Spelling Bee

Mega congrats to Kavya Shivashankar who yesterday won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, though those of us here in spellcheck-grateful Auburn Hills, MI were pulling for Michigan's own Sidharth Chand.

Sid fell to "apodyterium," a Greek bath. Seems rather unfair, since nearby Mt. Clemens was known for its mineral baths, not places to hang your togas.

So we thought we'd post two of our favorite moments in Spelling Bee history. The first is from Rebecca Sealfon, 1997 winner and, we think, the foundation for the nation's renewed interest in the Bee. Here she wins. Isn't her enthusiasm great? (But, to step up for our Michigan man Sid, isn't euonym a bit of a softball compared to apodyterium?)




This clip speaks for itself.

Yet Another D & D Post

Well, followers of this blog know someone around here at Teacher's Brunch HQ in rainy Auburn Hills, MI has a "Dungeons & Dragons" jonesing, so it makes sense that when we saw this article, Everything I Know I Learned From Dungeons & Dragons, it had to be posted here.

Hopefully, game clubs will spring up across American schools.

Memorial Day Thanks

A belated Happy Memorial Day to everyone out there. We sincerely express thanks to the men and women we honored over the weekend, and the families of solders who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country.

Geographic Bee Winner

This story details the recent victory of Eric Yang, 13, in the National Geographic Bee.

He won on a nail-biting triple-overtime sudden death question. Here it is:

Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?

Eric got it right, making what he called "an educated guess."

So congratulations to Eric, and the folks who helped him get that education.

Teacher's Brunch and Teacher's Discovery have a nice little collection of geography games that might help your students be the next Bee winner.

Here is a link to them: right here, folks!

All Work and No Play . . . .

We are all very busy at Teacher's Brunch and Teacher's Discovery proper in gorgeous, sunkissed Auburn Hills, MI. The new Social Studies and English catalogs are well under way, the latest Science catalog is still fairly new, and down the road the Foreign Language folks are putting their latest offerings together.

So, why not throw a party?

Yesterday the hundred-odd TD employees shared BBQ and volleyball to celebrate May 19th. Why May 19th? Well, Anne Boleyn was executed on May 19th. The Tariff of 1828 was signed into law on May 19th, and Marilyn Monroe sang to JFK on a May 19th.

The truth is, of course, we just picked a day and wikied May 19th to find out what we could celebrate. Then signs went up advertising a "Boiling Good Time" and "Scratchy Pants." (Check out that tariff link to catch that joke. That's what we in the biz would call a "deep cut.")

No worries, though. We are still developing some great stuff for you and your students. Just this week our office has seen some new essay type posters pass through, and Nina has a great baseball game that uses excerpts from authors you and your students know to review literary terms and devices. Our German and French culture games soon will be joined by a Spanish cultural trivia game. And there's more coming down the line.

But sometimes, ya gotta barbecue. It's been a long, cold winter, especially in Michigan.

Hurry, Summer!

We've posted some pictures from our little soiree. Hopefully you've gotten some similar weather lately, too!



That's Cleveland, our IT-guru, striking a pose in front of the Eng/Sci/SS building, and making a pretty good argument for becoming a Coca-Cola spokesmodel.





Ryan, newly placed in charge of Wholesale, directs traffic on the volleyball court.






When Ginger isn't lining up her killer serve, she works in shipping at the FL building.




FL buyer Doug stalks the court, while Chris prepares to put the ball in play.




Social Studies Merchandise Manager Alicia actually posed for this picture. Twice.



Project Manager Nina recently road her bike in the Zoo-De-Mac.



Statuesque Vadim prepares to crush a serve (into the net, we seem to recall).



Here's a nice group shot.

Well, all work and no play makes Jack dull, but without work, the lights go off, and that Empires PowerPoint presentation isn't going to edit itself.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments or send an email to teachersbrunch at teachersdiscovery dot com!

Interloper! Bird moves in at Foreign Language building

It's a beautiful but breezy day here in springy Auburn Hills, MI, a great day to relax in the courtyard at the Teacher's Discovery Foreign Language courtyard, shielded from the gusty wind.

But. . . .



Seems mommy bird has decided to nest in the low crook of the courtyard tree. In this picture, you can see just how close to the ground she's nesting. We figure the relative safety of the courtyard emboldened her a bit.






So for now we're staying out. Mommy's name is Robin, and we'll keep you posted as the egg-watching progresses.

The following pictures, by the way, were taken safely from the other side of the glass. No need to disturb her, especially so close to Mother's Day!

Ryan Makes His Acting Debut!

In the video below, you'll see TB's very own project manager Ryan make his small screen debut as Marifer Sanchez in this Capitán Españo video clip.

Doug from Foreign Language is the good captain himself.

Keep your eyes peeled, because those wacky FL folks are planning a whole series of Capitán Españo videos.






Words cannot describe it. In any language.

Pluto Takes Another Hit!

After the attempt by some people to strip it of its planet status, it seems the icy chunk of space rock known as Pluto is facing another loss.

The lady who as a little girl named Pluto has passed away.

It's What's Inside That Counts: Anatomy Challenge Has Arrived!

Our newest game from our Challenge series is for Science teachers everywhere: Anatomy Challenge.

Like all our Challenge games, we made this to work perfectly with your interactive whiteboard, but there's other ways to use the game, too. In a lab, projected on the wall, on your classroom computer-whatever machine you use, the game is always fun, and students are always learning!





Here's the link to a sample for PC users: right here!

Folks more inclined toward Macs can find a sample to download over here: linky link!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

May the Fourth Be With You!

Today is (unofficially) Star Wars Day here at Teacher's Brunch HQ in Spring-sun-kissed Auburn Hills, MI.

Enjoy.