Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Scholarships, Fellowships
I have some amazing students this year. I have one recite a list of the best colleges in the country at least once a week. I've been thinking about how to find opportunities for them, like the earthwatch fellowship one of Dan's students recieved last year. So, I made a new wiki page about it, to try to find things for my kids to apply for. I haven't got enough time right now to go through all of it, but this weekend or next weekend I'll try to put up link as I find them. Any suggestions or ideas anyone has would be appreciated. That's why, afterall, it's a wiki and not my own website - edit please!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Mr. G, you're not asleep?
So, about an hour ago, my phone rang, but I missed it. A 662 number meant a teacher or student. I called back, and it was DW. "Hey Mr. G." Hi DW "Hey, uh, hey, uh, I wanted to switch my club from, uh, modeling squad to, uh, drama" Ok "Did you turn in that paper yet?" Yes, but we can probably change it tomorrow. "Ok" Click.
What was that all about? Couldn't we have dealt with that just fine tomorrow? Kids rarely call for the reasosn they say they call, that was lisa's sage comment. Sure enough, five minutes ago, it rings again.
"Mr. G? You're not asleep?" No, DW, I'm not. "Oh, ok. How do you find the roots? Do you just make x zero and then find y?" No, you have to set y equal to zero, and then you'll get an equation with only x's in it, which you can solve with the quadratic formula or factoring, once it's in standard form. "So I got to subtract from both sides?" What's the problem? "I'm trying to do number sixteen. y = 4x^2 + 4x + 2" So, put in 0 for y. Then it's in standard form, right? "Yeah, and then I can just use the quadratic equation?" Right, but be careful, that one has complex roots. "Yeah, I see that. Alright Mr. G." Alright DW. I won't be going to bed anytime soon, so call back if you have more questions. "Alright."
What was that all about? Couldn't we have dealt with that just fine tomorrow? Kids rarely call for the reasosn they say they call, that was lisa's sage comment. Sure enough, five minutes ago, it rings again.
"Mr. G? You're not asleep?" No, DW, I'm not. "Oh, ok. How do you find the roots? Do you just make x zero and then find y?" No, you have to set y equal to zero, and then you'll get an equation with only x's in it, which you can solve with the quadratic formula or factoring, once it's in standard form. "So I got to subtract from both sides?" What's the problem? "I'm trying to do number sixteen. y = 4x^2 + 4x + 2" So, put in 0 for y. Then it's in standard form, right? "Yeah, and then I can just use the quadratic equation?" Right, but be careful, that one has complex roots. "Yeah, I see that. Alright Mr. G." Alright DW. I won't be going to bed anytime soon, so call back if you have more questions. "Alright."
Monday, August 27, 2007
In my mind, I'm going to Carolina..
$10,000 signing bonus for teaching Algebra I?
They need teachers in NC, and elsewhere.
In a sense, NCLB might actually be doing a good thing here. It seems to have shifted the demand curve for teachers upwards and increased what districts are willing to pay to get them. Perhaps, finally, we are on the way towards offering teachers salaries that are commensurate with the vital role that they play in our society. After all, you get what you pay for.
They need teachers in NC, and elsewhere.
In a sense, NCLB might actually be doing a good thing here. It seems to have shifted the demand curve for teachers upwards and increased what districts are willing to pay to get them. Perhaps, finally, we are on the way towards offering teachers salaries that are commensurate with the vital role that they play in our society. After all, you get what you pay for.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Next time...
Things I should blog about in the future, when sleep is less precious:
The upcoming soccer season.
The wonder of podcasts.
Feeling old.
Food.
Things I need to do:
Get a lawnmower.
Mow the lawn.
Clean the porch.
DO LAUNDRY.
Deal with that interest at ole miss.
Sign my award letter.
Buy stamps.
And many more.
The upcoming soccer season.
The wonder of podcasts.
Feeling old.
Food.
Things I need to do:
Get a lawnmower.
Mow the lawn.
Clean the porch.
DO LAUNDRY.
Deal with that interest at ole miss.
Sign my award letter.
Buy stamps.
And many more.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Check it
So, I managed to turn it around. It wasn't a bad day. Fourth block, well, they didn't academically rock the world, and the lesson was certainly not fun, but they got better. They are still struggling with proofs, but we made some headway, which was great. And they are just good kids. I am glad I wrote that first blog, because it let me get a lot of that out of my system. It's so important to stay positive. So important. It can be hard though - almost as hard as keeping up with grading and planning. Not quite though. Plus, the kid who walked out of my class - three days at home. Move on to Friday.
Anatomy of a Bad Day
The first one of the year.
Last night. Came home from football practice. Made daily quizzes for today. Found a worksheet for Algebra II on complex numbers. Outlined (in my mind) lecture and notes. Ate hot dogs and generic cinnimon toast crunch for dinner. Forgot to make a sandwich for lunch.
6:00- 6:40 AM
Attempted to set a new record for snooze button hits in a single morning.
7:10 AM - left for school.
7:32 AM - arrived at school.
8 AM - FIrst block began. 6 students were tardy. All students were talkative. Consequences were applied unevenly. Detentions that should have been handed out were not. Things contnued to get worse. Class ended with a lecture about respect.
9:43 - Second Block begins. Tardy bell rang early, and so 4 or 5 students were tardy. Just after I sent them away to get a pass, they made an announcement to allow all students into class at that point. So they came back, and we finally got started. Most students were excellently behaved during the daily quiz. One student was working on work for another class. I took the work and told him he could get it back at the end of class. Then, I told him to get out a sheet of paper to take notes after he finished the quiz. He claimed not to have any paper, so I assigned him detention and gave him some paper. He took the paper and detention slip and walked out of class. I sent the referral down a few minutes later. When the office called down and asked for his books, one student, KP, noted that he hadn't even realized that the student had gotten up and walked out of class. So I guess, at least I was able to handle it without it becoming a big enough deal to distract him from his work. However, when the bell rang, he got up and walked out without being dismissed, so he has a detention slip waiting for him when he comes back tomorrow.
11:21 - FAP starts and we head to lunch. Disaster in the hall. Loud, shouting. Refusal to get in line. The lunch looked so bad that I didn't get any. The trip back from lunch was worse. At least BC didn't find the girls that he refers to, daily, as the Big Booty Patrol. But there was shouting, disrespect. When we got into the classroom things were worse. Shouting, jumping around, hitting each other, going through each other's things... Chaos. Next person who leaves their seat will find themselves in detention. Things improved. They just left now, with BC telling the class that he is just going to take a masturbation break. No kidding. So now it's my planning period. I have to re-plan for geometry, because apart from that quiz, I'm not sure where we are going. It's really hard to teach proofs. I'm a bit stuck here. I'm not sure what, exactly, it is that they are supposed to have mastered, since writings proofs is such a huge undertaking, I can't expect them to master it all at once. So I'll get on that. But still, a bad day this year is not nearly as frustrating as a bad day last year. I'm not going to let this year descend into the pits of hell, which is an apt description, borrowed from another second-year, of the first year.
Last night. Came home from football practice. Made daily quizzes for today. Found a worksheet for Algebra II on complex numbers. Outlined (in my mind) lecture and notes. Ate hot dogs and generic cinnimon toast crunch for dinner. Forgot to make a sandwich for lunch.
6:00- 6:40 AM
Attempted to set a new record for snooze button hits in a single morning.
7:10 AM - left for school.
7:32 AM - arrived at school.
8 AM - FIrst block began. 6 students were tardy. All students were talkative. Consequences were applied unevenly. Detentions that should have been handed out were not. Things contnued to get worse. Class ended with a lecture about respect.
9:43 - Second Block begins. Tardy bell rang early, and so 4 or 5 students were tardy. Just after I sent them away to get a pass, they made an announcement to allow all students into class at that point. So they came back, and we finally got started. Most students were excellently behaved during the daily quiz. One student was working on work for another class. I took the work and told him he could get it back at the end of class. Then, I told him to get out a sheet of paper to take notes after he finished the quiz. He claimed not to have any paper, so I assigned him detention and gave him some paper. He took the paper and detention slip and walked out of class. I sent the referral down a few minutes later. When the office called down and asked for his books, one student, KP, noted that he hadn't even realized that the student had gotten up and walked out of class. So I guess, at least I was able to handle it without it becoming a big enough deal to distract him from his work. However, when the bell rang, he got up and walked out without being dismissed, so he has a detention slip waiting for him when he comes back tomorrow.
11:21 - FAP starts and we head to lunch. Disaster in the hall. Loud, shouting. Refusal to get in line. The lunch looked so bad that I didn't get any. The trip back from lunch was worse. At least BC didn't find the girls that he refers to, daily, as the Big Booty Patrol. But there was shouting, disrespect. When we got into the classroom things were worse. Shouting, jumping around, hitting each other, going through each other's things... Chaos. Next person who leaves their seat will find themselves in detention. Things improved. They just left now, with BC telling the class that he is just going to take a masturbation break. No kidding. So now it's my planning period. I have to re-plan for geometry, because apart from that quiz, I'm not sure where we are going. It's really hard to teach proofs. I'm a bit stuck here. I'm not sure what, exactly, it is that they are supposed to have mastered, since writings proofs is such a huge undertaking, I can't expect them to master it all at once. So I'll get on that. But still, a bad day this year is not nearly as frustrating as a bad day last year. I'm not going to let this year descend into the pits of hell, which is an apt description, borrowed from another second-year, of the first year.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
losers
How do you coach a bunch of losers? This was the question coach asked today, and I'm still wondering.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
funny
Quiz: Solve for x: ax + by = c
Response: x may equal anything because there is no numbers to help sorry for the x
Response: x may equal anything because there is no numbers to help sorry for the x
Chess Club
Today during homeroom, I suffered my first loss in chess to a student. It was great. I'm going to start a chess club.
Ben suggested that we write an entry about how the begining of this year is different from the start of last year. First, let me say how they are the same. I am exhausted, and was equally exhausted this time last year. I am not less exhausted the second time around. I'm just doing more.
Last year at this time, I was teaching 3 classes (2 preps), plus the MTC work. This year, in addition to all of that, I'm coaching football and about to start a chess club. So I'm still as exhausted, if not more exhausted. This year, though, I'm just a little more efficient, and more of the work that I do actually seems to have some sort of result.
I spent more time this year on rules and procedures, although not quite intentionally. I planned to do a day and a half of rules and procedures, but once I had written up all my procedures, I realized it was going to take longer. I let that take the whole first day, half the second day, half the third, and probably 10 minutes of the fourth and fifth. There was a lot of repetition, which was great, because I had new students continually showing up for the class. In fact, today, on the eighth day of school, I had another student show up for my Algebra II class. She had been out of town, in Kansas. But because the new students kept arriving, it gave me a good excuse to review rules and procedures, without the kids feeling like I thought they were stupid.
I've enjoyed my kids so much more. Part of it is knowing them, and knowing how to deal with them and talk to them. I didn't realize that I had even gained anything in this regard until I started talking to a fellow MTC-er, a first year teaching in my school, who said she just doesn't know how to talk to the kids, not in class, but in the cafeteria, the hallway, wal-mart, etc. As we were talking, I realized that I did know how to do that, and did it unconciously all the time. My favorite parts of the day are often interactions I have in the hallway or cafeteria with students or former students or kids who have never taken my class but who know me somehow. It's definitely something I could not do last year.
Plus, Big Delta is run so much better this year. The new head principal, new associate principal on my campus, and assistant principal back from surgery this year have made all the difference. The climate is changing, slowly. Right now, all we have is a better run jail, but I can feel that we are going to start running school soon. No fights, I've written one referral, and I hand out detentions like candy for the smallest infractions. No homework, no problem, here's your detention. No textbook, no problem...
The biggest difference, though, is that I am happy. I love my kids. I like my job. I had a great summer at home and was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with a lot of people who are very important to me. If I say any more about being happy, though, I might jinx myself. I'm just exhausted.
Ben suggested that we write an entry about how the begining of this year is different from the start of last year. First, let me say how they are the same. I am exhausted, and was equally exhausted this time last year. I am not less exhausted the second time around. I'm just doing more.
Last year at this time, I was teaching 3 classes (2 preps), plus the MTC work. This year, in addition to all of that, I'm coaching football and about to start a chess club. So I'm still as exhausted, if not more exhausted. This year, though, I'm just a little more efficient, and more of the work that I do actually seems to have some sort of result.
I spent more time this year on rules and procedures, although not quite intentionally. I planned to do a day and a half of rules and procedures, but once I had written up all my procedures, I realized it was going to take longer. I let that take the whole first day, half the second day, half the third, and probably 10 minutes of the fourth and fifth. There was a lot of repetition, which was great, because I had new students continually showing up for the class. In fact, today, on the eighth day of school, I had another student show up for my Algebra II class. She had been out of town, in Kansas. But because the new students kept arriving, it gave me a good excuse to review rules and procedures, without the kids feeling like I thought they were stupid.
I've enjoyed my kids so much more. Part of it is knowing them, and knowing how to deal with them and talk to them. I didn't realize that I had even gained anything in this regard until I started talking to a fellow MTC-er, a first year teaching in my school, who said she just doesn't know how to talk to the kids, not in class, but in the cafeteria, the hallway, wal-mart, etc. As we were talking, I realized that I did know how to do that, and did it unconciously all the time. My favorite parts of the day are often interactions I have in the hallway or cafeteria with students or former students or kids who have never taken my class but who know me somehow. It's definitely something I could not do last year.
Plus, Big Delta is run so much better this year. The new head principal, new associate principal on my campus, and assistant principal back from surgery this year have made all the difference. The climate is changing, slowly. Right now, all we have is a better run jail, but I can feel that we are going to start running school soon. No fights, I've written one referral, and I hand out detentions like candy for the smallest infractions. No homework, no problem, here's your detention. No textbook, no problem...
The biggest difference, though, is that I am happy. I love my kids. I like my job. I had a great summer at home and was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with a lot of people who are very important to me. If I say any more about being happy, though, I might jinx myself. I'm just exhausted.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Today
Today -
I was at school for 13 hours.
We had a fire drill.
I found out a student from my school was shot over the weekend and is in ICU.
A student gave me his demo cd, then called me to see how I liked it.
I ate a little debbie oatmeal cream pie (370 calories, each).
The temperature was over 100 F for the fourth day in a row.
I taught math.
I had an overwhelming response to a facebook-wide petition for pen-pals for my students. I'm thinking about starting a school-wide pen-pal project. I'll start by just using my homeroom students as a pilot, and see how that goes.
I got tired.
and soon to come... I went to sleep.
I was at school for 13 hours.
We had a fire drill.
I found out a student from my school was shot over the weekend and is in ICU.
A student gave me his demo cd, then called me to see how I liked it.
I ate a little debbie oatmeal cream pie (370 calories, each).
The temperature was over 100 F for the fourth day in a row.
I taught math.
I had an overwhelming response to a facebook-wide petition for pen-pals for my students. I'm thinking about starting a school-wide pen-pal project. I'll start by just using my homeroom students as a pilot, and see how that goes.
I got tired.
and soon to come... I went to sleep.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
ode to a principal
"we aren't doing anything but running a better-run jail. can we be satisfied with that? no, we need to be running a school. I can't wait to be up there at that graduation, kid walking across the stage, they saying "...with a scholarship from harvard..." And that's for the mind, not because he can knock someone out."
I love my principal.
Granted, we are doing a better job running our jail, so far, than we did last year. It's only been two days though. But the way that man talks, he makes you feel some passion for the job. He has that passion.
I know I'm asking a lot. But I'm at that point in my life, where I'm thinking, when I come to judgement and the lord show me a child, I want to say I did everything I could for that child, and if he didn't come right, wasn't nothing could have been done for that child.
He must have been a heck of a coach. He is just the kind of guy that gets things done. I won't write any more, because I need to be the kind of guy who gets things done too, right now.
I love my principal.
Granted, we are doing a better job running our jail, so far, than we did last year. It's only been two days though. But the way that man talks, he makes you feel some passion for the job. He has that passion.
I know I'm asking a lot. But I'm at that point in my life, where I'm thinking, when I come to judgement and the lord show me a child, I want to say I did everything I could for that child, and if he didn't come right, wasn't nothing could have been done for that child.
He must have been a heck of a coach. He is just the kind of guy that gets things done. I won't write any more, because I need to be the kind of guy who gets things done too, right now.
Monday, August 06, 2007
First Day
One down, 179 to go.
The first day went well, but boy, was it exhausting. What with football practice and all, I was on my feet for a full twelve hours. I need to do a little more Ben Guest style teaching, otherwise I'll fall out, as the kids say. But if I write any more I'll be procrastinating; I've got things to do.
The first day went well, but boy, was it exhausting. What with football practice and all, I was on my feet for a full twelve hours. I need to do a little more Ben Guest style teaching, otherwise I'll fall out, as the kids say. But if I write any more I'll be procrastinating; I've got things to do.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Pause. And begin again.
What Is the Beautiful?
The narrowing line.
Walking on the burning ground.
The ledges of stone.
Owlfish wading near the horizon.
Unrest in the outer districts.
Pause.
And begin again.
Needles through the eye.
Bodies cracked open like nuts.
Must have a place.
Dog has a place.
Pause.
And begin again.
Tents in the sultry weather.
Rifles hate holds.
Who is right?
Was Christ?
Is it wrong to love all men?
Pause.
And begin again.
Contagion of murder.
But the small whip hits back.
This is my life, Caesar.
I think it is good to live.
Pause.
And begin again.
Perhaps the shapes will open.
Will flying fly?
Will singing have a song?
Will the shapes of evil fall?
Will the lives of men grow clean?
Will the power be for good?
Will the power of man find its sun?
Will the power of man flame as a sun?
Will the power of man turn against death?
Who is right?
Is war?
Pause.
And begin again.
A narrow line.
Walking on the beautiful ground.
A ledge of fire.
It would take little to be free.
That no man hate another man,
Because he is black;
Because he is yellow;
Or because he is English;
Or German;
Or rich;
Or poor;
Because we are everyman.
Pause.
And begin again.
It would take little to be free.
That no man live at the expense of another.
Because no man can own what belongs to all.
Because no man can kill what all must use.
Because no man can lie when all men are betrayed.
Because no man can hate when all are hated.
And begin again.
I know that the shapes will opne.
Flying will fly, and singing will sing.
Because the only power of man is in good.
And all evil shall fail.
Because evil does not work,
Because the white man and the black man,
The Englishman and the German,
Are not real things.
They are only pictures of things.
Their shapes, like the shapes of the tree
And the flower, have no lives in names or signs;
They are their lives, and the real is in them.
And what is real shall always have life.
Pause.
I believe in the truth.
I believe that every good thought I have,
All men shall have.
I believe that what is best in me,
Shall be found in every man.
I believe that only the beautiful
Shall survive on the earth.
I believe that the perfect shape of everything
Has been prepared;
And, that we do not fit our own
Is of little consequence.
Man beckons to man on this terrible road.
I believe that we are going into the darkness now;
Hundreds of years will pass before the light
Shines over the world of all men . . .
And I am blinded by its splendor.
Pause.
And begin again.
- Kenneth Patchen
That is one of my favorite poems, from Patchen's 1943 book Cloth of the Tempest. I cite it here without permission, but with the certainty that such beauty should be shared, and that the author would probably not mind too much.
Here I am at a new begining, trying to pause and take stock in where I am, where I'm coming from, where I'm heading. I feel strangely optimistic. God, what a job we have. I don't think I can fully explain how just completely in awe I am of my job at the moment. At this moment, I'm sure I couldn't have a more worthwhile job anywhere. It's hard, and perhaps we are going into the darkness now, but I want to completely give myself over to it all. I want to suceed this year, more than I have ever wanted anything before. It's frightening, but if I can do this, if I can get this right, I can do anything. And I will do it. I may not have a life while doing it, but I'll get it done. Math is alright, but let me love these kids through math, let me show them beauty.
The narrowing line.
Walking on the burning ground.
The ledges of stone.
Owlfish wading near the horizon.
Unrest in the outer districts.
Pause.
And begin again.
Needles through the eye.
Bodies cracked open like nuts.
Must have a place.
Dog has a place.
Pause.
And begin again.
Tents in the sultry weather.
Rifles hate holds.
Who is right?
Was Christ?
Is it wrong to love all men?
Pause.
And begin again.
Contagion of murder.
But the small whip hits back.
This is my life, Caesar.
I think it is good to live.
Pause.
And begin again.
Perhaps the shapes will open.
Will flying fly?
Will singing have a song?
Will the shapes of evil fall?
Will the lives of men grow clean?
Will the power be for good?
Will the power of man find its sun?
Will the power of man flame as a sun?
Will the power of man turn against death?
Who is right?
Is war?
Pause.
And begin again.
A narrow line.
Walking on the beautiful ground.
A ledge of fire.
It would take little to be free.
That no man hate another man,
Because he is black;
Because he is yellow;
Or because he is English;
Or German;
Or rich;
Or poor;
Because we are everyman.
Pause.
And begin again.
It would take little to be free.
That no man live at the expense of another.
Because no man can own what belongs to all.
Because no man can kill what all must use.
Because no man can lie when all men are betrayed.
Because no man can hate when all are hated.
And begin again.
I know that the shapes will opne.
Flying will fly, and singing will sing.
Because the only power of man is in good.
And all evil shall fail.
Because evil does not work,
Because the white man and the black man,
The Englishman and the German,
Are not real things.
They are only pictures of things.
Their shapes, like the shapes of the tree
And the flower, have no lives in names or signs;
They are their lives, and the real is in them.
And what is real shall always have life.
Pause.
I believe in the truth.
I believe that every good thought I have,
All men shall have.
I believe that what is best in me,
Shall be found in every man.
I believe that only the beautiful
Shall survive on the earth.
I believe that the perfect shape of everything
Has been prepared;
And, that we do not fit our own
Is of little consequence.
Man beckons to man on this terrible road.
I believe that we are going into the darkness now;
Hundreds of years will pass before the light
Shines over the world of all men . . .
And I am blinded by its splendor.
Pause.
And begin again.
- Kenneth Patchen
That is one of my favorite poems, from Patchen's 1943 book Cloth of the Tempest. I cite it here without permission, but with the certainty that such beauty should be shared, and that the author would probably not mind too much.
Here I am at a new begining, trying to pause and take stock in where I am, where I'm coming from, where I'm heading. I feel strangely optimistic. God, what a job we have. I don't think I can fully explain how just completely in awe I am of my job at the moment. At this moment, I'm sure I couldn't have a more worthwhile job anywhere. It's hard, and perhaps we are going into the darkness now, but I want to completely give myself over to it all. I want to suceed this year, more than I have ever wanted anything before. It's frightening, but if I can do this, if I can get this right, I can do anything. And I will do it. I may not have a life while doing it, but I'll get it done. Math is alright, but let me love these kids through math, let me show them beauty.
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