Monday, January 05, 2026

Contrasting -at and -it words

(TESOL Worksheets--CVC words)

Cards: docs, pub
Worksheet: docs, pub
[Notes: These are matching cards and a worksheet that I use to practice the difference between the -at words and -it words.  It is based on the words and images from -at cards and -it cards activities.]

fit

sit

kit

pit

hit

bit

bat

cat

sat

fat

pat

hat



Capitalism: A Love Story: Movie Review



This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:


Saturday, January 03, 2026

Psalms (The Jerusalem Bible): Book Discussion

(This is a reread.  I originally read this book in 7th grade.  But since this is my first time reviewing this book on this blog, according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.) 




Links to stuff mentioned:
* Introduction to the Old Testament by Christine Hayes: https://youtu.be/UFeqGtb3zAE
* Steve Donoghue: Western Canon Starter Kit #1: The Bible! https://youtu.be/WVL3rKcv0HQ?si=QNkYzfl-7JTVVxZx
* I've double checked and it turns out he added the bit about Psalms in a comment (not a video): "SO glad this is being so enthusiastically received! We'll move on to Homer next, but first I wanted to address the oversight so many of you are pointing out: yes, by all means, add the Book of Psalms to the list!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVL3rKcv0HQ&lc=UgjVUI78P9PA_3gCoAEC

I explain about my background with the Bible and my reasons for doing this read-through in this blog post here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-book-of-genesis-from-jerusalem-bible.html


Thursday, January 01, 2026

Movies and TV Shows that I Watched in 2025

(Year End Movie Lists)


1. I am Greta, April 17, 2025
2. Ruby Bridges, April 22, 2025
4. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, October 31, 2025 (rewatch)
5. House of Frankenstein, November 1, 2025 (rewatch)
6. Counted Out: Math is Power, November 5, 2025
7. Judas and the Black Messiah, November 17, 2025
8. Too Big to Fail, November 24, 2025
9. Mickey 17, December 8, 2025
10. Home Alone, December 14, 2025 (rewatch)
11. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, December 15, 2025 (rewatch)
12. Elf, December 21, 2025 (rewatch)
13. Avatar 2: The Way of Water, December 25, 2025
14. West Side Story (1961), December 28, 2025 (rewatch)
15. West Side Story (2021), December 29, 2025
16. One Battle After Another, December 30, 2025
17. Doctor Strange, December 31, 2025
(This past week I also watched Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but those reviews won't post until the next few days, so we'll have to count them in 2026's round-up.)

1. D.O.A.: MacGyver, April 2, 2025
2. Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, October 3, 2025
3. Gremlins: The Wild Bunch, October 25, 2025
4. Death by Lightning, December 3, 2025

Recommendations are as follows:
Judas and the Black Messiah--it has a lot of flaws, but it's still watchable, and an important story.
Too Big to Fail--fascinating movie if you like docudramas.  And, an important reminder of just how screwed up our entire economic system is.
West Side Story (1961)--a classic for a reason
Death by Lightning--it takes a lot of liberties with history, but manages to be pretty entertaining while still kind of (sort of) informative.



I've decided that for this next year, my goal is to cultivate the habit of being a reader, and any time spent watching screens (be it movies, TV or Youtube) is time that I'm losing out on reading.
...and I actually did stick to this the first half of the year.  Aside from movies I had to watch because of work (i.e. movies that I had to show to a class of students when I was working as a substitute teacher), I didn't watch any movies for the first half of 2025.
But, by the second half of 2025, I started getting the urge to watch more movies again.  
At the moment I'm writing this, I still have that urge.  So maybe expect to see more movie reviews on this blog in 2026?

Also, as with every year, I watched a lot of Youtube videos.  At one point I decided it would be worthwhile to keep track of what I was watching, and started posting all those videos to my blog...
...but then eventually realized that this was a quixotic project, and also a lot of needless extra work, and I stopped doing it.

Playlist HERE: 

Best of 2025 Tag


This tag was created by Margaret Pinard: https://www.youtube.com/live/2RDruXqJSVM?si=rvCyA9YwpKuhKfLI

List of questions below and, where applicable, links to my answers:
1. Best Addition to your Home (this could be a book, a family member, no limits)

2. Best Experiment on Your Channel (what did you learn or try out for the first time?)

3. Best New Author Discovered

4. Best New Song

5. Best New Habit
6. Best Movie

7. Best New Recipe or Meal, Made or Tasted
 8. Best New Plant Friend with side quest shout-out to Gathered by Gabrielle Cerberville
9. Best Wildlife Sighting


10. Best New Skill or Personal Discovery

I tag:
 @WilliamsLibrary   @jimsbooksreadingandstuff   @JzyShzy   @Bucky749   @danecobain   @mindysbookjourney