math projects

I gave my students a marking period project. I had one student sayd, "A project in MATH. I've never HEARD of that before." I told her, "Good. I like doing things you've never heard of." I gave them a choice of three projects which included the standard "poster about a famous mathematician" but also included choices of creating stained glass window designs, or writing a poem/rap/song about particular Algebra and Geometry concepts.

Well, the first of the projects were turned in today including two poems and a rap. One was grade-schoolish, but it was from two very low level girls. The other two were very very good. One was a poem about pairs of angles, the other was a rap about angles.

The latter wasn't extremely clear on concepts but I'm going to edit it as part of grading it. I really want to put together a book of a bunch of these projects for the end of the year. But even if it wasn't entirely accurate on the Geometry concepts the two kids who worked on it got up and rapped, and were wonderful. The rest of the class kept a beat and everyone applauded when they were done. A couple other kids said they wished they'd done that project, so maybe next marking period I'll get more kids to do that kind of thing.

The rest of the projects are due Monday. I'm really curious what that will bring.

parents and students

Today I made two phone calls home to accompany the referrals I wrote for these two young men, separately and in separate classes, but we'll give them pseudonyms together, Beavis and Butthead. The phone calls were so disheartening that I am still fretting over them, wondering what to do.

First, Beavis, who is currently getting an F in my class, was writing a personal note during class when I had specifically told the students they needed to take notes, since this was new topic. Instead, Beavis continued to write a personal note. I told him to stop. He said he would not. I took the paper. He grabbed it back and the paper ripped. I told him to take notes. I looked back and he was still writing the personal note, on the ripped paper. I told him to stop and that since he was failing he needed to take notes. He said he did not care and was not going to take notes. I told him he needed to leave and go to his administrator. He refused so I called security. He continued to write the note until security arrived and took him away.

So, I call his mother. I tell her the beginning of the story. She says, "To THAT girl, right?" I say I don't know, and I don't care, it was just that he's failing and therefore needs to take notes. She says that she doesn't know what to do with him, that the last time she confronted him about a call home from school, they got into an altercation, and he called the police, accusing her of things she didn't do, and now there is a court case. So she is not going to confront him about anything until the court case is settled, and that Beavis currently has the upper hand. (Gee, sound familiar??) No wonder he thinks he can do whatever he damn well pleases in class.

There there's Butthead. Butthead just returned to my class this past Monday. He had been out for a few weeks, back in juvenile detention because he cut off his ankle bracelet. Every day he wants to go to the bathroom. I look at his passport, see he's gone twice already that day, plus his resource teacher says he lets him go 7th period without a pass. So I say no, he argues. Every day he has his cell phone out. I told him Tuesday that if I saw it out again, I would take it. Today it was out again. I told him I was going to take it. He would not let me, said I had no right to take anything that belonged to him. I told him give it or I'd call security. (Funny aside,I have not called security at ALL this year until today.) He wouldn't give it. I called.

So I called HIS mother after school. She says she doesn't know what to do with him, that her other child, a girl, is wonderful. And with Butthead, she feels like her baby was swapped at birth and she was given an evil alien. She says he's been through a lot and we need to give him a break. I said that if I give him breaks I don't give the other students, it's not fair to them, and that he needs to leave his electronics home. She asks if his resource teacher can take his cell phone and keep it for him during school. I say I will ask. Afterwards though, I wondered, why didn't she just make him leave it home??? But I didn't want to call back and ask.

I don't have a solution either. The worst part is, that neither of these kids is stupid. Butthead in particular is VERY bright, and the note Beavis was writing was long and neatly written, so even though I have seen no sign of it, it is likely he's got a brain upstairs too. These kids need an education. Yet they are throwing it away for the joy of disrupting the moment. I am not a mean teacher. I simply want Butthead to stay in my class off his cell phone so that he can learn math. I want Beavis to put away his note to his girlfriend and take notes in class so that he will not have to repeat the class next year. Yet, they are pursuing a course that leaves parents with no options and schools denying other students a chance to learn as they disrupt classes. No wonder teachers don't stay in the profession.

And a last funny item, this is my best year yet.

stinkin' badges

“We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.” The student reaction to wearing ID badges reminds me very much of that famous line from “Blazing Saddles” and "The Treasure of Sierra Madre". Several of my students said to just give it a few weeks, the office would forget about them. I don’t think so guys. I’m here to tell you that they are here to stay. And that getting used to wearing one is a good idea all around.

Coming to teaching after 25 years as a computer programmer, ID badges were a way of life for me, as they are for most people in corporate or professional fields where you are in an office environment. At minimum, I wore ID badges that were scanned upon entering and leaving buildings. My ID badge got me into the top secret area when I worked on the HARM missile in the early ‘80s. I worked for another company whose product line included badges with a microchip embedded which tracked movements of the wearers throughout a building. So, of course we were all expected to wear that type of ID badge also. The main customer of that type of ID badge is hospitals, where doctors and other hospital personnel need to be found on an emergency basis.

In an environment when knowing whether a face matches a name is important, such as a school, the advent of ID badges was just a matter of time. That time is now. So guys, it doesn’t matter that wearing the lanyard bothers you. Or that you pretend it does. If you wear it all day, every day, it will stop bothering you, like a pair of new shoes stops bothering you after you’ve worn them enough. It’s time to suck it up, take out that lanyard, attach your ID badge and put it around your neck because you do need those stinkin’ badges. Get used to it. They are not going to go away for the rest of your working life.

billy's new poem

AFTER A FALL RAIN

The air is scented
with a fresh, renewed smell.
Life is abundant
with an extravaganza of activity,
as animals rise from their dry shelters
and see the sparkle of water drops
on leaves of plants and trees.

But as seasons change the birds
that usually chirp and flutter
around after a rain storm
are starting to disappear
for winter snows are coming
to replace the beauty
that is after the rain.

autumn leaves

As much as I complain about my long drive to work, I take Gaylord Mountain Road during the fall, and it is so gorgeous there it takes my breath away. It like taking a leaf tour every day. Today seemed to be a major change. More trees had changes and the leaves are beginning to fall.

On the way home I was thinking that THESE are the things that make life worth living, no matter how your life is going otherwise, good or bad, just or unjust, the beauty of this earth is worth being around to see. And preserve.

Tomorrow we are going to the CT Renaissance Faire and it'll be a pretty drive out that way too. Fall really is my favorite season.

vermont classic

The tournament was called "The Vermont Classic" but I think the weekend could be called that also. Bill had been bugging me to go to an out of town tournament for a while. This one was in southern VT, about 2.5 hour drive, so I figured that was a good place to start. But driving 5 hours in one day with a tournament in the middle, is not my idea of a good trip to Vermont. I at least wanted to spend the night.

So I went to my own favorite search engine, altavista.com, and searched for motels in the Chester, VT area. I skipped over all the Holiday, Comfort and Quality Inns "serving Chester, VT", and looked for something local. I found Henry Farm Inn, a bed and breakfast, with one open room, or suite actually.

I was a bit afraid Bill wouldn't like it because there was no tv in the room, and wasn't a modern place. But I couldn't have been more wrong. He LOVED it. The picture here, of the living room, is where we spent the rest of the evening after we arrived watching the baseball game with the other guests.

The next morning, Bill wanted to take a walk, which considering the grounds and area, it sounded like a good idea to me.

Breakfast was wonderful too. Bill was ecstatic with it, continually complimentary and as he does with everyone, charmed them.

But they were charming too. Patricia and Paul Dexter made you feel like you were valued guests in their own home. And the most amazing part actually came after we left for tournament at the high school about a mile and half away. Bill had left his book at the Inn, and Paul Dexter actually came by the tournament, found me and returned it! I was totally astounded that an innkeeper would take such time and care!

As Bill said, "Now THIS is what I call a QUALITY Inn."

And that of course, is my transition to the tournament. I decided that I would not enter, nor even dress out and judge. I have to admit, I love judging. I hate competing, but only because it terrifies me. But I could have been talked into all of it except for the fact I had forgotten to pack a sport bra!! Sparring braless at my age could be quite dangerous. LOL. I still could have judged but I decided to just be there for Bill, help him practice his form and be his best for the day.

And to take pictures. Unfortunately, that was my biggest disappointment. There was something wrong with my camera and most of my pictures didn't turn out. I guess it's time to RTFM (read the f**king manual) before I try more pictures. All but a few of them were very smeary, or double exposed. This is s digital camera! It's supposed to be automatic. And I never had a problem before. Ah well, at least I didn't waste the film and money to develop them.

Bill did great. His first out of town tournament and he came home with two trophies. He took 3rd place in forms and 4th place in fighting. We had practices Bassai Dai about 100 times in the two days before, and it was looking really good. The two kids who beat him performed at a higher level, but the other three kids in his division were like him, normal kids working hard to do their best. He tied for third and they had to do another form. Bill won the tie-breaker by .1 point and took third!

Sparring was another matter. The sparring was a totally different level than Bill was used to. He was used to getting out there and winning. These kids were much more agressive than Bill.

Bill is such a sweet boy it's hard for him to get out there and "get mean". But he saw what the competition is like and if he's been bitten by the tournament bug, we'll do the circuit next season and see how he performs by the end of it! And he still came home with two trophies and had a great time.

Except when he was done, he was ready to leave and I wasn't. I actually enjoy watching martial arts, especially the black belts, and the top ones on this circuit are REALLY good. And two of the women in the division I would have competed in are totally awesome! I just love watching them do form and spar.

I'm afraid I've been bitten too. I haven't done a real tournament circuit since Texas when I was first in the 35+ division. Now I'm almost 20 years into it. Some of these tournaments have an "executive", 45+ division though an dI think I think I could hold my own there... until those two women I mentioned hit that age.

Even the drive home was fun. We stopped at the "Vermont Country Store" and ran into a bunch more people from our karate school. We obviously weren't the only ones with that idea! And even trees along the highway were glorious. Much more colorful than CT has gotten yet.

However, the unfortunate part of going off for Saturday is that all my weekend chores are still undone. Time to get a load of laundry into the washer, clean the living room and vacuum.

arts and crafts

Having grown up in the era of b&w tv and three channels, I go nuts watching kids, Bill included, spend more time than I would deem appropriate, in front of a screen, whether it be television, a computer or video game.

My own children did too, but a proportionately smaller time than this generation of kids. But just as with them, always keep a pretty complete supply of arts and crafts supplies in the house. Mackenzie used to joke that she never had to go out and buy anything to finish any project she had from school. I always had what she needed.

Well, I bought a package of "craft scissors" from Ocean State Job Lot for about a buck and half. I left them around. Tonight, Bill asked if he could use them. I hauled out construction paper and let him go at it. Then Ashley, the girl next door, wandered in and sat down close to Bill (and Bill is oblivious, but that's another post.) She picked up a pair of the scissors and started cutting too, then asked for a pencil to write a message for a card. So I hauled out the colored pencils. Her brother, Justin and their cousin Enrique wandered in and they each had to have a pair.

Happily cutting away, ignoring the movie on TV ("Snow White" with Sigourney Weaver, which I muted). Enrique says, "I want to be an Art teacher." Shows me a thing he made with a folded tail, so I asked if he'd ever made a jumping jack. He'd never heard of it, so we made one. It's been a lot of years since I made one!

Ashley said, "And I want to learn how to draw." It's 10 o'clock and they're still at it. I have to remember to keep more art supplies handy. When the screen is there and handy,and the art supplies are upstairs and in the basement, the choice is too easy. Time to put a box in the living room.