what kind of chicken? chicken wings? chicken tenders?

I mean, what am I willing to drive over the hill for? But if I do that, I should wait until I clean out my closet and am able to bring you pretty things to try on.

When I began teaching this age, I kept thinking, "Why don't you like the books I liked!" But then I began reading contemporary junior fic and realized it's totally different. sometimes edgy, sometimes funny, issue-laden and so good. The world's a totally different place now.

For my super strong readers, they'll still gravitate to children's classics, but for most readers, especially kids who live in urban settings and are struggling readers, children's classics are way hard. They have difficulty creating a mental picture of the world necessary to understand those books and to decode as they read.

It just takes a while to build up to those.

I couldn't agree more, Kat. Although I don't often teach children's lit. or young adult fiction in high school, I have had to spend a lot of time building bridges between classic literature and contemporary teen culture. To tell you the truth, it's one of the things I love to do. I especially adore watching my ninth-graders go from hating Catcher in the Rye when they read it over the summer to thinking it's amazing as we study it in class during the first month of school. (And on a personal note, we spend a lot of time discussing the difference between liking books and respecting them since Catcher is not everyone's cup of tea but is a very rich text when examined.)

Grilled chicken, Kat. On top with the mushrooms.

But selfishly I think you should maximise the pretties for me, since I'm culling mine.

Hey, Kristin--did you ever ping those students?

okay. so maybe later in the week if your up for it and I'm up for it, I'll come by. even if there isn't pizza.

or I could bring "pizza" from the raw-vegan place.

huh

Individuals who experience orthostatic intolerance, a cardiovascular condition that results in reduced blood pressure and blood flow to the brain when a person stands, may experience a worsening of symptoms when taking melatonin supplements, a study at Penn State College of Medicine's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center suggests. Melatonin can exacerbate the symptoms by reducing nerve activity in those who experience the condition, the study found. >[link]

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I could bring "pizza" from the raw-vegan place.

Oh, please, could you? Nothing says pizza like no flour and no cheese.

Aurelia, that is not good. I'm the queen of postural hypotension. But I'll still try it.

oh, ita, and no heat applied.

Well, the heat was only to bake the bread and melt the cheese, so why would you even need it without those two components?

Someone is fucking galloping upstairs. I have no idea if that's related to the screaming toddler I just heard, but it should stop asap.

I have an issue. I started watching Little Miss Sunshine, but then I started talking on AIM, and other stuff, and now the movie is over, and I didn't really see much of it.

Should I rewatch?

Hey, Kristin--did you ever ping those students?

I haven't yet since we were in December craziness, but I will this week. Feel free to ask them if they know Ms. [my real last name], but they probably won't since I'm mainly with 9th graders this year.