Moment of silence for this ass.
I only stared at that during this scene… best use of my time…
bestfriend!harry leaned over to me and was like “well those are some pants”
Was this in 3D too?
Yes. It. Was.
I Packed a Suitcase To…
My students are working on 50 states project. One of the pieces they are working on is a travel suitcase! They had to pick three destinations in their state to research. Then, they had to think of 5 items they would “pack” to each of those destinations. After the research is all done, they will create this travel suitcase. Each compartment will hold the items for a destination! The brown part you see is the suitcase cover, for which the students will need to design a “sticker” for each of the destinations. When you open it up, you see that first yellow compartment!
I’m really excited. This is my model to show them tomorrow.
They told me the big black Lab’s name was Reggie, as I looked at him lying in his pen. The shelter was clean, no-kill, and the people really friendly. I’d only been in the area for six months, but everywhere I went in the small college town, people were welcoming and open. Everyone waves when you pass them on the street.
But something was still missing as I attempted to settle in to my new life here, and I thought a dog couldn’t hurt. Give me someone to talk to. And I had just seen Reggie’s advertisement on the local news. The shelter said they had received numerous calls right after, but they said the people who had come down to see him just didn’t look like “Lab people,” whatever that meant. They must’ve thought I did.
But at first, I thought the shelter had misjudged me in giving me Reggie and his things, which consisted of a dog pad, bag of toys almost all of which were brand new tennis balls, his dishes and a sealed letter from his previous owner.
See, Reggie and I didn’t really hit it off when we got home. We struggled for two weeks (which is how long the shelter told me to give him to adjust to his new home). Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to adjust, too.
Maybe we were too much alike.
I saw the sealed envelope. I had completely forgotten about that. “Okay, Reggie,” I said out loud, “let’s see if your previous owner has any advice.”
____________ _________ _________ _________
To Whomever Gets My Dog:
Well, I can’t say that I’m happy you’re reading this, a letter I told the shelter could only be opened by Reggie’s new owner. I’m not even happy writing it. He knew something was different.
So let me tell you about my Lab in the hopes that it will help you bond with him and he with you.
First, he loves tennis balls. The more the merrier. Sometimes I think he’s part squirrel, the way he hoards them. He usually always has two in his mouth, and he tries to get a third in there. Hasn’t done it yet. Doesn’t
matter where you throw them, he’ll bound after them, so be careful. Don’t do it by any roads.
Next, commands. Reggie knows the obvious ones —-“sit,” “stay,” “come,” “heel.”
He knows hand signals, too: He knows “ball” and “food” and “bone” and “treat” like nobody’s business.
Feeding schedule: twice a day, regular store-bought stuff; the shelter has the brand.
He’s up on his shots. Be forewarned: Reggie hates the vet. Good luck getting him in the car. I don’t know how he knows when it’s time to go to the vet, but he knows.
Finally, give him some time. It’s only been Reggie and me for his whole life. He’s gone everywhere with me, so please include him on your daily car rides if you can. He sits well in the backseat, and he doesn’t bark or complain. He just loves to be around people, and me most especially.
And that’s why I need to share one more bit of info with you…His name’s not Reggie. He’s a smart dog, he’ll get used to it and will respond to it, of that I have no doubt. But I just couldn’t bear to give them his real name. But if someone is reading this … well it means that his new owner should know his real name. His real name is “Tank.” Because, that is what I drive.
I told the shelter that they couldn’t make “Reggie” available for adoption until they received word from my company commander. You see, my parents are gone, I have no siblings, no one I could’ve left Tank with .. and it was my only real request of the Army upon my deployment to Iraq, that they make one phone call to the shelter … in the “event” … to tell them that Tank could be put up for adoption. Luckily, my CO is a dog-guy, too, and he knew where my platoon was headed. He said he’d do it personally. And if you’re reading this, then he made good on his word.
Tank has been my family for the last six years, almost as long as the Army has been my family. And now I hope and pray that you make him part of your family, too, and that he will adjust and come to love you the same way he
loved me.
If I have to give up Tank to keep those terrible people from coming to the US I am glad to have done so. He is my example of service and of love. I hope I honored him by my service to my country and comrades.
All right, that’s enough. I deploy this evening and have to drop this letter off at the shelter. Maybe I’ll peek in on him and see if he finally got that third tennis ball in his mouth.
Good luck with Tank. Give him a good home, and give him an extra kiss goodnight - every night - from me.
Thank you,
Paul Mallory
____________ _________ _________ _______
I folded the letter and slipped it back in the envelope. Sure, I had heard of Paul Mallory, everyone in town knew him, even new people like me. Local kid, killed in Iraq a few months ago and posthumously earning the Silver
Star when he gave his life to save three buddies. Flags had been at half-mast all summer.
I leaned forward in my chair and rested my elbows on my knees, staring at the dog.
“Hey, Tank,” I said quietly.
The dog’s head whipped up, his ears cocked and his eyes bright.
“C’mere boy.”
He was instantly on his feet, his nails clicking on the hardwood floor. He sat in front of me, his head tilted, searching for the name he hadn’t heard in months. “Tank,” I whispered.
His tail swished.
I kept whispering his name, over and over, and each time, his ears lowered, his eyes softened, and his posture relaxed as a wave of contentment just seemed to flood him. I stroked his ears, rubbed his shoulders, buried my face into his scruff and hugged him.
“It’s me now, Tank, just you and me. Your old pal gave you to me.” Tank reached up and licked my cheek.
“So whatdaya say we play some ball?” His ears perked again.
“Yeah? Ball? You like that? Ball?”
Tank tore from my hands and disappeared into the next room. And when he came back, he had three tennis balls in his mouth.”Wow… What a moving post….
Again, with another review game. This time, it’s a party game turned review game, Celebrity. Here’s how it works:
The Gist:
Two teams
Three rounds
1 minute alternating turns per round.The Goal: to get as many points as possible for your team each turn, thus dominating the other team.
…
I really wanted to try the Penny Pick review game posted a while ago (under the #Teaching Ideas tag), particularly with one of my “problem classes” during their least productive periods each week (Thursday afternoons)! I thought it sounded like a fantastic idea, but unfortunately came up against the problem of not having access to an OHP.
I thought of using PowerPoint on a projector, but did not want to lose the benefit of the tactile experience provided by the game. Fortunately I have a brilliant girlfriend (and beautiful, and funny, and talented - hi honey), who not only suggested the idea of writing the points (and bombs) on coloured cardboard circles to be stuck to the board, but picked up the materials necessary while shopping, and even helped me cutting out the pieces! (Gosh I’m a lucky one.)
Anyway, the result is the above - an “adjusted” game of Penny Pick, that can be played as a review lesson and will hopefully produce a productive period out of what has thus far been the most painful part of my week!
Thank you to Diz, and of course to Itssnix for the original (brilliant) idea! I hope my adaptation can help someone else!
Penny Pick is one of my favorite review games; I’ve used it for 6th graders-12th graders.
To set it up, you need to get a blank transparency and draw numbers on it [more numbers than you have review questions], along with 2-3 “bombs” [The red things]. Don’t go any higher than 4, otherwise it becomes too hard to catch up.
Once your transparency is drawn, cover everything with pennies. Put a cup on your projector for them to put the pennies up.
For the game, I split the class in half and ask students questions one at a time. If they get the question right, they get to pick a penny. The number underneath represents the thousands of points they get.
If they pick the bomb, they pick another penny and that’s how many points their team loses.If they move any other pennies in their reaching and expose another number, they lose that many points [I had an issue with cheating in that way].
I can take away points for unsportsmanlike conduct, talking during the other team’s turn, and giving the answer away.
We played this game a lot last year and this year my students begged me to play it again. It’s deceptively fun. :)
Foldables Writing (by TeacherTipsterToo)
