Q-2 The Outsiders

For my next blog, I have to write about the best book I ever read for an English class.  The best book I ever read for an English class was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  I read this book in 8th grade when Mr. Cox was my English teacher.  The book started with Ponyboy Curtis at the gas station with his brothers Darry and Sodapop Curtis  and his friends Two-Bit Mathews, Steve Randle, Dallas, better known as Dally, Winston, and Johnny Cade. they are the members of a gang called Greasers.

Ponyboy gets home and his brother, Darry hits him. This causes Ponyboy and Johnny to run away. They go to an old church.  One day, the church catches on fire. Ponyboy and Johnny save the kids. Unfortunately, the church crashes on Johnny, and he breaks his back as a result.
Back on the edge of town, Ponyboy returns home. The other Greasers tell Ponyboy there is a rumble going on the next day. (A rumble is when the Greases and Socs fight with no weapons;just their fists.)
The rumble takes place. The Greasers end up winning the rumble. After the rumble, Ponyboy runs to the hospital to see Johnny. Johnny reveals that he didn't mind dying for those kids. All he wanted to do was save those kids.
Dally dies by getting shot and killed by the police. Ponyboy faints and wakes up several days later.
At the end of the book, Ponyboy tells his readers that The Outsiders is his English composition.
The Outsiders was the perfect book to read in English class. This book made me feel.  The Outsiders became one of my favorite books. In fact, I have a copy at home.  Today, this book still makes me feel.  It was also one of the few books we read in that class.
The Outsiders was the best book I read for an English class. It is one of the best books ever. Period.

Q-1 What's with our weather?

For my choice blog, I am going to write about the crazy weather. Our winter hardly had any snow. It was rare occasion when snow was actually on the ground.  This winter, we had a total of two days that snowed really hard. One of those days was January 13th, 2012. I was watching a murder mystery with one of my favorite actors as one of the guest stars. The guest stars were rather interesting. James MacArthur (Hawaii Five-O's Danny "Danno" Williams)played Allan Gelbart, the screenwriter. Ron Palillo (of  Welcome Back Kotter fame) played the lawyer/police officer.(This was written three months before his death in August 2012,so we don't know what he was up to when this was written.)  Melissa Sue Anderson is best known as Mary Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, but in this mystery, she plays Eve Crystal, the murderer.
I got off track as usual, so let me get back to the orginal prompt. There was a storm on January 13th. The other storm was on March 9th.  (It is ironic that both of those storms happened on a Friday).
This year, it snowed in April. When I witnessed that, I made a conclusion. This year's weather is erratic. I know. It's crazy.  I'm wearing boots one day and flip-flops the next. Something is really WRONG here!
This spring is no exception either. I like it in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. The only problem is that it is always raining.  I don't like when it rains because I can't go outside and play.  THAT really stinks. I really look forward to going outside. When I can't, that makes the day even longer and more depressing.
With the winter and spring out of control, it is hard to predict what's next. Summer will be here soon. Who know what will happen then?

P-5 Teacher Evaulations

I don't agree with the fact the teachers are evaluated based on their test scores alone.  If the teachers are evaluated on test scores alone, then that's stereotyping. Just because that particular teacher has a low test score doesn't mean they are a bad teacher. That's not true at all.  The teacher can engage his or her students with fun lessons, and they would not be a bad teacher.  The ratings, in my opinion,  can also be flawed. Who really know if the ratings are really accurate or not? Not many people actually know whether the ratings are accurate or not.  Like the article said, the data is based on disproportionate  to actual teaching practices.  The data itself is not good.
Either way, people are going to get hurt.  In this case, the teachers are going to get hurt. Teachers could get let go because of these evaluations.  But people still won't do anything about the situation, which hurts. Parents at the school aren't speaking out about the situation. The parents didn't side with the teachers on this one;they sided with the ratings. What is worse is that some of the parents claimed they did not trust the ratings;only deep down they trust them anyway. That is just wrong.
The future of these teachers are very slim.  The teachers may lose their jobs because of these stupid ratings. I certainly don't want that.

P-4 The One and Only Jackie Cooper

I'd like to take this time to remember a very special friend of mine--Jackie Cooper.

 

Jackie Cooper circa 1931

Jackie Cooper was born on September 15th, 1922. Jackie started in show business at the young age of  seven, where he appeared on The Little Rascals. He played Jackie in the series from 1929-1931. 

1931 was also a prime year for Jackie. As a nine-year-old boy, Jackie had the leading role in the film Skippy. The next year, Jackie was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in the film. (He was nine at the time.) For the rest of the 1930's, Jackie made some more films, none of which were memorable as Skippy.

During WW11, Jackie served in the US Navy. He returned to acting after the war and had a role on the TV series The People's Choice. Cooper went on to become a successful TV director. He won an Emmy in 1979 for his efforts.

Jackie's next role was Perry White in the Christopher Reeve era Superman. Along with Reeve, Jackie appeared in all four Superman movies. He was known for Superman as well as for Our Gang. Jackie Cooper died on May 3rd, 2011 at the age of 88. 

Jackie Cooper was one of the child stars that defined our time. He is one of my favorite child stars. Jackie is very special, and he will always be America's Boy.

 

P-3 Over the weekend

For my choice blog, I am going to write about what I did over the weekend.  On Friday, I came home from school and watched TV. Then my mother came home from work, and told me we were going out for dinner. My mom and I picked up my sister, and she joined us for dinner.  The service was slow, but the food was great. I'd say the food was worth the wait. On Saturday, my mom and I dropped my sister off at her driving class, and we went to the mall. When we got to the mall, we went out separate ways. My mother went to the candle store.  I went to Best Buy. I went to Best Buy because I wanted to look at movies. (I was also hoping to buy something.) Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to buy anything. So I was fine with looking around.

I was looking at movies ,and I ran into the shelf behind me. I ran into the movie Superman.  the guy on the movie cover, Christopher Reeve, is just so cute. I realized a lot of my favorites---Jackie Cooper and Susannah York were also in the movie. I met my mother at Old Navy, where we were looking at shoes. We didn't find any shoes we liked, so we left the mall to pick up my sister from her driving class. My sister was sick, so we drove home as fast as we could to get her home.
The rest of Saturday was composed of reruns of Mary Tyler Moore.  The funniest one was when Ted(Ted Knight) had to kiss Mary(Mary Tyler Moore) on the lips just to prove to his brother(guest star Jack Cassidy.) that Mary is his girl.This, of course, ends unhappily.
Sunday was the worst. I had to help my mom clean. My sister was out of commission, so I was the one that had to help mom and dad. I felt like Superman. I had to help a lot.
That's my weekend.