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Post by zoar3 on Apr 1, 2011 18:16:09 GMT -5
I still don't understand why the teacher did nothing besides assign extra homework. As bad as that was, worst was (at least to our knowledge) the fact that neither the principal or VP, or Mr. and Mrs. Pike did anything.
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Apr 2, 2011 0:32:33 GMT -5
Well, none of the sitters ever liked to talk to their parents in the books so maybe Mallory didn't tell Mr. and Mrs. Pike all the details of the eighth graders being awful to her. I wish the teacher had sent some of the rudest kids to the office or something. And having Mal teach an eighth grade class was just a terrible idea. I don't read this one very often because the Mallory teaching parts just make me cringe.
Kristy/Cary is an interesting dynamic. He definitely brings out her fiery side. I'd probably like Cary a little better if he didn't come off as vaguely creepy and obnoxious, like in the first class when he grabbed the soccer ball and ran around the field with it while the kids chased him. Sabotaging her warmup exercises by purposely being off beat with the jumping jacks was kind of funny though.
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Post by anzuhana on Apr 2, 2011 9:42:30 GMT -5
The Mallory parts make me cringe, as well. I feel bad for her.
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 2, 2011 11:40:06 GMT -5
That is true, Scrounge. Although since this went on for a while and Mal's overall well being had done a 180, her parents should have noticed something!
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 23, 2011 10:45:16 GMT -5
This book was really just a way to introduce the spaz girl thing. I felt like the Kristy/Cary fight was dumb and it was really obnoxious for Kristy to think she could be a better teacher after she continued to say how bad all the teachers were...and at the end where they asked her and Cary to coach these kids - puh-leeze!
I would have liked to see MA teaching her class b/c I feel like she would be spaz girl too!
I felt so terrible for Mallory in this one and would have liked to see the teachers have stepped in more too, but I guess then she may not have a left a couple of books down the road.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 23, 2011 11:34:35 GMT -5
I can understand how Mallory would feel trapped or alone within her huge family. My issue with this book being her "out" is that we never saw/read about her feelings being that big and harsh; like she HAD to leave for her own well-being. The other thing, is since her last book (end up being) was so positive, the Mal-hate in this seemed worse. :/
ITA about Kristy/Cary being useless. I also was shocked to read about at least 4 kids being seriously injured in their gym class. How could Ms. Walden and Mr. De Young not have stepped in?!
I think this book might have made for a much better super special subplot. I say that because a longer format might have allowed better to show each sitter's teaching experience. I didn't even like"Vanessa's school of poetry."
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 23, 2011 14:54:46 GMT -5
^ the coaches really seemed useless in this book. even though kristy and cary are supposed to be in charge, it seems borderline criminal to let things get that out of hand. you know the school had their hands full trying not to get sued after that.
on the same note, how did cary not get in trouble the first class? i love cary, but i really felt for kristy when she was taking the program seriously and trying to teach, and cary was just goofing off. he should have been asked to quit the program or get it together. kristy and cary obviously needed to work on their problems, but that should have happened one on one after school. during school while they had a job to do, the coaches should have stepped in and held them more accountable.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 23, 2011 16:04:41 GMT -5
^They really did. It wasn't like one kid had a black eye, the other lost a tooth, someone had a broken arm, and so forth were minor or happened by accident. Both gym "teachers" were present and possibly should have been sued for watching the melee unfold. It seemed like the lead up to the above took a while to play out so there was plenty of time to intervene.
The other thing that I never understood was (I know we were told each student met with a teacher before starting their class) was why each (adult) teacher didn't discuss their student teacher's plan for the class ahead of time? IIRC, there were 2 TOT "training" classes that basically consisted of either a slide show or overhead projection info on how to prepare a lesson plan. That was it. The next week the classes began. Even for Stoneybrook, that chain of events seemed awfully sudden and rushed!
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 23, 2011 23:58:47 GMT -5
I thought that too! Why wouldn't they have the plans ahead of time? It seems silly that htey would just say - okay here teach the class!
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Post by helsieboo on Jan 17, 2012 16:18:28 GMT -5
I just re-read this one and as a previous poster said, I really like Cary, but he is an idiot in this one!
I actually felt quite sorry for Kristy and the way she was treated by the PE teacher. It seemed really unfair that she got told off when she was the one trying to take it seriously. As for everything going out of control, that really wasn't her fault. Cary sacked off, the teachers didn't step in and in all honesty, what authority is one eighth grade girl over a whole class of seventh graders?
I hated seeing the bullying of Mallory in this book. I think it would have been more effective though if her peers (fellow sixth graders) had done it, but then as Mallory previously got on well with them, I suppose that wouldn't work.
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sarish
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,618
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Post by sarish on Jan 17, 2012 17:53:40 GMT -5
I felt bad for Mallory. The eighth grade class was horrible. I liked it when Kristy shouted at Parker. I don't understand why Mallory was made to teach an eighth grade class. I'm with you...it doesn't make sense to make Mallory teach a grade level above hers! How do teachers expect kids to teach a level that they haven't been through yet or aren't currently going through. Ridiculous. Absolutely.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Apr 19, 2012 18:56:44 GMT -5
This book had some awesome moments. I forgot that the seventh grade gym class ends up beating each other up. So much so that they break bones! That's kind of freaky to me. Talk about pent-up aggression. I felt that was really over-exaggerated. Maybe a broken finger or scraped knees...but it sounded like an all out brawl to the death!
This is probably my favourite Vanessa moment. She was such a b*tch! I loved it! I think it's because it was one moment where a Pike kid had a very "different" or defiant personality. She blackmailed her brothers and sisters and told them they had horrible writing. I liked this better than her being mini-Mallory.
Also, loved the Jock James shout-out! So 90s!
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valuemeal2
Sitter-In-Training
California Girl!
Posts: 295
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Post by valuemeal2 on Dec 7, 2013 2:49:36 GMT -5
I really feel like Don't Give Up, Mallory should have been this plotline from her POV. The fact that that book ended kind of positively, and then we see a little of her getting teased here, and then OMG she decides to leave-- it's like we were left out of most of the story.
I also tend to dislike Kristy books, especially the sports related ones, so this one is a lose for me. But I love the part where Claudia talks about how the sitting job was in rhyme!
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Post by virgoscorpio on May 29, 2014 17:51:29 GMT -5
Th TOT program was really unrealistic and a bit annoying. They wouldn't have given Mallory an eighth grade class, and if she would have mentioned to one of the teachers that she felt uncomfortable they would have switched her immediately. There were some moments that made me LOL during this re-read, like Cary saying the kids can freak out because they're under the control of Kristy, the hammer-fisted soccer queen (this is the FIRST time they are in front of their class, too). Or after Mallory recites an Emily Dickison poem, to which Cokie says, in front of the whole class, "That's pretty stupid." Also, Kristy mentions that Mary Anne knows where half of Stoneybrook is at any time... that's kind of creepy (haha).
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sarish
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,618
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Post by sarish on May 29, 2014 18:46:33 GMT -5
I just read this one also and thought the same thing about Mallory. I didn't understand why the two coaches didn't step in sooner! I was really surprised that Mary Anne wanted any part of the program and had such an easy time doing it. I would have seen her much more like Mal's plotline if anything, although then they'd have to make Logan threaten to beat everyone up and I suppose they didn't want the Golden Boy to have to do that.
Sent from my SM-G900P using proboards
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