I can't help it... I LOVE inspirational quotes. LOVE them. I like to surround myself with them, as if they are my mantras! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the one above earlier this week. I'll be posting most of the rest of these somewhere along the way. It typically just depends on my mood! If I need to fill my cup with some "goodness", I'll post positivity. You can't exactly post something like that below then go grumping along all day. And whoa, nelly... how bout this next one?! That is some serious seriousness right there!! And I am so much realizing the importance of this one. I see patients who are in their 60s or so who have waited all their lives to retire and take it easy and travel, and.... whatever. And then, they unexpectedly have a stroke or a spinal cord injury, and travelling or "living the good life" is suddenly not quite as attainable as they'd once dreamed it'd be. Of course, it is still all a mindset, regardless of their physical situation, but certainly things would have been easier without the physical struggle. And for that reason, I am choosing EXPLORE this year. I really DO want to be in love with my life. I want to "fall in love" with lots of things. I want to explore opportunities, places, experiences.... And I want to take people with me. Jessi and I will be going to Tucson next week. Emery and I will be heading to North Carolina in a month or so too. Then, we are taking the baby chillen to Colorado in March too. I am for sure living out my word of "Explore". And that's all just in the next month!! Oh, and somewhere in there, I am also going to Dallas to a continuing education class on chronic pain, which is going to be absolutely AWESOME! And I'll be taking the national certification exam for being a Physical Rehab Pelvic Floor Practitioner. Wish me luck. I have for sure realized that my old brain doesn't work anything like it used to!! For sure I am not wasting my life. I do NOT want to look back on things and regret what I didn't do. For instance, taking the opportunity when it presented itself to rent the building across the street across from MMPT. It was a great move. My kids love to come hang out in the art studio, and I think I mentioned that when we schools were closed this week, the employees' kids came to the studio, made art, ordered pizza, and made things very easy on their working parents!! Todd the Bod even set up a big screen movie with a projector for them. Not entirely sure what Gabs is doing here. But, I DO know that these boots need to make it to Breckenridge. (and hopefully to meet " Diana from Colorado"). Does anybody out there have experience with sensory integration therapy?! If so, this is SO classic!! Maggie?! Oh yeah... I LOVE this one too. It'll be on my instagram status soon! And I LOVE this... can you read it?! It says, "The key to life is to be happy with or without money. Money only magnifies who you really are." Ain't that the truth. I know some very well off people who are just plain ugly. And some who are totally giving and beautiful. And the same goes for poor. Some who wouldn't be happy if they won the lottery tomorrow. And some who couldn't care less if they never did. They're just happy period. This is the day our schools were closed for weather. Don't be judging! ha. It doesn't get into the 20s very often here. (those are the bricks from my great grandmother's fireplace when they tore it down. I COULD not see them go to waste. SO, I made a little patio outside my bathroom window where I could look over them from my tub!) My cousin, Cherry, sent me this Pin. So hilarious! ANd this one I sent to one of my front desk girls who loves chocolate as much as I do. Anytime I find a new candy, I buy two... one for me and one for her. And she brings me prizes too. And we have BOTH done this. Shamefully. OH man. Did I really just post this?! This is what my EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING looks like. Miss Twilight Sparkles thinks she need to balance on my one leg while I am getting dressed. She is still her dad's baby every evening. But, in the mornings, for some strange reason, she loves to hang out with me. And finally, courtesy of Dawn Pierce, .... um, yeah. WHY IS THAT?! Check ya later. MO

This is a guest post from Lady Vowell Smith. Lady is a writer, editor, and former English teacher who blogs about books—mostly classic ones—at The Snail

The other day I wrote a post about how blogs are people, how what you find on a blog reflects the person behind the blog who experiences all the ups, downs, and usual merry-go-round of being a huma…

Lord of the Flies Quotes from the book, Images and Wallpaper. Relive the classical story through these good quotes of Lord of the Flies.

Common Core Aligned. CHECK OUT THE PREVIEW. This detailed collection of resources is designed to help facilitate student understanding of the development of symbols and motifs within Lord of the Flies. Active Listening Exercises and a PPT slide lecture instruct a students with the knowledge of motifs vs. symbols in literature. Students then use the graphic organizer to track the development of motifs and symbols within the novel. Completed organizers (including analysis and quotes from the text) are provided as a teacher resource. Students complete the exercise by using the provided writing templates to complete their own symbol analysis paragraphs. Novel excerpts are provided for student close reading and symbol analysis. Check out over 50% savings on our Lord of the Flies Activities Growing Bundle with over 12 Common Core Aligned activities to enhance your instruction of the novel. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW Lord of the Flies Activities Growing Bundle This Lesson Plan Includes: 1. Teacher Instructions 2. Student Handouts 3. Symbol Motif Student Notes 4. Graphic Organizers 5. Analysis prompts 6. PPT Lecture 7. Teacher's graphic organizer resources 8. Paragraph Template 9. Sample Paragraph 10. Novel excerpts for student analysis Lesson Plan: Active Listening Exercises Use the video link and corresponding worksheet to facilitate the active listening exercise “Symbols and Symbolism expained” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69A6xyXGC-M After completing the worksheet, facilitate a guided discussion of the students’ findings. Direct Instruction Use the background information from the active listening exercises along side the PPT and student note sheet to facilitate a lecture on the essential terms necessary to understand and analyze symbols within a text.. Guided Practice Use the integrated exercises ande graphic organizers provided to analyze the different symbols within the text. Facilitate discussion connected to students’ responses, and provide personal insights to ensure correct understanding and for clarification Independent Practice Have students track the symbols within the novel and/or use the provided excerpts from the novel to fill in the graphic organizers. 1. Divide students into groups of 4-6 to discuss their answers. Have each group lead a discussion on each of the different questions Use the completed worksheets to develop classroom facilitated discussion Have students use the writing templates and writing exercises to complete symbol analysis paragraphs.