Lately my weekends have turned into reading books by myself. Sadly, my parents have more of a social life than I do. Mondays are a little more dreadful since my students always ask what I did over the weekend. I prefer to give them more of a smart ass answer instead of admit to my lameness.
Student: "Miss C, what did you do this weekend?"
Me: "I had a latitude and longitude party. It was pretty crazy."
Student: "Are you serious?"
Me: "Yeah, its what all the cool teachers do."
To get our brain juices flowing, we start class with a trivia question. Today's question: What teams played in the first all-California Superbowl?
Favorite answer: "I think it was the Packers and the Jets." I had to explain to this student that the Packers and the Jets are not from CA.
In case you were wondering, it was the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers in Superbowl XXIX. The 49ers won 49-26.
Me: "Were you just singing the Fresh Prince song?"
Student A: "Yeah."
Me: "That brings me back to my childhood!"
Student A: "Me too!"
Student B: "Hahaha, he's as old as you! He just stayed in 7th grade for, like, a lot more years."
We're writing our China essays in Google Docs and they have to share it with me so I can grade it. Once they type in my email, my first and last name pops up.
Student: "Did you know your first name is Stephanie?"
Me: "It is?!"
Student: "Yep, it says it right here."
Student: "Can I write my essay in Chinese?"
Me: "No."
Student: "How about in English and Chinese?"
Today was one student's birthday. The exact time of the birthday was 10:28 am, which the student happened to be in my class during that time. We decided to sing Happy Birthday at 10:28.
Me: "Ok we have about a minute until its time to sing. We should probably warm up our voices. Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi."
Student: "That was really good!"
We sang Red Robin style. I think I had more fun than the students.
At the beginning of Access A (home room type class) we pick a question from the If Book...a book filled with 'if' questions. Today's question was "If you could remove the vocal chords from any person in the world, who would it be?"
Student: "My mom!"
Student: "Justin Bieber!"
Me: "You guys don't like Justin Bieber?!"
Students: "Nooo way!"
Me: "You guys need to catch the Bieber Fever."
Something to ponder...
Its custom for the Chinese to eat their meals with chopsticks. Generally, a new set of bamboo chopsticks are used at every meal. So that's 3 meals per day times 1.4 billion people. Holy chopsticks! That's tons of trash. The good news, the government now offers incentive programs to encourage people to switch to plastic, reusable chopsticks.
Snow Day tomorrow!!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Let's Get Down to Business
Student: "Aw man, we have to start those essays today?"
Student: "You mean we get to start the essays today, right Miss Chavez?"
My students catch on so fast.
Me: "Happy Friday!"
Student: "It's not that happy, we have to write essays today."
Me: "But that was my Happy Friday gift to you guys!"
Student: "Does it come with a gift receipt so I can return it?"
Me: "To help you write your essays, I brought in some special inspiring music to listen to while you write."
I made them listen to the Mulan soundtrack. Some loved it, for others it was more torture. The best part was watching the students that were trying to discreetly sing along.
Student: "Is this because I'm your favorite?"
Me: "No, I don't have favorites."
Student: "So you hate us all equally?"
Me: "Exactly."
Student: "That's what all my teachers say!"
Student: "You mean we get to start the essays today, right Miss Chavez?"
My students catch on so fast.
Me: "Happy Friday!"
Student: "It's not that happy, we have to write essays today."
Me: "But that was my Happy Friday gift to you guys!"
Student: "Does it come with a gift receipt so I can return it?"
Me: "To help you write your essays, I brought in some special inspiring music to listen to while you write."
I made them listen to the Mulan soundtrack. Some loved it, for others it was more torture. The best part was watching the students that were trying to discreetly sing along.
Student: "Is this because I'm your favorite?"
Me: "No, I don't have favorites."
Student: "So you hate us all equally?"
Me: "Exactly."
Student: "That's what all my teachers say!"
Thursday, January 27, 2011
I Love It Like a Fat Kid Loves Cake
Things I love about middle schoolers:
-they are hilarious
-they get sarcasm
-watching them flirt and pretty much any other social interaction...passing periods are the highlight of my day
-their enthusiasm is genuine
-they tell you when you have peanut butter in your hair
Golden Nugget: Pollution from China has been found in the U.S.
This one was from a while ago, but it's just too good...
Me: "What are some tricks you use to help you remember the difference between latitude and longitude?"
Student: "Your momma is so fat, her belt is the Equator!"
There is one student that likes to make different kinds of faces.
Student: "Miss C, look at this new face. Its called my Walking Backwards Face." Sure enough, this student walked backwards to the next class complete with the Walking Backwards Face.
Student: "Do we have to do this?"
Me: "You get to do this!"
Student: "Typical teacher answer."
Me: "My supervisor is coming today to observe this period. So when an unfamiliar man walks in, don't freak out, he is supposed to be here."
Student: "How about I raise my hand and ask you a really easy question that you know the answer to so then he thinks you're really smart?"
Student: "We'll be extra good for you so you don't get fired."
Today we talked about what challenges China faces with such a large population. Then, in their table groups, students pretended they were the leaders of China and came up with possible solutions to the issues. Some of their solutions were way out there, but at least it shows they're putting thought into it.
Student: "I'm entertaining you with my fingers."
While discussing China's One Child Policy...
Student: "What if a person and a dog had a kid?"
The Family and Consumer Studies class had a cake baking/decorating contest, the Last Cake Standing. Students make a cake in a team, then write a story about it and various teachers come in to judge the cakes. I got to be a judge. It was pretty fun. There were a couple cakes that probably missed an ingredient or two. The winning cake was a football half decorated for the Packers and the other half for the Steelers. My personal favorite was the "Popped Tire" cake, which included a story featuring a Lady Gaga concert.
-they are hilarious
-they get sarcasm
-watching them flirt and pretty much any other social interaction...passing periods are the highlight of my day
-their enthusiasm is genuine
-they tell you when you have peanut butter in your hair
Golden Nugget: Pollution from China has been found in the U.S.
This one was from a while ago, but it's just too good...
Me: "What are some tricks you use to help you remember the difference between latitude and longitude?"
Student: "Your momma is so fat, her belt is the Equator!"
There is one student that likes to make different kinds of faces.
Student: "Miss C, look at this new face. Its called my Walking Backwards Face." Sure enough, this student walked backwards to the next class complete with the Walking Backwards Face.
Student: "Do we have to do this?"
Me: "You get to do this!"
Student: "Typical teacher answer."
Me: "My supervisor is coming today to observe this period. So when an unfamiliar man walks in, don't freak out, he is supposed to be here."
Student: "How about I raise my hand and ask you a really easy question that you know the answer to so then he thinks you're really smart?"
Student: "We'll be extra good for you so you don't get fired."
Today we talked about what challenges China faces with such a large population. Then, in their table groups, students pretended they were the leaders of China and came up with possible solutions to the issues. Some of their solutions were way out there, but at least it shows they're putting thought into it.
Student: "I'm entertaining you with my fingers."
While discussing China's One Child Policy...
Student: "What if a person and a dog had a kid?"
The Family and Consumer Studies class had a cake baking/decorating contest, the Last Cake Standing. Students make a cake in a team, then write a story about it and various teachers come in to judge the cakes. I got to be a judge. It was pretty fun. There were a couple cakes that probably missed an ingredient or two. The winning cake was a football half decorated for the Packers and the other half for the Steelers. My personal favorite was the "Popped Tire" cake, which included a story featuring a Lady Gaga concert.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Simon Says
After the morning classes I went to the high school to meet the students I'll be working with starting in March. They seem great, I'm excited!
But when my middle schoolers found out, they were not happy.
Student: "What do you mean you're only here until March?"
Student: "If we promise to be really good for you all the time, will you stay the whole year?"
Student: "I can't believe you're leaving us for the whole day, not cool."
I'm guessing this is a sign that leaving them in March will be hard.
Student: "Do you have a boyfriend Miss C?"
Me: "Nope."
Student: "That's ok, I still think you're pretty."
Later on some of the students were talking about some singer and asked if I had heard of her before. I had no idea who they were talking about so I said no. Then they started talking about other singers and Usher came up.
Student: "Wait, you do know who Usher is right?"
Me: "No, who's that?" joking of course
Student: "That's probably why you don't have a boyfriend."
Student: "I wished you would have coached our basketball team, I mean, its not like its rocket science."
The Access class (basically like a home room class) was off the walls today. They were almost as bad as some of my preschool classes over the summer. I tried a few things but they didn't work. So I resulted to good ol' Simon Says. It worked like a charm.
"Simon Says stop talking. Simon Says finish Step Three on your own."
Lesson of the day: seventh graders aren't much different than preschoolers...just a little taller with more hormones.
But when my middle schoolers found out, they were not happy.
Student: "What do you mean you're only here until March?"
Student: "If we promise to be really good for you all the time, will you stay the whole year?"
Student: "I can't believe you're leaving us for the whole day, not cool."
I'm guessing this is a sign that leaving them in March will be hard.
Student: "Do you have a boyfriend Miss C?"
Me: "Nope."
Student: "That's ok, I still think you're pretty."
Later on some of the students were talking about some singer and asked if I had heard of her before. I had no idea who they were talking about so I said no. Then they started talking about other singers and Usher came up.
Student: "Wait, you do know who Usher is right?"
Me: "No, who's that?" joking of course
Student: "That's probably why you don't have a boyfriend."
Student: "I wished you would have coached our basketball team, I mean, its not like its rocket science."
The Access class (basically like a home room class) was off the walls today. They were almost as bad as some of my preschool classes over the summer. I tried a few things but they didn't work. So I resulted to good ol' Simon Says. It worked like a charm.
"Simon Says stop talking. Simon Says finish Step Three on your own."
Lesson of the day: seventh graders aren't much different than preschoolers...just a little taller with more hormones.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Oh na na, What's My Name
Note: That song actually drives me crazy.
On Friday my students really wanted to know my first name. I told them if they guessed it I would tell them. Then I gave them the hint that it started with 'S'.
Side Note: I have to wear a staff id everyday, which has my picture and my name on it.
My favorite guesses were 'Nicole' and 'Cereal'.
In the end, only one student figured out that all they had to do was look at my id to find my first name.
Back in the day, I used to think seeing teachers in public was weird and awkward. It was like seeing an old man (or anyone for that matter) in a Speedo...its just not natural. Then over the weekend I ran into two students. Suddenly I got that familiar seeing-an-old-man-in-a-Speedo-unnatural feeling. I later learned that they followed my friend and I to another store. Creepy or flattering?
I got asked to coach the girls' basketball team. As much as I would like to pass on my slam dunk skills, I thought I'd do everyone a favor and let a legit coach take the position.
A moment that made me smile:
During their work time, one student was singing Wanna Be by the Spice Girls.
On Friday my students really wanted to know my first name. I told them if they guessed it I would tell them. Then I gave them the hint that it started with 'S'.
Side Note: I have to wear a staff id everyday, which has my picture and my name on it.
My favorite guesses were 'Nicole' and 'Cereal'.
In the end, only one student figured out that all they had to do was look at my id to find my first name.
Back in the day, I used to think seeing teachers in public was weird and awkward. It was like seeing an old man (or anyone for that matter) in a Speedo...its just not natural. Then over the weekend I ran into two students. Suddenly I got that familiar seeing-an-old-man-in-a-Speedo-unnatural feeling. I later learned that they followed my friend and I to another store. Creepy or flattering?
I got asked to coach the girls' basketball team. As much as I would like to pass on my slam dunk skills, I thought I'd do everyone a favor and let a legit coach take the position.
A moment that made me smile:
During their work time, one student was singing Wanna Be by the Spice Girls.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Teacher Sweaters
The snow falls and the teacher sweaters come out. The school was full of teacher sweaters today. It seemed like everywhere I turned I saw one. My favorite was probably the one with Christmas trees with buttons.
Things you don't learn at teacher school: how to find the perfect teacher sweater.
China is so cool! The more I learn about it, the cooler it gets. If you have a chance, definitely look into China.
Golden Nugget: Putting 'million' vs. 'billion' into perspective. Say you had $1 million. You had to give away $1 every second until you were out of money. At that rate it would take about 12 days. Keep in mind that's every second, 24/7. Now if you did the same thing with $1 billion, it would take about 31 years. 12 days vs. 31 years? Wow!
Another Golden Nugget: China's population is about 1.4 billion. If you're like me, you're probably thinking "1.4 billion, ok cool, whatever." But think of it this way...take the total populations of the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Scandinavia, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, the rest of Europe, Canada, the US, Mexico, and Central America. Combine the populations of all of those countries and that is about equal to the population in China. All those people live in the space about the same size of the United States. China just blows my mind!
The Teacher's Lounge is a magical place. Its full of entertainment, F-bombs, and so much other wonderfulness. Today one teacher taught me about crop dusting. If you don't know what it is and are curious, look it up on Urban Dictionary. It is a very useful skill for anyone.
Great quotes:
At the end of the weekly Podcast, there is a song played and the first class to email the title and artist wins.
Student: "They should play ABBA. Like really, they need some ABBA."
Student: "The square root of pi is...Rainbows!!"
MT: "Since the Chinese invented paper, next week I'll bring in a recipe so we can make our own paper."
Student: "Is it easy? Cause that would save my parents a lot!!"
MT: "Who remembers the name of the leader of China?"
Student: "Saddam Hussein!"
Student: "Someone wiped their nose on the bottom of my chair!"
MT: "So if you ever meet a billionaire, what would you say?"
Student: "I'd start beggin'!"
These little space cadets sure make my day!
Things you don't learn at teacher school: how to find the perfect teacher sweater.
China is so cool! The more I learn about it, the cooler it gets. If you have a chance, definitely look into China.
Golden Nugget: Putting 'million' vs. 'billion' into perspective. Say you had $1 million. You had to give away $1 every second until you were out of money. At that rate it would take about 12 days. Keep in mind that's every second, 24/7. Now if you did the same thing with $1 billion, it would take about 31 years. 12 days vs. 31 years? Wow!
Another Golden Nugget: China's population is about 1.4 billion. If you're like me, you're probably thinking "1.4 billion, ok cool, whatever." But think of it this way...take the total populations of the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Scandinavia, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, the rest of Europe, Canada, the US, Mexico, and Central America. Combine the populations of all of those countries and that is about equal to the population in China. All those people live in the space about the same size of the United States. China just blows my mind!
The Teacher's Lounge is a magical place. Its full of entertainment, F-bombs, and so much other wonderfulness. Today one teacher taught me about crop dusting. If you don't know what it is and are curious, look it up on Urban Dictionary. It is a very useful skill for anyone.
Great quotes:
At the end of the weekly Podcast, there is a song played and the first class to email the title and artist wins.
Student: "They should play ABBA. Like really, they need some ABBA."
Student: "The square root of pi is...Rainbows!!"
MT: "Since the Chinese invented paper, next week I'll bring in a recipe so we can make our own paper."
Student: "Is it easy? Cause that would save my parents a lot!!"
MT: "Who remembers the name of the leader of China?"
Student: "Saddam Hussein!"
Student: "Someone wiped their nose on the bottom of my chair!"
MT: "So if you ever meet a billionaire, what would you say?"
Student: "I'd start beggin'!"
These little space cadets sure make my day!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Ridin' Solo
Today MT was out so there was a sub. MT decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to jump in and teach all of the classes. Luckily, it wasn't anything too difficult. We made maps of East Asia. It was really nice to get to interact with the students and get to know them better. I finally know all 120 names!
Not going to lie, I was nervous to be in a middle school. I always heard horror stories about how crazy the students are. Over the past few days, I discovered middle school students don't live up to those horror stories. Yes, they are hormonal (weren't we all?), but they are so fun. They are so full of energy, and that's where the key factor is. My job is to figure out the best way to channel all of that energy to help them learn. Easier said than done for sure.
Student: "Miss C, how long are you going to be with us?"
Me: "Til the middle of March."
Student: "Perfect, you can buy Girl Scout cookies from me!"
Student: "Miss C, let me hook you up with some chocolate." Opens a book bag full of Hershey's kisses.
Me: "Where did you get all that chocolate?!"
Student: "My mom is going on a diet so she had to get rid of all the chocolate. She didn't want to throw it out so she gave it all to me! I love when she goes on diets!"
Student: "Dalai Lama? I've never heard of that kind of llama before."
Student: "You said you went to school in Wisconsin, right?"
Me: "Yep."
Student: "Is that where macaroni and cheese is from? Because at Noodles its called Wisconsin Mac and Cheese."
There were some other great quotes, but by the end of the day I seem to forget them!
Not going to lie, I was nervous to be in a middle school. I always heard horror stories about how crazy the students are. Over the past few days, I discovered middle school students don't live up to those horror stories. Yes, they are hormonal (weren't we all?), but they are so fun. They are so full of energy, and that's where the key factor is. My job is to figure out the best way to channel all of that energy to help them learn. Easier said than done for sure.
Student: "Miss C, how long are you going to be with us?"
Me: "Til the middle of March."
Student: "Perfect, you can buy Girl Scout cookies from me!"
Student: "Miss C, let me hook you up with some chocolate." Opens a book bag full of Hershey's kisses.
Me: "Where did you get all that chocolate?!"
Student: "My mom is going on a diet so she had to get rid of all the chocolate. She didn't want to throw it out so she gave it all to me! I love when she goes on diets!"
Student: "Dalai Lama? I've never heard of that kind of llama before."
Student: "You said you went to school in Wisconsin, right?"
Me: "Yep."
Student: "Is that where macaroni and cheese is from? Because at Noodles its called Wisconsin Mac and Cheese."
There were some other great quotes, but by the end of the day I seem to forget them!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude
Gotta love Jimmy Buffett!
Day two. Today we did a little on latitude and longitude and introduced China. I honestly don't know that much about China, so its neat for me to learn alongside the students. A cool golden nugget of knowledge: Denver and Beijing are at the same line of latitude.
This map is so cool! The United States and China remain at their same size and latitude/longitude.Student: "Miley Cyrus?!"
The best part was, this student wasn't trying to be funny but was actually serious. Miley Cyrus does have the best of both worlds so maybe this student wasn't too far off.
In case you were curious, the #1 Most Powerful Person in the World is Hu Jintao, the leader of China. Just a snapshot of this guy's power...recently China allowed Google into the country. However, Hu Jintao required Google to be censored. Getting Google to do what you want? That's a big deal.
MT: "The leader that brought communism to China was Mao Zedong."
Students: "Meow? Hahaha! Meow, meow, meow. Was he part cat?"
MT: "How would you describe the United States?"
Student: "Breathtaking!"
Student: "Fat and lazy."
Student: "A mountain."
Moments that made me smile...
Student: "Last night at the dinner table the Holocaust and Hitler came up. Then I realized I was actually defending Hitler! Not what he did, but that he was a good leader. He just chose to use his leadership to do really bad things. I wonder what it would be like if he did good things instead."
Student: "Even though we think the economy in the United States is bad, that's just to our standards. To the rest of the world our economy is still really good."
Today I practiced learning names and faces. My competitiveness kicked in and I made it into a game to see how fast I could learn the names. My record is 27 names and faces in 8 minutes.
It's only been two days and I've already learned a ton! Looking forward to what I learn tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The First Day
The first day of school is always so exciting. A new school year brings new possibilities, adventures, and a blank slate. Not to mention, the school supplies! School supply shopping is always the best part. Something about using a freshly sharpened pencil in a brand new spiral notebook is so refreshing!
Side Story: There was only one year I wasn't excited for the first day of school. That was the night before third grade. I heard stories that my teacher was tough. I was so freaked out I spent the night before bawling to my dad. I was convinced I was going to fail third grade because I could only draw stick people. If I could, I would go back and tell my third grade self 3 important things: 1. You don't fail third grade. B. You will have some sweet stick figure skills, which include drawing stick dogs and pigs. C. This is the year your awkward phase begins...hold on, it's a long ride, sorry kid.
So anyways, here I am. No longer sitting in class, but teaching the class. I have officially crossed over to 'the other side'. It's a weird feeling, considering I still feel like a kid myself.
Today was a pretty easy day. I spent the day observing, which I always find very interesting. Here is the quote of the day:
My cooperating teacher, we'll call Master Teacher (MT), was explaining that when writing paragraphs, each paragraph focuses on one topic.
Student: "Yeah, like if you were talking about Egypt and then Africa, that wouldn't work because those aren't related."
Clearly we need a little more map work with this one!
Life on the other side is fun. I'm looking forward to the new adventures it brings.
Side Story: There was only one year I wasn't excited for the first day of school. That was the night before third grade. I heard stories that my teacher was tough. I was so freaked out I spent the night before bawling to my dad. I was convinced I was going to fail third grade because I could only draw stick people. If I could, I would go back and tell my third grade self 3 important things: 1. You don't fail third grade. B. You will have some sweet stick figure skills, which include drawing stick dogs and pigs. C. This is the year your awkward phase begins...hold on, it's a long ride, sorry kid.
So anyways, here I am. No longer sitting in class, but teaching the class. I have officially crossed over to 'the other side'. It's a weird feeling, considering I still feel like a kid myself.
Today was a pretty easy day. I spent the day observing, which I always find very interesting. Here is the quote of the day:
My cooperating teacher, we'll call Master Teacher (MT), was explaining that when writing paragraphs, each paragraph focuses on one topic.
Student: "Yeah, like if you were talking about Egypt and then Africa, that wouldn't work because those aren't related."
Clearly we need a little more map work with this one!
Life on the other side is fun. I'm looking forward to the new adventures it brings.
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