scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on May 29, 2014 23:42:26 GMT -5
I had forgotten that Mary Anne even participated in the program. As much as the books liked to paint her as almost pathologically shy, I'm surprised she volunteered to do something that required speaking in front of a group, and that she didn't burst into tears in front of her class and run home.
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celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
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Post by celaeno on May 30, 2014 14:06:32 GMT -5
They didn't even get the name of the monster right!
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on Aug 31, 2018 21:38:25 GMT -5
Kristy was snarky and egotistical but in a pretty amusing way. The first poetry chapter was fun, naturally bringing up Claudia's inability to spell, but then later Vanessa got too mean and crazy (OK that she points out real teachers do "blackmail" students about reporting misbehavior but the ending was kind of weak, just pointing out that teachers can also, better, just be encouraging and that might motivate all students).
Kind of weird to see a whole bunch of new named students, seemingly for the first time, in 8th grade just so that it would be new, non-familiar characters (aside from Cokie and briefly Grace, Pete and Alan) being mean to Mallory. Also that there was nothing of how Mary Anne or Alan taught their social studies classes.
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on Aug 31, 2018 21:43:56 GMT -5
I did think the extra reports, the whole class being assigned them for some (many) students being bad, was meant to seem questionably fair but at the same time maybe that was just the best and fairest response the real teacher could do. Likewise the assistant principal thinking about cancelling the whole program because one class went really bad, just cancelling it for gym would make a lot more sense.
It was kind of interesting but unbelievable that Kristy did such a bad job as gym teacher/coach after doing well as coach with the Krushers, apparently just because she got too competitive.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Mar 30, 2020 0:49:28 GMT -5
This book makes me think that Kristy would be a better teacher to children rather then kids around her own age. If she was teaching an elementary school gym class she would have done a much better job. She’s pretty competitive though and Cary wasn’t even trying to help her out. The program is a great idea in theory but they really needed to screen the people who signed up, yeesh.
I feel terrible for Mallory, those kids were jerks! I know Mary Anne and Kristy couldn’t stop the whole school from ganging on Mallory but why not talk to a teacher or a parent? It was clear from the beginning that she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She’s had multiple meetings with the English teacher at least she knew what was going on. At this point this is just the tipping point of Mallory wanting to leave.
I’d like to hear more about Mary Anne’s social studies class other then it was going well.
There’s a line where Vanessa says that poems needed to sound good and the way she describes poetry, makes me thing that she’d be good at writing songs. Maybe she’ll grow up and be a song writer (songstress?) one day.
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Post by oldmeanie on Aug 11, 2023 12:41:18 GMT -5
Honestly, I didn't really like this one. First of all, it should've been a Mallory book. Second of all, the program was horribly done.
I was annoyed by Kristy at first. She arrogantly thought she could be a better teacher. I guess that's actually pretty realistic, but it was still a bit eye-rolling. And I'm flabbergasted that she didn't just ASK first about writing a lesson plan. I probably would have assumed that a gym class wouldn't have one either at that age, but she should've checked beforehand. Kind of ridiculous and OOC on her part.
But I also felt a lot of... secondhand embarrassment for her? I felt it when she suggested taking the place of the principal (idk why, that was just so cringe to me lol), with her trying a new warm-up and all the kids just staring at her, wearing the wrong shorts the second day (and pretty much all of the second day), fighting with Cary in front of the class, etc. Yeah... for some reason, it was a bit uncomfortable to read lol.
I totally agree with what others have said- the gym teachers should've absolutely stepped in. They let it go too far. I didn't think that Kristy and Cary should have been sent to the principals office. It's not like they sicced the kids on each other. And if the admin truly believed they were at fault for students' injuries, they absolutely would have been axxed from the program. What they really should've gotten in trouble for was fighting in front of the class, Cary especially. He mocked her from the beginning. He should've been pulled aside and told to get his act together or he couldn't be a part of this program. I felt bad for Kristy here and don't really think she did much of anything wrong.
And Mallory... oh my god, SMS MASSIVELY failed Mallory. First of all, she shouldn't have had to teach older kids. Of course they wouldn't take her seriously. She even voiced her concerns, and was basically told it would be fine. No! Do they KNOW how middle school kids can be? I have no idea why this was allowed in the first place. How could she even teach a class she hasn't been to yet? Tbh, I feel like they should have only been teaching at least a grade younger, so sixth graders should have been exempt. It makes no sense otherwise. You can't teach what you haven't been taught yet...
They barely got any training anyway. The lesson plans should have been required BEFORE the classes started (it's ridiculous to me that Ms. Walden didn't ask her for it until before the second class. I agree with Kristy here, Ms. Walden sucks). It's just... a mess honestly. Very, very poorly thought out. It's also something that leads to a student getting constantly bullied. I doubt it would continue the next year.
This is also the beginning of the Mallory going to Riverbend plot. I still don't like it, but I understand where she's coming from. And I cannot stress enough how much she deserved another book to really elaborate on this plot more. Why was this a Kristy book, and why was the other major book dedicated to the idea a Mary Anne book (thinking about the decision-making process and not Mal moving there already)? It's a gigantic change that really warrants Mallory as the narrator making the decision.
This one gets a 3... it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The adults at SMS really dropped the ball here.
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Post by booboobrewer on Aug 12, 2023 22:17:17 GMT -5
It's a gigantic change that really warrants Mallory as the narrator making the decision. It was a big insult to the character.
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