Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is founded on the principle that children are brilliant. I believe that children have an innate desire to learn and it is my goal to fan the spark they already have. I believe that children are capable of more than adults give them credit for, and that children should never be lied to and curriculum should never be "cute." My classroom will be run on research-based practices and centered on the children in it. The children in my classroom will be treated as individuals and thought of as more than a test score.

Educational Blogs:
http://notjustcute.com/
http://jonbergmann.com/
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/

Drugged Gretch

Gretchen had to get four teeth pulled so her braces can line up her teeth (she didn't have two bottom back teeth), and hopefully make room for her wisdom teeth. The first three videos are just her laughing, but in the last two she is pretty funny to watch (even though the gauze makes her a little hard to understand). If you want to watch it with me I can provide translations. 

Disclaimer: Gretchen is mildly racist on drugs, and no posting to facebook! 

Happy birthday Alan Rickman!

I love Alan Rickman. He is my favorite in Sense and Sensibility as Colonel Brandon, and is just the perfect Snape. I want him to read to me every day. 

 

Or an Alan Rickman as Snape GPS.

Les Miserables

This movie was phenomenal. I'll never get over how heart-wrenching it was and how much I loved it. I don't think I've ever experienced so much catharsis in my life. The casting was perfect, and I loved how they filmed everyone close up as they sang. It captured so much emotion and made the story so much more personal than a play. If you didn't see it in theaters you missed out.

Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Aaron Tviet did especially amazing jobs. 

Happy birthday Tom Hiddleston!

Tom Hiddleston. Hiddles. My mom and sister made fun of me when we first watched Thor and I said he was attractive. But he is. My best friend Brittany will marry him someday.

Happy birthday Zooey Deschanel!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

It would be dramatic to say that when the lights went down and this movie started to play I felt my fate hang in the balance and all my hopes and dreams were hinged on Peter Jackson. But it would also be true.

Luckily my love and faith were not wasted on Peter, Fran, and Phillipa. 

This movie was indeed epic. Lighter than the LOTR trilogy, but appropriately so- The Hobbit was a children's book and much more lighthearted. Portraying it differently would misrepresent the book. In case you were wondering, I still think it's hilarious that the editors ask JRR Tolkien for a sequel to The Hobbit and they got The Lord of the Rings. I'd like to meet that man. But I digress. The casting was excellent, the music was perfect, the plot of The Hobbit and other works of Tolkien (appendices mostly I think) were meshed together very well, and have I mentioned Martin Freeman? Love him. My only disappointment at the end of this movie was that you DIDN'T HEAR BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH! He is voicing Smaug, and I'm very excited. I guess I probably heard him growl, but I was hoping for a monologue. 

Considering the fact that The Lord of the Rings trilogy was finished nine years ago and Ian Mckellan was old then, it would make sense that he is indeed aged now. But I was still surprised at how old he looked in certain scenes. Not always, but sometimes he just looked so much older. But he was still a perfect Gandalf. 

The music was excellent. I am so glad they got Howard Shore to do the music for this one too. The dwarves' theme is my FAVORITE. I think I like it better than I like Rohan's theme, which is really saying something. I love how he took it from the song they all sing when they are in Hobbiton, because that song gives me the chills and you remember what they are fighting for every time you hear that melody. 

The casting for this movie was phenomenal and I loved the dwarves. I loved how original they are were (my nightmares consisted of thirteen Gimlis) and how they were able to highlight certain personalities. I hope that in the next movies more of them are highlighted until all of them are developed. We'll see. But they were all adorable. I consider dwarf culture to be completely opposite of me personally, but even I appreciated the slight mockery of the elves. Rivendell was really shown through the dwarves' perspective.

 

So adorable. I really can't get over how much I love this group. And even though Thorin is a jerk I really liked him. And that wasn't just because he was a total babe.

Speaking of babes. This is Fili and Kili. My BFF Brittany and I have it all planned out- she's going to marry Kili and I'm going to marry Fili because they are brothers, so then we'd be sisters! She called Kili first. I would have chosen him because I think he is the most attractive dwarf. But I am very happy with my future man and I think I'd chose him first now. I love them both. I love how they are always the first ones to come save Bilbo. 

Also, Kili makes a really attractive dwarf, but Kili (aka Dean O'Gormun) is much more attractive as a real person. Also he is from New Zealand. Also I say also a lot. 

This, my friends, is Martin Freeman. I love Martin Freeman. He was Peter Jackson's most brilliant casting choice.

And he looks like a hedgehog.

Even if I wasn't biased I would think Martin Freeman was the perfect choice for Bilbo Baggins. Why? His face and mannerisms. He is a PERFECT disgruntled, proper hobbit who has found himself slightly lost but is clever enough to rise to every challenge thrown at him. Look at that face. Perfection. 

I love his suspenders. I didn't think it was possible for me to love him anymore, but hobbit Martin Freeman is just the best of the best. 

The mannerisms Martin Freeman portrays are that of someone extremely proper who finds himself in the wild facing unknown dangers, but still strives to be as polite as if he was entertaining company in his hobbit hole. You can see it in his gait and how he holds his hands. I LOVE it.

This picture of Gollum really freaks me out. However, the riddles in the dark scene of this movie was my favorite. It was hilarious and witty and Smeagol is just adorable, not to mention the fun that was had playing Smeagol and Gollum off of each other. Precious. Just precious.

"Yes. Yes. Just us."

Today I learned that technically Thorin is two hundred years old and dwarves generally live to be about two hundred and fifty. Which explains the fact that Thorin looks way older in the promo stuff than he does in real life and in the movie. That just resolved a question I had- I am not in any way complaining. He was an excellent casting choice. Really I think Peter Jackson discovered BBC through Netflix.

And this didn't happen yet. But I'm excited for it.

Also, I didn't see this movie in 3D or in the 48 frames per second, but I would be really interested to, especially the 48 frames. Maybe someday when I have a super awesome movie theater that Fili buys me for our fifth anniversary.