i will be going to school tomorrow. just letting you know.
i will be there in the hopes that some of the latino kids show up, and when they do we will discuss hr4437 and i will share these articles:
canadian immigration siezes girls
so who hires day laborers outside home depot, anyway?
fears of immigration roundups affecting businesses
yo no soy capitan, yo soy marinero
also, since (i think) only two kids in fourth period algebra 2 are latino, i am showing up to instruct them in the fundamental counting principle. i am excited! as much as i hate probability, i really love it. does that make sense? uh, no. love/hate relationships rarely make sense, i guess. also, i am starting to film for the PACT event. fun. :-|
i am not looking forward to traffic tomorrow. we're out of dog food, too, so i will need to make purchases at such white establishments as petco. oh! which reminds me of another story (via fark): illegal alien puppy gets US amnesty, now doesnt that just warm the cockles of your heart? these minute men will show more heart to a dog that to a human being. you know what i call that? i call that being a dick. not that im surprised. *le sigh*
i feel really good about everything today.
i am pleased to announce that today went extraordinarily well. the kids were cooperative, engaged and interested.
J, the kid who gives me the most headaches (on average) has made a 180° turn. he is eager to go to the smart board and graph lines. he lives for plotting points. this is not the J from 3 weeks ago. anyway, so today, he was acting up at during the first few minutes of class. i sent him outside. 3 minutes later, he knocks on the door and says, "ok miss, im ready to come in now." after that, he was perfect. he volunteers for a problem. "ok: go to the board," i say. in a beautiful moment of twilight zone-esque situation comedy, he starts by making a t-bar chart to find the x and y values. as hes describing his steps, the other kids in class start talking and not paying attention to him. he says, "hey everyone, im trying to do a problem here!" pause. ... the light bulb literally went on over his head, and he looked at me, sheepishly. and he said, "oh." and he said, "miss, it sucks when i'm up here and they dont pay attention." ms. vasquez smiled behind her desk. i smiled at J. i said, "how does it make you feel?" he said, "it hurts my feelings." but he realized the irony: when the kids did it again a little later, he imitated me, sat down in the chair next to the smart board and said, "i can wait all day too, guys." classic.
do i think this will change Js behaviour forever and ever, always and constantly? uh, no. but that glimmer of empathy is a star! ah, faint ray of hope! beam of reason and bright light of knowledge ! could it be? ah, yes! perhaps J has exited the cave, been blinded by the dazzling light! now, is he ready to go back in and share his discoveries? will the shadows on the cave wall be denounced as frauds? what a long way we have still.
unrelated to all this: enough is enough; please just change the subject.
PS: let's all move to bellingham, washington
J, the kid who gives me the most headaches (on average) has made a 180° turn. he is eager to go to the smart board and graph lines. he lives for plotting points. this is not the J from 3 weeks ago. anyway, so today, he was acting up at during the first few minutes of class. i sent him outside. 3 minutes later, he knocks on the door and says, "ok miss, im ready to come in now." after that, he was perfect. he volunteers for a problem. "ok: go to the board," i say. in a beautiful moment of twilight zone-esque situation comedy, he starts by making a t-bar chart to find the x and y values. as hes describing his steps, the other kids in class start talking and not paying attention to him. he says, "hey everyone, im trying to do a problem here!" pause. ... the light bulb literally went on over his head, and he looked at me, sheepishly. and he said, "oh." and he said, "miss, it sucks when i'm up here and they dont pay attention." ms. vasquez smiled behind her desk. i smiled at J. i said, "how does it make you feel?" he said, "it hurts my feelings." but he realized the irony: when the kids did it again a little later, he imitated me, sat down in the chair next to the smart board and said, "i can wait all day too, guys." classic.
do i think this will change Js behaviour forever and ever, always and constantly? uh, no. but that glimmer of empathy is a star! ah, faint ray of hope! beam of reason and bright light of knowledge ! could it be? ah, yes! perhaps J has exited the cave, been blinded by the dazzling light! now, is he ready to go back in and share his discoveries? will the shadows on the cave wall be denounced as frauds? what a long way we have still.
unrelated to all this: enough is enough; please just change the subject.
PS: let's all move to bellingham, washington
all my symptoms have disappeared.
having gotten home, showered, and having just now eaten a peanut butter sammich with a tall glass of malk (hey i drink plenty of... malk?) i can write while i watch svu. i went back to teaching today, feeling fresh as pure snow. first period was well, we went over graphing using the intercepts, and i am pleased to discover that the kids are THRILLED TO PIECES about cartsian graphing. ok, so they're still shaky on the pemdas process, but they love coordinate points! so theyre doing great. homework? still a dream i have at night. but participation is at an all-time high: the smart board and the white board are fought over! the kids are tripping over themselves to go up to it. "miss, i wanna do this one!" oh goodness, i never thought id hear this from the first period group.
so for the "exceptional students" class i take on tuesdays, we had to fill out a "student support team" survey, where we ask the sst leader all sorts of questions about which framework is set up. anyway, so afterbeing bounced from one office to another, i finally land in the cunselors office. as i am waiting to speak to the friendly receptionist, this student walks in, full of sound and fury, spitting attitude to aforementioned receptionist. she calms him down, explaining she needs to understand his problem because she wants to help. she succeeds. anyway, i was thinking, "why was he so rude to the nice lady?" so she asks me what i need and tells me to wait for the person i needed to see, one of the counselors. so, wearing my 'faculty" badge proudly, i go in to ask this man whether he can help me answer the questions. he says indeed he is the man i need to speak to but that he is busy at the moment. fair enough. i ask him if there is a time when i could come back and get the information i need, whether this week or the next. and HE SNAPS AT ME and says, "look, i dont have time to answer your ridiculous questions!" ... so at this point, i think, no wonder that kid came in spitting attitude. if this is the kind of response he gives to his peers, i shudder to think how he treats the students he "counsels." and no wonder so many kids dont want to seek advice. look i know: yes they are overworked; yes they are short-staffed: but fuck SO ARE TEACHERS. and there is no way in hell i could speak to ANYONE in the school like that without getting reprimanded. bottom line: what a dick.
so that took up so much time, i didnt really work with fourth period today, but today my guiding teacher was still in running the class, since i was still taking it easy. today was the first symptom-less day, so i needed to be careful and not over-exert myself. anyway. im excited about tomorrow.
so for the "exceptional students" class i take on tuesdays, we had to fill out a "student support team" survey, where we ask the sst leader all sorts of questions about which framework is set up. anyway, so afterbeing bounced from one office to another, i finally land in the cunselors office. as i am waiting to speak to the friendly receptionist, this student walks in, full of sound and fury, spitting attitude to aforementioned receptionist. she calms him down, explaining she needs to understand his problem because she wants to help. she succeeds. anyway, i was thinking, "why was he so rude to the nice lady?" so she asks me what i need and tells me to wait for the person i needed to see, one of the counselors. so, wearing my 'faculty" badge proudly, i go in to ask this man whether he can help me answer the questions. he says indeed he is the man i need to speak to but that he is busy at the moment. fair enough. i ask him if there is a time when i could come back and get the information i need, whether this week or the next. and HE SNAPS AT ME and says, "look, i dont have time to answer your ridiculous questions!" ... so at this point, i think, no wonder that kid came in spitting attitude. if this is the kind of response he gives to his peers, i shudder to think how he treats the students he "counsels." and no wonder so many kids dont want to seek advice. look i know: yes they are overworked; yes they are short-staffed: but fuck SO ARE TEACHERS. and there is no way in hell i could speak to ANYONE in the school like that without getting reprimanded. bottom line: what a dick.
so that took up so much time, i didnt really work with fourth period today, but today my guiding teacher was still in running the class, since i was still taking it easy. today was the first symptom-less day, so i needed to be careful and not over-exert myself. anyway. im excited about tomorrow.
today is sunday and most of my symptoms have disappeared
i am still stuffy and my throat is still scratchy and sore, but other than that, im ok. i find it difficult to concentrate on anything for a prolonged period of time... which reminds me, i have laundry... BRB... (hahahah, as if you, gentle reader, can read this in real time) ... i am planning on going to teach tomorrow, but i do not think i will be able to lead the class. just thinking about talking like that makes me start coughing!
i would like to share some links that the honorable stephen "stinger" orsinger mailed to me.
the first is absolutely beautiful, and is the epitome of spirals everywhere. the golden ratio? no! archimedes' spiral? no! the number spiral!
the second is supremely sublime, and is better than beethoven, bach, chopin or shostakovich. heresy, you say? but you don't have to take my word for it!
and finally, i know that steve-o sent me this page because of the city of los angeles high school mathematics proficiency exam. having navigated around, i can assure you that the home page of this dood leads to all sorts of wonderful and amazing math stuffs.
c'est tout!
i would like to share some links that the honorable stephen "stinger" orsinger mailed to me.
the first is absolutely beautiful, and is the epitome of spirals everywhere. the golden ratio? no! archimedes' spiral? no! the number spiral!
the second is supremely sublime, and is better than beethoven, bach, chopin or shostakovich. heresy, you say? but you don't have to take my word for it!
and finally, i know that steve-o sent me this page because of the city of los angeles high school mathematics proficiency exam. having navigated around, i can assure you that the home page of this dood leads to all sorts of wonderful and amazing math stuffs.
c'est tout!
my flu relapsed
when i woke up yesterday, i started feeling ill again. i powered through it, thinking it was no big deal, but by the time i drove home to catch the #20 into campus, i felt terrible. i sleepwalked (sleptwalked?) through the classes that day. the bf picked me up, since we had planned on going to this art opening but since i felt so terrible, we just went home and i slept. my fever broke at about 3am but its been coming back. dayquil tastes terrible, but is still better than nyquil. anyway. i didnt go in to school today but i am feeling better. i dunno if ill make i tomorrow. i think the illness i had previously never really went away but was just in remission. gah. i had to miss class at ucla too. could it be stress? the bf found a bald spot the size of a nickel. omg, maybe im just getting old and busted.
first day back
first period: my guiding teacher gave a test on the day before spring break let out. she let the kids take it home to work on during the break. three turned it in that day: we corrected them and told them to work on it during class and that it was homework. she had reviewed for a whole week and told them that the test would be given: still, today we had to hand out 10 tests to kids who were mysteriously absent that day. ... i want to be able to say that i am the failure: that somehow my inexperience is to blame for their poor performance. yet, given the facts, i cannot. i am certain that these kids are the very ones who will wind up as drop-out statistics. they have made up their minds to give up, and i dont know if my endeavors can triumph over strong-willed teenagers. i can only focus my attention on the kids who have not entirely given up: there are too many kids in these high schools who do need the attention.
which brings us to fourth period: talk about a difference! like night and day. first period is alg 1, and fourth is alg 2. i think the difference in attitude can be attributed mainly to two things: (1) that these kids are older, mostly 11th graders, so they have a better sense of their academic obligations. they have developed a sense of self-discipline: they have goals established. they want to graduate high school, get an academic scholarship, go to college. they are at worst simply resigned to math as a necessary prerequisite to reaching these goals. (2) all the kids that are like period 1 either never make it to alg 2 or have dropped out by now. sad to put it like that, huh? but thats the truth of the matter.
anway, chew on these mathematical contradictions. i remember mr. bremer got me a shirt of the 1=2 problem at some math conference. chris howe borrowed it once sophomore year at sjc and i never saw it again. man, i loved that shirt. id wear it to bed and have escher dreams.
which brings us to fourth period: talk about a difference! like night and day. first period is alg 1, and fourth is alg 2. i think the difference in attitude can be attributed mainly to two things: (1) that these kids are older, mostly 11th graders, so they have a better sense of their academic obligations. they have developed a sense of self-discipline: they have goals established. they want to graduate high school, get an academic scholarship, go to college. they are at worst simply resigned to math as a necessary prerequisite to reaching these goals. (2) all the kids that are like period 1 either never make it to alg 2 or have dropped out by now. sad to put it like that, huh? but thats the truth of the matter.
anway, chew on these mathematical contradictions. i remember mr. bremer got me a shirt of the 1=2 problem at some math conference. chris howe borrowed it once sophomore year at sjc and i never saw it again. man, i loved that shirt. id wear it to bed and have escher dreams.
something i should have done over the break, but didn't
i pretty much ignored my obligations for that period of time, and i think my mental health thanks me. tomorrow begins again, nay, continues following a brief hiatus, my commitment to education. the illness i had the week before really kicked my ass and i was feeling it well into spring break itself, so i don't really feel i had an "actual" break, also considering i still had class at ucla. anyway, i enjoyed playing video games for a few days and going to the lakers game today.
as far as something i should have mentioned during the break, but didnt, and now feels like old news is that a comment i made on bOINGbOING got posted. some of you have visited this humble little blog as a result, which is nice. please share this blog with other educators; i welcome feedback of all kinds (english teachers, plz refrain from pointing out i dont capitalize and that my punctuation is inconsistent. at least my spelling is impeccable). for those of you who know me and are reading this because i urge you to, thanks to you too. ive been getting all sorts of encouragement from youse guyse, and believe me when i tell you that it makes me feel better about what i'm dealing with and going through. awwww. hugs all around.
also, i just bought a copy of and still we rise: the trials and triumphs of 12 gifted inner-city students which was written about kids at Crenshaw. i dont want to mention any schools by name, especially not mine, but then I fucked up and mentioned mine in the boingboing post. oops. so yeah, its [redacted]. anwyay. regular posting begins again tomorrow. stay tuned: same bat-time, same bat-channel.
as far as something i should have mentioned during the break, but didnt, and now feels like old news is that a comment i made on bOINGbOING got posted. some of you have visited this humble little blog as a result, which is nice. please share this blog with other educators; i welcome feedback of all kinds (english teachers, plz refrain from pointing out i dont capitalize and that my punctuation is inconsistent. at least my spelling is impeccable). for those of you who know me and are reading this because i urge you to, thanks to you too. ive been getting all sorts of encouragement from youse guyse, and believe me when i tell you that it makes me feel better about what i'm dealing with and going through. awwww. hugs all around.
also, i just bought a copy of and still we rise: the trials and triumphs of 12 gifted inner-city students which was written about kids at Crenshaw. i dont want to mention any schools by name, especially not mine, but then I fucked up and mentioned mine in the boingboing post. oops. so yeah, its [redacted]. anwyay. regular posting begins again tomorrow. stay tuned: same bat-time, same bat-channel.
more spring break. still ill.
this past week, beginning april 2, i fell ill. i havent been in all week. i feel better today (friday) but i still feel like butt. next week is lausd's spring break, so posting here will be irregular. also, my internet was down, which is now back up. pardon me, im going to go lie in bed and play with my DS and cuddle with the dog. *cough cough wheeze*
agenda for today: go over test
if you were in my math class this morning, you would have heard the following exchange:
_______________________________________________________________
good morning class. nice to see that 5 of you decided to show up to class today.
"miss, are we going to discuss the march that happened on saturday? i think it's important."
you know D, you know what i think is more important? the fact that every single one of you failed my test.
"but the situation with the immigrants is fucked up, miss!"
you know K, you know what i think is more fucked up? that you all SAY you are so concerned with immigrant rights and the future that they are being denied, but somehow, you guys can't manage to study for my math test; that you all are systematically denying yourselves what so many immigrants are being denied by others. that immigrants fight for so many things – things like education and health care – and yet you all squander the opportunites being given to you. that's what i think is fucked up.
so no, D, we are not going to discuss what happened. because as far as i am concerned, you all are talking the talk but not walking the walk: you all say you want equal access and equal opportunity for everyone, but when a teacher stands at the front of the classroom in order to provide it for you, you all decide that doing your homework is not a priorty; that studying for a test is not something you need to do. that's what's fucked up.
_______________________________________________________________
after this exchange i asked the kids which problems on the test they wanted me to go over. D, who suggested we talk about the immigrant issues, said, "i don't care about math" and proceeded to put his head down. K asked why i couldn't have given him help when he asked for it during the test. after explaining that he had 6 weeks to ask questions, and that a test is the time to show they are capable of independent thought and action, he said, "well fuck, i'm not going to give up my lunch or time after school to get tutoring. why can't studying at home be enough?" so i asked, "o? and how much time do you spend studying math at home?" he replied, "10 minutes." so i said, "assume you get home at 5 o'clock. when do you go to bed? at 10? so 5 hours, which is 300 minutes. 10 minutes is 3% of your time. a test is worth 30% of your grade. if you only dedicate 3% of your time to my class, your grade will reflect that: and it does. 30% of your time is equal to 90 minutes, or an hour and a half. if you spent that much time on my class, i can guarantee you your grade would not be sad amount it currently is." at that, K did not have anything to say. E asked to see a problem. after walking him through it, i noticed that E has problems not with the algebra, but with adding and subtracting poitive and negative numbers. i said, "E, you are always 100% sure that you know exactly what you are doing. but you keep screwing up when you have to add and subtract. it appears *that* is what you need to practice." after hemming and hawing about it, E said, "i was absent, that's why i didn't know. i can do it now." so i put another problem on the board. and said, "o? get to it then." he then proceeded to get the algebra right, but was unable to add -173 + 63. he said it was -236. when K pointed out his mistake, E got upset and said, "fuck this anyway. the questions on the test were hard and not like the ones on the homework." imagine the look on their faces when i told him that all the problems were taked straight from the homework assignments, and that they were running out of excuses.
K said, "Ms. Vasquez would have helped us during the test!" to which Ms. Vasquez replied, "then why didn't you pass my class last semester, K?" to which, again, K was struck silent.
_______________________________________________________________
it is worth pointing out that the kids who walked out, the good majority have no idea why they are walking out. to them it is a free day. so to all the organizers of the walk-out for immigrant rights, i say: fuck you. you are not making my job any easier. you are not organizing the kids. you are not educating or informing them. you are creating a photo opp: in the end, superficial and meaningless.
better yet, why not a school walk-in? how is losing a day of instruction beneficial to them? what about all the kids who have to miss school to help put food on their families' table? what about all the kids who are dropping out? during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, black folk all across the south walked into lunch counters and sat down. they were demanding equal access. equal opportunity.
get these kids to come in to class, not out of it. to sit down and listen, not stand up and yell. in the end, an education is more valuable than grandstanding. i'm sure their immigrant parents would appreciate that far more.
_______________________________________________________________
good morning class. nice to see that 5 of you decided to show up to class today.
"miss, are we going to discuss the march that happened on saturday? i think it's important."
you know D, you know what i think is more important? the fact that every single one of you failed my test.
"but the situation with the immigrants is fucked up, miss!"
you know K, you know what i think is more fucked up? that you all SAY you are so concerned with immigrant rights and the future that they are being denied, but somehow, you guys can't manage to study for my math test; that you all are systematically denying yourselves what so many immigrants are being denied by others. that immigrants fight for so many things – things like education and health care – and yet you all squander the opportunites being given to you. that's what i think is fucked up.
so no, D, we are not going to discuss what happened. because as far as i am concerned, you all are talking the talk but not walking the walk: you all say you want equal access and equal opportunity for everyone, but when a teacher stands at the front of the classroom in order to provide it for you, you all decide that doing your homework is not a priorty; that studying for a test is not something you need to do. that's what's fucked up.
_______________________________________________________________
after this exchange i asked the kids which problems on the test they wanted me to go over. D, who suggested we talk about the immigrant issues, said, "i don't care about math" and proceeded to put his head down. K asked why i couldn't have given him help when he asked for it during the test. after explaining that he had 6 weeks to ask questions, and that a test is the time to show they are capable of independent thought and action, he said, "well fuck, i'm not going to give up my lunch or time after school to get tutoring. why can't studying at home be enough?" so i asked, "o? and how much time do you spend studying math at home?" he replied, "10 minutes." so i said, "assume you get home at 5 o'clock. when do you go to bed? at 10? so 5 hours, which is 300 minutes. 10 minutes is 3% of your time. a test is worth 30% of your grade. if you only dedicate 3% of your time to my class, your grade will reflect that: and it does. 30% of your time is equal to 90 minutes, or an hour and a half. if you spent that much time on my class, i can guarantee you your grade would not be sad amount it currently is." at that, K did not have anything to say. E asked to see a problem. after walking him through it, i noticed that E has problems not with the algebra, but with adding and subtracting poitive and negative numbers. i said, "E, you are always 100% sure that you know exactly what you are doing. but you keep screwing up when you have to add and subtract. it appears *that* is what you need to practice." after hemming and hawing about it, E said, "i was absent, that's why i didn't know. i can do it now." so i put another problem on the board. and said, "o? get to it then." he then proceeded to get the algebra right, but was unable to add -173 + 63. he said it was -236. when K pointed out his mistake, E got upset and said, "fuck this anyway. the questions on the test were hard and not like the ones on the homework." imagine the look on their faces when i told him that all the problems were taked straight from the homework assignments, and that they were running out of excuses.
K said, "Ms. Vasquez would have helped us during the test!" to which Ms. Vasquez replied, "then why didn't you pass my class last semester, K?" to which, again, K was struck silent.
_______________________________________________________________
it is worth pointing out that the kids who walked out, the good majority have no idea why they are walking out. to them it is a free day. so to all the organizers of the walk-out for immigrant rights, i say: fuck you. you are not making my job any easier. you are not organizing the kids. you are not educating or informing them. you are creating a photo opp: in the end, superficial and meaningless.
better yet, why not a school walk-in? how is losing a day of instruction beneficial to them? what about all the kids who have to miss school to help put food on their families' table? what about all the kids who are dropping out? during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, black folk all across the south walked into lunch counters and sat down. they were demanding equal access. equal opportunity.
get these kids to come in to class, not out of it. to sit down and listen, not stand up and yell. in the end, an education is more valuable than grandstanding. i'm sure their immigrant parents would appreciate that far more.
i love a good joke.
my guiding teacher shared this with me last week, and it has just been sitting in my laptop. since i hardly use my laptop at the moment, i keep forgetting to share. what with the march in downtown that happened yesterday, i think this joke is a propos at the moment. so here, with no further ado is a joke only math teachers truly appreciate.
Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and as she went for my change, I pulled 8¢ from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and three pennies, while looking from her screen to the register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this? because of the evolution in teaching math from the 1950s to the present day.
Math Pedagogy throught the Years: 1950 – Present Day
Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and as she went for my change, I pulled 8¢ from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and three pennies, while looking from her screen to the register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this? because of the evolution in teaching math from the 1950s to the present day.
Teaching math in 1950.
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?Teaching math in 1960
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?Teaching math in 1970
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?Teaching math in 1980
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Underline the number 20.Teaching math in 1990
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. Topic for class discussion: What do you think of this way of making a living? How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? There are no wrong answers.Teaching math in 2005
Un hachero vende una carretera de madera por $100. El costo de producción es $80. Cuanto hizo de ganancias?
this is only a test.
woooo hoooo boy! test day! yikes! 10 questions, show all work.
what was the highest score? ... 2 out of 10. i shit you not.
i stayed after to grade the tests. i showed them to my guiding teacher. she shook her head and said, "look, i know that the desire to stop and go over it again is overpowering. but think about it. did they do their homework? did they show up to tutoring when both you *and* i are available? did they pay attention in class? the answer to all these questions is a resounding NO. you held up your end. you taught the material. if they decided to make no attempt to learn it, then that's on their end." and it's true. once i gave the exam, the kids were a chorus of questions: "help me, i don't get it! how do i distribute? does this become a negative?" she said, "did they ask you yesterday? you gave a practice set of questions, and what did they do? nothing. they didn't take advantage of the opportunity. and that's what you are supposed to do: provide equal access and equal opportunity. you did that. but you can't force them. ultimately, they make the decision to learn or not."
yeh, but i probably won't sleep any better. my guiding teacher and i talked about the culture that surrounds these kids: why do they think it's ok to be stoopid? they don't have learning disabilities, just self-imposed handicaps: "i don't need to learn this, my parents are going to take care of me for the rest of my life" -- ha ha ha ha. "i don't need to know this, i'm going to deal drugs!" -- ha ha. "i already know this! i don't need to do my homework!" -- ha.
anyway, we also know that there are no "educated" role models in these kids' lives. i'm going to talk to my field supervisor next week about trying to get a field trip for my kids to get up to ucla. maybe if we dangle the carrot in front of them, it might motivate them, even a little bit.
does anyone who reads this know anyone at caltech? it is a math class, after all. i imagine caltech has a lot more fun math and astronomy stuff.
what was the highest score? ... 2 out of 10. i shit you not.
i stayed after to grade the tests. i showed them to my guiding teacher. she shook her head and said, "look, i know that the desire to stop and go over it again is overpowering. but think about it. did they do their homework? did they show up to tutoring when both you *and* i are available? did they pay attention in class? the answer to all these questions is a resounding NO. you held up your end. you taught the material. if they decided to make no attempt to learn it, then that's on their end." and it's true. once i gave the exam, the kids were a chorus of questions: "help me, i don't get it! how do i distribute? does this become a negative?" she said, "did they ask you yesterday? you gave a practice set of questions, and what did they do? nothing. they didn't take advantage of the opportunity. and that's what you are supposed to do: provide equal access and equal opportunity. you did that. but you can't force them. ultimately, they make the decision to learn or not."
yeh, but i probably won't sleep any better. my guiding teacher and i talked about the culture that surrounds these kids: why do they think it's ok to be stoopid? they don't have learning disabilities, just self-imposed handicaps: "i don't need to learn this, my parents are going to take care of me for the rest of my life" -- ha ha ha ha. "i don't need to know this, i'm going to deal drugs!" -- ha ha. "i already know this! i don't need to do my homework!" -- ha.
anyway, we also know that there are no "educated" role models in these kids' lives. i'm going to talk to my field supervisor next week about trying to get a field trip for my kids to get up to ucla. maybe if we dangle the carrot in front of them, it might motivate them, even a little bit.
does anyone who reads this know anyone at caltech? it is a math class, after all. i imagine caltech has a lot more fun math and astronomy stuff.
dyscalculia
i came across this article while on fark. interesting, to say the least. i'm not exactly sure what to think of this "dyscalculia" business. i am not very keen on finding what may eventually amount to psychological (or even physiological) excuses. i want to believe that the human will can overcome just about anything, including dyscalcula. also, i don't see how this is any different from dyslexia, ultimately. it may make learning math more difficult, but certainly not impossible.
anyway, today we had test review. it seems that half of the kids are ready for the test. these are the kids that have been doing homework and participating in class. the kids who have not been doing these things are certaily not ready. Dq and E came into class during lunch today. they are my ELL students. Dq can read well in spanish, not as well in english. E can hardly read at all. after working with them, what i have found out is that the algebraic concepts are not beyond them: they have an excellent understanding of the PEMDAS process. Dq was never taught his multiplication tables. he has never seen long division. he didn't know that you were supposed to line up the place values of numbers when you add. he didn't know that multiplication and division are opposite operations. E is better at his tables, but admittedly, not that much better.
the test is tomorrow and i already told them that i will help them. i am worried that the other kids will raise their voices in loud cries of "that's not fair!" ... i don't know how i would respond to that. i wonder if i should say, "we'll they never had the opportunity," because for all i know, perhaps they didn't either. aye! there's there's the rub! "for all i know"! Dq and E came in during lunch. the others did not. i must reward ganas, the desire to learn. "teach me, for i want to learn."
anyway, today we had test review. it seems that half of the kids are ready for the test. these are the kids that have been doing homework and participating in class. the kids who have not been doing these things are certaily not ready. Dq and E came into class during lunch today. they are my ELL students. Dq can read well in spanish, not as well in english. E can hardly read at all. after working with them, what i have found out is that the algebraic concepts are not beyond them: they have an excellent understanding of the PEMDAS process. Dq was never taught his multiplication tables. he has never seen long division. he didn't know that you were supposed to line up the place values of numbers when you add. he didn't know that multiplication and division are opposite operations. E is better at his tables, but admittedly, not that much better.
the test is tomorrow and i already told them that i will help them. i am worried that the other kids will raise their voices in loud cries of "that's not fair!" ... i don't know how i would respond to that. i wonder if i should say, "we'll they never had the opportunity," because for all i know, perhaps they didn't either. aye! there's there's the rub! "for all i know"! Dq and E came in during lunch. the others did not. i must reward ganas, the desire to learn. "teach me, for i want to learn."
one day for spring break
there was no one at knott's berry farm today. i had funnel cake with boysenberry jam and a frozen lemonade. thank goodness for boyfriends.
tomorrow, i have review planned. friday is the test.
tomorrow, i have review planned. friday is the test.
happy spring break to... uh, me, i guess.
yesterday was the vernal equinox, or for those of you who do not speak in astronomical terms, it was the first day of spring. in fact, it was the first day of spring break for me, qua UCLA student. however, i did have to go to my humble high school. i had to go today. there was CAHSEE testing, the english portion. yipes.
today, the absolute value stuff went seamlessly. so i too have improved. step by step, little by little. K finally turned in his graffiti assignment (vid 3.15.2006). he had difficulty with the questions dealing with BC and AD. i don't blame him. if society as a whole didn't know that the new millenium began in 2001 and *NOT* 2000, i probably wouldn't have let him slide. face it: our culture seems to think it's ok to be innumerate. i can only do so much. K is asking for more algebra work, though. i guess i'll let his history teacher teach him there was no year 0.
my parent conference went well. Dq does not speak english too well, and the math vocabulary stumps him. i'm going to run off my bilingual math vocab book and hope it makes a difference, but frankly, the vocab in spanish is just as obtuse. his uncle said he would push him harder at home. i can only hope.
the kids saw my euclid tattoo today. i had to explain it. as soon as i said it was math related half of them tuned out. one kid was sure i was a lesbian since it has a triangle. one kid was smart enough to retort, "but it's not upside down." then someone asked why the upside down triangle was a symbol of "gays," and we made a brief tangent into wwii and nazi germany. none of them were aware of the fact that it was not only jews who were singled out by the nazis. they then proceeded to ask me, "what about the rainbow?" being ignorant as to why this is a gay pride symbol, it was at this point that i decided it was time to get back to the classwork.
please read why you should choose math in high school. CHOOSE MATH BECAUSE IT IS COOL.
today, the absolute value stuff went seamlessly. so i too have improved. step by step, little by little. K finally turned in his graffiti assignment (vid 3.15.2006). he had difficulty with the questions dealing with BC and AD. i don't blame him. if society as a whole didn't know that the new millenium began in 2001 and *NOT* 2000, i probably wouldn't have let him slide. face it: our culture seems to think it's ok to be innumerate. i can only do so much. K is asking for more algebra work, though. i guess i'll let his history teacher teach him there was no year 0.
my parent conference went well. Dq does not speak english too well, and the math vocabulary stumps him. i'm going to run off my bilingual math vocab book and hope it makes a difference, but frankly, the vocab in spanish is just as obtuse. his uncle said he would push him harder at home. i can only hope.
the kids saw my euclid tattoo today. i had to explain it. as soon as i said it was math related half of them tuned out. one kid was sure i was a lesbian since it has a triangle. one kid was smart enough to retort, "but it's not upside down." then someone asked why the upside down triangle was a symbol of "gays," and we made a brief tangent into wwii and nazi germany. none of them were aware of the fact that it was not only jews who were singled out by the nazis. they then proceeded to ask me, "what about the rainbow?" being ignorant as to why this is a gay pride symbol, it was at this point that i decided it was time to get back to the classwork.
please read why you should choose math in high school. CHOOSE MATH BECAUSE IT IS COOL.
