Romeo & Juliet, meet Star Wars...

In my freshman class today, we finally reached the famous duel scene in Romeo and Juliet--the one scene the boys in my class have been looking forward to, and in response to that excitement, we broke into groups to come up with skits. So after a day of preparation , today was perfomance day at last. We had Romeo and Juliet in 4 different styles: the Wild West, American Idol vs. So You Think You Can Dance, miming, and Star Wars. Although I think the mime skit was my favorite, the Star Wars skit definitely took on a different flavor.

In this scene 'jubaka,' 'hon solo' and 'darth mal' (as spelled by my students) were fighting each other. Now 'jubaka' was being played by a little Russian girl in our class (she was adopted and moved to the states in gradeschool). She's a tiny, tiny little thing, incredibly sweet, but rarely says a word in front of people.

I figured that this would be a great activity, but what I didn't know before the skit began, was that 'jubaka' and 'darth mal' had a real-life fight just prior to class. So during the skit, my sweet little 'jubaka' decides to COMPLETELY abandon the script, and instead attacks (with foam lightsaber) the poor boy (who is twice her size). She continues to do so, until I pull her off. An interesting twist to the day most definitely. Now on top of this--my professor from Covenant was there to observe...woops!

uh-oh...i'm doing it....

So as graduation slowly approaches and I start to reflect back on my time at Covenant, there are a few things that run through my head--dear friends and hall mates, late-night McDonald's runs, favorite teachers, Great Hall mishaps, etc. But while each of us has our own treasured memories in every size, shape, and color, there is one common denominator for every graduating senior from Covenant, and it is a single, heavily used word--"worldview".
We've memorized the definition, we've come up with any number of sketches on the board to represent it, we've applied it to every possible subject (which of course is every subject...true to the definition of worldview), and somewhere along the way we learned how to heave an affectionate sigh whenever we hear 'worldview' . But as our time at Covenant draws to a close we perhaps think to ourselves, "all right, so I know my worldview will always be a part of my life, but thank goodness I never have to define, visually represent, or explain it in essay form ever again!"

oh wait.

Today I used it...I did it...and I'm passing on the word to the next generation. oh my. As a student teacher, we just started a unit on Naturalism, and I was happily lecturing away when I heard it--that word came out of my mouth. Not only was I defining it, but I was sketching it up one the board...and then I heard myself assigning an essay in which they must talk about their worldview. It's true then--all future generations are doomed to hear, illustrate, and write on 'worldviews,' and yes, I am part of that passing the torch.
But let's be honest, would I ever really be able to escape using 'worldview' in life since interacting with others worldviews it's part of my worldview? Oh dear.

Teenage hormones

For those of you who don't know, I just started my second student teaching placement at a coed, private Catholic school (yes, imagine all your stereotypes then multiply them times ten), and it has definitely been an interesting experience so far. I work with mostly 11th graders who like to throw out phrases like, "Well, my Dad owns _____ business, and he says that I ....." But in between showing off their Northfaces and designer purses, one of their new favorite activities is filling in my love life for me (apparently my being engaged isn't interesting enough for them!).

For example, "Mr. Tapp" (another student teacher like myself) is in the classroom across the hall from mine----apparently we're dating behind everyone's back.

Or, for those who actually believe I'm engaged, they've decided (I'm not kidding) that Josh is not only from Hawaii, but that he still lives there, does nothing but surf all day, and has dreadlocks. (hmmmm...I'm still trying to picture that.)

Or there are the fun comments that I hear drifting in from the hallway...
"Dude, Ms. Chapell is hot!"

a little self-advertising...

http://cchapell.googlepages.com/josh&corinne'sweddingpage

So everyone knows I want a dog...

While Josh and I are very excited to stay at Covenant another year, there are one or two downsides...the first being, it's not St. Louis and the Cardinals don't ever come to Chattanooga....the second downside being I have to put off getting a dog for at least one more year.
But in the meantime, I've been noticing the dogs in our neighborhood--I figure, why not use this intermediate period of time to start picking out a dog, right? Well, this is the dog that just showed up in our neighbors' yard--next to the massive black German shepherd that also lives there--

--Is it a miniature poodle? Yes
--Is it bright pink? Yes
--Is this Corinne's dream dog? Oh thank goodness it's NOT!!!

Bug: (from The Sixth Graders Dictionary to LIfe)

1. Bug: noun

Pronunciation: \ˈbəg\

Etymology:

Middle English bugge hobgoblin; probably akin to Low German bögge goblin

Definition: an insect or other creeping or crawling invertebrate; any of an order (Hemiptera

and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects that have sucking mouthparts,

forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic

pests

2. Bug: noun
Pronunciation: \ˈfē-vər\
Etymology: From the cultures of preteens weak immune systems; most currently present in the similarly weakened immune system of Corinne.
Definition: A virus consisting of runny nose, scratchy throat, itchy eyes, and fever resulting from close proximity to younger members of the human race with lower hygienic habits; most commonly passed from student to teacher.


3. Bug: noun (most commonly referred to as a "hornet")
Pronunciation: \ˈho'r-nət\
Etymology: From the modern usage of Class Periods 1, 2, 3, & 5, originating at *** Middle School.
Definition: An index card torn and folded along specific planes according to directions, as passed on by the oral tradition of middle school males, intended to be used in correlation with a rubber band as a projectile; for the purpose of disrupting class and earning an In-School-Suspension for its user.

See Also: You-Tube instructional video "How to Make a Paper Hornet"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP06J6bo3GA

Warm fuzzy feelings...