.
Watch the video Mommy's Nose Is Scary. The baby is adorably scared of the sound of his mom blowing her nose. What is something you were scared of as a baby? Maybe you had little brothers and sisters who are scared of funny things. If so, tell about those.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
When I was little, I can't remember being scared of much, but my little sister was deathly afraid of spiders. We had this rubber spider toy with wiggly legs, about the size of your hand, and we would torture her with it. She was only like 1 or 2 years old. How terrible! I hope she has forgiven me by now. :)
You can find the Leprechaun news video and the Leprechaun rap song in the JDavis2/Videos folder.
Watch the video of the Mobile, AL residents who believe there is a leprechaun in their town. This video went viral in 2006, and was one of the first viral videos to spawn a spoof song. What is your favorite thing about the video? Who is the craziest person? What is the craziest superstition that you believe in or that someone you know believes in?
Ms. Davis's Answer: My favorite person in the video is the guy who has the flute that's "thousands of years old", passed down to him by his great, great grandfather (100's of years old, maybe) who was Irish. And the lady who thinks it's a crackhead. I can't think of any crazy superstitions... I kind of all think they're all crazy. :)
Rebecca Black became an overnight sensation with her cheesy song Friday, after the song appeared on Tosh.0. It has spawned several spoof videos Conan's here, and now after being the butt of the joke for barely a week, people are showing her support, and she has become sort of a underdog hero.
People mock the song for its terrible, mundane lyrics and for her nasal voice. Here are some of the lyrics:
We could write better lyrics than this in one class period. So, that is what we are going to do. You can use the tune and the layout of the lyrics above, but change words strategically to make them about your Friday. Write at least 1 Verse and one Chorus.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
6am, waking up in the morning Gotta get cute gotta fix my hair Gotta have my giant Sonic Coke Seein' every kid, their shirts untucked Make them tuck 'em in, "Don't be tardy!" Gotta make it through just 3 more classes, Gotta show 'em how to crop Clipart (or Pictures)
It's Friday, Friday, teaching BIM on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend It's Friday, Friday, teaching BIM on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Antoine Dodson became an internet sensation last summer after this video, and a subsequent music video revolving around the incident, went viral. This is a serious story that took a twist into humorous territory, and the Dodson family ended up making so much money off iTunes sales of the Bed Intruder Song that they were able to move out of the projects.
Have you ever heard the expression "All's well that ends well"? What do you think it means? Do you think it's true? Can you think of any examples in your life where all was well that ended well?
Ms. Davis's Answer:
To me, "all's well that ends well" means that even if some bad things happened, in the end, the good outweighed the bad. Or that you tend to think about something positively if the whole thing ended well, ignoring the bad parts. I think it is true, definitely, especially because I always do try to look at things positively. One example of "All's well that ends well" is when I went to the beach for the 4th of July a few years ago, and it rained the whole weekend, but my friends and I had so much fun together, goofing around doing other indoor things that I didn't consider the whole trip a loss.
Schadenfreude - a German word that means pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. Pronunciation here.
Watch the video Charlie Bit My finger. This was overwhelmingly the video that got the most suggestions on the blog from last class. Even as a baby, Charlie gets a giggle when his brother screams in pain. Can you think of a time when you have felt happiness from someone else's pain or injury? Think about someone you don't like. If something bad happened to him or her, how would that make you feel? Does it matter how much you dislike the person, or how bad the thing is that happens?
Ms. Davis's Answer: I really do try to never have the feeling of schadenfreude, although sometimes I do feel that people get what's coming to them. I guess if I feel like someone deserves for a bad thing to happen, I feel a sense of justice when it does. But really, who am I to judge? Of course, if it is someone truly evil, I will cheer for their unhappiness. Or if my team's rival loses a game to someone else, I will still be happy.
Viral Video: A video clip on the internet, often humerous, that moves from person to person via email and websites, like a virus.
For the rest of the year, we will have a "Video of the Day" that we'll blog about. These videos should be less than 5 minutes long, and I will create the blog topics. I know it can be hard for you to find things on the internet because of the school's filters, but if you know of a video you've seen before, put it in your post. These can be funny, inspirational, scary, sad, or crazy. I will be the judge of whether or not the videos are appropriate, so please don't waste my time with videos I'm not going to show the class. Unless they're really hilarious.
Please give me as many as you can come up with. :)
The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate. -Douglas Engelbart
What is your most embarrassing moment? Or, if it's too terrible to share, tell one about a friend, or one you heard from somebody else. Give as many details as you can. Try to put the reader there with you. When did it happen? What was the setting? How old were you when it happened? Are you able to laugh about it now?
Ms. Davis's Answer:
I was looking for houses with my friend one day in college, and we saw this cute little house by a bakery! I just love cake, and I love baking. We opened the door and started looking around. I loved how comfortable the place was, and I wondered at the boxes piled agains the wall.
All of a sudden this lady with a laundry basket came in and said, "What are you doing in my house?!"
It turned out that the owner of the house had just moved in. She was only there to lock it up, and she had forgotten to take the for sale sign off the lawn.
"Give me liberty, or give me death."- George Washington
What is your motto in life? (Motto: a brief statement used to express a principle, goal, or ideal.) What are your words to live by? Some famous mottos can be found at BrainyQuote.com. You may also use a line from a favorite song or movie, or something you have read in a book. Tell your motto, and then give a brief explanation of why you chose this. You may also insert a picture.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
Thoughts become things, so choose the good ones.
I am a big believer in quantum physics, the Law of Attraction, and like attracts like. I believe that my thoughts create my world, so I always try to think positively and look at things with a good attitude.
Watch the Taylor Mali video, and think about the way you speak to your friends, your teachers, your family members, the people you work with. Do you think about what you say before you say it? Do you commit any of the 'verbal offenses' he mentions in the video (is there anything he says in the video that you hear your own self saying when you speak)? Why is it important for us to care about the way we sound when we say things? What are 2 things you can change about the way you speak that will make you speak with more authority?
Governor Rick Perry recently announced staggering budget cuts for Texas (and no raise in taxes), including cutting billions of dollars for education and proposing to eliminate the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts. How will these budget cuts affect you?
INSTRUCTIONS: Discuss the budget cuts and their immediate effects on you and the people you know. Then finish the sentence "Texas Education budget cuts will affect me in the following ways:" Please list at least 3 ways these cuts will touch your life or the lives of people you know.
Ms. Davis's Answer:
Because of the budget cutbacks, MISD is on a hiring freeze. This means that they hope to save money without layoffs by not replacing teachers who leave or retire. Because we will still have the same amount of students, this means that some classes will simply be dropped, and the ones that aren't will be crowded with the extra students. This means less individual attention, more distractions in the classroom, and more paperwork for teachers. Friends who work in DISD are not so lucky - DISD has announced layoffs of 3,100 educators. My brother and a good friend are both in certification classes to become educators next fall, and now they almost certainly won't be able to find teaching jobs. These are just a few obvious effects, but the worst probably remains to be seen.
Finish the sentence below. List at least 3 things that you would put into law.
If I were the President...
Ms. Davis's Answer:
If I were the President, I would give everyone healthcare. I would make owning guns illegal. And I would mandate a 3-day weekend with 4-day weeks. If everyone worked a little longer Monday through Friday, we could get the same amount of things done!
