If Only...

(Feb.14-18)
If you could change one thing about this course, Globaloria, what would it be? Why would you change it? How would you change it? Who would benefit from the change and how would they benefit?

GAME TIME

(FEB. 4TH ASSIGNMENT #2)
Explain where you are in your game. Are you headed in the same direction that you started or have you taken a detour? What is the most exciting thing about your game? What is going to be the most difficult thing in making your game? Do you need help in any part of your design? Are you planning on adding anything that was not included in your paper prototype? If so, why did you change your mind?

EXPLORING OTHER WIKI PAGES

(FEB. 4TH ASSIGNMENT)
Go to a wiki not in Greenbrier County. Make sure you link the wiki page to your blog. Explore the project page and team page on the wiki. What do you like about the pages? What could be improved on the pages? What ideas did you get to improve your pages? Did you find something on the game that you wish to use in your game?

Home for the Holidays

One of the greatest parts of the holiday season is getting to spend time with your family and friends. I am looking forward to doing that in the next few weeks. Although my daughter and I do not have any major plans, we are both very excited to just have the time off together. We will just take one day at a time and enjoy doing whatever we please.
Tell me about the things you are looking foward to doing this holiday season. Please include any holiday traditions you and your family may have. God bless and I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps. (picture: Anna Alexis Hayes-Christmas 2010)

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/


** Students, if you could have Santa Clause bring anything in the world to you or someone you know, what would that "something" be? (Remember, this can be abstract or concrete.)

SNOW DAYS, SNOW DAYS...

Whether you spend your snow days sleeping in, cleaning your room, playing on the computer or playing outside, snow days can be a great treat. The possibilities are endless. Describe your ideal snow day in full detail. Use your imagination! This can be fiction or nonfiction.

Wake Up!

Hey! Hey! Stop that yawning! Contrary to what most of you believe, elements of Language Arts can be fun. I know;I know. You are,without a doubt,thinking of that great proverb (known as an idiom to the figurative language lovers),"the proof is in the pudding." I couldn't agree with you more!
Therefore,I plan to prove that studies in the Humanities can be interesting and exciting. Dare I say "fun"? Yes,I dare! I plan to create "fun",educational games focusing on intriguing topics such as literature, poetry, writing styles and philosophy.
Open your mind, your eyes and your ears. Brace yourself and get ready to ride! The English teacher in me just can't help it. It's not just a job;It's a passion!