Bragging. Sheer bragging.

Reasons why I love my job:

I have a slew of kiddos who just want "projects" that can "help me." So what did my kiddos do? Clean out my entire file cabinet, make files for each of my current students, and then FILE all of the papers that were in giant piles on my desk.

Why thank you, dear children, for doing my job for me.

And reasons why I teach:

One of my loves (who I taught for 2 years) came to me yesterday and told me that he would not get to play in the soccer tournament on Saturday. I asked why, and he told me that he wasn't going to finish his Social Studies project in time. I asked why, and he said he just didn't have enough time on the computers. So I told him that I would stay after school on Wednesday and he could use my computer.

So today, he showed up at my door at 3:30. He sat down at one of the student computer and worked. He's always been a little squirrely, but when he gets into the zone, he'll sit in concentration and chew on his tongue. He's doing this as my little helpers are filing my stuff, and he calls out to me, "Yeah, they help you, but I'm still your favorite." And then smiles his little grin.

So when he finishes his project at 5:15, (after much googling on our parts), he looks at me, smiles, and says, "Thanks, Ms. L, for staying after school with me."

I. LITERALLY. DIE. OF. JOY.

My only concern

This article seems great.

Nice turnaround.

But the only thing that sticks with me is that the Introduction to Algebra II class is doing, in the NY Times, a math problem that we teach sixth graders.

WE. TEACH. SIXTH. GRADERS.

So something has gone terribly wrong. Either in that Algebra II class or the sixth grade in Arizona.

What I make

It's gone viral.

But it is SO true.

I make a difference. Do you?

The most important thing about space...

Is that robots go there, obviously.

Take this writing from a paragraph I graded today:

"Earth and Neptune are alike. Earth has life and Neptune doesn't because people send robots."

Obviously. I never thought about it that way, kiddo.

Boys who read.

This article talks about how to get boys to read.

It traces the disparity between boys and girls back to 1992, the major introduction of electronic media (ie. video games.)

Here is what the argument boils down to: "The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books."

Duh. Thank you, captain obvious.

Fear of god...or math

So one of my student's little sister got hit by a car today when she was riding to school.

She's fine, just a few scratches, but we were scared for a while.

His family picked him and his older sister up to go to the hospital shortly after school started. He didn't come back, but I saw the older sister WALK by me after school today.

Me: "Angry girl, how is your sister?"
Angry: "She's doing better. She has some scrapes."
Me: "So did you not go home with your brother?"
Angry: "Yes, I went home.
But I had to come back for Ivy's advanced math class."

OH MY GOD I LITERALLY DIED.

Of course my super colleague put the fear of god in her students eyes. Apparently, they took it seriously. Angry wasn't in the hospital (her sister was) so she better get her butt into math class.

AMAZING. Good job, super colleague.

Shift happens.

I love this idea.

For high school.

Can we please do this more often?