Mister Teacher and the Chocolate Factory

Tomorrow, Mrs. Educator and I plan on having our reward party for the kids that did their best on the TAKS test. Of course,we don't have scores back yet, and we weren't allowed to look at their answers during the test, so we don't know for SURE who did their best, and who faked it, but we could tell from who was actively engaged with the test the whole time, and who kept watching the door, watching the clock, watching the pencil sharpener. . .
Right before Christmas break, we started a viewing of the Johnny-Depp remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the kids. Since they didn't finish watching it, the plan is to finish that one and watch the original version tomorrow. Personally, I liked the remake much better, as the first one freaked me out. Those Oompa-Loompas struck me as being psychedelic, homicidal lunatics out for children's blood, and perhaps their flesh as well! But in the remake, the OL Clan cracked me up. Good Oompa-Loompas are much better that their evil counterparts. It's like Stripe in Gremlins. Don't feed them after midnight, or they'll hunt you down and kill you. That's a good piece of advice that I follow with my students as well. Sometimes they remind me of Gremlins, but more often, they remind me of Oompa-Loompas. Except for the singing in harmony and not actually EATING the chocolate parts. . .