These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

This school year, to share a little more about myself with my students, I created this project called “Mr. Lau’s Obsessions.” It’s basically a series of Google Slides with pictures of topics, objects, places, and activities I have been interested in over the course of the year.

To wrap up this crazy year, I’m encouraging my students to “Share Out” in a similar way — what are their interests? What do they like to do for fun? What do they dream of doing? How do they see themselves? They can share as much or as little as they like, in whatever format fits their personality. I’m excited to see what they share, and all the creative ways they’ll do so!

Always one to lead by example, I’m putting together a more organized version of things I want to “Share Out.” I call it Lau’s Lists, and the results are down below. This is a work in progress, so check back for more additions to each list from day to day.

Let the sharing begin! 😁

LAU’S LISTS

Some of My Favorite Books

Maniac McGee by Jerry Spinelli
Holes by Louis Sachar
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Our Kind by Marvin Harris
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Some of My Favorite Poets

Phillip Larkin – “Church Going” “MCMXIV“
William Shakespeare – Sonnet 18 Sonnet 116 Sonnet 130
Robert Frost – “Design” “Fire and Ice” “Birches“
John Keats – “Ode on a Grecian Urn” “To Autumn” “Ode to a Nightingale“
Emily Dickinson – (314) (479) (754)
John Donne – “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” “The Sun Rising” “Death Be Not Proud“
Sir Philip Sidney – Sonnet XX, Sonnet XXXI
Billy Collins – “Introduction to Poetry” “Litany“
Wallace Stevens – “Sunday Morning” “The Snowman“
Elizabeth Bishop – “The Fish”
Robert Burns – “To a Mouse“

Some of My Favorite Musicians

Arctic Monkeys (“R U Mine, “Leave Before the Lights Come On,” “Fluorescent Adolescent“…)
The Black Keys (“Little Black Submarines,” “Tighten Up,” Lies“…)
Jeff Buckley (“Hallelujah,” “Dream Brother,” “So Real”…)
Stehreo (“Chasing Demons,” “Only For a Minute“…)
The Avett Brothers (“I Would Be Sad,” “Die Die Die,” “Kick-Drum Heart”…)
Hozier (“From Eden,” “Movement,” “Jackie and Wilson”…)
Fiona Apple (“Shadowboxer,” “Across the Universe,” “Extraordinary Machine”…)
The Strokes (“You Only Live Once,” “Soma,” “Last Night“…)
Pearl Jam (“Black,” “Corduroy,” “Daughter”…)
Stone Temple Pilots (“Plush,” “Vasoline,” “Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart”…)
Radiohead (“Let Down,” “Just,” “Airbag”…)
Machines of Loving Grace (Butterfly Wings, The Soft Collision, Golgotha Tenement Blues…)
Smashing Pumpkins (“Disarm,” “1979“, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”…)

Some of My Favorite Foods

MY WIFE’S LASAGNA #Liz-agna
Seafood (crabs, scallops, shrimp, mussels…basically anything but lobster 🦞🙅🏼‍♂️)
Anything Mexican (tacos, burritos, guacamole, rice and beans and salsa…)
Sushi
Double Dunker Ice Cream
Peanut butter (with apple slices, in yogurt, grilled PB & J…)
All kinds of fruit (especially local berries, fresh peaches and dried apricots)
Deep-fried green beans
Chicken Shawarma
Pumpkin Pie
Tuna Noodle Casserole #OriginalComfortFood
Tiramisu
Baked Oatmeal
Cannoli
Calamari
These Black Bean Burgers
Crème Brûlée
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie