Pre-Season Training...mwahahaha!!!

I have finished preparing the plans for pre-season training (aka Review) -- very exciting! I am thinking of crazy ways to get those wheels turning again. We will be composing more Latin, which will be quite "interesting," in addition to even SPEAKING Latin! Better get those vocabulary flash cards back out!

In other news, here is a link to an image of Mt. Etna, a volcano in Sicily, erupting! That is where Vulcan and the other cyclopes have their blacksmith "shop." I guess they are still at work!

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17364

Lingua Latina Vivit!

That is all for now, valete!

SHE

Mythology in Medicine

I saw a cool thing on the Discovery Health Channel last night -- it was a show called "I am My Own Twin:" it was about a disease called Chimerism, which is when two fertilized embryos fuse into one embryo. What does that mean? That a person can have two separate sets of DNA in their body -- for example, in some hairs, they could have their own DNA, but in some of their other hairs, they could have their "twin's" DNA. This caused major problems for people because they had never heard of people having two totally different sets of DNA. In one case, a woman was accused of not being the mother of her children, but then they tested the babies' DNA and compared it to her siblings' DNA, and it seemed as if the babies had DNA from the woman's husband and the woman's brother! OBVIOUSLY that was impossible, but that proved that she had a second set of DNA in her body, which should have been a separate person. They do not know why these embryos fused to become one, but it happens!

Anyway, how is this connected to Latin? Look at the name, Chimerism: people who have this disorder are called Chimeras, like the mythological monster that had the tail of a snake, the body of a goat, and the head of a lion. Isn't that so cool?! It is just like the people -- part of them is one person, and another part is another person!

This dorky moment brought to you by Magistra Enscoe... :)

Let's Whistle While We Work...

I am so excited! I have begun doing lesson plans for next year, and boy are you in for a year of craziness! Sure, it will be difficult, but in the end, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. :)
I think the biggest change for next year will be that you will be COMPOSING Latin in addition to READING it (ie: NOT translating and putting the words together like a puzzle). Yes, you will have to use those little noggins to figure out how to express yourself. Your understanding of the grammar will improve exponentially because you are writing your own things. It will make class more fun, too.
My summer is going well, though. I am working on lesson plans (which is actually FUN -- I am doing the things that take a lot of time, like PPTs, the soundtrack, etc., so that way I can just focus on the basic lesson plans once school starts).

Stay tuned for another edition of: Magistra E's Boring Summer Vacation! :)