Shannon Costello

1) This is the first year I have used a particular text with my 8th grade Spanish classes and I am having trouble pacing myself. If I go too fast I will be frantically inventing creative lesson plans at the end of the year. If I crawl along too slowly my students will not know everything they need to know for the assessments (modern school teachers know that “tests” are an outdated term). I spent significant time today trying to figure out my best course of action…

2) I am fascinated by naval fiction, history, birds, languages, and music. Patrick O’Brian’s novels are a happy combination of all of those interests, and probably a few more that have slipped my mind. His characters are based on British naval heroes, as is much of the action. One of his main characters (the bird-watcher) speaks multiple languages, including Catalan. Just before a violin and cello improv session, the cellists plays a Mozart piece he believes the composer of the French national anthem was thinking of…

3) Bagged spinach is back…at about half its former price!