Holiday!

I was ready for this two week break.  It was needed.  Classes on the whole are going well.  Not much to report for the moment.  We'll see what happens when we get back!


Now I just have to get through midterms!

Vocabulary Is My Life?

I presented vocab to my students differently this time and it seems to have helped.  Almost everyone got A's out of all 25 students.  One student got an 88, many students received 100.  My kids have to write in the entire definition; this isn't multiple choice.  It's good.  I think they are finally trying a little bit more too.   We'll see what it's like next time.  

A funny thing happened on the way to Fahrenheit 451...

In class today I was joking (for some reason) that Mars was made of cheese just like the Moon.  One of my students said, "no, the Moon is made of tacos!"  Another student said, "if the Moon is made of cheese and Mars is made of cheese, then what is Uranus made out of?"  She stopped at about "Uranu" but boy was that one of the funniest things I've heard in a while.  Simply hilarious.  I love that girl.  She is a super sweet and intelligent girl.  




Kids.

Bibliophile

One of my students got it yesterday.  I was giving them the Greek and Latin root words to go with their prefixes and suffixes we have already learned (or mostly learned).  One of the first ones I went over was "bibli, biblio" and asked what it meant.  A couple of girls said book.  Yay!  Then one of the girls said "bibliophile" and said what it meant.  One of the other roots I gave them was "phil, philo."  One of the boys said "hey, bibliophile!"  It was like DING DING DING.  Thank you.

Just a thought

I realized today that I separate what I do from the term "work."  I never say I'm going to work.  I say I'm going to school or I'm going to teach.  Work is not what I call it.  I think for some people it is or becomes work in the normal, regular I-don't-love-my-job way.  I also don't call it a job.  It is school.  It is teaching.  It is leading.  It is learning.  And I like it thataway.

R. E. S. P. E. C. T.

Yesterday was the dreaded suffix quiz for my sophomore English class.  They have had (once again) about two weeks to study for this quiz.  First period, immediately after they start on the quiz, I start getting all the questions.  "If everyone fails, can we retake this?" and the like.  I don't like to give retakes or anything like that.  Students should be responsible for learning the material for the required time.  That is how I feel about.  Of course, I told them if EVERYONE failed that I would have to do something different.  I knew they wouldn't all fail. And I know that the SOUTH KOREAN foreign exchange student, upon glancing, looks like he got  one hundred percent correct.  

Fast forward.  Sixth period.  "Do you know all these suffixes?"  I was asked by a student.  

"Yes, of course I do."

"Then tell me what 'ade' means."

"I do not have to. I am not taking a quiz.  I passed high school and college and grad school just fine."

"If you're so intelligent, tell me what it means."

"I do not have to prove anything to you or any other student."

"Then I've lost all respect for you as my teacher."

This was the moment that I got angry and walked out of the room and down the hall to ask if anyone would like to take my class for a few minutes.  And someone did.  And another person also went in and talked to them for a few minutes.

I went back and we had our quiz.  Very quietly, we had our quiz.  

Normally this student wouldn't have been blurting out such a harsh statement.  He is an overall good kid.  He makes good grades and is a higher level thinker than most of the other students I have.  

It's hard to understand why a student would challenge you so when you are VERY MUCH ON THEIR SIDE.  I am a supporter of this kid.  He's kinda nerdy so I root for him, you know?  So it's shocking in a not-so-good way when this happens.

I was angry for about ten minutes, then I moved on.  During passing period between 7th and 8th periods, he apologized to me.  I'm glad.  I didn't want to be angry with this kid for too long.  He's a good kid.

My guess is that he was angry that he was about to fail my quiz.

I also gave both of those classes the "choice" lecture.  If you choose not to study, etc.  Twice.  

Accomplishing something. Sometimes.

A kid from my AP English class last year wrote this to me today via Facebook:

i finished Brave New World last night; I just want to say that this has sparked a newfound interest in literature for me. I'll be spending the bulk of my free time in the 7 story block of marble called the Alkek Library.