The Annual Summer Post

I am at the yearly Project LEAD week-long seminar.  For those of you who aren't familiar with it-- it is Monday-Friday, 7:15-4:15.  That time frame includes, wake up time to get home time.  I always feel compelled to blog during this week because it puts me back in the school mindset.  This is the last year of the LEADership program.  This is what I have learned from the program over the past three years....(in no particular order) 1) Teachers will pick through a bowl of fruit salad forever, regardless of how long the line is behind them. 2) Teachers get mad when there is not any regular Coke or Pepsi selection at lunch.
After three years in this program, this is what I have learned....  1) I am going to go into administration, then work in a county office.  LEADership does not equal poverty.  I am grateful for the opportunity that this project has given me to realize my leadership skills and the direction that I want to take my career in.  I will end with an Alice In Wonderland quote that I relate to and you can draw your own conclusions as to why...

The caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.  


'Who are you?' said the caterpillar.  


Alice replied rather shyly, 'I-I hardly know, sir,  just at present, - at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'  


'What do you mean by that?' said the caterpillar sternly.  'Explain yourself!'


'I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, 'for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'


-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Flipped

I'm watching Cee Lo Green perform on The Voice right now in a gold metallic shoulder pad, dress-like ensemble outfit and I all I can think is, "I wish I could wear this outfit while I am teaching math."  The thing is I could possibly make it happen.  The Flipped Classroom was introduced to our school district and teachers were super-excited about it.  For me it was like a pandora's box of sorts.  A teacher videotapes him or herself teaching a lesson.  The students watch it at home and come in ready the next day to work.  Here is a super cute teacher example!  After I watched this video, and I believe I was at our district office the first time I saw it....I immediately thought- "This is my big break! My own little way to be on television!" Yes!!!!!!  But then I had to remind myself that the Flipped Classroom isn't my audition tape for The Bachelor, Top Chef or American Idol for that matter. I'm sure my Flipped Videos would have some type of entertainment value, besides just being annoying and me flipping my hair around a lot...one can only imagine.  I mean, this is how I feel after I teach every 6th grade math lesson.  We will see....I'm sure my sister-in-law would record my flipped classroom math lesson with my flip video camera.

It's the end of the 3rd trimester.  I've found that I've invented a new word, which I'm really proud of-  "cutiest" (adjective), sentence, "As the year has gone by you keep doing the cutiest things like talking with English accents." Pronunciation cu-tee-est.  Definition: a way to describe something that is beyond super cute, but borderline annoying.  Maybe I could make a lot of money off of inventing this word.  I'm sure it could be used as an adverb too.  I thought I invented this word too: chittered (verb), but apparently it's already a word.  I've used it in my own sentence a couple of times....like on the last vocabulary test: "I couldn't cross the bridge to the cabin at camp because a raccoon was chittering at me."

PEMDAS- Ain't No Thing!

I gave my anti-PEMDAS monologue to the 6th grade this morning at math.  I think it was well-received to say the least.  Most of them had tuned out in 5th grade when exposed to the misconception of PEMDAS in the first place.  PEMDAS is the most misleading part of math that I have ever heard of.  PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction)-- aka-- Order of Operations.  I'm pretty sure that one will not be successful in Alg. I w/out attending to precision in the Order of Operations.  The acronym PEMDAS implies that first one would evaluate within the parentheses, then evaluate exponents, then multiply, then divide, then add, then subtract.  When in actuality, yes one would complete the parenthesis and exponents first, then one should multiply and/or divide (whichever comes first) left to right, then you add and/or subtract (whichever comes first) left to right.  To use such an acronym that suggests multiplication would come before division and addition before subtraction is just as offensive as calling a fraction greater than one an improper fraction.  PEMDAS- you are improper and incorrect!

Back to today's math lesson: after they wrote the notes down and learned how deceiving and manipulative PEMDAS was towards them and their future math careers, they tried about 6 or 7 independent practice problems from the textbook.

Then I asked, "Who is ready to see into your near future?"

Much to my chagrin, no one raised a hand, no one said, "YES!  We never knew you had a crystal ball!"

Alas, I continued on....I took out my Alg. I book and wrote twelve Alg. I Order of Operations problems on the board.  There were a few gasps (which I love), some expressions of disbelief (which I love even more), and then it felt like all of the air was sucked out of the room (which is my most favorite thing ever)!  After a few seconds, all of the 6th graders started breathing again and decided to rise to the occasion and meet their futures a little bit early.  I told them, "This will be the hardest part of your day!  Please-- embrace it!  I promise we will do buddies, art, computer lab and class meeting the rest of the day, people-- this is it!"

I think they surprised themselves.  There were no tears of sadness or joy for that matter.  Order of Operations exists in a mathematical world, where you need to Attend To Precision #6 (scroll down) and appreciate the exactness and preciseness of the Order of Operations.

2012 (Twenty Twelve) And Happy Anniversary!

We returned today.
My blog turns one this week.  LOL!  This is the best relationship I've had in a while!! LOL!  LOL!
I felt like I was gone for a month or so.  It was actually 11 school days off.  I returned to an assembly, an art docent lesson, cleaning out desks, changing seats, and then it was finally my turn to talk around 10:50.  This is what we talked about in the following order:

1. Everyone gets a new neon eraser cap and a new Ticonderoga pencil! (Happy New Year gift- and this will guarantee that your writing for the upcoming trimesters meets and exceeds grade level standards). 

2. We are going with the Green Peace calendar that my sister has donated to the classroom. I was too depressed about the Raiders last game to even consider hanging a Raiders calendar for 2012. But in the same breath I told them I was soooooo excited to wear one of my Raiders jerseys; Sapp, Kaufman, or Woodson to a Super Bowl party.

3. The highlight (of my vacation) that was classroom appropriate that I could share with them was seeing the Warriors beat the Knicks in Oakland. REPRESENT, West Coast.

4. The highlight that was not classroom appropriate and I could NOT share with them was New Year's Eve, 12:01, Knocti Vista Casino, Pai Gow, Straight Flush, Spades, $150!  Although I'm sure there is a way I can get that one into the probability topic.

5. Then I informed them that May 20: Giants giveaway Brian Wilson garden gnome This is right up my alley for a couple of reasons: I have always dreamed of having a garden full of gnomes. Brian Wilson is my all time favorite Giant (after Barry Bonds.) Getting the first gnome that day is one of my short term goals for the 3rd trimester. 

Then it was back to reality.  The reality of 6th grade math.  The reality that I am asking them to solve one and two step equations.  I am required to make them do something that I didn't do until 9th grade.  I was successful at this in 9th grade, would I have been in 6th?  Probably not.