This Monday morning, first period, a trustworthy male student asked me for a stapler to put together a packet of papers in SAT Prep. My bookbag was in plain sight near him and on the opposite side of the classroom from me, so I asked him to please reach into the big pocket and get it himself.

...Screaming ensued.

Unbeknownst to me, the night before, ( Read more... )

Towards the end of Spring 2008 teaching (my second semester ever):

The students are arranged in their standard gridwork of desks, all facing fowards. For the most part, the chalking and talking is going well: "blahblahblah and, finally, this is a reduced fraction ( Read more... )

I just crashed on Dori's couch after a fun night of story-telling and milk-and-cookies. I didn't really intend to crash here and I brought no supplies. Needless to say, my breath is... unattractive. Why doesn't Listerine sell single-use shots of their product at the local bodega?!

I wonder how much belly button lint ends up in our landfills, either measured by volume or mass. I just contributed a little...

As part of her Solar Curves project:

"For example Florida gets less sunlight during the summer because the sun is more likely around N.Y.C giving us more sunlight during the summer. But it changes once it hits winter because the sun is always rotating."

She almost gets it...

 Students definitely notice a teacher's dress habits.

Our school has no dress code, which is fine with me. I'm a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy, and I wear all my mathie T-shirts and my wallet chain and Airwalks. Patty usually gives me grief for looking too much like one of my students, but I didn't really think it mattered.

Today is definitely ( Read more... )

17 October 2007:

As an advisor for 12th graders, I was given a great opportunity by the principal to take my gaggle of 10 advisees anywhere we wanted on a fieldtrip for a few hours while the sophomores and juniors took the PSATs at school. Unfortunately, my gaggle of seniors is just too cool for school. After talking about it for four weeks and on ( Read more... )

16 October 2007

While teaching my last class of the day, I notice that my students begin focusing more on the door than on me. I stop my riveting lecture on exponents to see an old man staring intently into the classroom. I go to the door and ask if I can help him with anything. He asks if he can come in to observe the lesson. I notice the Visitors ( Read more... )

October 11, 2007 ( Read more... )

28 September 2007 ( Read more... )