Archive for 2010

Dec

Merry Christmas

It has been years since the Reds have played on Sunday night. It appears that they are going to be on the schedule for 2 Sunday night games. One is against the Braves on 5/29. The other is against the hated C@#$%^#@ls (no bad words during the Holidays!) on 4/24.

Start Chanting Now
Need another reason to celebrate today? How about this: Socialstudieswithasmile.com is ranked as the 2,169,452th largest .com website. We’re number two million one hundred sixty-nine thousand four hundred fifty two!!! Rolls right off the tongue.
Let’s keep it up. Perhaps by next year we’ll be number 2,169,410!!!

Top Blog Stories of 2010

New York State Decides To Discontinue State Social Studies Test. That’s right, there is no state exam for Social Studies in 8th grade. There were rumors of this happening in June and it became a reality late in the summer. Did they cancel the tests (5th grade was also ended) because we give too many tests to students? or because the tests force teachers to “teach to the test”? Of course not. The simple reason was that the tests cost too much.
There are still a lot of question marks that remain with this one. It seems that each district will make their own test to gauge the success of students. It is also possible that a bunch of Long Island districts might get together to create a standardized test. Time will tell.
Does it save money if it comes out of our local taxes? What’s the difference?
Who cares about civics, government, history, etc. anyway! We already know that stuff….riiiiiiiiiiiiiight!

OK…enough of that. Lets go back to celebrating, enjoying vacation, etc. We’ll check back in tomorrow for more exciting blogging!

Go Knicks!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Television,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (15)

Dec

Top Blog Events of 2010

The Start of Online Practice Tests

Socialstudieswithasmile.com is always evolving. Last year we added picture links for important sections such as the homework page and extra help schedule. However, the most important and useful addition to the website has definitely been the Practice Quiz sections. Practice quizzes are very useful, especially after studying for an extended period of time.
My hope is that 7th grade students continue to use the practice quizzes. I especially hope that my students continue to get the Cincinnati Reds questions correct.
Another great addition of late has been the 8th grade section. It isn’t completely thorough but it might be something worth checking out from time to time.

Speaking of the Cincinnati Reds. They made a bit of news yesterday. Arthur Rhodes decided to sign with the Rangers rather than with the Reds. He was looking for a 2nd year added to his contract and at 41 that doesn’t seem to make much sense. I think the Reds will be ok. They have multiple lefty options for the bullpen including Bill Bray, Aroldis Chapman and Matt Maloney. Another name in the mix is Dontrelle Willis. He used to be a stud. If he can bring it then I could easily see him playing a big role for the Reds.
Perhaps this unspent money can be used to get other players. There have been talks of adding Scott Podsednik (not good for my son’s favorite player: Chris Heisey), Edgar Renteria or Brandon Webb. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Reds stay with the team that they have. However, shortstop and leadoff hitter are concerns for the Reds. Renteria could help at short and Podsednik would likely be a leadoff candidate. Time will tell.

Glad to hear that 8th graders watched All Quiet this week. I like the older version (although I’ve never seen the newer one so it isn’t much of a fair statement). Great movie, great book.

The holiday season is certainly much more hectic with a baby. That explains the lack of posts of late. There will probably be a post tomorrow to continue the top stories countdown. After all, I’m kind of running out of time with that. I’m not expecting much of a turnout on the blog over the next few days…so check us out once you are done with the important things: relaxing, spending time with family, etc.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Movies,School,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (10)

Dec

Last Day Of School (For 2010)

To the tens of people who read this (Hi Alabama!), there will be a special visitor in school today!

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Uncategorized and have Comments (11)

Dec

Another Reason To Get Good Grades

Some people need that extra motivation to work really hard in school. Add this to your list of reasons for working to get good grades.
A recent study of 10,000 1957 graduates showed that those with higher grades had a smaller chance of worsening health as they entered retirement age. I guess the new expression should be “An A+ a day keeps the doctor away”!

Should we start wearing helmets to sporting events?
Check out the newest t-shirt launcher:

Busy weekend…felt short but there was just so much going on.
What happened to the Giants??? Jets nearly lost it late in the 4th. How did the Dolphins lose to the Bills? Did the Lions really win another game?

The Brewers picked up Zach Grienke from the Royals. Not good for the Reds. The competition for the NL Central is certainly building this off-season.

Top Blog Stories of 2010:

Many families enjoy “Take Your Child To Work Day”. However, those who usually aren’t involved in such activities include doctors, soldiers and professional boxers. One occupation that should be on this list (but apparently isn’t) is Air Traffic Controller. That’s right, in early March an air traffic controller had the bright idea to bring his child to work. To top it off, he let the kid call in planes over the air. Clearly, this was highly dangerous. Below is the actual post from socialstudieswithasmile.com in early March. It includes the political cartoon that basically says everything there is to say about the stupidity of this Air Traffic Controller.

During all the excitement surrounding the arrival of DJ, a crazy story was emerging about the Air Traffic Controller letting his son/daughter in the tower to call out important information to airplanes.
Shocking, Stupid, Amazing…I would never have expected something like this to happen. Hopefully, they will make some rules to end this.
I think the political cartoon from Newsday a few days ago says it all.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (13)

Dec

The Weekend of 12/18

Busy day today. I have my mother-in-law’s surprise 65th birthday party today. We’re going to be running all around today getting it ready. Common theme for me lately…busy days. Take it from me, don’t waste your youth. Once you get older and have a family, life is a blur. It’s lots of good things, but it flies by.

Bowling Scores For the Week: 174, 112, 176. Still having difficulty putting 3 good games together. My team only won one game.
While bowling I was somewhat able to monitor the Knicks game. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the score was tied at halftime. Then the Knicks didn’t really show up for the second half. The Knicks are a much improved team but they aren’t on the level of some of the best teams in the league yet. I’m just glad there is finally a buzz surrounding New York basketball. It’s been a long time!

Presidential Trivia
John Adams was the first President to live in Washington DC.
We have now concluded our Presidential trivia. Be on the lookout for the next opportunity to learn while visiting the Smile Center.

Today, we begin our top socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2010. This includes everything from the completely ridiculous news stories to our own blog stories. Here goes:

Number 10: Caption Craziness. Nothing has generated more action on the blog than our Caption Craziness. The semi-regular feature allows us to showcase our humor (or lack of humor). The Caption Craziness will continue from time to time in 2011.
To celebrate, here is a BRAND NEW Caption Craziness. Enjoy:

posted by Mr. Dowling in Bowling,Caption Craziness,Uncategorized and have Comments (8)

Dec

Reliving My Childhood

Yes…it has been well documented that my inner child is alive and thriving.
Today I enjoyed our Laughs and Lunch session. We watched Mickey’s Christmas Carol and another Disney short. I remember watching these shows every year before Christmas. I enjoy it just as much now.
We followed that up by the Looney Tunes “The Tortoise Wins By A Hare”. Great way to spend lunch.

Since we don’t have school next Friday, we’ll have Laughs and Lunch on Thursday, the day before vacation.

Enjoy this cartoon (a repeat from last year): Goofy and The Art of Skiing

Speaking of cartoons and my enjoyment of them, one of my other favorite holiday cartoons is Frosty the Snowman. Frosty airs again tonight on CBS at 8. Check it out.

There is definitely a buzz in the air with basketball of late. I’m glad to see the Knicks are finally playing well. Today is a big game…LeBron James and the Heat come to the Garden for the first time. I’m pulling for the Knicks and Amare Stoudemire to pull out the big win.
Speaking of big wins, the Jets need one in the worst way this weekend. I have a feeling they won’t be getting it…which probably means they will win.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Television,Uncategorized and have Comments (6)

Dec

Concerns

I’ve been very fortunate over the past few years to have many, many, MANY wonderful students. I look forward to going to school every day. (Of course I wouldn’t mind staying home…winning the lotto…etc.) The great students that I have and had the pleasure of having make my job worth it.

However, I am concerned about two things:
1. Some students are becoming too social. We have to remember that our number one priority in school is to learn. It is great that many of you get along but the time between classes is to get to your next class, not to hang out with your buddies.
2. Copying…over the past week I’ve heard stories about Green House students cheating on tests. Students have also been guilty of copying homework assignments. THIS HAS TO STOP! First of all, trust is very hard to gain back. I would rather you man up (or woman up) and just say, “I don’t have my assignment”. Although I wouldn’t be happy about that at least you were honest with yourself.
The question that needs to be asked is what are you doing when you should be doing your homework. Perhaps you need to work on your priorities.
I hope that these behaviors are from a small sliver of the population and that those who have done it have seen that they should not continue the behaviors.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School and have Comments (5)

Dec

Thursday, 12/16

Where does the time go? We’re almost in 2011…which means you should be on the lookout for the top 10 blog stories of 2010. Relive the funny, zany, sometimes even serious events that have happened here on the blog.

Cold, Cold, Cold…I hate the cold. If only we could all move somewhere warmer. We’d probably all be in better moods. Any suggestions?

Presidential Trivia:
Yesterday’s answer was John Tyler. You may recall that Zachary Taylor was one of the presidents who died in office.
Today’s question: Who was the first President to live in Washington DC?

This Day In History
1773-The Boston Tea Party takes place. Colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians climbed aboard British ships and dumped tea into the harbor. Of course, this was a response to the Tea Act. To many tea was a symbol of British oppression. The British would react by creating the Intolerable Acts-they closed Boston Harbor and increased the Quartering Act.
We’ll be discussing The Boston Tea Party shortly. Today’s topic is the Quartering Act and Proclamation of 1763.
1972-Miami Dolphins finish the first unbeaten NFL season. They went on to win the Superbowl a few weeks later. Of course, the Patriots also had an undefeated season recently. However, they did not win the Superbowl.

Today we learned that the colonists hated the Proclamation of 1763 and the Quartering Act. The egg is starting to crack. It won’t be long before the colonies are declaring independence. This is my favorite topic of the year. My 2nd favorite is government but most students don’t like it because of all the memorization.

We also learned today that Mr. Dowling (that’s me) likes turkey sandwiches!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Food,School,Uncategorized,history and have Comments (19)

Dec

High Five

In class yesterday I said the delegates to the Albany Congress were so happy with the Albany Plan of Union that they were high fiving each other as they left. Of course, imagining the likes of Ben Franklin high fiving is quite a sight. People did not high five in the 1750s. In fact, as I mentioned in one of the afternoon classes, the high five is a relatively new phenomenon.

Obviously the high five got its start in sports. There are some disputes as to who started it. Some say it began in the 1960s with Lamont Sleets of Murray State. Others say it began in 1977 with the LA Dodgers and a guy named Dusty Baker. Of course, Baker is now the manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
If you go back and watch footage of baseball games from the 1950s and 1960s when a player like Roger Maris hit a homerun, he would come back to the plate and shake hands with Mickey Mantle…no high fives.
A few years back when I was an assistant coach at Lawrence High School I replaced the fist bump/high five etc. with a good old fashioned handshake. It caught on with some and but others were stuck in their ways.

Dusty Baker: Keeping the High 5 tradition alive!

It has been awhile since we had our last Presidential trivia question. In fact, I don’t even remember the last question.
Here’s today’s question: What former President joined the Confederate government? We did mention this last year in class in passing.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Uncategorized,history and have Comments (8)

Dec

Tuesday, 12/14

Today is my brother’s birthday….so happy birthday. He doesn’t visit here but I figured I’d send him the message here anyway.

I hate snow. The only thing I hate more is driving in snow. Too bad we couldn’t have an alternative online school day today instead.

Cliff Lee to the Phillies. Very interesting. That team just got a lot better.

Be careful today. The roads are slippery so be careful crossing the street. In a battle between you and a car, the car will always win…unless you are the Hulk or something.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Uncategorized,baseball and have Comments (5)

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