Friday, January 7, 2005
TGIF

I am presently counting hours until the last bell today. Been having extreme pain and discomfort in my right shoulder, neck, arm. I've had this before....a little over a year ago, when hubby had his cancer surgery. It's stress, tension.

I have to "preach" a sermon this Sunday, and so my Saturday will not be as restful as I would wish. Still, I hope to get some rest and some relief.

Sorry for such negativity......

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-01-07 13:38:54

Thursday, January 6, 2005
Poem Moves

I had a couple of my poems "published" around here from ages ago, but listed under my screen name "Eldanuumea." I have now transferred them here to this community section, under my name.

Hope that is okay.

Had my students doing work with maps today that I got off the net....blank maps of the Indian Ocean region where the tsunami struck. I printed out maps of Asia and had them locate the countries affected and label everything. Then we read an article about the generation and nature of tsunamis.

Tomorrow we will watch a couple of scenes from recent films that depict the ravages of diastrous tsunamis, and then we will write stories/poems around the subject.

I am determined that, if they don't recall anything else about their ninth grade English class, they will never forget the tsunami of 2004.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-01-06 19:59:11

Thursday, January 6, 2005
Epiphany

Today is Epiphany, or Twelfth Night.......tonight in New Orleans will be the first official carnival ball of the Mardi Gras season. The Krewe of the Twelfth Night Revelers will open carnival with a masked ball and King Cake.

I haven't been to Mardi Gras parade since moving to Mississippi 17 years ago. But I do try to keep my students aware of the carnival season. All they know is gaudy plastic beads, doubloons, and media images of half-naked women flashing. There is so much more than that, such a rich heritage to the carnival season.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-01-06 17:04:13

Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Wednesday

I have some poems I wrote years and years ago lying around.......will post them and see what they look like after all this time.

The one about the lamp made from a drilling bit is based on a real lamp my granddaddy made. He used a small drilling bit and painted it with the silver paint his work crew was using on some storage vats near our house. I kept it on my desk for years. Still have it tucked away somewhere, deep in a closet.

I wrote many of the poems I'll post today while I was in college, for a creative writing class. We're talking, "back in the day," as my students would say. It amuses me to see them "in print."

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-01-05 12:11:56

Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Tuesday

I began talking about a tsunami scrapbook project today, and I feel like it will be a relatively enjoyable bit of work for many of my students, simply because it will involve the net so much.

I amhoping that some of them will elect to write original stories and poems as one of their scrapbook entry options. I have somegood writers scattered thinly among my classes. I also am hoping some of my artistic students draw orpaint some things related to the tsunami.

All in all,I expect it to be a pretty good integrated project, involving their knowledge of math, science,health, and history as well as language skills.

Posted by Edea Baldwin 2005-01-04 13:47:06