Monday, December 31, 2012

Washington vs The Other Washington

It was bound to happen sooner or later... the iconic Washington DC football team with a storied past would meet the Pacific Northwest's football team from the "other" Washington in a game that means something more than a win during the regular season.

The Redskins is a team with a long history of heroes, Super Bowls and dozens of Hall of Famers. The Seahawks is as close as the NFL comes to having a foreign team in its roster, and whose only Super Bowl appearance resulted in a loss due to the the worst officiated championship game in history.

The Skins stubbornly cling to a name that allegedly offends some people, and it is also one of the most famous and recognizable names in professional sports. As far as Seattle, I don't even know if a Seahawk is a real bird, although someone once told me that it was another name for an Osprey, which is some kind of sea bird that eats fish.

The Skins, even through all of their woes over the last few years, are still the Skins, and you can always count on seeing them on all the highlight reviews. Last night I spent several hours watching football and not once did I see any Seattle highlights in any of the half time, post game or any time of the day shows, after all, who outside of the Pacific Northwest follows that team?

But the one thing that Seattle has always been able to do, in good years and in bad years, is to be able to beat anyone and lose to anyone on any given Sunday. And even in their worst years, most NFL teams would rather play in Beirut, Baghdad or Damascus than in Seattle, and thus the Skins should be grateful that in spite of having a worse record that the Seahawks, they are hosting them at home rather than in Starbucksland.

This will be an interesting game; as in the last few weeks the Seahawks have opened a most impressive can of offensive whoop-ass which is sure to test the Skins' suspicious secondary.

Not only that, but because they might as well play in a foreign country, most football fans (especially DMV Skin fans) are not aware that Seattle is also led by a rookie quarterback, a little guy who may in fact be as good, and in my opinion better, than celebrated other rookie quarterbacks Andrew Luck and (here it comes DMV) RGIII.

The Seahawks' appearances on national TV are counted in dog years, even when they win their division (which in the last few years has been quite often) and thus it is understandable why most people would debate that Russell Wilson is as good as Luck or RGIII - until last week, they hadn't seen Wilson play.

Because he is such a game-changer in a place as visible as the DMV, you can bet the family farm that RGIII will win the Rookie of the Year award. And yet his amazing quarterback ratings and stats are almost exactly the same as Wilson's.

Which is why Wilson will try to outdo RGIII when the two Washingtons meet.

I don't know which team will win; both teams are playing exceptionally well, and both teams deserve to move on.

Go Ospreys Hawks!

2012 ====> 2013

What a great year (for me anyway) this was... easily the best "art" year ever, with the most art sales, including sales to not one but two collectors in the Top 100 Art Collectors List, plus an offer of my first ever museum show, plus my best art fair ever, plus continuing and steady sales of my book (look for a couple more to come out next year)...

But by far the best thing about 2012 was my wonderful family, and it is from all of us that I wish all of you a terrific 2013!

See ya there!

Valentine's Day Grammar & Social Skills

Just popping in to share the LOVE! Valentine's Day activities full of love are ready for you to pick up if you need them!



My Valentine's Day Grammar packet features many SWEET animal friends and 6 grammar activities. These are my most frequently used objectives. The document is 37 pages in length. Find it here on TPT. Scroll down for a sneak peek! 







Puppy Love:  Pronouns (60 cards) Fill in the blanks with the correct pronoun. Add puppy pieces to the dog scenes, but watch out for the love sick cards!





I Stinkin’ Love You: Irregular Verb Cards  (20 cards) Each card contains a sentence. Students must choose the correct answer to fill in the blank. They may keep their card on the box of chocolates if they answer correctly. 



 ‘Toad’ally in love: Irregular Plurals (24 cards) Students read each card. Find the two frogs that match for the regular and  irregular plurals. Use each in a sentence.




Robot iLove: Subject/Verb Agreement (18 cards) Students read the sentences and fill in the blanks with is/are. Sort the robots onto the correct square.






Love Bugs: HAVE/HAS Cards  (18 cards) Students read the sentence on the card and fill in the blank with HAVE or HAS. Then sort the bugs onto the right leaf. 




Guppy Love:  WAS/WERE cards (18 cards) Students draw a card. Read the sentence and fill in the blank with the correct past tense form of ‘to be.’ Sort the card onto the correct bowl. 





The social packet is 29 pages in length and includes 4 different activities. Many activities are appropriate for elementary student. There is a level 2 set of problem solving questions that are appropriate for middle school and high school students. 



Social Problem Solving Level 1: Ages 5 & up (24 cards, blank cards, 2 mats) Print a cup or envelope for each student. Students collect cards for their mat by answering questions. If they answer appropriately, they keep the card. The student with the most cards is the winner. Targets: Classroom Behavior, Politeness, Initiating Conversation, Apologizing, Spatial Awareness, Interrupting, Reads Nonverbal Language



Social Problem Solving Level 1: Ages 12 & up (24 cards, blank cards, 2 mats) Print a cup or envelope for each student. Students collect cards for their mat by answering questions. If they answer appropriately, keep the card. The student with the most cards is the winner. Targets: Classroom Behavior, Bullying, Sarcasm, Dating, Compliments, Peer Pressure



Continuing Conversations: (18 cards, blank cards, game board) Cut and laminate all cards. Place them next to the game board. On each turn, pull one card. Read the speaker and the statement. Determine how you would respond to that comment or question. If you answer correctly, move your piece on the game board. The first person to the end of the board is the winner. Watch out for the ‘Love Sick’ spaces, which send you back to start. Targets: Classroom Behavior, Bullying, Sarcasm, Dating, Compliments, Peer Pressure




Expected & Unexpected Behavior: (18 cards, blank cards, 2 mats) Students draw cards and decided if that behavior is expected or unexpected. Sort the cards onto the corresponding envelope. 

You can find it on my TPT Store! Here! 





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