11 more days!

Summer 2011 has been one of the most delightful summers ever. I pretty much spent every day without caring or following a clock or calendar - and it was perfect. Just what I needed. I probably talked about it before, but just so I can relive this summer later - specifically when this coming school year has gotten tiresome - here's a comprehensive list of what I enjoyed these past couple months:

~ Downton Abbey, Wives and Daughters, other BBC drama marathons ~ cook and bake new, exciting dishes like Russian potato & dill salad, Mexican wedding cakes, chicken in tarragon cream sauce, turkey feta tomato burgers, Greek chicken salad, and lemon butter tilapia ~

~ read read read ~ hang out with friends, old and new ~ met more new people than I've ever done since undergrad days ~ steam clean the carpet ~ frame completed puzzles for wall art ~ attend roomie's wedding ~ bike bike bike ~ go to the Asian Art Museum ~

~ organize personal papers ~ hike Lake Chabot perimeter ~ clean out kitchen drawers ~ attend my old youth choir's annual concert ~ reorganize personal finances ~ swim swim swim ~ go to the Oakland Museum of Cali ~ saw the dentist ~ rearrange Algebra Readiness curriculum with Super Colleague ~ go to the beach ~ go to ACCLAIM Institute ~

~ shopping shopping shopping ~ get sick and then got better ~ garden garden garden ~ blog blog blog, both reading and writing ~ digitize all my Algebra 1 stuff (still need to tweak, but everything is on a flash drive now so all other adjustments will be easy peasy chicken greasy from now on) ~ update my resume ~

~ complete change my way of eating (more protein and veggies, less carbs and high sugar stuff, even fruit) and enjoyed seeing/feeling the benefits of such diet ~ snail mail far-flung friends ~ went to the SF flower market ~ write write write ~ window shop at Ikea (will actually shop in the fall, probably after first pay check of the school year) ~ picnicked ~ ground floor planning of cutting edge education stuff which I will blog about later because it deserves it's own whole entry!

And most of all:

~ slept ~ ate ~ played ~ relaxed ~ lazed about as much as humanely possible ~

It's a summer well and worthily spent when I'm refreshed and ready for the new school year. Bring it on, 2011-2012!

An email with humility and sincerity

Dear Parent of T, I hope your day went well.

Here's an update on what I did for T today:

T came in to see me from around 3-4pm today. She was able to copy the original notes from sections 5.1 to 5.2. Unfortunately, another student had borrowed my 5.3 notes and have not returned them yet, so T did not copy those original notes. However, I did give her an impromptu lesson on 5.3 without the notes anyway.

Then, T took a different, abridged version of the 5.1-5.3 quiz. She was able to get a 100% on it. I put it in the grade book and it does not seem to affect her overall grade significantly - it is a B+, the same as before the retake today.

I would also like to reiterate that re-teaching happens in-class. If students would like more individual attention, they need to see me during my drop-in tutoring hours. I did give the quiz to T right after she returned: it would have been unwise to give her instruction on the quiz material while the rest of the class were sitting in the same room, taking the same quiz. That is why I instructed T to try the quiz anyway: test taking is also a method of learning, and she would be doing the same thing her fellow classmates were doing. I also told her to get a copy of the notes, either from a fellow classmate or from me after school, and to take home the 5.1-5.3 quiz for her re-take. The quiz that I had was the only quiz in my possession in her file, so I assumed she had turned in her re-take. If it is still the first quiz, as you believe it is, then I suppose T never turned in the re-take - of which I am certain I gave her. She was not the only student who was absent, and thus missed the quiz, so I had plenty on hand for them. I do toss out the old quizzes in order to keep the paperwork under control. Perhaps I should not do that anymore.

T never showed up during my tutoring hours to get the notes, so I assumed she was able to find a friend to copy the notes from. This, I also admit, was my fault. I do need to do more binder checks with all students in order to keep them accountable for their note-taking. T was doing well with in-class activities (albeit a little distracted, which is normal after coming back from such a big trip) so I decided to push forward. It is very difficult for students to catch up, as well as keep up with the current material, after a long absence. Pushing forward together with the whole class and doing review daily was a better choice, in my opinion, than holding T back because she had missed some material. I hope you understand, even if you don't agree with, my methods.

I feel the need to lay out my case, and hold that I did everything in my power to help T bridge the gap from her absences, even before today. I do not like the fact that I can't shake off the feeling that T's retake today felt unfair and unjust - not to T, but to her classmates. Although it's probably not your intention, I do not like how this situation feels as if I was being attacked for not doing my job. I am generally flexible with second, and third, and fourth chances. I am also flexible with giving extra time to students to turn in missed work. I do not, and will never, intend to disregard student needs and I hope you do not think I disregarded T, or her learning. I do my best with the time and resources that I have, both of which are limited in supply, so at some point there has to be an end.

I know you may not agree with me, but I still hope that this end is satisfying to you. I have really learned a lot from this event.

With humble regards and sincerity,

This Child Left Behind


**I've already pressed the send button, but on hindsight, it might have been better to swing this by my principal, or dept. chair first. whoops. oh well.

Uptight spinster school marm says...

I will so go to hell for posting this picture here. But really, it speaks so very loudly.

Last night was the second 7th/8th grade dance of the year. As if it was even possible, students were nastier than at the first dance. The things I saw/disciplined for included, but not limited to:

- grinding
- bumping
- touching; of the inappropriate and the more innocent natures
- moshing
- mushing
- climbing
- swearing
- hollering
- PDA-ing
- excessive hip swinging
- excessive protesting for when they got caught and they knew it

Although I have to say, the boys were much more gentlemanly than at the previous dance. The girls, however, were a whole different story. For example, here's a conversation I had with one of my students near the end of the dance.

Me: Are you having fun?

Girl: Yes.

Me: Are you having too much fun?

Girl: No! No, I'm not Ms. Ng!

Me: Don't you think the boys around you were having too much fun?

Girl: Yes, but I couldn't get out of the crowd! I was stuck in the middle! I wanted to move away, I swear!

(which, to be honest, is kind of fair. I got stuck in the middle of the crowd while trying to sift through the students and create a little space in that space-less amoeba)

Me: Did you tell them you wanted to move away?

Girl: No...

Me: The boys at this school are very gentlemanly. If a girl asks for them to move away a little to get some air, they will oblige. However, if you don't ask, their (tiny hormonal peas for) brains won't think it.

(although, I suspect she actually liked the gaggle of boys that were dancing all around her when I pulled her out)

Dear girl students: RESPECT YOURSELVES! It's not just about inappropriate behavior at school - no. It is much more than that.

Dear boy students: FREAKING POOHCOW. Just because a girl wants to dance with you doesn't mean you need to be so nasty about it. Control is a very manly skill. Get some.

Winter Talent Assembly

Today, I was T-Boz. My students will never think of me in the same way again.

Also, my hair ROCKED.

Happy Winter Break!

Of frivolity and fun

It's that time of year when the weather turns colder and the long-sleeves come out. Did a little shopping over the past month for some winter worthy teacher wear.

First up: houndstooth sweater with faux button up. 

It's not a terribly warm sweater, after wearing it several times. But It gets pretty warm in my classroom already, so it works.

Second up: the most HK-inspired style top I've ever seen on this side of the Pacific.

Seriously. Also faux-tank with sleeves. It's really comfortable. I wear it even when I'm not teaching. Which means it'll get worn out quickly. Hm. Maybe I can go back to the store and find another one. Or three.

Third, and last, up: London Fog baby!

I've wanted one of their trenches for such a long time. It's the perfect winter coat for those foggy Bay Area mornings. Not too bulky, but still warm. Water resistant, of course. HUGE pockets. Cool buttons and belt attached. One of my students complimented me on this coat one day. Good kid, you know your quality investment pieces.

The non-equality of inequality

Black and brown and completely different in different ways.

One of the other Algebra 1 teachers at my school teaches graphing of inequalities this way:

"Make the inequality so that the variable appears on the left. Then graph according to which way the 'arrow' points."

True, this procedural method allows some students to get the correct answer more consistently. But I don't like it because understanding the meaning of the inequality is lost. How do you really know what the variable is greater/less than? And what the hell: an inequality sign is NOT an 'arrow.'

This method of teaching graphing of inequalities is So. Very. Grating. To. My. Soul. The beauty of knowing what those math symbols mean is gone. There is no thinking involved - it's all robotic work.

This is the same teacher with whom I got into a little spat with on Friday - in front of my students no less - with the way I give grades. I allow homework redos and extra credit assignments, but I don't allow test re-takes for a better grade. She allows test re-takes, but no homework redos and no extra credit assignments.

She thinks my way of grading is too easy.

I think the way she teaches is not accurate, nor rigorous enough.

That evens us out, right?

I, frankly, don't give a damn what kind of grades my students get. My priority is to have them think critically - and grades are not necessarily a good measure of how well students can think.

Those first few minutes of the day

The very first thing I do when I enter my classroom in the morning isn't turning on the computer, or opening my lesson plan book (well, that's already open usually, from where I left off the day before), or check voice messages.

The very first thing I do is just sit at my desk and gaze off into space for a few minutes.

I like to savor the quiet of the room, and how clean it is, and how calm it is. And I think about the productivity that's going to happen in that room throughout the day. I imagine the path I take when walking around, monitoring students. I move the furniture around in my head, wondering if I an rearrange the space for a different effect. I think about moving students - who shouldn't sit next to whom, et al.

I think I like those first few minutes the most out of my day. It's just nice to be the only one in the classroom sometimes. It's nice to gather my thoughts and gear up for the day. It's my own time - with no interruptions, since I arrive so early that the only people on campus are the custodial staff. It's a time of absolute potential, when I haven't yet failed at teaching a student that day. When I haven't made a mistake, or gotten pissed off by a kid, or parent, or both. When I haven't been drained of all energy yet.

So I just sit, sometimes thinking, sometimes just being. It is a really refreshing moment.

Dear parents

Dear parents,

I'm sorry your child thinks 30 divided by 2 is ONE HUNDRED FREAKING TWENTY-THREE. This is all my fault, and in no way is it your child's own carelessness.

I'm sorry your child habitually DOESN'T WRITE THEIR NAME ON THEIR PAPER BECAUSE APPARENTLY IT IS TOO UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT 13 YEAR OLDS TO REMEMBER THEIR NAMES.

I'm sorry "my style" stressed out your child, especially when I teach the class how to use different methods to problem solve BECAUSE APPARENTLY THERE SHOULD ONLY BE ONE DAMN WAY TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEM.



I'm sorry your child's locker is the black hole for homework assignments.


I'm sorry your child is not 3000% confident in their math abilities. I'm sorry that humanity has such an unforgivable flaw as self-doubt.


In order to make this up to you, I will now prostrate myself before an on-coming BART train. I will sacrifice my first born upon the altar of Helicopter Parenting. I am unworthy to teach your precious, over-coddled child because all their faults are my faults. All their inconsistencies are my inconsistencies. Your child is perfect as the day is long, and I should be honored to even wipe the hand-grease that they leave behind on their desks every day.


Sincerely,
Me

The cough that won't go away

I've had this stupid cough for over a month now. I thought I was finally free of it, but it came back this morning all of a sudden.

The thing is, I didn't get this cough from a student. I got it from a parent. My fault entirely for going to her house. I didn't know she was that sick, or that contagious, or else I wouldn't have gone. I don't think she knew she was contagious either.

I hate coughs. My respiratory system has never been the same since teaching in China, where my school was surrounded by a coal refinery, a mutton processing plant, and a medical waste dump on three sides. The forth side was a prison, but that's not what made my lungs revolt.

I've been on an intense strategy fighting this thing. Liquids and scarves, medicine and surgical masks, sleep and protecting my voice whenever I can. It's worked. Last week was my first cough-free week since the middle of March.

And then it had to come back. I don't even know what I did for it to come back, unless I was around someone who was sick. Again. Dear people: when you are sick, don't ask your tutor to come to your house! I'm fine with rescheduling. I would rather miss one of your sessions than a full week's worth of all my student's sessions.

K'thanks.

School marmy dresses: my version

I like dresses. I didn't used to like dresses. They got in the way a lot. Good thing I grew out of that, and learned how to move in a dress - as well as learned how to pick the right kind of dresses - or else my teaching clothes would be halved in volume.

The above was my favorite dress to wear with button up shirts underneath - that is, my favorite until the straps got stretched out and the entire thing died on me. It was comfortable, and went well with my orange cardigan.


This shirt dress is my current favorite, although it would definitely be too hot in about a month to wear. The material is quite heavy.



The above two are actually too short to wear without something else underneath, usually pants. Leggings as pants are not an option for me - too casual, and frankly, I feel weird wearing leggings as pants. Why on earth do manufacturers make dresses so short?


This is the oldest dress in my closet. I've only ever worn it to weddings, but it'll suffice as a costume change between the teaching day and parent-teacher conferences in the afternoons.


The black and purple one in this photo is a little fancier and have only been for weddings in the past. It's a very comfortable dress and goes will with a cap-sleeve shirt underneath.

I really love the pockets in the red dress above. Sadly, this one is on it's final breath and will be retired to the rag bin soon. I'm pretty tough on my clothes - but then, teaching is a tough-on-clothes kind of profession.


This last one is super comfy, but is already beginning to be stretched out. I bought it a size too big, not realizing the cotton top would stretch out so much so quickly. The skirt is my favorite part of the dress. It's airy and swishy and modern.

Looking back at these, I see a pattern of browns and florals. I guess I like earth tones in my dresses.

Kids say so much, sometimes you wish they hadn't

Everything would be beautiful, if only it could always be viewed with Barbara Walter's soft-focus lens.
My brightest tutoring student has a younger brother and sister. The younger sister is quite...well, in your face.

She had been sick this past week and was just getting better, so she had extra energy to spare. During my tutoring session with my student, the younger sister kept bugging him, then bugging me, then bugging both of us. My student had an easy assignment, so I was cutting him some slack (although I hope he finished that extra credit assignment that I made him do).

At one point, Younger Sister sidles up to me and stares me in the face. The tip of her nose is barely an inch away from mine.

Younger Sister (commenting on the peach fuzz above my upper lip): You have a mustache.

Tutoring Student (Older Brother does older brother thing and becomes embarrassed for YS; hey, I have an older brother, and I know that look well): Riley!* That's rude!

Me (smiles at my student reassuringly and say to YS): Well, yes. You do too.

Younger Sister (completely innocently): I do?

Tutoring Student (is probably completely annoyed and fed up at this point by all the bugging his sister is doing): Yes, yes you do. Now go away.

Younger Sister (ignores): Why do girls have mustaches?

Me: Everyone does, boys and girls both. People are supposed to have hair on their faces. It's for protection, like your eyelashes.

Younger Sister: Oh.

Me: You can go and look in the mirror at your own facial hair. Now leave your brother alone - he'll be done with tutoring in ten minutes and then you can play with him.

Younger Sister trots off and I return to tutoring.

I said it with all honestly and truthfulness - or as true as I knew. The hair on our bodies IS supposed to protect us. However, when I got home tonight, I plucked under a magnifying mirror until my upper lip was as bare and smooth as a baby's butt. Vanity wins.

*Not real name.

And another one bites the dust

The saddest thing is, that's the only flaw on this shirt - one of my favorite shirts I got while in HK last summer.

Unless I can figure out a way to a) get the pen mark out, or b) cover the stain with something (brooch? flower pin? sew on a patch or pocket? all sounds bad, except for the brooch idea), this shirt is destined for the rag pile.

Lucky I had some foresight (for once in my life) and bought the twin to this shirt. I've got one more to mess up with random ink swipes.

EDIT: Just hunted down an old hair accessory and made it into a brooch using a mini-safety pin. Looks a little funny to me, probably because I'm not used to it. Probably won't be wearing this to teach anymore anyway. Never teach with super long necklaces or other potential dangly snags when teaching any large number of students at any age level. It's not fun when I catch it on something (say, during P.E. instruction) and it falls apart, taking the front part of my shirt with it.

Dress for the job you want, blazer edition

I'm not a big fan of blazers. I like the way they look, especially on guys, but wearing them during teaching isn't the most practical thing on earth. Most blazers are heavy, hot, the sleeves are too long on me, and most of them require dry cleaning, which I haven't gotten into the habit of doing. Probably never will.

However, I do own two blazers that I wear on occasion:

This one is a brown tweed material. Short-sleeved so I don't get too hot in those little tin-can portables that are either freezing or burning up. It keeps my core body warm, but ventilated as well. I like how it fits on me. Also the fun, puffy cap sleeves. Downside = it doesn't have pockets.



This is a more traditional black blazer that was meant to be part of a suit set. I didn't buy the pants because at the time I already had a pair of black pants. Now those black pants have died, and I'm realized that I don't really like plain black pants of the Dockers style, so I usually wear it with my dark grey pants, or a skirt. It has HUGE pockets, fits my keys, phone, post-it notes, random things I take away from students, a pen, pencil, AND eraser, with still enough room to put my hands in them to keep warm during yard duty. Downside = shoulder pads add heft and weight.



I usually wear these on days when I'm meeting parents, being observed by the principal/my supervisor/someone else important like that. Or for job interviews. If I ever get a job interview.

How my pants usually die

I found these ink stains on my carpet some months ago. They came from a leaky Muji pen, which is sad because Muji pens are my favorite pens ever. It's like I was betrayed by a best friend.

This happens to me more often than not though. I come home only to discover that I had been walking around with an ink stain on my pants from the pen I stuck in my pocket during teaching. Sad because that ink stain doesn't come off all the way. Sadder still because I have limited pairs of teaching pants.

Maybe that's why my skirts and dresses last a lot longer than my pants - they don't have pockets.

I sometimes wish I could just have a velcro - or magnetic, because it won't make that annoying ripping sound - band around my arm and stick pens to it. Kind of like those non-slip pads that keep things like cellphones and sunglasses sticking to the dashboard of cars. I would so buy that. It would be much more handy than any pocket. Especially since pants pockets have been growing smaller and smaller.

I'm not that only one that thinks so right? My theory is that clothing manufacturers cut costs by making the pockets smaller. I can barely fit my car keys in some of the pockets of my newer pants. My older pants can easily fit my keys, my phone, a lipgloss, and my wallet (in the other pocket). Which is convenient because then I don't have to carry around a bag.

The small pockets also ruin my pens more. The nibs get damaged, which makes them leak even more. The caps snag on fabric and snap off. Sometimes the whole pen doesn't even fit into the pocket, not even diagonally, which makes it uncomfortable as well as annoying.

The ink stains on my carpet doesn't really have anything to do with pants. I'm just reminded of my pen-and-pant-pocket dilemma from the photo. Make bigger pockets, people!

But you know, if my bigger worries from teaching is ink stains on my pants, then I really can't complain. It's been a good semester so far. I'll miss this.

Bespectacled

Genetics has not gifted me with the best eye sight, but I work with it. I actually like my look with glasses more than without, most of the time. I look sharper, more awake (probably because my glasses magnifies my eyes to twice their normal size) and thus more authoritative. Contacts are for high impact sports and dressy events. Thus, I normally don't wear contacts for teaching.

On the rare occasion that I do, my students always give me these funny looks and ask me what happened to my glasses. Depending on my mood, I would say:

- "I lost them."
- "What are you talking about, I never had glasses." (this one is the most fun because 90% of the time they believe me - until I show up the next day in glasses)
- the truth

Then they would always ask why. Why are you wearing contacts instead of glasses, Ms. Ng? Or the vice versa, why do you wear glasses when you can wear contacts?

Because I can. That's why.

A matter of height

Well, excuse me for being frivolous once again. But this is really a big issue for me. I'm on my feet 6+ hours a day, typically non-stop (uh-uh, don't tell me that 15-20 minutes is a lunch break, I will throw my shoes at you).

And thus, I'm here to talk about footwear. This is serious stuff folks.





I typically wear these two for teaching. They are flat, comfortable, and allows me to chase down those little booger-snot miscreants. Just kidding. Actually, they allow me to run away from the heftier 5th-6th graders. Some of them are taller than me!







So because they can be taller than me, I do like to add a little height, you know, for that "authority" look. But nothing says lack of authority than tripping all over the school like some sort of drunk ballerina. Thus I end up with the above three.

The red pair recently died - as all Payless Shoe Source shoes will do after about a year or so. The black open-toed ones kind of pinch. Besides, clumsy me can't seem to stand up straight in open-toed shoes without looking like this:

Photo

The gold pair I got on my HK trip this past summer. They are on the expensive side, so I don't like to wear them among the dangers of gum and spit and mud. Not to mention the perils of American public transportation. I can never understand that image of a woman stepping off of the bus in shiny, costs-more-than-the-bus shoes. You can't see from the crappy photo, but they are open-toed too. But they are much easier to wear than the black ones, probably because of the wedge. Only for cars and special occasions, this one. But I'll remember your fit in later teaching shoe hunts.





These next two are slightly higher, at about the 2" mark. The navy ones are from my HKU days when I had to wear them to high table dinners. They hurt like nothing else and really belong in the "to donate" bag. I don't anticipate wearing them to anything anymore, let alone for teaching. Despite the fact that they are my most "professional" looking shoes.

The transparent/silver ones I wore as a bridesmaid. I've only worn them once or twice in the five years since. They are nice, and the sole is molded very well for my feet. I wonder what would happen if I wore these to school? Shall I try it? Will it be painfully hip, or painfully "China fab?"



This last pair hovers at around 3.5-4", from H&M and is the tallest shoe that I have. I love this pair. It only took me one wear to get used to them. They are comfy, provides Amazonian heights, don't make me wobble, makes that confidently authoritative clicking sound with each step, and they go with everything. Only problem is, I have to walk twice as fast because they make my stride twice as short.

Which I can live with.

Note: What is China fab, you ask? Here's an example:



It's usually sparkly, and glittery. Full of Engrish as well as boot-legged from legit designers. Cheese to the max.

Total frivolity on professional appearance

I have a deep and inexplicable fear of "teacher clothes." You know the kind, the awful red-black-white holiday sweaters, the GAP/American Eagle/A&F-infused (and thus bland) business casual. These things just aren't me. Although at one point in time, I was guilty of the polo-shirt-khakis-keds uniform of millennium soccer mom set.

But I woke up, thanks to the wonders of H&M and Zara, but mostly to Style Bubble for opening my eyes to a whole new world of fashion. One where you don't have to look like anyone else on the street. One where you can wear what you like, and be comfortable in it, even when people look at you funny. Now, I'm not as brave, nor do I have the coinage to lay down, as Susie. But I like to think I've progressed from those old days of Dockers and button-downs.

Does wearing nice, fun clothes make me a better teacher? Perhaps not. Do students respect me more because of my dress? Maybe, but can't be proven. Am I thought of as more professional because of my clothes? Well, I like to think it's an outward display of my character, but that doesn't mean other people will translate it to what I mean. Or even notice.

I do get a little tired of the "express yourself through what you wear" line sometimes. And I don't purposefully put together a theme or anything like that through what I wear. But I do want to wear what I like, and not be limited to the confines of other people's opinion of me. Other people being my students, my colleagues, and the education world in general.

Of course I still follow the no-cleavage, in front or behind, no-shorts/skirt hems higher than my fingertips when my arms are at my sides. And I'm not skilled enough with wearing high heeled shoes to try them for any full school day (ouch). But those aren't things that I would choose outside of the classroom anyway, so it's not big stretch.