You might be a 12th grader in my stats class if a week of learning key concepts involves playing Blackjack, War, & Let's Make a Deal, throwing dice, playing with Legos, pulling kisses out of a jar, choosing the next series of toys for General Mills to put inside Cheerios boxes, and taking a trip to the weight room where you will use probability theory to predict how many unassisted pull-ups (not chin-ups) the teacher can do without taking a break. We have fun in my class and sometimes without intending to. (Gift #810) I recently gave the students the following problem: If 'F' denotes the event that Courtney buys a book of fiction, and 'N' is the event that she buys non-fiction, what is the probability that she will buy both fiction and nonfiction.? The formula to solve this question is denoted as P(F U N).
We finished the pull-up activity on Friday. Despite all the absolutely true factoids I gave the students to assist or confuse them, two students' predictions were correct. The critical thinking and/or creative problem solving used to answer the four problems for this activity were interesting indeed. I actually did seven fewer reps in the school's weight room than I expected at only 17, for the bar is much higher than mine at home, and I did not want them to see me struggle. Besides, given that only 1% of females can do one, most of the students guessed one or two, so 17 was enough to demonstrate the probability concept I wanted to teach.
When I asked permission from the administration to use the weight room for that most unusual interactive activity to reinforce statistical concepts and basic principles of physics, the administrative assistant joked, "Sure, go ahead, but don't get caught!" As soon as I came down from the bar and another student jumped up to complete 18 reps so as to show up his teacher, in walked an administrator and a prospective parent who had flown to the area very last minute to check out the school for his four kids. He was especially interested in seeing the weight room. What in the world must he have thought? I worried that I killed the prospect of gaining four new students and a potential school donor, but the administrator insisted he loved the demonstration. (Gift #811) I'm known around there for being the most unique teacher. :-)
As a new teacher, I get evaluated once a quarter. Last quarter I received a formal observation by the rhetoric principal and a one-on-one evaluation meeting with a form highlighting strengths, areas for improvement, and specs detailing the number and names of students not engaged during each five minute interval of the class. This quarter, the headmaster is supposedly doing informal pop-ins to observe the teachers. A few weeks ago while tallying the results from our polling project and determining each team's statistical error, the class took an unusual turn with everyone closing their eyes and raising their hands for a blind vote on which team's project most effectively eliminated statistical bias. It looked like an altar call at a tent revival meeting, and jokes broke out, and we all burst into fits of laughter. As we were all laughing hysterically with the students' eyes still closed and hands up, and tears running down my face as I was completely unable to collect myself, in walked the headmaster for a drop-in. Oops! I wiped the tears from my eyes with flushed cheeks and merely said, "Please note, sir, that every single student is fully engaged." He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he agreed and let me continue with my presentation. I was so embarrassed but knowing how this man has a wonderful sense of humor (Gift #812), I was able to get back on track.
After reading about how hard it is for students to stay focused when they sit all day, I implemented a daily mid-class stretch break. Sometimes I will stretch along with the students to keep them using the break for its intended purpose. During our stretch break two days after the drop-in, we were all standing up in awkward positions and in walked the headmaster to check in on me again. He shook his head, put his arm on my shoulder and said, "What happens in Mrs. C's classroom stays in Mrs. C's classroom," and then he walked out. Thankfully, his assistant is the mother of a student in my class (and her husband is a board member), and they are both very pleased with the way I am teaching this class. I'm sure they talk to the headmaster who strangely still SEEMS glad to have me on the faculty. (Gift #813) I can only assume at this point, for he has not given me any formal feedback. :-)
One Thursday every month is designated "Senior Day", so the seniors get to dress up according to a theme instead of wearing uniforms. I love their personality with these themes. One month they chose "Senior Citizen" as their theme and dressed like senior citizens from their low on the nose glasses to their pot belly stuffed tummies to their fuzzy slippers. They play acted all day calling each other "Sonny", asking me to repeat myself, and falling and not being able to get back up.
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| Senior Day: Dressed as senior citizens from head to stuffed pot belly to toes |
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| Buddy the Elf & Cindy Lou Who pictured here are two of the kindest teens I've ever met |
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| Buddy the Elf (aka Nick) had a great day in 3rd grade! |
The students continue to encourage me. I am amazed by how sensitive they are to the needs and emotions of their teachers. From telling us how much our investment into their lives matters and going to get us tea when we get hoarse to hosting a nice banquet for us and taking time to write us thank you notes, they seem so sincere in their appreciation. This note came from a younger student after I merely filled in as a substitute in one of her classes. I initially thought these kids were flattering me as a way of sucking up, but my lands, I'm discovering more and more how sincere they really are. (Gift #815)
The 12th grader in my class who is a bona fide math genius and skillful basketball player often passes his mother in the halls on the days she teaches engineering and gives her a hug and a kiss on the forehead right there in front of everyone without shame. He always stands to address me, and even though he knows his intellect far surpasses mine, he treats me with utmost respect. I'm just so encouraged about the future when I interact with these kids. (Gift #816)
This is not to say that there are not serious struggles going on in the lives of these students with so many situations that simply break my heart. But what a privilege to be there for them, partnering with their friends/family to offer support and counsel. (Gift #817)
I am beginning to find the community I desired so much in our new town of residence through the teaching staff. (Gift #818) They are all so like-minded with a similar dry wit as my own, so we really have fun together while offering mutual encouragement. They are teaching me so much. The teacher who pulled me into tutoring and roped me into teaching got surprised in a big way for her 40th birthday yesterday by her husband who developed the most elaborate scheme ever from tampering with her car so it would not start to downloading a tracking device to her phone. He had me delay her and deliver the cake and pick up other food while others played their various roles. We all parked at a medical center with shuttle service to the house when it rained. The elaborate scheme worked beautifully, and she absolutely loved the surprise. (Gift #819) I was impressed that the headmaster, a board member, and most of the female teaching rhetoric teaching staff took three hours out of their day to attend. We had a blast. Here are a few pics.
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| The headmaster is in the suit and blue party hat. |
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| You got that RIGHT! :-) |
I am a simple girl when it comes to vehicles. I don't like buying cars anyway, so when I get one, I drive it for at least 140,000 miles before I even think of replacing it. My ride for the past 11 years has been a Honda CR-V. I put 145,000 miles on it. I figured it has at least another 100,000 miles left on it, but my parents have been urging us to consider a newer vehicle, preferably a van. We need more seating for all the other kids we usually want to haul with us on field trips, to/from parties, vacations, etc. But I have been refusing to acknowledge that I am in the van stage of life for at least the past 8 years. It was time, but I was not ready to give up Bessie until some friends of ours from church who have six kids, three of which are drivers with two at ASU where a 4WD is a necessity, offered to buy our CR-V.
Dearest Bessie,
We bought you shortly after we learned that we were expecting our first born, for we knew you could handle lots of baby gear and keep our precious little one safe. You have been my faithful companion for the past 11 years through 3 moves, 2 pregnancies, multiple jobs, and so many other wonderful life adventures. Your 4WD kept us safe as we traversed through many ice/snow storms, for you have always been committed to maintaining traction and steady direction. You have been extremely low maintenance, never complaining or giving us fits. We will miss you but are so glad you will now be living with friends we love dearly. It's time for me to acknowledge that I'm past the youthful days of rugged recreation and must now embrace the big blue beast (which was made for moms of school age children) waiting for me in the garage you once called home. Take care of your new family, Bessie, and keep them safe!
So, we bought an Odyssey van just like 80% of the other parents we know drive. I hated it at first. It was like driving a beast. But now,
Vanessa the big blue van and I are getting along better. The snazzy new features and extra seating have certainly been handy. (Gift #820)
Voice Text
I'm terrible at texting, so I love the new audio text feature on my phone where I just speak, and it converts my spoken words into written words. Lately, I've been texting in a hurry without checking the screen or in the van using the van's fancy voice controls that let me keep my eyes on the road while speaking my texts. Apparently, my phone does not understand my Southern accent because some of my texts have looked like this:
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| "Punch" should be "mulch". |
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| This one was about the title transfer for the CR-V |
After I served my family what I considered to be some tasty Asiago chicken burgers, my daughter's reaction reminded me of this comic strip.
She told me, "Chicken is okay fried on a sandwich the Chick-Fil-A
way, but burgers should never be comprised of anything except beef!"
So I guess it is no surprise that she did not see what was so funny
about this comic. It says a lot about this entitlement culture we try
so hard to parent out of our children. As our pastor mentioned on Sunday in
probably more eloquent words than mine, if we would truly acknowledge the depths of
our moral depravity such that we realize what we really deserve, we
would stop crying out for justice and start pleading for mercy. And
I'm thinking our children would then receive whatever I serve them
with at least the gratitude of a dog. So the training continues...
You know your 2nd grader is in Mrs. B's class when you give him a big bear hug, and he says, "I usually like your hugs, but that one hurt my cranium." Cranium? They are studying the skeletal system this quarter as evidenced by this macaroni man project.
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