Can you imagine what it would have been like to live in Salem during these witch trials? One day you are living a normal life and the next, you or a loved one has been arrested for witchcraft! Your life would be turned upside down in a matter of hours!

For today's blog post I want you to imagine that you had been accused of witchcraft. What would you do? How would you react? What could you do to prove your innocence? Would you accuse others or would you simply try to prove your own innocence? Pretend that you live in Salem during these witch trials and you have been accused. Go to your blog and write a letter to the church in your community that would prove your innocence and perhaps request help from the church itself. Remember, your life is on the line...be convincing!! You may also do more than just write a letter...you decide how far you will go to prove your innocence!

The Dresdon Dolls & French Toast

This post is unique...not much writing involved, which should make MOST of you happy! :) You have to follow these instructions, or this will not work!

1. Google "your name thinks"
ex: Amanda thinks (enter-web)
2. Find the answer on the results that pop up and that will be the title of your new hit song.
3. Now Google your new song title
ex: Milkshake (enter-web)
4. Find the name of your band from some of the results
5. Google your band name but this time find a picture
ex: The Dresdon Dolls (enter-images)
6. Now take the picture into a program where you can "create" an album cover (I just used Word) using the picture, name of your band, and name of song.
7. Save your cover as a picture, so that you can post it on your blog.
8. The title of your post needs to be the name of your new band! :)


Here are two that I did yesterday...

10 Reasons I Love Spring Semester!

Can you believe you are about to graduate!?! You are almost through the first week of the next-to-last six weeks of your high school career!! And, it gets better...it's nearly SPRING TIME!! Y'all know how much fun everyone has in the spring semester! Go to your blogs and list the 10 reasons you LOVE the spring semester!!

Here's my list:

10 Reasons I Love the Spring Semester
1. The weather starts getting warmer...and we can enjoy the sunshine from our classroom.
2. The kids are all so eager to learn!!
3. Seniors are super excited to be in my class!
4. TAKS
5. The wind blows a lot while we are out on the track!
6. Tornadoes!
7. The kids are all so eager to learn!!
8. The seniors are so desperately dreading graduation that they hang on every word I say, knowing it will be some of their last chances to study British Literature!!
9. All the students and teachers are really relaxed and fresh and no one is getting anxious for summer!!
10.SENIORS ARE SUPER EXCITED TO BE IN MY CLASS!!!!!

OK, so maybe there is a HINT of sarcasm in my list...what can I say--I hang out with seniors all year!!! :) Feel free to follow suit, or you can be a little more sincere...either way, let's see your lists!!

Reasons I am Thankful for My Parents!!

I told y'all I would do this...hope you enjoy my list--and my pics (also hope Mom doesn't kill me when she sees them!!)!!! BTW, I decided to do 35--not that that is my age or anything.... ;)


1. They love me no matter what!

2. They love to have fun!!
3. They were always supportive of my extra-curricular activities and still are!!

4. They were strict.
5. They make me want to be a better person by their example.

6. My mom always waited up on the couch for me to come in when I was a teenager, so we could talk (if I wanted to) about my night.

7. My dad used to hold me and let me drive--and we would sing at the top of our voices with the radio.
8. They pray for me.

9. They love KP!10. They are awesome grandparents!! 11. They have made many sacrifices in their lives to allow my brother, sisters and me to have things we wanted.
12. They have stayed together through better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health....13. They both have great senses of humor--and make me laugh!! 14. They took us on family vacations every summer.

15. Dad fixed us breakfast every morning growing up, so that we could all have at least one meal together as a family.

16. Mom always did my laundry for me--and still would if I would just let her!!
17. They have always loved God and taught us to do the same.

18. My dad took me fishing and hunting all through my growing up years--even though I was a lousy girl! :)
19. My mom tries to teach me to cook--she has shared all her recipes but I cannot make them taste as good as hers!
20. My dad taught me how to throw a spiral!

21. My mom always has answers for my questions about my kids--she was extremely helpful when I was a panicking new parent!22. They always provided a safe, secure place to come home to--and still do!

23. They took care of me when I couldn't take care of myself.
24. They helped pay for my college and encouraged me to get my diploma, even when I felt like giving up.

25. They always made CHRISTmas special!
26. My mom let me have tons of slumber parties!

27. My dad showed me how a woman should be treated by the way he treated my mom--and he did not let me accept boys who didn't live up to my (his) standards!

28. They took care of their parents, grandparents, great uncle & aunt...they taught me how to care for my family who couldn't care for themselves--and did it selflessly!!

29. My mom took pictures and filmed enough for me to not ever forget any moment of my life!!30. My dad taught me how to ride a bike.

31. They're cool!!
32. My mom helped with Girl Scouts and taught VBS and Bible class.

33. My dad coached my Little League Baseball teams.

34. They are proud of me!

35. They are my two of my best friends in the entire world!!

Parents

It's Parent Shadow Day! I am so excited to have parents in the building and in my classroom to see what y'all are doing!! I know there are all kinds of parents and sometimes they are actually your aunt, uncle, grandmother, etc. Regardless, they love you and have given selflessly to help you get to where you are right now!

With that in mind, today you are going to your blog and posting "18 Reasons I am Thankful for my Parents." Why 18? Because for the most part they will pour their hearts and souls into 18 years of your life before they allow you to go out on your own! When you finish with your list, I then want you to ask them to share 5 reasons they are thankful for you! Why 5? Because I have been around y'all for a while, and I feel for some of you 5 is about the max!! Just kidding!!! I just thought that would be a good number--they can always do more!! If your parents are not here, then you have homework!! :)

Ok, go to your blogs and get busy!! I would love for you to include a picture of your parents if you can--in case you don't know them, those are my parents on this post (check back here tomorrow and I will have my homework done)!!

Human Interest Stories

Wikipedia says this about human interest stories:

A human interest story is a feature story that discusses a person or persons in an interactive and/or emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest or sympathy in the reader or viewer.

Human interest stories may be the story behind the story about an event, organization or otherwise faceless historical happening, such as about the life of an individual soldier during war-time, an interview with a survivor of a natural disaster, or profile of someone known for a career achievement.

Often this is what draws us into something that might otherwise just be boring news or history. For example, the movie "Pearl Harbor" (albeit fictitious) has a story behind the story that draws you in and makes you think about what people during that could have been experiencing. It is the only reason I enjoy history, to know that there were real people living real lives during the events that shaped and molded the world in which we live today. Other times, these human interest stories are simply normal people living through extraordinary circumstances. They are "nameless" strangers one day and because of a choice or decision they make the next day they are making headlines! This is what the following story is about...just 3 ordinary kids who made an extraordinary decision!

German lovers – aged six and five – try to elope to Africa

Mika and his girlfriend Anna-Bell found on way to airport with lilo, swimming trunks and a witness for the wedding in tow

• Kate Connolly in Berlin
  
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 January 2009 17.40 GMT
• Article history

Anna-Bell, Anna-Lena and Mika at the police post at the main railway station in Hanover, central Germany, after being caught heading for the airport so Anna-Bell and Mika could 'get married in Africa'. Photograph: /AFP/Getty Images

It is a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries – the chance to elope to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his five-year-old sweetheart Anna-Bell who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from the German city of Hanover to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.

The children left their homes at dawn while their unwitting parents were apparently sleeping, and took along Mika's seven-year-old sister, Anna-Lena, as a witness to the wedding.

Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink blow-up lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they walked a kilometre up the road, boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train that would take them to the airport before a suspicious station guard alerted police.

"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman. He described Mika and Anna-Bell as "sweethearts" who had "decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Mika's sister".

Anna-Bell told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "

Mika said: "We wanted to take the train to the airport, then we wanted to get on a plane and when we arrived we wanted to unpack the summer things and then we wanted to go for a bit of a stroll in the sun."

Mika and Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of her children's plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' When we realised the kids were missing we went looking for them." But only when the police called did they realise what had happened.

Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.

Mika told police he instigated the plan having been inspired by a winter holiday with his family in Italy. "Based on this the children began to make plans for the future," Jureczko said.

To allay their disappointment at being caught, Hanover police gave them a tour of the police headquarters. Jureczko said: "They'll have the chance to put their plan into action at a later date".

Your assignment today is to find, copy and paste into your blog a human interest story! Please make sure it is from a credible source and, of course, that it is school appropriate!!!

I found a couple of other stories that you might be interested in reading if you have some extra time!

Here is a link about a man who bought a winning lottery ticket and died the same day.

Here is a story about a baby born 2 days after her mother died. :(

Through the Eyes of a Dog

Dogs love unconditionally, but do they really have feelings? Some people consider dogs as important as people. Others view them as pests! How do you feel?

Today you are going to go to your blog and post a story "through the eyes of a dog." It can be any story about anything (a birthday party, a trip to the vet, a walk through the park, getting picked up by the dog catcher, etc.) as long as it is through the eyes of a dog. Since it is through their eyes, it needs to be in first person! If you have a dog, it can be through their eyes. If you don't, it can be through a dog you have known or just some stray on the street. I want lots of details and make sure you give the dog a personality that shows through your story. This needs to be a story--not just a couple of sentences!

Also make sure you include a picture (or pictures). Remember it does not have to be a dog you know, so pictures can just come from the internet!

Have fun!