Ok, back to my story. So after the fine phone call that started my Friday, I go up to the office to let the secretaries know that a representative of our city’s finest might be paying me a visit. First they think I’m joking, they they start razzing me, “Cops comin’ for you again Coward?” “Same same since seventh grade.” “What?” It was 1974, and I was late for school. I hate being late. For anything. Even school, even then. I was riding my bike as usual, and in 1974, we didn’t wear helmets, let alone worry about which side of the road we were riding on, and we thought stop signs were for cars and losers. Today, the road I was on the wrong side of is 4 lanes wide, and the light I ran controls one of the busiest intersections (the cross street is 6 lanes now) in my old hometown. Back then, it was a mere 2 lanes (plus the turn lane) I was crossing against the light. I got across without a care, though that was probably because I didn’t look. I was looking a block ahead, and I could see them lining up outside in
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This one is about teacher behavior rather than student behavior. A colleague of mine this year decided to go for a change, and moved (voluntarily) from teaching 7th and 8th grade math at our site to teaching… SIXTH GRADE! ZOMG! Recess! The continual lining up! Covering all subjects! Feeling the love! Only 22 kids! But this is not about that. This is about a joke he thought all his new colleagues would find funny. I know I laughed quite heartily. But they took him seriously, when he spoke to them about… Super Teacher. I just came across the pics, as I was searching for something else, and well, I just had to share. Every year, at his new school, the sixth grade classes take a trip to Yosemite for several days. There is evidently an outdoor school there that caters to trips like this, and kids from all over California come for the program. My friend “Joey” was one of two teachers from his school who went. I guess the program handled most of keeping the kids busy, so the teachers (there were a bunch from the California central valley too) had some time on their hands. Joey and his
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I’m going to dispense with the “oh noes, vacation is over, and I didn’t do anything except sleep in, install a toilet, and play Wii” in one sentence and be done with it. There. Also, before I get back to 120 Seconds tomorrow, I have another first to share. (That’s another beautiful thing about this job; even after almost 20 years, I still get surprised.) I have this thing about haircuts. I don’t like them, never have. I didn’t like getting clipped by my dad, I didn’t like going to the barber shop, I don’t like going to the salon. I always had to stuff my hair up into my headgear for wrestling, back in the day. I was a long hair (rock and roll stylie – middle of the back) for many years in the 80′s. I even did my first student teaching with hair like that. (Parent conferences were a beauty; parents with whom I had had fine phone conversations reacted quite differently sometimes when meeting me in person. I like to tell those stories during The Outsiders.) My wife has cut me now and then, but after a slip of the clip once, she has begged off.
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“Sometimes, I wonder why I even show up in the morning.” “It’s because you love us.” “Right now, not so much.” Among other things (The Midwife’s Apprentice, vocabulary therefrom, spelling, reading for information, and Latin/Greek roots), we’re working on possessive nouns this week. Or at least I am. During the week, I give them a series of pretests to practice, and to see who already knows what. Those that score high enough, get to be exempt from that section of the test. For example, this week they had a 2-sided “pink sheet” with a basic possessives lesson and some basic exercises. (These pink sheets, so called because I try to always copy them on pink paper, are the one thing that isn’t on the web site; I actually use the grammar workbook that came from our anthology.) Side one is due on Tuesday, and after we go over it and practice and explain, we have the first pretest. Wednesday, I give them a shorter one to review. Side two of the pink sheet is due Thursday, and then we have the last pretest. Usually the deal is 18/20 for the week, or 10/10 on the last one is the benchmark
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I’ll continue the -isms tomorrow. I just have to interrupt our regularly scheduled program to tell about a classic I rediscovered today. I started at my present school in 1993. The last job I had before that was teaching 9th and 10th graders at a big high school about 30 miles away. This school and the city it’s in were (and sort of still are) known as kind of gang-ish. (I don’t know, is that delicate enough?) We had three full-time campus cops. I had a few obvious wannabes as well as some of the real thing, but things weren’t nearly as bad as it sounds. I had a great time there. One of my sophomores who was one of the real ones, was also one of the smartest kids I had. It was sort of a movie cliche. He was a leader in the hood, and we (his teachers) all tried to sway him to lead at school. We should have considered ourselves lucky he even showed up. He could read, and obviously did; just not much of what he was assigned. He was quick-witted and could argue/discuss with the best. He often made me laugh. He seemed to
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First off: Ok, Ok. I’m starting to find my happy place with research. Thank you for the comments and suggestions; I think next year will be better. You guys gave me some good ideas. We’re working on outlines this week, prepping for research. Among other activities, I give them partially completed outlines and word banks to fill them in with. I strategically place a few clues in the outline, and they have to determine the hierarchy of the various entries I provide, and fill in the blanks. Like this (the stats are kinda dated, but it’s a topic near to my heart): Topic: The automobile has become the American Nightmare kills 265,000 and injures millions annually, road rage and reckless driving have increased, better city design to decrease auto dependence, leading source of air pollution, alternatives to the automobile, main means of transportation, too many people dependent on the car, large SUV’s: rollovers and danger to smaller cars, more cars and more roads mean more traffic congestion, average car: 5 tons of carbon dioxide each year, contributes to acid rain and smog, leading cause of death and injury, new dangers with 2 recent developments, public transportation I. Main means of [...]
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That reminds me of those great SNL skits about the Sofa King. You know, how the prices are "Sofa King" low, the deals are "Sofa King" great, etc. (You obviously have to say those phrases out loud to get the joke.)