Mitch Alboms "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"

I'm watching this great movie with Jon Voight, who plays a man named Eddie. Eddie dies at an old age from a freak accident and goes on a journey in his afterlife meeting 5 people that he met or knew in his life. Each has a story to tell and a lesson to teach him. It's an awesome movie and it really makes you think about your life. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

2008 Vice Presidential Debate

I'm sitting here watching the debate between Biden and Palin. So far, I think Palin is doing a great job talking about the issues and being down-to-earth with the listeners. I love how she keeps it real. I think they are both being careful with their facial expressions and body language in the debate. In previous years, the facial expressions and attitude of the candidates during debates weighed heavy with the viewers opinion of the candidate. We'll see who turns out on top of this debate. I think Palin will be the winner of this one!

Digitize Me!!!

I decided to join the other "95%" of the world (as my fellow blogger Katie said) and get digital cable. I was always envious of all my friends and their ability to record their TV shows, so they never miss out on the "important things". Now since I'm taking tennis classes on Mondays and hopefully playing soccer on Wednesdays I knew it was the time to switch over. I am a huge fan of Heroes and Project Runway both of which air their new episodes on Monday and the other on Wednesday. So now I'll be able to use my DVR to record the show and then catch it the next night when Grey's Anatomy is on. I don't know what percentage of the world watches Grey's Anatomy. I'm sure Katie thinks I'm in the minority, oh well, no one's perfect.

Alright soccer fans!...the game is cancelled.

Well, my fellow blogger, Katie, has decided to feed her love of soccer and continue to play as part of the house team for the Austin Indoor Soccer Arena. The game was set to start at 6:50, but come 7:00 there are only three soccer players for the house team. Their opponent was sitting around waiting in the bleachers, waiting for some competition. I was there in my athletic wear and this seemed to be qualification enough to play soccer so Katie, the ref, and the score keeper were suggesting that I play. I was not about to make a fool out of myself for nothing, so I didn't give in, but Katie has promised to teach me the basics so next time I can be a warm body on the field, not necessarily a talented warm body, but a body none the less.

Mine Isn't Working

My class had a lesson with the school librarian yesterday. The lesson focused on the rules when using the computer and internet. You know, things like not giving out personal information, visiting approved websites only, and not sharing log in information with others. The librarian turned the powerpoint into a turning point which is a program that can pose multiple choice questions for the kids and the kids are able to electronically answer the question with a wireless remote. Each remote has a number and the program keeps track of the remotes that have responded to the question. Unfortunately, the program wasn't working as it should. Some of the students were trying to answer the question but their answer wasn't being received by the program. I had my own remote and mine happened to be one that wasn't working. My kids noticed mine wasn't working and constantly informed the libarian that mine wasn't working. "Ms. Hernandez's isn't working." They would all give me advice to try to make it work like "Try getting closer Ms. Hernandez". I'd try and listen to their advice, but it still wouldn't work. Some of them even offered to try for me and would get closer to the receiver, but to no avail. I thought it was really sweet how they were looking out for me and wanted it to work for me. It was a great moment even though the remote wasn't working. A lot of my other kids' remotes weren't working either and they were constantly trying to get closer to the receiver hoping against hope that this time it would work. No matter how many times it failed to work they never gave up. At one point there were quite a few kids crowding around the receiver to try to get it to accept their answer. One of my other students, who I'll refer to as Collin, was sitting and trying to get his remote to work. The kids were all crowding around the receiver and Collin was trying to send his answer with the remote. Finally, he said, "Hey, guys these things aren't made to go through bodies!", as he continued to try to send his answer. I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it. He was right.

Starry Starry Night

As I was leaving HEB I was about to pass a Big Art Sale Tent with oil paintings, copies of original masterpieces of art by present day artists. I decided to stop a minute and take a look. I was browsing through the art and saw a lot of Vincent Van Gogh copies. I've always loved Vincent Van Gogh art and thought some of them would look great in my apartment. Well, I asked the sales rep. and he pointed me to an oil copy of Starry Starry Night, Cafe Terrace at Night, and Sower with Setting Sun. I hung them up above my bed and they look GREAT!!

Students Connect

I gave my students a reading worksheet for homework Tuesday night. We've been working on making connections to the story and characters as we read. This particular worksheet focused on readers connecting to a character's feelings and experiences by trying to relate to them with their own experiences. The students were to first read about a character named Jacey who was feeling sad about moving to a new city and then answer some questions. The final question read: Did your own experiences or knowledge help you understand Jacey's feelings? If so, how? Here are some of my kids' responses. These were so interesting to read because the kids really thought about this and some of their responses were sad, funny and insightful.

No, because when we moved I was only a baby.

Yes, because I moved once from all my friends.

I move a lot.

Yes, when I left to Colorado for the summer I felt sad.

I've had a friend move away so I know what it's like.

Not yet. (I liked this one because he was honest, but left room for the possibility of moving in the future)

I have never had that kind of experience or knowledge, but I feel sorry for her.

My experiences help me understand how she is feeling because one of my best firends moved last year and I didn't get to say goodbye.

Yes, because I had to move from Pflugerville to where I am now and I was a little excited and sad.

Yes, because I have moved houses many times and I cry too when I have to leave.

No, but I know how she feels.

When I lost my hamster I felt sad like Jacey in the story moving into a new house. We both lost something we love, and it's hard to seperate from it.