The Snow is Nearly All Gone
Four days ago, we were blanketed under a nine inch snowstorm. Tonight, except for the few odd shady spots and the places where the snow is piled, all I see is bare ground.
My arena seems pretty clear too although it is still pretty wet in there. But I'm pretty sure before the weekend is over I will be able to ride.
I put light sheets on the Boys this morning, so they are still clean. But tomorrow will be too warm so I am anticipating mud caked wonders by afternoon. But practically all my blogging friends seem to be in the same boat, so we can commisterate as we spit out the horsehair and try to wipe the dirt from our faces. The cloud of dust from grooming a muddy horse is truly amazing.
Then again, watching the sheer joy in my Boys' bodies as they revel in blanketless freedom and get to scratch all those itchy spots in the nice soft mud/sand/whatever is well worth all the work I have to do. They are like little kids let out for recess after a tough reading test.
Speaking of, the NJ State High School Assessment tests are over for the year and my 11th graders are all pretty confident they did really well on the language arts portion. Several of them thanked me for getting them ready as some of the prep work we'd done was so similar to parts of the test they were totally ready to tackle the assignments. I know for sure all the students in my testing room put their all into doing a great job on the test. It is a requirement for graduation, so they do need to pass, but I honestly think they put even more pride into their work than passing required. I will be eager to see their scores.
I will be teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream to all my classes by next week. My 9th and 10th graders seem to be enjoying it so far, and I hope the 11th graders feel the same. Once we are all done, I'll be doing Romeo and Juliet with the 9th grade, Taming of the Shrew with the 10th grade, and Hamlet with the 11th grade. All Shakespeare all the time.
More fun for and English teacher than I could ever possibly explain.
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and the great thing is they can all be related to modern works - and you can use that BBC series as well - so people can understand them in a modern context also (not that the original of any of those is difficult....)
ReplyDeletedid you know Terry Pratchett has based some of his stories on Shakespeare?
I actually don't mind removing mud (as long as its dry), and the horses do enjoy it so. Like your new picture heading - which of the boys is it? Teaching the Shakespeare sounds wonderful - it's such a foundation for everything in English, and enjoyable as well.
ReplyDeleteI hope all your students did well on their test. Shakespeare should be fun for all the grades.
ReplyDeleteOur herd is a mess, we groomed them a few days ago and within a matter of minutes in turnout they were filthy before I could even get the camera for a 'clean' picture. They love it though and I can understand how itchy it must be under those blankets.