First Day of Finals... Over

The students came in with anticipation.

Surely he won't make us do the whole five pages of test in 80 minutes. Some of them saying.. when do we get out of this class?

I gave them all the answers. Some took notes. 5 pages were delivered. Only one student didn't answer any of the questions. He has missed a major portion of the year.

I let them see both endings of the movie "Second Hand Lions" They barely had time to get their work done. Most of them did not have a chance to write about the ending that they liked best. Almost universally they liked the more involved ending that wasn't chosen to the the one that was used. It is identified as the "original" ending.

The original ending had Walter, the main character of the story arrive with his family. Walter has a blond wife and two blonde kids. My students were most impressed by seeing the old shiek step out of the limo with his harem and his horse guards ringing the burial area. Walter says a few words and even the kids that fought with Hub in the barbeque restaurant were their to give their respects.

The one the editorial crew piced was significantly shorter. The grandson of the sheik arrives in his helicopter from Houston and verfies to his son that Hub and Garth actually existed.

I think it is one of the better movies that I show in my classroom sequence. There is a lot of plot to discuss. There is a lot of non verbal language that occurs and it keeps the crowd dialed in.

There are a lot of people hoping that it doesn't rain tomorrow night for graduation. Both schools are planning graduation ceremonies outside. While it didn't rain today, the clouds sure projected the possiblity of rain. Its still pretty warm out tonight.

: ) Pat