In case you're not a book nerd, you might not know that it's Banned Books Week . I think it's important to recognize books that have been banned or challenged because they usually end up being some of the most influential books in terms of outlook or genre*. And without fail, they're challenged because they make you think, deal with magical-elements-which-means-they're-the-spawn-of-satan, or have gratuitous sex and drugs. Please. While we're at it, why don't we ban most of the shows on MTV, the CW, and FOX? Or is it perfectly acceptable for your 13 year old to watch Snooki be drunken mess and attempt to hook up with her housemates? Oh, is that hypocrisy on your face? It angers me. I think it's in within your right as a parent to decide what your child can or cannot read, but don't make that decision for my kid. (I'm look at you, Tara Wolstein**. Now that I've gotten off my soapbox, I present one of my favorite books that has been chal...

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday, but work deadlines encroach. It's been a while since I've talked about Phantasma, and I blame lack of communication from Tasma's new teacher.Still, I know she has fans in the Lurkdom. Because of that reason and because I love you all, I present Four For Friday: Little Phantasma Tuesday Edition The terrarium brought home from Beth lasted through July. When The Stripey One finally scared the final anole, we upgraded to hermit crabs. They are still kicking. During summer camp, Phantasma and Tessa Wolstein reached a shady truce so they could stand up to a grade 8 bully sadly named Buster. School has been in session for most of the month and Tasma hasn't brought home one assignment to date. Her new favorite lunch is open-faced Nutella and banana sandwiches. I'm looking for a volunteer to do email correspondence for Phantasma's 7th grade year. If you're interested in creating email notifications, email me at ragdo...

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you your link in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question : What does your character hide in their underwear drawer - or other secret location? I got to admit, this is something I've never thought about while working on character development. As far as I know, Cheyenne doesn't physically hide anything. Mentally is a different story. She has secrets as do most people and those she keeps locked pretty tight. Since this week I'm working on editing my NaNoWriMo project,* this RTW is timely. I have characters who definitely have things to hide. Grimoires. Weapons. Contraband. Cryptozoological animals. Not to mention the affair that shouldn't be happening. Some of these things already have secret locations. The grimoires are in a secret compartment behind government-approved books. The animals are in ce...

Because of life, I got behind reading communications from Beth, something I should never not do. If I had kept up, I wouldn't have been surprised when Tasma came home with a terrarium complete with a pair of anoles . (For those who didn't bother to click the link, anoles are little green lizards. If you're going for a lizard, they're a great one to start with. I'm guessing because they're small and don't require a lot of room. And they like terrariums.) Phantasma came home with them Friday. Throughout the weekend, she'd open the container and let them run around her room. Her "eek" carried through out the apartment. Hubby and I weren't aware that the persmission slip came home, which meant that one of our signatures were forged. This I take full ownership of, as I used to forge my fathers' signature on my high school permission slips whenever I forgot them at school. Did you say "live toy?" So, she forgot the slip a...

Subject: end of year Hello parents, We are rapidly approaching the end of the year. It's hard to believe. The year has gone by so fast. Our next quiz will be on Tuesday, May 25th. It will cover investigation 8 "adaptations". The format this time will be all multiple choice using a scantron form. It will be brief. It's been quite a while since we've taken a test or quiz in this format. Part of the final will be on scantron, so this will be good preparation. The science six final is scheduled for Wednesday, June 16th. The review packet has gone out for photocopying. I will post a copy on the eBoard shortly. The final will cover material from the entire year and will count as 25% of the fourth quarter grade. I will be in touch shortly regarding the possibility of children taking the organisms from our aquariums/terrariums home, with parent permission, of course. Warm regards, B. Fisher It's so hard to believe it's been almost a full school ...

Subject: upcoming quiz and event Hello, Just a quick note to let you know that the Dolan Harbor DNA Labs in school field trip will take place on Monday, May 10th.  Thank you all for making collection of permission slips and program fees as easy as a task like that can be.  Our next quiz will cover Investigation #6 in our Populations and Ecosystem unit.  The topic is "Populations".  The quiz will take place on Thursday, May 13th .  A review sheet is currently being developed and will be available shortly.  Finally, page 33 of your child's lab notebook will be collected and graded as a lab.  We will work on this in class tomorrow.  Please remind your child to make sure it represents his/her best work before turning it in on Friday .  Warm regards, B. Fisher Phantasma had her rip off of a internal field trip today , but she liked it. She called to tell me all about the mini CSI like thing they did as well so the kids can better relate to ...

Dear Parent, We are currently planning an in-school field trip in our sixth grade science classes, and your child is invited to participate. Please read carefully the information about this field trip, below. If you would like your child to participate, please sign the Parent Permission Form (attached) and return it by the date indicated. Students who do not return a signed Permission Form by the deadline date will be denied participation in this trip. Again this year, all costs for field trips must be borne by the students participating. All payments for field trips must be in the form of checks made out to the middle school. Please be advised that the school will impose a $15 fee for any check that is returned, to cover our own bank charges. Please also be advised that if the Superintendent of Schools deems it necessary to cancel a field trip at the last moment due to unforeseen circumstances, a full or even partial refund may not be possible to be granted, and the school or dis...

Subject: upcoming quiz and event Hello parents, We will be having a quiz on April 13th.  Children are receiving a review sheet in class today.  It is also highly suggested that they reread the Biosphere 2 reading in preparation. On May 10th, we will have visitors from the Dolan Harbor DNA Labs.  There is an $8.00 fee for this in school field trip.  Permission slips are going home today. Warm regards, B Fisher Oh, Beth. Why would you want the kids to reread a 272 page book in a weekend? They have other things to do like not read nonfiction. Don't get me wrong. I support reading as much as the next fictional mother and aspiring writer, but the book looks boring. I doubt I'd be able to get through one reading, let alone a reread. Has anyone read Biosphere 2? Does it actually pertain to what Tasma's learning? Come to think of it, I don't think Tasma read it the first time. That little girl is in trouble. _________ Last.fm hit of the day : Penetrate by Godh...

Subject: Lab notebook pages 16 and 17 Hello parents, We have been very busy making observations of our organisms for our aquarium and terrarium.  Pages 16 and 17 of the lab notebook along with a page of questions to be distributed tomorrow will be collected on Monday and graded as a lab.  This is a requirement for all students even if they were absent yesterday or today. There is an organism database on sciweb your children can refer to if they did not complete the material in class.  All children were given a hard copy of the instructions for accessing the site in class today.  If they were out for the play or other reason, a copy was placed in the absentee folder for them.  As a reminder, school will be closed on Friday.  B. Fischer Tasma is loving this unit. She likes watching snails in the terrarium do their snail like things. She's already panicking about it ending, even though the fish and snails will stay in the classroom. (I guess she gets ...

Subject: egg shells Hi, Thank you all for the gallon jugs.  I received so many that I was able to share with the other teachers. I have another request from your kitchens if possible.  One of the organisms that will inhabit our terrariums is the land snail.  Snails require a source of calcium .  If you could send in some egg shells, they would be oh so happy.  Thanks again for all of the support throughout the year.  Warm regards, B. Fisher I'm not sure how I feel about Phantasma carrying egg shells, Beth. I mean, there's going to be traces of raw egg there. Raw egg contains salmonella. I'm pretty sure that Wolstein will have some kind of issue with this request. It sounds like something she would gripe about. On a positive note, Tasma's excited about seeing some snails. She'll probably ask to take one home. Beth, do not let her. I'm afraid The Stripey One or The White One will play snail hockey . We don't want that.

Subject: Upcoming Quiz Hello parents, We began our new unit entitled Populations and Ecosystems this week.  The first quiz is scheduled for March 22nd.  I've attached a brief review sheet which will also be posted on my eBoard.  For more information about this newly adopted program go to sciweb and click on  middle school/populations and ecosystems.  It is a very hands on approach and so far the children are really enjoying it.  Warm regards, B. Fisher Thanks for the update, Beth. I know that Phantasma's been enjoying it. She's been singing an ecosystem song all week.

Subject: Classroom updates and new unit Greetings, parents! My name is Meredith Thomas and I am your child’s 6th grade English and Literature teacher.  I apologize for not starting an email list sooner. As many of you may be aware, I recently returned from maternity leave; I thank you for all the warm wishes you sent to my husband and me after the birth of our child!  Now that I am officially back to work and have been able to reconnect with the children, I have am hoping to send you classroom updates and announcements on a regular basis, much like you already receive from my colleague, Beth Fisher.  And I am hoping you are all familiar with the eBoard program. I will also be using that on a regular basis. Since I have been gone for most of the year, I wanted to let the children have some fun and chose what to study in our next Literature unit.  The children had many wonderful suggestions, but one student was quite verbally adamant about wishing to study a parti...

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Former boss informed me today that St. Patrick wasn't Irish, but English . This didn't stop Phantasma from donning her green and weaving 4 leaf clovers in her hair. Subject: directions for accessing sciweb Hello parents, I've attached a document designed to assist your children in accessing supplemental, web-based materials for our new Populations and Ecosystems module.  I've included a user name and password, so they can access just about anything.  There are games, resources and other fun activities to supplement what we are doing in class.  I hope this website proves helpful.  Warm regards, B. Fisher Beth forgot to attach the document and she also forgot to include the URL in her email. This isn't a major problem for Tasma though since she's been heading in early to handle all supplemental activities that are populations and ecosystems related. April vacation is only a few weeks away and I've put the bug in Phantasma...

Subject: milk containters needed Hello, I will be collecting gallon milk containers over the next couple of days.  If you have an empty one, please rinse it out (no soap) and send it to school with your child.  Next week we will be constructing two mini-ecosystems.  We need to allow the water for the aquariums to sit for several days prior in order to ensure the health of our organisms.  Thank you very much for your help.  It is greatly appreciated.  Warm regards, B. Fisher Oh, Beth. How I love your misspellings and double spaces after periods. My only other favorite thing is the subject heading "upcoming quiz" because it's so descriptive and all. I'm sad to report that we don't drink enough milk at Chez Phantasma to have gallons. We do have some water gallons that Phantasma could part with, I suppose. We have one for the cats and a few for her. She likes to make bird feeders out of them in her spare time. She's a crafty one, that Phantasma.

Subject: student volunteers needed for science fair/fundraiser information Hello parents, Hopefully all will be back to normal as of tomorrow. We will be needing a few student volunteers to assist with some of the interactive tables at the science fair this year. Children would be needed beginning approximately six PM on Thursday, March 11th. If your child is interested please let me know as soon as possible so that I can forward their name to our lead teacher. Our fundraiser for Good Friends is scheduled to take place tomorrow. Due to the snow days , we have no parent volunteers scheduled for periods 6,7, or 8th periods.  If you are available and can come help out, please contact me or Mr. Johnson.  Warm regards, B. Fisher When I got this email from Beth, I talked with Phantasma about helping out at the science fair. We never had them in school, and if we did, I must've been sleeping. Anyway, Phantasma wasn't interested in helping out with the science fair. Her r...

In last Tuesday's comments , Robert asked if picking certain mugs for specific projects would be considered superstition or habit. My answer? Habit. Little Phantasma has problems with her narrative voice whenever it rains. One day, she discovered that if she plays Bjork whenever she suffers from this, she can push through her narrative without too much tweaking later on. Now, whenever it rains, Bjork is played at eleven. What started out as a way to cope with something turned into a lifestyle choice. Ritual eventually gives way to habit, but they pretty much go hand-in-hand. It's a simplistic form of learning when reacting to a certain stimuli. And if responding to X by doing Y is the easiest thing, why would try Z? Of course, not all habits come from superstition. I can't explain why I have to fall asleep on my left side, but I do. What's fascinating is that everyone has them, and we all have at least one "quirk." One of mine is that all my first dr...

The quiz that was scheduled for last Friday was postponed to this Friday. Phantasma's classmates are struggling with the animal kingdom, even with the extra study aids that Beth sent out. I'd be lying if I said Phantasma understood everything - she didn't. She had problems finishing the study sheets and blamed the cat. (Quite possible it was either The Stripey One's or The White One's fault. They do love sitting on the one thing you're working on.) Subject: Jeopardy Review Hello parents, I hope you are all enjoying the snow.  I just wanted to let you know that I've posted a Jeopardy review game on the animal kingdom on my eBoard.  The quiz will still take place on Friday as scheduled.  Warm regards, B. Fisher For the record, Beth, I'm not enjoying the snow. I broke up with winter. (However, it was very pretty on the trees this morning.) I haven't looked at the review game yet. It should be fun, even if there isn't any Sean Connery. ...

Just when I was panicking about getting photos ready for today's post, Beth sent another email. For all newcomers, you can learn about the birth of Beth and Phantasma here and follow it all here . As predicted, Phantasma left a horse on Tessa Wolstein's desk. Also, as predicted, Tessa ratted my child out to her mother. This left me with an annoyingly painful conversation with the uber-perky Tara Wolstein where my daughter is the devil and I'm a crap parent. (So not.) Anyway. Beth emailed twice, but not about the Tessa-Phantasma feud. Subject: upcoming quiz Hi parents, Just a quick note to let you know that we will be having our animal kingdom quiz on Friday, February 12th .  The format of this particular quiz will be all multiple choice .  I've attached a review sheet that your child can begin now.  We have not yet covered birds or mammals.  Warm regards, B. Fisher Subject: additional review Hi parents, I've attached additional review material for y...

You know it's bad when you read a letter from your imaginary daughter's teacher and have the urge to tighten up the language. I have more important things to do than edit Beth's emails. (Like the eight submissions I have to edit and critique.) Subject: Team fundraiser Hello parents, Tomorrow your children will be learning about our upcoming team fundraising event to benefit Good Friends located in Islanda .  Good Friends is a therapeutic riding facility for disabled children and adults.  We will be selling assorted rubber duckies during lunch periods on February 10th and 11th. Information about this fundraiser is posted on my eBoard as well as the team eBoard.  We are looking for parent and student volunteers to assist us.  If you can come in for an hour or so, please fill out the parent volunteer form that has been posted and send it in with your child as soon as possible.  If your child is interested, they should fill out a student volunteer form and...

Or will be on today. Subject: Upcoming events Hello and Happy New Year ! I just wanted to take the opportunity to keep you informed of upcoming events.  This Friday , we will be completing a lab on protists.  Live protists are on order and the children will have the opportunity to view them under the microscope.  Our S B Nature Center in school visit is scheduled for Monday, January 11th .  This coincides beautifully with the beginning of our study of vertebrate animals . There will be a quiz on Friday, January 15th covering classification and invertebrate animals . Warm regards, B. Fisher I had no idea what Beth was talking about in regards to protists so I had to look it up. But now I'm powered with a little more biological knowledge. (It also turns out that I had looked at these little buggers under a microscope once upon a time.) I hope that Phantasma doesn't get  Tessa Wolstein as her lab partner. The odds of a fight happening between the two a...