Spanish is a funny language. It's even been called a sexist language, although if you start looking at it with gender issues in mind, it will hurt your head. One middle school boy, when being taught about the gender of nouns, learned that anything ending in an "o" is masculine, except for some exceptions. "La" is feminine. "La mano" for "hand" is ( Read more... )

I have mixed feelings about Classic Spanish Stories and Plays, The Great works of Spanish Literature for Intermediate Students, edited by Marcel C. Andrade. It is a reader of many classic works of Spanish Literature. It includes the highlights, El Cid, Los Cuentos de Conde Lucanor, and of course Don Quixote. The works have been simplified and ( Read more... )

Someone didn't even wait to start off banned book week by protesting against Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak because it was "soft pornography." If you've read the book, that's a preposterous claim. & as you would expect, the call to ban it isn't hurting the books popularity at all ( Read more... )

the lies are really obvious, and meant to impress such as "I went to a Justin Bieber concert last night" when you can easily look up Justin's tour schedule and find out he was in town 4 months ago and is on the other side of the country now ( Read more... )

Mammoths, an alternate history story masquerading as Lakota oral tradition. It's a very quiet, gentle story about dedication and preservation ( Read more... )

School has started and I have a completely new group of kids. I did get to know some of them in summer school, and a few, I know older sibs. Last year I worked with 8th graders, and this year it's 6th graders. What a difference!!! These kids are really sweet! They are happy to see an adult they know, and not embarrassed to show it. They want help. ( Read more... )

Caitlin will be at Arcana in St. Paul in October, so if you're into horror, do come out to the convention to meet her. It's a small con, so you actually will be able to talk to her. That's the beauty of small cons ( Read more... )

I was privileged to hear a rant today about why parents always ruin their kids lives by not letting them do anything fun. The catalyst for the even was the dad limits the hours the kid can play video games ( Read more... )

I'm signed up to be a foster mom, and it just hasn't worked out. Dillon, my dear sweet brat of a dog, accepts puppies well, but he'll start guarding everything from the best spot on the couch to me with his dear grrrrfriend, so I know if I foster an older dog, we're going to have some pack order "discussions." Don't want that. So, my first pick ( Read more... )

There's a spider trying to crawl into my USB port!