Fractions speak louder than nerds...

Fall is here!

2008-10-31T17:38:00.003-05:00

( A picture from my balcony looking at the woods behind my apartment complex)

The weather has been cooling, the leaves are changing colors (see, we do have fall here in Texas!) and some weird things have been happening. There were 2 earthquakes in the DFW area last night! I went to bed at like 10 because I was exhausted so I didn't feel anything, but I'm not near the center so I don't know if I would have anyway. Earthquakes are kind of fun to experience. My first one was in August while I was in San Diego visiting my dad. It was close to a 5.0 and was pretty interesting to experience the world shaking! It's loud too, which is also weird.

The kids were absolutely nuts today. Not only is it Halloween, but it's Red Ribbon Week, and we had an assembly, AND my 6th graders won a party for raising the most money for MADD. Today was a beating. I am so glad that Halloween is on a Friday this year. I think that should be the rule.. last Friday of October, not necessarily October 31st. I can't imagine what they'd be like tomorrow! Oh wait, yest I can.

Had an appointment with the doctor on Monday after last Friday's incident, she ran some bloodwork and it all came back normal, but I have been having trouble with dizzyness so I'll be heading back there this coming Monday for a follow-up. I'll probably end up getting stuck again. Yay.

My birthday is this weekend so I'll be celebrating with friends on Saturday and family on Sunday! I'm a little bummed that my deal with my friends didn't turn out better. Over 30 people invited and only about 8-10 are coming! Makes me feel somewhat unappreciated :( Oh well. I'll be the big 2-5 on Sunday. That freaks me out a little to be honest with you. I'm soon going to be closer to 30 than to 20. Ugh. Well, I'm off to get acquainted with my sofa and TiVo. No trick or treaters for me!!!

Working myself...

2008-10-27T17:47:00.004-05:00

...to death? Haha no, but it appears that way sometimes. During 6th period on Friday my body thought it would be a good time to go completely haywire. My kiddos were taking a test and I was sitting at my desk putting grades in my gradebook when I started having heart palpatations, got really dizzy and had "tunnel vision"... knowing something was wrong I flagged down a teacher outside of her room to watch my kids and made it to the secretary's office before passing out in the middle of the hall. Sweet. The nurse thought it was blood sugar related, but my glucose levels were all in the normal range. So at the advice of my aunt (an MD) I made an appointment with my doctor today. She took some (ok, a lot of) blood to run tests and is recommending an MRI if the bloodwork doesn't tell us anything. I've already missed one day to the stomach flu, two days to my grandfather's death and now half a day for this appointment. If I have to go back in for test results AND an MRI, I'm going to be hitting cold/flu season at school with only 10 sick days. Now that may seem like plenty, but let me tell you... 2 years ago I was nearly hospitalized with the flu that had me out of school for almost 3 weeks. Up until the only time I had ever been sick was with pneumonia when I was 8. No strep, no flu, NOTHING! So I figured I didn't need a flu shot. Heh. I've been first in line the last two years now to get mine. Won't be doing that again!!!!

This is a shoutout to all teachers who work, rain, shine, cold or flu. If you keep working, I'll keep working! ;)

In other news, we started a mock school poll this week for our 6th graders. They voted today on their ballots, will learn about the issues (with no names attached to who approves/disapproves) then will vote again based on their position on the issues. Should be interesting to see how the first vote (i.e their parents opinions) compare to the second vote. Our team (the White Team, relax it's a patriotic theme, one red, one white, one blue) went out as a group to vote. We got the workers to get a picture of all of us at the voting booths as well as outside by the signs so we can blow it up and hang it in the hall to show our students that we all went and voted. We all wore white too... we are such dorks. :)

It just takes one teacher to change a life....

2008-10-14T21:24:00.003-05:00

OK, so I am returning from my evening rehearsal and man am I beat!!! For those of you who may not know, I play for the symphony in the city that I live in. It is amazing work and I love every minute of it... but it got me thinking about my "career" as a music student and how my clarinet teacher influenced me more than any of my other teachers.

I started the clarinet when I was 10 years old. My 6th grade band instructor just happened to be a very well-respected clarinet player, so I learned from a great man. He followed us up to junior high and was my instructor for 7th, 8th and 9th grade and in that time I learned more from him than I think any of my other teachers. He was a homely guy, nerdy one might say but he was so passionate about his job. He lived to teach music to students. Anyone outside of the band would see him and make fun of him for his walk, his comb-over, his personality or any other thing they might see as "not cool" but I tell you what, he had more students backing him up than I think I have ever seen before. If someone talked bad about Mr. B, they got jumped. I don't doubt that he knew that outside of our band hall (where over 1/3 of the student body came through day to day) that he was seen as a geek, but he didn't care. He was who he was and taught us to be who we were. To be proud of what we were capable of, to push ourselves to improve but not to have unrealistic expectations. I never enjoyed band more than I did those 3 years in junior high with him and my friends. I continued with band for most of high school and some of college, but never enjoyed it as much as I did then. It's a testament to him and how he instilled that passion into me. I never was a fantastic player, but I was good and it was because of him.

Thanks to Facebook, we have all been able to keep in touch one way or the other and 2 years ago we all found out that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; one of the deadliest types of cancer. He fought a hard battle and died in February. During those 2 years, through the power of e-mail and Facebook, we were able to reach over 500 of his former students, spread the word and ask for prayers, letters... ANYTHING to let him know we were thinking of him. From what I heard, he received over 200 letters of appreciation... including one from myself. I am so glad I had the opportunity to tell him how much he influenced my life and how he continues to be an example of the type of teacher I want to be.

I look at my kiddos, past and present and I hope that somewhere I have made an impact on their lives. I try to show my passion of teaching math through our daily interactions but as a teacher you may never know how much you have changed someone's life. I have to remember how much Mr. B influenced mine and know that even if I never find out, I am making a difference.

The Candidates: From an Educational Standpoint

2008-10-12T16:13:00.004-05:00

Now I am not one who normally strikes up a conversation about politics because I live in Texas and my views on things definitely place me in the minority and I often find myself criticized and having to justify my beliefs... I don't like to knowingly put myself in that situation. I shouldn't have to justify my opinions and beliefs to someone else. They are MY opinions, not yours.

Being in education has brought me a welcome reprise from the intense conservative nature of the last 8 years of my life (i.e. private school/university, Dubya, my entire family) but with the election this year, it has brought out the instinctive need to question and debate the positions of the two candidates. I was introduced to an article from the NEA by a friend and thought it gave interesting insight to what the upcoming 4 years of education might be like with either candidate.

But with the economy the way it is, I see education getting the short straw again and being put on the back burner while the banks, lenders, and corporations are dealt with to try to stabilize the country and world. I completely understand the need to do this and agree that the economy needs to be issue #1, but I can't help but wonder how long we will have to go on auto-pilot.

That being said, the recent death of my grandfather has left my aunt as the sole proprietor of his business it has made me wonder if God is calling me to step up and return to the company. I used to work for him during the summers, but when I left for college and returned with a career I dismissed my involvement. My grandpa started this company in 1972 and it has been extremely successful since then, with the help of his business partners and the added help of his oldest daughter who is now the only owner. I love my job as a teacher and really can't see myself doing anything else, but the system worries me. It's all politics. There is little value in the words and suggestions of the teachers and administrators; it's all about funding and test scores. Teaching is a field that requires a lot of passion in order to continue to come back year after year, knowing that your voice won't be heard, your work will go unnoticed and more and more is being asked of you. It's a tough position to be in.

Update

2008-10-09T22:08:00.008-05:00

I know it's been a while since I posted anything school related, and I promise I'll get back to the main reason I started this blog way back when, but right now I want to take a personal turn. My grandpa died last Friday and it has thrown me for a loop more than I thought anything ever could. I have never had to grieve for someone I have loved as much as him. His funeral was today and it just cemented the fact that he was probably one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my entire life. At one point, my step-aunt was up on the stage talking about her memories and funny stories and I was so impressed as to how she was holding it all together... until she mentioned his hugs. My grandpa was the greatest hugger in the world, but I thought I was the only one who thought this. Right after he died, I walked out of his ICU room and one of the first things I thought about what how I was never going to get another bear hug from him. Even when he was his sickest, he still crushed me with his hugs. I remember the last hug I got from him... I can still feel his strength. The service was beautiful, full of songs, verses and stories I will remember forever. My cousin made this video for the memorial and I know it doesn't mean much to anyone else, but I am sharing it with the world. The song in the video will forever remind me of him.

Dwight E. Wright

6/30/29 - 10/3/08

Many happy returns!

2008-07-15T21:23:00.008-05:00

So I am officially back from Europe! :) I have tons of pictures but due to the desired anonymity of this blog... I won't be posting them. Sorry! I leave again this Friday for 2 weeks on the West Coast. Can't wait!

In the meantime, I'm actually going to blog! This is somewhat school related, but not really.

OK. now before you go thinking that I am a complete lunatic, don't bother. I already know I am. So I am practically counting the days til the Breaking Dawn premiere... I will be at Barnes and Noble to get my book at midnight, don't you worry! I re-read Twilight and New Moon while overseas, and have now re-started Eclipse so that I am ready to go on August 2nd. I successfully converted one of my friends while on the trip, too. I let her borrow Twilight and she texted me yesterday that she was going out to buy the next one and had already watched the trailer for Twilight, which comes out December 12th. I too will be there.. probably at midnight if I have nothing better to do that evening!

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's not surprising. It has run like wildfire through my school, mainly because the books are geared towards teen readers (like Harry Potter) but is definitely not just for teenagers! It started off as a recommendation in the 7th grade by our Language Arts/Reading teachers, and turned into an all out elbow-throwing, eye-gouging fight at the school library to check out any copy, or pouncing on the one set N.L. had to go around. I finished the first book in like 10 hours (TAKS field testing that day, LOL) and pounced on the other two as quickly as I could! Up until then, I hadn't even heard of Stephenie Meyer or the entire Twilight series, and the first was published in 2005 with each sequel coming a year later. That being said, everyone has a certain picture of what characters look like based on the writing... and the casting of the movie and my views of the characters are way off in some places... and it's kind of annoying!

The only person I think they got spot on is Bella, played by Kristen Stewart. I'm starting to get on board with who they cast as Edward, but only because of what I've seen in the trailers.

As for the rest of the Cullens, the only person I really agree with on casting is Alice. Esme is pretty close, but in my opinion the casting of all the males is awful. Granted this is just by looking at photos, and their chemistry in the movie could be completely different, but it kind of ticks me off! I ran across a casting list that would have been amazing (sans the choice for Bella) if it had been implemented, but alas, much more goes into casting than just wishing for it to be! Oh well!

If I've scared you off with my ranting, sorry. LOL. If not.. go buy the book! I don't really recommend it for guys, but it is definitely a book for any girl/woman ages 12 and up! OK, stepping off my soapbox and going to go take a shower!

Arrivederci!

2008-06-12T14:25:00.004-05:00

I'm leaving tomorrow for 3 weeks in the Mediterranean! Malta, Sicily, Italy, Monaco and France!!

Until then, this blog is on vacation too!

Give me your opinion!

2008-05-22T22:34:00.006-05:00

I hate to return on such a foul note, but I'm angry and bitter and need some outside perspective to my situation.

TAKS scores came in on Monday and they were AWESOME! 94% of my students passed the 7th grade Math TAKS (97% if you don't include my inclusion students)... overall 7th grade had a 93% passing rate and a 36% commended rate. We raised our scores 5% from last year.. and that is with having 100 more students on our teams. So we are all on cloud 9 til yesterday. My principal calls in me and one of my other two teaching partners, T, and tells us she is moving us to 6th grade. Why? Because their commended scores were the lowest in the district and she wants us to move down and work with the other 6th grade teacher to raise them because our scores were so good as 7th grade teachers, we will know how to challenge the 6th graders to meet the commended standard. On paper it sounds reasonable right?

The problem is that the schedule was already ironed out (for the most part) and we were told that 7th grade math was not going to be changed... so we weren't worrying about it. In our school, there are a lot of strong personalities within departments and within grade levels, but me, T and K have NEVER had that problem. Not once. We all have similar teaching styles and personalities, we have this unspoken balance of who does what work and when, and we just get along. We just have this flow that is very unusual for a group of 3 people. Everyone pulls their weight, helps each other out, and we honestly like each other a lot. So now this cohesive group is being pulled apart for the sole reason of raising test scores.. forget the fact that we are being thrown with another teacher, a new adjustment for all 3 grade levels, and having to hire a new 8th grade teacher to fill in a hole. I'm sorry.. all of this to fix one thing? Where is the logic in that? I am angry because I was told one thing, and now am getting another. I am angry because I am having to move to a grade level where I do not like the curriculum, and really most of the people who work there. I am angry because she made this decision on a whim (2 days after TAKS scores were sent) without consulting our math coordinator or us. I'm angry because I am having to leave people that I absolutely LOVE to work with,.

Not only that, but we were basically told (by our AP who is leaving for a different school) that we are the ones getting the shaft because we all have very flexible personalities and don't wreak havoc on our other co-workers. So they chose to move us instead of having to deal with moving someone else who would put up a fuss. So basically if I'm a B at work, I get my way, but because I do my job and do it without whining that I get shafted. His response? "It's not fair but it's that way at any school." I'm sorry.. but I really find that hard to believe. If you have a principal that is good at his/her job, then that type of crap won't fly. None of this "I'm too afraid to shake things up because (insert reason here), so we'll pick on the ones who won't cause the problems."

I realize that I can only see one side to this situation, and I have no clue what goes into all the decisions that are made as an administrator, but this really seems low.

Now I'm afraid of next year. I am good at what I do. So if/when I do well this next year and raise the commended scores, she is going to want to keep me there but I do not want to teach 6th grade. Granted I may like certain parts of next year, and make friends with my new team members, but I am bitter now about being moved down and am probably going to resist any sort of pleasure from this change. The point is, I like the 7th grade curriculum better, I like the 7th grade students better and I like the 7th grade teachers better. Will she listen to me if I go in there and say that I'm glad to go down for a year and help raise commended scores, but when our numbers balloon back up to 1200 kids again in 2009 that I want to be put back into 7th grade? Probably not..

I am mad... and I'm going to be mad for a while. I've heard many different things from many different people, but they are involved in the same type of BS I am day to day working there... so if you can offer a fresh perspective that I can't see, please do. Just don't tell me it's a compliment that she is moving me. I've heard that too much and I don't view it as a compliment. She didn't do it because she thinks highly of my teaching abilities or cares about my feelings, she did it because she wants the TAKS scores to be higher.

Getting to know me!

2008-05-01T18:32:00.003-05:00

So Mister tagged me to do a meme.. I'm very honored! It's my first one! :)

MEME:

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago I was starting my first year of high school in Richardson. I was a 14 year old sophomore who loved school (NERD!) and was also in marching band (GEEK!). I wasn't your mainstream idea of popular, but I had a lot of friends and enjoyed every minute of high school.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

1. Finish this blog post.
2. Grade some make-up work.
3. Watch Grey's Anatomy and Lost!
4. Repaint my toenails.
5. Call my love interest :)

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Cashews/Almonds/Nuts of any kind, chips and salsa, string cheese, apples and peanut butter, popcorn

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Bribe the current president to do away with NCLB and allow education to be regulated by state mandates chosen by TEACHERS, not politicians.
2. Travel with my ENTIRE family around the world.
3. I have no idea.. I clip coupons and only buy things on sale, I can't even fathom having that much money!

5) Three of my bad habits:

1. My Carmex use, I use the stuff like it's heroin. I haven't gone a day without it since 2000.
2. Cracking my knuckles.
3. Not washing my hands as much as I should. I know, ew.

6) 5 places I have lived:

1. Richardson, TX
2. Waco, TX
3. Brisbane, Australia
4. Frisco, TX
5. --------

7) 5 jobs I have had:

1. Math Teacher! :)
2. Hollywood Video Customer Sales Rep
3. Daycare Teacher (my current diaper count is probably 20000+)
4. Cashier at CiCi's Pizza
5. Kennel Cleaner at a boarding facility (my mom wouldn't drive me home one day because she said I smelled so bad. Texas summer heat and dog shit don't mix)

So I know you all have been just as busy as I have lately. TAKS is over as of yesterday, but now it's on to our last units of the year in order to prepare them for next year! I swear every student practiced their whining today when they found out that we were actually working and that they had homework. As much as they deserve a day off, we just don't have time! Our field trip is next week, which should be fun as long as it doesn't rain. Which it is supposed to. Great. My social life turned on an upswing in the last 2 weeks, but lack of communication since then has me a bit worried. I'm hoping for the best, but have been burned in the past.

Severe Weather Testing Protocols

2008-04-05T18:17:00.006-05:00

VIA the counselor and testing coordinator at my school. She's got a wonderful sense of humor!

Severe Weather Testing Protocols

1. Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

2. Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

3. Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.

4. Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that it will not disturb the students while testing.

5. Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer documents. Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.

6. Should gale force winds ensue, please have everyone stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts…being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.

7. If any student gets sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at least one answer before departing…and of course make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You will have to account for those.

8. Should a funnel cloud pick you, the test administrator, up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land so please take extra precautions. Remember, once you have checked them out, they should never leave your hands.

9. When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests…unless of course they have been through standardized test training.

10. Please do not pray should a severe weather situation arise. Your priority is to actively monitor the test and a student might mark in the wrong section if you are praying instead of monitoring. I'm sure God will put war, world hunger, crime, and the presidential primaries on hold until after testing is over. He knows how important this test is.

My good luck wishes go out to all 8th graders and their teachers on the math TAKS on Tuesday! Remember.. protect the tests at all costs!!!!!!

Bar and Circle Graph Activity

2008-04-02T18:13:00.004-05:00

So the beginning of the week has been a busy one! We started a group activity where students had to investigate the connections between a bar graph and a circle graph. At first they said that they had nothing in common except for the fact that both gave you information, but in different forms (whole numbers, percentages, etc). By the end, they were able to tell me how to take the bars in a bar graph to make a circle graph (and actually did this on their papers), as well as calculating the frequencies, percentages and central angles. Normally activity days have me totally frayed, but this one was great!!! :)

Drills? Psshhh!

2008-03-31T19:07:00.007-05:00

Apparently we can't have normal Mondays at my school. About 10 minutes before the bell rings (for the end of the day) it starts POURING rain.. I have last period off so the secretary told me it might be a good idea for me to go get my stuff before it gets worse. Worse? I go outside and the tornado sirens are going off. Fantastic. I am soaked within 10 seconds, but I go get my stuff and run back inside. Intercom message to the school to release students who ride the bus so they can load early... I'm thinking to myself, do they not know the sirens are going off? 10 seconds later that message has been canceled and we are all now retreating to our tornado safe rooms. That's right... 390 students on our hallway.. 4 tornado safe rooms.

At first the kids are just sitting there because we've just been told to be in the room, so they are goofing around, angry that they are being held after the bell, then not a minute after the griping we get the message to "duck and cover". It sure was quiet then... I take over from the other teachers and explain to the students how to tuck their legs under them and put their hand on back of their heads, because at this point they were just all sitting against the wall. Now we've got kids crying, hugging each other, etc... and your normal adolescent boys who think it's a good idea to fart in the middle of the group. It was already dark outside, but I turned off the lights in case of any power surges and that made it even more eerie. The rain is still absolutely torrential, then all of a sudden it stops. For those of you not familiar with these types of storms, that is never a good thing. I'm under a desk trying to calm down one of my students, surrounded by 5 of my co-workers and we're all looking at each other like this is not going to be good. I keep getting text messages from my sister, who is at home watching the news and is like.. it's on its way right toward you guys! There is sheer marker on the screen right above where you are at(which means there is rotation in the clouds)! So we're all sitting there waiting for the "freight train" sound, but thankfully all we hear are the intermittent sniffles from some very frightened students.

The kids eventually get bored with being stuck in this uncomfortable position and start joking with each other.. then 15 minutes later they call on to release all the students, we walk out of our cave and it is sunny outside! Texas is crazy... I saw later on the news the funnel cloud that formed right near us. Had this happened just 10 minutes later we could have had mass chaos on our hands!!! As for the kids, aside from their goofing around when the fear wore off, they followed directions well and did exactly what they should have. Who needs drills? They'll do it right when they are afraid!!!!

Was she crying?

2008-03-24T20:38:00.002-05:00

I answered this question about 50 times today...

About 5 minutes into the start of the day, my principal comes on the intercom to announce that we have received our 8th grade TAKS reading scores. 99% passing and 75% commended... she was so excited! Of course the kids misread the excitement in her voice (because she was talking so fast it and uneven) as crying and as soon as she signed off they all had very confused looks on their faces. It's hard to explain to a bunch of 12 and 13 year olds why numbers like that are exciting to adults. I tried, but I don't think I got the message across to them. Most adults not in the education field probably wouldn't understand either. It's a kind of cult we have...

We have benchmark testing and analysis all this week. It's good in the sense that it gives me time to catch up on grading, but bad because I have to prep 15 different reteach activities, will eventually have to grade 125 analysis packets and have to deal with the less than subpar scores that are normally earned on these benchmarks (Last year the district average was around 35% passing, this year it's around 45%). I'm expecting even worse this time around because they just had 10 days off. Testing after a long holiday is just about the worst idea ever. Ugh.

I only have 27 more instructional days until TAKS, and I'm forced to give up 5 of those for benchmarks. The last 10 of those will be used for our "Olympic Games" (aka 2 week TAKS review)... so I really only have about 10-12 more days to finish out my curriculum. We haven't even started probability yet, but I'm not panicked. Nope... not me. Forget the fact that my kids came back to school today acting like a bunch of #$&%%)*@# and we really weren't very productive. It took about all of my energy not to yell at them or break down in tears. Here's hoping my kids won't be asking each other the question that I answered so many times today...

10 weeks til summer break....

Time Warp

2008-03-22T20:41:00.003-05:00

OK So it's been 6 months since I last blogged. Man... that's a long time. But as most of you know, teaching warps your concept of time. This year has absolutely blown by and it's hard for me to believe that it's just about 10 weeks until it's over.

HALLELUJAH!!!

Ahem, I mean... how I will miss my little ones. I have not enjoyed teaching very much this year. My days no longer consist of "WOW" days, just "Ehh" days or "#(&*%#" days. A good portion of it is because of my personal life. I avoided dealing with being abused as a middle-schooler and I basically had an emotional breakdown in December that has required quite a bit of intervention from my doctor, therapist, medicines and co-workers. It's very hard to put yourself first in healing when you are in a line of work that requires you put 125 others first.

My life is very much in the "Sink or Swim" category. I'm struggling to find a balance between my work life and my personal life. I am very much an over-achiever and am often at school til 6 or later. But given my personal struggles now, I have made the choice to do what is considered an "acceptable workload" by my administrators and take better care of myself. It sucks because I feel like I am short changing my students by not giving them my all, but I know if I did that I would possibly regress back to having daily anxiety attacks and undo the progress I've made.

I already despise the second semester of school because of all the increased responsibilities I have to take on...
- Give up conference 2x a week for TAKS tutoring
- After school TAKS tutoring til 5:30 once a week
- Benefits Committee, School Organization and CARE Team Meetings
- ARDs
- Field Trip Organization (ugggh, this year was a nightmare!)
- PLC/Benchmark and Curriculum Trainings
- TAKS

Add to the fact that this year, my team member left in February for maternity leave and basically left me in charge of making sure her student teacher knew what to do!

It has been very hard to lighten my workload with all of that extra stuff looming over me as well as my normal responsibilities. I live for the next day off... which isn't until late April, btw. By then TAKS will be about 10 days away and I'm sure I'll be ready to slit my wrists! Thankfully my students this year are just about as close as you can get to angels. I have yet to need to send a student to ISS and I rarely have to assign detention... but I am still not as strict as I should be when it comes to that. Ehh, another day, another time.

While I'm being thankful, I've got to give a shoutout to my counselor at school. She is basically the most amazing person I have ever met. My students are so lucky to have her as am I. Had she not been there for me at my time of need, I may very well not be typing this right now. I know God put me at this school for a reason. She was meant to help me. It's a very comforting feeling knowing she's there every single day just like I am! :)

It's an epidemic!

2007-10-01T18:29:00.000-05:00

So we just got done with a unit on operations with decimals, specifically adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals. Not much harder than doing that with whole numbers, you just have to pay attention to where the decimal goes.

OMG. I graded these tests and it was like they had never multiplied in their lives. 8x4 is 36, 9x7 is 82, or my favorite, 1+3=3 and 16-9=5. Sweet Jesus. So I'm reverting back to treating them like 3rd graders and we are going to have timed tests until they can get better at it. They aren't dumb, they are lazy and rush through their work. I told them, I can't be there to hold your hand and be like "Oh wait, you forgot to carry your 2!", you are teenagers now. You either will do it and do well, or you are going to fail this class. *silence, random cricket chirp* So I gave them times tables 1-12 and told them they better get very familiar with it. Little do they know that they will be taking a timed test on it tomorrow. 20 questions, 2 minutes. It'll be practice for the REAL test on Thursday. They can see what they need to work on. If they miss any, they'll take it again until they get it right.

I had one A out of all classes, a few B's, a good amount of C's, but I'd say 70% of my students failed that test. I'm going to have TONS of kids in tutoring on Wednesday, because I told them if they didn't show up they can't retake the test. And if some of them don't retake the test, they will fail for the 6 weeks. Explain that to your parents.

I just don't understand how 7th graders can lack the brain capacity to do simple multiplication, or that they still have to count on their hands, or that they can't see that when they get 5,023 for an answer and they were multiplying 0.4 x 2.5 that their answer doesn't fit the problem. How do you teach common sense to 12 and 13 year olds? We all know they lack it in life! My class periods just aren't long enough.. I would love to work on test taking skills, or how to check your work, or how to check for reasonableness. My gosh. I can barely get through a lesson in 45 minutes, let alone get anything extra squeezed in there.

I feel a bit better, but the rest of this week is going to be a beating. No time to stay on decimals and now we are moving on to fractions... shoot me.

Oh yeah, and the school caught on fire AGAIN last week. Any bets on when it will happen again?! Is it Christmas Break yet?!

Running for the hills!

2007-09-03T12:03:00.000-05:00

Well, my last month of freedom was wonderful! Going back to work was difficult, but I absolutely love the people I work with, so it made it so much better! My administration loves to be hypocritical, so this year they took our team and split us all up. We worked well together, all got along and were a productive group... but apparently we were "too close", whatever the heck that's supposed to mean.

The portable situation is interesting to say the least. They weren't hooked up to ANYTHING (A/C, general electricity, internet, etc) until the Monday before school started. Then my A/C broke that Friday, the day that I had almost an entire workday in my room to get stuff done. So it was literally about 120 degrees in there and I had to stay in there to get stuff done! I think I lost 5 lbs just from sweating!

School started on the 27th. My classes aren't too bad in size... they are capped at 25, and I have 2 classes there, the rest average 21-22 students. The great thing about all of this? Out of 135 total students, 114 are girls. See previous gender post as to why I am excited about this :)

So far this year: I've been kicked out to a portable, the A/C has broken, the phones and intercom system have stopped working, the stomach flu has taken out the 6th graders, I had a parent yell at me and demand I let her child go to the restroom whenever she wants regardless of my rules, and the school caught on fire (seriously, but did the alarms go off in the portables? Course not).

Who thinks I should go running for the hills? Thinking about it.. ;)

The countdown begins...

2007-07-30T14:38:00.000-05:00

Less than a month until we return to school! I'm excited about the start to a new year, new students, new classroom and a new fresh and positive outlook on my 2nd year of teaching. I'm going to miss summer though... I hate waking up early. *pout*

I've been pretty busy doing non-school related things. One of my best friends from college got married on Saturday, so I was playing host to some of my other friends who came into town for that reason. We had a blast. Just reminds me how much I miss college! :( This week I've got some math workshops that I am attending, one because I want to, the other because I have to. You know how that goes... gotta get in the required hours. Friday I'm packing up the suitcase one more time and heading out to the West Coast to see my dad and stepmother before school starts up again. I cannot wait! On the agenda while I'm there: catch a baseball game w/ the padre, maybe a movie or two with the parentals, lay by the pool, hit up the practice range and relax. I mean, does it get any better than this?

No, it doesn't.

The portables have FINALLY been delivered to our campus, although it's a little disconcerting to see exactly what holds portables up. I'll be stepping lightly knowing that it's basically just propped on a bunch of cinder blocks. Yikes. I tracked down one of our AP's to find out when exactly I can get in there to either start getting stuff organized or at the minimum, move out of my old room so the new tenant can get his stuff set up. But of course, my school is the black hole of no communication, and no one knows anything. They don't have the keys yet, they don't have any desks, boards, projectors, electricity connections, etc. Fantastic. I know they'll get it all in there before school starts, otherwise our parents will pretty much storm the office with torches and pitchforks but my worry is that I'll be up there the weekend before having to rush to get everything the way I want it, instead of doing a little at a time like I would prefer. I don't like not having control over my own time.

I've also come to the conclusion that I am going to be much meaner this year. It'll make my life so much easier. No one is leaving to go to the bathroom, to their locker, ANYWHERE! This portable stuff may not be too bad! If you forgot it, you might as well be late, because you aren't leaving to go get it. But don't worry, you'll still sign the book for being tardy too. This year we will be using textbooks (Texas finally got their crap together and we now have a version aligned with our testing) so that will be a big change for the students. Bring book, paper and pencil EVERYDAY! Don't have it? Sucks for you. Sit there, close your mouth and don't disrupt my class because you can't remember those 3 things. If you are lucky (and can ask quietly) maybe someone next to you will see you have nothing and take pity on you. One thing I was really bad about last year was allowing students in my room to "do homework" in the morning. Tutoring only this year.. I have stuff to do. That is my goal this year.. to be meaner! GRRRRR. We'll see how that goes. LOL.

A conversation from last year....

(H came into afternoon tutoring to finish a project she did not turn in.. when not tutoring I have music playing on the system in my room)

H: Who is this singing?

Me: Huey Lewis, I doubt you'd know him...

H: Do you know who (John Doe) is? I think he is so hot.

Me: Hmmm, haven't heard of him. What type of music does he sing?

H: Screaming.

A 4-day school week?

2007-07-20T22:53:00.000-05:00

On the surface this sounds wonderful! Work Monday through Thursday and have a 3-day weekend every weekend! Sign me up for that!

A local district in the DFW area is proposing to do away with the typical 5-day school week for a 4-day... the reason?

It'll save them money. $2 million to be exact.

Where is $23,000 of that going to go? To the superintendent (chief) of the district. He apparently needs a raise from his $196,000 salary. I read this earlier on WFAA.com and about fell out of my chair. The story is no longer available on their site. Shocker. (Main story is here)

So the proposal is being presented to the school board to change elementary school days M-Th 7:45-4:30 and middle and high school M-Th 8:30-5:30. Now, most people not in the teaching profession probably wouldn't see this schedule as being bad. After all, the normal workday is 8 or 9-5, but let me tell you, I don't need kids in my class to have work to do. On an average day I generally spend 2 hours after school working on tutoring, grading, lessons, etc. If I'm lucky, I may leave once a week when the clock starts with a 4.

Now past the very obvious pro that you would have 3-day weekends every week, I can only see the cons in this situation.

1. Attention span and concentration

Come 9th period (3:05-3:55) my students are already barely capable of maintaining focus and concentration for the majority of the period. Extending the day out to (gasp) 5:30 might possibly kill me. There better be recess included in this extra time, and yes, I mean recess for teenagers. You have no idea how much they need it. I'll even spring for the Axe to spray them down when they come back in all sweaty and stinky.

2. Curriculum timing

I already have to rush through concepts because of lack of time in the school year and the sheer volume of concepts that must be taught, compounded by many days lost for testing (field testing, district testing, TAKS testing). How in the world do you expect me to fit all that curriculum (which already gets short-changed) into an even smaller time frame? Not going to happen.

3. Testing

The center of every teachers life. Again I go to the time issue. My entire teaching career revolves around testing. You give me less time to prepare my students and expect me to meet the fantastic standards of NCLB, or those of my highly demanding district? I think I'll use my Friday's off for therapy, thank you very much.

4. My Friday's

WOO HOO! I get every Friday off! I am going to sleep in, go shopping, go see a movie, anything I want! But wait.... my teaching days don't end til 5:30, and I am NOT staying at the school until 8 everyday, so crap. How is all my work going to get done? I would sleep in no matter how much work I had to do, but these Friday's would be spent working.

5. Parents

Your district just approved a 4-day school week. You now either have to take Friday's off to care for your child or find suitable childcare. Now let me tell you, Lancaster is not that big of a city and there is NO WAY the childcare system there is capable of handling an influx of thousands of elementary school kids for one day a week.

6. HS Students

You are learning to be a mature adult. You have a job. You can only work until a certain time due to child labor laws. Your new school schedule may have easily cut 2-3 hours off your schedule each day, except Friday, which you now have off to compete with any other worker who is normally scheduled during the day. Good luck with that.

Now these are the only ones I've come up with so far.. and I've only had about 12 hours to work with! Call me cynical, but I really do not see the positives in this for the teachers, students and parents. Once again, money rules all. This will save the district $2 million. Since when did profits/losses run our school system?

This year Texas has to abide by a new calendar put forth by my favorite politician, Mr. Rick Perry. *gag* Instead of issuing waivers to districts that wanted to start in early-mid August, all districts must now start no sooner than August 27. Why? To save money. Energy costs are expensive! Hmm.. is it really that much hotter on August 10th than the 27th? What'd you save there? $3? So instead of going from early Aug. - May, we will be going from late Aug. - June. Newsflash, Ricky. It's hot in June too.

Not only that, district exams have been pushed back until after the students return from Christmas break. FANTASTIC. District scores are already at 36%, and that's with reviewing for 3 days before the test. Lets see what they look like after having 3 weeks off! Now I must tell you that our district tests are the hardest tests I have ever seen. I go through and work all the problems and on average miss 1-3 problems. It makes the TAKS test look like child's play... which is why we were only 0.5% passing points away from being an "Exemplary" school last year. DAMMIT! It's probably going to be that close again this year.

All of these things affected by one day being taken away from the school week. I'm sure there are pros to the situation, and it may even be fruitful to try it out for a year and see how things turn out. You may be pleasantly surprised. But the agenda here is clear... do this to save money and it has to be good! Our system has lost the notion that their job is to educate students and do what is best for them. And apparently the superintendent and school board in Lancaster have lost their minds. If I taught in that district and this proposal was passed, I'd be looking for a new job... and quick.

Oh yes, and you must go read Mister Teacher's witty and great response to my previous post: "Living in a World of Women."

Living in a world of women...

2007-07-13T19:48:00.000-05:00

Teaching is a great field. You get the opportunity to pass on knowledge to children in order to prepare them for life in the real world. It is a great feeling!

I always loved my teachers (sans my 5th grade homeroom, 11th grade Chemistry, 12 grade Econ and AP Statistics teachers) and admired them for their passion of teaching. My absolute favorite teacher was my 6th grade teacher, perhaps that is why I teach around the same age group.. we'll take another time to delve into my psyche. The picture of my teachers could be summed up in the same few words: 30's-40's white female. Not including my band directors, I never had a male teacher until 8th grade, when I was bombarded with 3 in one year! Man was that a change!

Male teachers are so different. It's hard for them not to be seeing how different men and women are on a basic level. For the most part, my male teachers had more vocal classes with more off topic discussions but those were the classes where I learned the most and enjoyed my time (except for my Chemistry teacher... that man was an absolute imbecile). Now my exposure to male teachers increased with every grade level I advanced, and it's safe to say that this is the trend for most districts... and I think it's rather unfortunate.

Male students respond so much better to male teachers, IMO. If they were exposed to this at an early age, 3rd, 4th or 5th grade I think they would be so much more successful in school, but instead they are living in a world of women. Most GROWN men have trouble understanding and dealing with women, and you expect little children and teenagers to deal nothing else throughout their entire time in school?! I think the boys are getting short changed here. In fact, I know they are. I can deal fairly well with boys on some levels; I know a lot about sports, music and other things that interest most, but I relate to girls so much better. I was raised in a house of girls. One of my co-workers has 3 boys, she relates so much better to boys because of her interactions and experiences with her own. But not every teacher has siblings or children to help them relate to their students better, so you rely on your own gender as a point of commonality. You have a relationship with half your students before they even walk in the door.

As crucial as it is for districts to get teachers in the classroom, they have got to start doing something about getting a good balance of male and female. Women have been able to crack their way into almost every job known to man in this country, with exception to the Presidency and maybe some professional sports. Why can't men seem to crack their way into the teaching profession?

Can't you just see the employment add now?

Seeking educated male with BA/BS and TeXes certification to work with 5-150 women daily who all eye you like a T-Bone steak anytime you walk into the room. Oh right, and you can change the world by teaching some little'uns too.

You laugh because you know it is true. Men in the teaching field are treated like gods! The women swoon, then other men breathe a sigh of relief for a standard deviation increase in the testosterone department and administrators pat them on the back for being the minority. I know I look at any male teacher walking through my school at the beginning of the year thinking.. "Ooh, he's cute! I wonder if he's married!" and other non-school appropriate things. There's just something about a man who is a teacher.. but for now I am living in a world of women.

Benefits Lapsed

2007-07-10T21:48:00.000-05:00

Joey: Hmm that’s weird. I don’t remember being in a move called benefits lapsed.

Chandler: Okay, it’s not a check. They’re saying your health insurance expired because, you didn’t work enough last year.

Joey: Let me see that!

Joey: (reads it) Oh, I can’t believe this! This sucks! When I had insurance I could get hit by a bus or catch on fire, y’know? And it wouldn’t matter. Now I gotta be careful?!

Chandler: I’m sorry man, there’s never a good time to stop catching on fire.

Haha.. classic Friends. I love it. So I go to check my mail, expecting a few cards, a few invitations, a few packages and end up getting my annual notification from the district of our annual Insurance Benefits meetings, new medical and dental plans, and new premiums. Wonderful! Now I'm the first to admit that I know little about the districts decisions involving coverage, premiums and the company used to cover teachers medical costs, but I do have the basic understanding that what we are offered sucks. 4 different PPO plans, the two "middle of the road" plans being the most cost-effective for the average person are probably the biggest sellers. So why should it surprise me that they have increased the premiums and deductibles for these plans? Give me a break!

I rarely get sick. Most of my medical costs are preventative and wellness visits. So knowing full well that in the past 10 years I have needed to go to the doctor ONCE for an illness that needed medical intervention (Pink Eye.. thanks to my wonderful years in the daycare industry), I opted for the 2nd cheapest plan at $35 a month. Not too bad. First semester rolls by, barely a sniffle. I get past Christmas and back into the swing of things and the last day in January I get out of bed feeling a little.. slow. I go to work anyway and by 10AM I am not feeling great. Head into see our wonderful school nurse.. BAM: 100.7 degree temp. Having only taken one personal day for a family wedding in November, I opt to head home and nip this thing in the bud. Hah.. right. That night I shot up to 102.5, called into work, and slept the entire next day. Having not improved at all, I made an appointment w/ the doctor. Now the doctor I went to previously was a good hour drive from my home now, and feeling like absolute #$(&%#, I found a wonderful one 5 minutes away. Go in, a quick "breathe in, breathe out", explain the symptoms, swab of the nose, and confirmation of what I already knew. The lovely flu. I go to check out and clear my tab. That'll be $207.35. Um I'm sorry, I must be delirious. $200??? Hadn't met the deductible so I was paying out-of-pocket. Too sick to put up a fight, I hand over the plastic and head home with empty pockets and no medicine (not that it would have helped). Later that night, I have some sort of blood pressure drop or something because I about pass out on my floor, shake uncontrollably and my heart starts beating so fast I thought it was going to explode. Great.. that sounds normal. A (free) call to the doctor doesn't do much to reassure me.. "If it happens again, go to the emergency room." More sleep and the next day my fever spikes to 105.. I swear I was disconnected from reality. All downhill from there, but I end up taking 10 days off work with only 9 days to cover. My first day back was a blur. I still had a fever, about passed out during 3rd period and had to sleep in the clinic during lunch. Isn't life grand?

So I learned my lesson for next year... get a flu shot! That was my only run in with any doctor the entire year, and I paid $35 a month for my $200 bill. Now Thursday I get the joy of having the wellness visit I know all women look forward to as if it were Christmas, but these visits don't require a deductible so I'm hoping for a smaller bill. I'll wait til then to make my final decision, but the numbers don't lie. If I were to stay with the same plan next year, I'd be paying $50 a month for my coverage... which doesn't actually do anything for me until I reach the $1250 deductible (which will never happen) or I can pay $10 a month and still pay the same price out-of-pocket until I reach the $2000 deductible. And even IF I meet the deductible, I still have to pay 20-30%, depending on the plan.

Potential savings by switching plans: $480

Now as long as I don't get hit by a bus or catch on fire, the change will be worth it.

An introduction of sorts...

2007-07-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

The need to do something academic has overpowered me these past few days. Going along with the current trend, I decided that a blog would be good use of my time and a way for me to document these times in my life. By "these times", I mean my close encounters with the third kind, aka pre-teens and teenagers.

Hi, I'm Ms. Longhorn and I'm a middle school math teacher. (All together now... "Hi, Ms. Longhorn.")

That's right, not only do I choose to work with and teach the melodramatic members of society on a daily basis, but I choose to teach them the work of the devil (at least that's what most of them think): math. That's right, I do have a death wish. But MATH + TEENAGERS = FUN in my book.. see how I incorporate a little math in there for you? You are smarter already!

Unlike most of my friends in college, I didn't always want to be a teacher. I didn't have a chalkboard and pretend classroom when I was little. I played sports, rode my bike, tormented my sister and was generally getting into things I shouldn't have been. Teacher was not on that list. I always loved kids and being around them. I started babysitting at the age of 11 for the neighborhood kids, and could have had a full-fledged business by the time I was 19. Don't tell the IRS, but I pocketed some major dough from 2000-2002! But all the while, my main focus was on animals. I grew up with many, starting from my childhood border collie who died when I was 16, to the cat we adopted when my parents divorced in 1993 (who made the trek with me to college and is back with me now living on my own), to the poodles we got a few years later. Intermingle 20 cats (long story, but we basically became a shelter for slutty female cats), 2 other short-term canine live-in's, 2 rabbits, 2 gerbils, 8 birds and a few fish along the way and that covers the pet portion of my life. So, could you blame me for wanting to be a vet? This stayed with me until I did a research project in 7th or 8th grade where I shadowed our family vet. Didn't take long for me to figure out I couldn't stomach most of the things involved in that profession. Blood and needles out, I just wanted to play with the pets.

Fast forward a few years and that brings you to my fascination with whales and dolphins. I could have been on Free Willy, minus the vandalizing and foster child part. Sea World ranks up there with Disneyworld on what makes me giddy and happy. So one summer in HS, my best friend and I sign up for a camp through the state university that runs a marine biology program. I loved it! Learning about the ecosystems and family dynamics of whales and dolphins, tracking them out in the Gulf of Mexico and working with a rescue group that helps stranded marine life; all awesome. Necropsies and wetsuits; not awesome. We already established the blood and needle thing, lets go ahead and add dead things to that list too. Being the ripe old age of 16, that suddenly got bumped down on my list, with the top spot as blank as ever. So I head into my senior year of high school, now having no idea what I want to do in college. I was accepted into the work program in school, which allowed me to leave as early as noon to work outside of school. I either had to have a food-service job or a daycare job. Having worked at CiCi's the year before, food service was out. Props to anyone who waits tables or works in the restaurant industry... people are very crabby about their food.

So I interview at a daycare smack dab in between my school and my house. For whatever reason, I got that job. From 2-6:30 during the week, I was one of two teachers in the 2-year-old room. I absolutely loved it. Nothing made me happier to walk into a room of 15 2-year-olds and have them shout out my name and run towards me, sticky hands and all. I knew I wanted to work with kids from that point on. I worked at that daycare from August 2000-May 2002 working in all the room, infant to school age. I left because my boss wouldn't give me a raise. I was the only person who had been there longer than 6 months and was working for $6/hr. I figured I earned that one, but was denied so I left and made my babysitting clients very happy.

I graduated HS in 2001, and headed off to college about 35 minutes away from my house. I was only 17 and not really socially ready to be out on my own, but enjoyed the academic part of college. I started out as a general education major, not really knowing exactly what my calling was. One semester on campus and I transferred to a branch of major college in Texas, where I lived at home, went to class, worked at the daycare and didn't do much else. I fell into a rut and became extremely depressed. My mom informed me that I was moving out when Fall Semester 2003 came around. Pissed that I was being "disowned" (or so I thought) I followed one of my few friends who actually left for college and went to the best place in the world for me. I had roommates, I lived near campus, I made friends (including my best friend who might as well be my sister), I re-joined band/marching band, I was involved in activities, sporting events and other things. As an education major at my school, you were required to take an elementary math class for teachers. This is where I fell in love. I always loved math and anything related. Logic, codes, puzzles, algebra, trigonometry, pre-cal, etc. I had a great professor who really pushed me to take that passion and learn to teach others.

I had a content area, just not an idea as to a grade level. Having the opportunity early on at my school to tutor elementary and middle school level kids, I knew the very young ones and very old ones were out. Teaching 2+2 doesn't really get me going, and I just am not smart enough to teach Alg. II/Pre-Cal.. I can learn it, but with teaching you have to have an extreme understanding of how things work, connect and build on other concepts. I just liked learning it. So that left the middle of the road and thankfully my school had a Grades 4-8 Math program. The 7 other girls in that program and I became sisters... we studied, partied, laughed, cried and bonded during the next 3 years. We supported each other through our internship, our crazy advisor, our ridiculously extreme requirements, our waning social lives, and many others. There were illnesses, deaths, births, weddings and vacations that we experienced together. We were sisters.

Then graduation comes around faster than I ever thought, and it's all over. All that hard work, my year of student teaching, my entire life walked across that stage in 2006. We all cry, promise to stay in touch and go our separate ways. 3 are now married, one more getting married in 2 weeks! One is in the Air Force, another no one knows where she went. Do we still keep in touch? I do with the 3 I was closest with, but the closest any of them are to me now is a 5 hour drive. Thank goodness for Facebook and MySpace! I miss college. I miss going to IHOP at 3AM just because we can. I miss football and basketball games. I miss MWF classes that you just stop going to at the end of the year. I miss the feeling of being a student at my school. I miss our local hangout. I miss so many things.

But now I'm in real life. I moved back in the metro area of my hometown, about 25 min away from my mom and stepdad. I interviewed with a really great suburban district in March 2006 and got the job. First interview got me my first job. Not bad. I was going to be teaching 7th grade math, both on-level and Pre-AP. I spent my first summer "on my own" decorating my apartment, getting reacquainted with the city, and attending hours upon hours of staff development and classes to prepare me for my year ahead. Nothing prepares you for your first year of teaching except actually doing it. My year long internship definitely helped, but the feeling is so different when there is someone else in the room who is REALLY in charge. I was thinking while laying in bed the other day, "What did I do/say on the first day?" In all honesty, I can't even remember. My first year was such a blur, don't expect me to remember a specific day!

As blurry as it all is, I will never forget how wonderful my first year of teaching was. I work with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Our grade level is composed of 3 teams, and I must say that my team is the most amazing. I love them all. Within each grade level is a department, in my case, the 7th grade math department. These ladies are the reason I got through my year. With all the stuff that we are required to do individually, these ladies never hesitated to stop and explain something to me if I was having trouble. Teamwork at its finest. The students for the most part were absolutely amazing as well. I have never laughed so hard and cried so hard because of these kids. They are the silliest bunch of "children-who-think-they're-adults". For anyone who has a child who is 12, 13 or 14, you know... they are watching Hannah Montana one minute, then going to see Hostel the next. Stuck between two worlds... the drama never dies, neither do the tears, laughs and memories.

Living in the same town I teach in has its perks. I have seen many of my students/parents around since then end of school... movie theatre, mall, grocery store, etc. That is also a downfall... would you want to see one of your teachers in sweats and no make-up after working out? Yikes. I guess I better go tidy up before I go out... karma tends to deal in big doses with me!

Quote/Question of the Year:
*while going over box models for dividing fractions*

S: Ms. L, why in the world are we having to learn how to divide boxes to represent fractions?

Me: Well S, it's because you are required to have an understanding of the problem in a picture form.

S: Yeah, but why boxes? Is there just some idiot at their desk who makes up these rules saying "Hmmm.. I think I'll have them divide boxes today!"?

*class erupts in laughter... me trying to hide my smile*

Me: Yes, S. That is exactly what happens.