Tales of a Math Guru

It's Not Just Deaf Ed

2009-06-30T14:27:00.002-07:00

Anyone who knows me has probably heard me complain about elementary teachers. So first, a disclaimer -- I have known some really outstanding elementary teachers who do a great job. But I taught students in junior high who told me that their elementary teacher told them straight up that they hated math. This is not the way to improve math education.

We see the same thing in my deaf school with science. (Math and science aren't the same thing, but it's the same issue.) The elementary teachers say they hate science, they don't like teaching science, they don't understand it, etc.

Today, my mom told me about a university professor who teaches an earth science course for elementary ed majors. He says he's not impressed with them by and large. The majority say they hate science, and even go so far to say they won't teach science, and therefore they hate his class because he makes them actually use their brain cells and learn the stuff.

Guess what -- elementary teachers are not exactly in short supply. Sure, if you get a job at certain schools, they might have science specialists, so you'll only teach language arts and math (the math part is another issue, of course, since in my experience, most people who hate science aren't big math fans). But most likely, you won't have the luxury of picking and choosing.

If you don't want to teach science (or math), don't be an elementary teacher. If you're passionate about teaching reading and writing, be a secondary English teacher. Or maybe you can get a gig as a reading resource teacher. But spare the kids -- they don't need a teacher who shortchanges their math and science education from the get-go.

I won't be one of those girls.

2009-02-13T18:52:00.002-07:00

Even if/when I get married (the relative weight on either side of that slash is debatable ... a whole other issue), I can't imagine enjoying the kinds of conversations I sometimes hear. Verbal fluff of the social variety. Who so-and-so is going out with, followed by which couples you go to dinner with, and did you hear about their new house?

Don't get me wrong. I like conversations. I even like hearing news about people I know but may not have seen lately. But there ought to be some substance in the conversation. There ought to be a reason you're telling me. If not, let's talk about something else. There are plenty of interesting topics in the world -- movies, music, politics, world events, the latest advances in science, the Razzie and Darwin Awards . . .

So I won't be one of those girls, standing in the corner of the grocery store talking about nothing for half an hour. If it's your idea of a good time, it's just as well that I'm single right now, and therefore have nothing to say. The world I live in seems to be a different one.

Politically Correct? Um, no...

2009-01-10T19:58:00.002-07:00

This is actually an old "inside joke" from last year, I think, but I figured I should document it for posterity.

There was an argument (for which I wasn't present) regarding the label "hard-of-hearing". Someone complained about referring to some kids as deaf and some as hard-of-hearing, saying we should just call them all deaf.

Besides the fact that some of the kids call themselves hard-of-hearing -- and I'm not about to tell them their self-identity is wrong -- sometimes we need to differentiate which kids we're talking about. Essentially, we need a way of referring to kids who have some level of reliance on spoken English.

Around school, I sometimes refer to them as "talkers". But when I heard about this argument, part of which being that hard-of-hearing has some kind of negative connotation, I started thinking about a more "accurate" label for such individuals.

What I came up with was SHATSAFASEs -- Students Having Access To Sound Adequate For Acquiring Spoken English. And yes, if you say it fast enough, it sounds like "shut your faces". :-X

Is that better, or can I please say hard-of-hearing when I need to refer to kids in a deaf school who hear enough to understand spoken English?

Another Year, Another Attempt to Blog

2009-01-10T19:19:00.003-07:00

The mood has again struck me to try and keep up this blog. My theory for why I skipped the entire year of 2008 is that I had nothing interesting to say . . . unless anyone is interested in hearing about how one student still doesn't do his homework and none of them ever study for tests.

But the "English" part of me is feeling neglected, probably because I feel like I spend more time in ASL than English these days. Oh, and have I mentioned the bewildering fact that I continually have to teach my high-school-age students words like "steep" and "minus"? And these are the kids who are above an elementary reading level. Not complaining, really, just marveling.

So, I will endeavor to find something interesting to say. Or, if not interesting, at least informative.

Next week promises to be another mess of non-classroom time. Honestly, if there were a competition for which school could find the most excuses to take kids out of class, my school would win, hands-down. To be fair, Tuesday through Thursday isn't their fault -- we have to give the state competency exam, required for graduation. Friday, though, we're spending a couple hours celebrating MLK, Jr. Day (early due to scheduling conflicts).

I'm all for giving our students an enriched education full of cultural and historical significance. But even our brightest students are barely cutting it in mathematics, so I'm not for taking them out of math class to do it. Isn't that what social studies classes are for?

Being the miracle worker I'm supposed to be, though, I'm sure I'll find a way to make it work. :-P

A lot of people have been talking about New Year's Resolutions. My main one is to read more . . . I miss it. Since I now have a first period for the first time in a year and a half, it's a good excuse -- I have to read with them 20 minutes each morning anyway. And it's my calculus class, so they don't need my help to read their own books.

Downside . . . I have to find a way not to get so engrossed in a book that I spend all my time after school reading it instead of getting my work done. Any suggestions?

Here We Go Again...

2007-06-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

So much for updating regularly. And now I can't remember whether I fixed whatever "design issues" were bothering me before. Oh, well.

I survived my first year at NMSD, made some great friends among the faculty, and worked with some great students. There were also some horror stories, but I'll share those later.

For now, I'm home in Utah for about a week to unwind, then back to Santa Fe to teach in the two-week summer program. (Help, I'm clueless!) That should be a lot of fun, including some deaf students from Sweden. I'll get to learn a little Swedish Sign Language! :-D

Until then, I'm saving up my energy for that tedious 9-hour drive back to Santa Fe.

Remodeling

2006-12-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

You may notice over the next little while that the look of the blog changes bit by bit. I made a silly decision to upgrade to the new version of Blogger, and because I had some hacks before, it messed things up a little. Now I'll have to play around with it until I get it like I want again. (And relearn all the stuff I used to know about HTML in the process...) Fortunately, I'm soon going home to see my siblings who are more web-design knowledgeable.

Meanwhile, don't feel obligated to get a Google account and log in to leave a comment. Just click the "Other" option and type in your name or screen name.

Progress is Sweet

2006-12-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

I was just going through, "labeling" all my old posts, and read through all the posts that are the reason I started this thing -- student teaching at a school for the deaf in Spring 2005.

Something struck me -- how stressed I was about the language. It's been almost 2 1/2 years since I entered graduate school, feeling like my ASL skills were completely rusty. I remember that first day at orientation, hardly understanding anything and pretty much ready to panic and give up. Two quarters later, I had some confidence back, and was ready for student teaching, but I was still so nervous about understanding (the students) and being understood.

Fast-forward to now ... Sure, I still have moments of, "What on earth are my hands thinking?!" (most often when I don't get enough sleep) and while conversing with students, I have those moments of, "Say what?" But looking back, I have those moments with hearing students, too. Moments when the "math" part of my brain doesn't connect effectively to the "linguistic" part of my brain. Moments when the students make comments so out-of-nowhere that I just can't process it the first time around. Moments when students are mumbling, talking too fast, not speaking up, or otherwise being "teenagers" in their communication.

The nice thing now is that I no longer freak out about whether I can communicate with deaf students. I know I can, and I do. And every week I'm getting better at understanding when they're having animated, non-academic conversations with each other. Yes, 4th period, I do catch a lot of what you say ... I'm just not always paying attention or looking your way (especially if I'm helping one of you with your math). ;-) Between student teaching, my time at NTID, teaching part-time last year, and especially teaching full-time for the past four months, my fluency has increased more than I actively realized. It's a good feeling.

The final hurdle to overcome: the increased anxiety I feel when I'm signing with Deaf adults. It's not something I choose to feel. Every Deaf adult I've interacted with has been super-nice and supportive. There's just some kind of subconscious pressure I put on myself to "live up to" some invisible standard.

... and signing in front of the entire faculty? Forget about it. Maybe next year. :-)

What Kind of Coincidence...?

2006-12-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

How weird is this? My "traditional" zodiac sign is Aries (the Ram). My Chinese zodiac is year of the Sheep. And my first name means "a ewe" (female sheep).

Does this mean I should have more of an affinity for wool than I do? Or do I bleat in my sleep?

Cross-Language Dilemma

2006-12-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

Can someone help me with how to sign "read upside-down" in ASL? It's something I do all the time, and a very handy skill for a teacher to have. You know, most of the time I'm across the desk, facing the student, and since I can read upside-down, the student doesn't have to turn the book around for me to see what they're asking about.

But I'm not perfect at it. Sometimes, when my brain is a little more tired, or the textbook is more complex with technical vocabulary, I have to work a lot harder at understanding from my upside-down perspective. This means I make the occasional mistake, and I try to say something along the lines of, "Oops, wrong me, my fault for trying to read that upside-down."

Every time I say something like that, I feel like I stumble over the "reading upside-down" part. I just haven't figured out the appropriate way to sign that.

Where are my ASL teachers when I need them?

Too long ... much too long

2006-12-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

I've got to get back into the habit of posting stuff...

I'm just about halfway through my first school year here. Things are still going well. My students are great, and I have a lot of fun teaching them. Having five very different classes to teach wears me out a little, but it's also really interesting and keeps me on my toes. Teaching Pre-Calculus gives my brain the kind of exercise it needs to avoid Alzheimer's later in life, I think. ;-)

Funny thing ... People are always saying to me, "It must be so different teaching deaf kids," or, "So how do you teach math to deaf kids? Isn't it hard?" It still floors me every time. It's not that different. Teenagers are teenagers, whether they can hear or not. Just like in any group, there's a lot of variety in personalities, but that just makes it interesting. Since I know the language, teaching them math isn't so different from teaching it in English. True, quite a few students struggle with English ... but I've taught ESL kids and struggling readers before. It's not like I have to re-invent math just to teach it to deaf students.

As with any school, though, things aren't perfect. We're a little off-balance with academics vs. athletics. Anyone who wants to claim I don't support athletics can stop right there! The kids know I come to every home game I can manage, and I totally support them. It's just the sheer volume of time they're taken out of my class, particularly due to sports (although there are other things as well).

Consider that most of my students are behind grade-level, to varying degrees. That means my goal is to help them close the gap. To do that, they have to make over one year's worth of progress in a school year. But how do we do that when in some cases, students will miss my class at least 30 times in the year? Get it?

Fortunately, some dialogue has begun about that, so hopefully we can make some steps to find more balance.

Something else hit me really hard today, though. I had to interpret between a student and some members of his family. That just stinks. Not that I had to interpret -- I'm happy to bridge communication barriers where appropriate -- but that I had to interpret. I can easily see reasons these particular people aren't fluent signers yet, but I hated the realization that I can have much more meaningful conversations with that student than his family can.

Someone needs to use all this high-speed internet, web-cam/video-conferencing technology to set up really high-quality ASL classes for family members of deaf children. Somehow we have to get around the "time" and "money" constraints that seem to get in so many people's way.

Well, just another week, then two blissful weeks at home (and hopefully this time I can force myself to do some lesson planning ... once I get started, I actually enjoy planning different activities and approaches ... it's just the "getting started" part that gets in my way). :-P

Meanwhile, here's another picture of Melanie, the Plucky Ducky in her Halloween costume:

Definitely a cutie! :-D I can't believe she's almost 6 months old already.

Hopefully more to come soon ... if I manage to remember that I have a blog ... and if I get some indication that anyone's actually reading it.... ;-)

Labor Day Weekend

2006-09-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

Only time for a quick post. I promised pictures of my niece, and here's the best one ever! (Good job on the photography, K!)

Isn't it funny how it looks like she's wearing a bonnet, but really it's the burp-cloth on my shoulder? :)

Next time I see her she'll be five months old. Insane! (She's just two months here.)

And here's the classic "yawn" shot:

And just because I want to, here's me and Ms. "I Love Ithaca", aka Monica, before I left the Roch-cha-cha. :)

That's all for now, more to come in the next few days, hopefully.

The Guru is Back Online

2006-08-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's been a while. With Regent's exams and getting ready to move, June got busy fast, and I just couldn't bear the thought of trying to post anything through the dial-up connection at Mom and Dad's.

But now, here I am in Santa Fe, NM ... this evening is the 3-week mark. I just got the internet up and running a week ago, but have been a little busy for funny things like blogging. ;)

Quick update of what's been going on:

My niece, Melanie Rae, arrived on June 26th at almost 4 in the morning (I think I've got that right... if not, I'll edit). That was just after Dad and K arrived to help me with the big pack-up-and-go. Thank goodness I got to spend a month at home... I'll be seeing her when I head home next weekend (briefly), but then I won't see her again until Thanksgiving. She'll be nearly 5 months old then! Since her parents now have a decent internet connection as well, I expect regularly updated photos (ahem...)
We made the drive from Rochester in two days flat. As Mom said, "Never again!" (And she wasn't even with us!) At least since we were driving west, the time changes were in our favor.
I made the move to Santa Fe. Not bad, took us ten hours with a U-Haul trailer. We'll see how fast I can do it next weekend with just my little un-loaded-down Corolla. :)
I started work right away. And I mean right away. I moved into my apartment on a Saturday, and reported to my first orientation meeting the following Monday. But there was at least enough time on Saturday to do some major shopping (I have my own washer and dryer -- heaven!) and get everything into the apartment. Mom and Dad stuck around Monday to finish setting things up while I was at work -- even painting shelves! Thanks, Mom and Dad -- MWAH! (that's a Monica-ism)
I've been teaching for two weeks now. All my kids are awesome. All have their strengths and weaknesses, as usual, so it'll keep things interesting. I have one student that I swear looks just like my cousin Ethan will when he grows up. I'll have to bring pictures home to show the family.
Speaking of teaching, I'm covering my biggest range of classes ever -- from basic math (real-life applications) to Pre-Calculus. And considering I've got some sophomores in Geometry who have already taken Algebra 2, there may be a possibility of Calculus two years hence ... if I can talk the principal into letting me teach it instead of sending them to the local high school.

I think that's all for now. If I think of more this weekend, I'll post it. I promised I'd go to both the volleyball game and the football game tomorrow, so I'd better get to bed.

Graduation Photos, As Promised

2006-06-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some select photos from graduation. The quality suffered a little when I shrank them down, but you get the idea. (Hopefully this won't take too long for my family on dial-up...)

This is the area where the graduates would be sitting. I sat in the middle section, just about straight ahead.

This is the stage before the dean and the other "special people" came in.

This is my home away from home for the past two years, LBJ, Building 60, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

Here I am out in front of NTID with my nice little folder which I'll eventually be able to put my degree in.

Since I graduated with a master's degree, I got to wear the fancy hood. Brown and orange are RIT's colors. The sort of aqua color (which you can see better from the front) I *think* refers to my degree being in education ... not sure, though.

My good friend and classmate, Sophie-Shifra Gold, the S-SG.

My professor, thesis mentor, and frequent project collaborator this past year, Dr. Harry Lang ("H-to-the-Lang" ... that one's for you, Monica!) :)

Catching Up Now That I'm Caught Up

2006-06-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Got A's in my last two courses at NTID.
Graduated on May 26th with my Master's degree. Photos will be forthcoming.
Entertained Mom and Dad here in Rochester for a week during graduation. Visited the Eastman House and some sites in Palmyra. Saw a couple movies. Exposed Mom and Dad to a Deaf environment for the first time. :)
Survived my 10-minute presentation for my capstone project. Decided to wear earplugs, sign voice-off, and make the interpreter voice for me. Received compliments from the interpreter about my signing (!) Link to video of presentation *may* be available soon.
Caught a cold. Got over it.
FINISHED MY THESIS! Finally feel graduated.
Finished all work at school that I actually have to prep for ... nothing but proctoring Regents exams and cleaning out my classroom from here.
Spotted Allison Holker on So You Think You Can Dance -- I taught her algebra when she was in 8th grade, my very first year of teaching ... Go, Ally!
Now: Contemplating the packing and cleaning I need to do in the next two weeks ... plus the work I need to get done in the office my last few days of work

Taking Pride in the Small Things

2006-05-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

I just unclogged a toilet for the very first time all by myself.

I looked on the internet for advice/techniques before tackling it. Some of the horror stories got me pretty nervous -- especially since I had nightmares when I was little about overflowing toilets flooding and destroying the house. (I don't even want to know what a dream analyst would claim that means.) But when I finally tried, it took less than two minutes, no problem.

Go, me.

I guess this means if there's any toilet cloggage when I'm home in July, I can't make Kerstin deal with it.

Now I can go to bed.

26 Days to Graduation!

2006-04-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, less than a month to go in the MSSE program, and still a lot to do. Most especially finishing my Master's Project (need to send an email to nag the people who are supposed to be evaluating and giving me feedback...)

Anyway, if anyone's feeling generous and wants to help me set up life in Santa Fe, you can check out my Wishlist at Target.com. :-)

Finally Legal!

2006-04-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

No, not me -- my car. Finally got it registered. Kind of seems silly to get New York plates two months before I leave the state, but it was that or risk getting busted by another state's highway patrol on the cross-country journey. (If New York cops didn't spot it in eight months -- even when one was right behind me -- I don't think they were ever going to.)

So, I have now rechristened "Velma" (from Utah plate containing VEL) as "Death Wish" (NY plate containing DNR -- get it?)

Death Wish doesn't actually have a death wish, though. She's really feeling much better, now that she's had an oil change and her tires rotated. They even put her through the wash at no additional charge.

Meanwhile, things are moving along. Less than a month before I graduate. Really only about a month and a half of teaching left -- after June 13th, there are no high school classes, just Regents Exams. Some projects and papers to worry about, but I'm getting there.

In some ways, I'm ready to just be done and headed home, but like I keep saying, it'd be even nicer if I could take some of the people here with me.

Just Keeps Getting Better...

2006-04-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

New Mexico, baby!!!

That's right -- NMSD called yesterday and offered me a job. Probably high school math, but maybe middle school (the director of instruction said she was pretty sure it'd be high school, but either way's okay by me).

So ... Why This Is Looking So Good:

Santa Fe climate -- July: 86/54 January: 43/15 Average Days of Sunshine: 300 All-Time Highest Temp: 99 degrees
NMSD is home to CAEBER: Center for ASL/Bilingual Education and Research -- I get paid a stipend to learn things that'll make me a better teacher for deaf kids
NMSD has oodles of technology (SMARTboards, graphing calculators...)
New Mexico state math standards are highly correlated to the NCTM Standards (I've already started looking them over)
I'll get paid a few (or several) thousand dollars more than I would here or in Utah
If I move up to Level III-A, my minimum salary moves up to $50,000 (zowie!) and I'm already part-way there by getting a Master's degree
Rent (and general cost of living) is less than Rochester and only slightly higher than Utah
Drive time from Santa Fe to Orem: 12 hours (that's by-the-book, mind you, assuming an average of 49 mph) -- this means Thanksgiving at home for the first time in three years!
Having a school year more like Utah's -- no more going til the end of June

The downside? Just leaving behind lots of awesome people here in the Roch (and in the East in general) ... but that's what email, telephones, IM, and this blog are all made for, people!

Now I just have to worry about things like picking an apartment... :-P

If All Else Fails ...

2006-04-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

... there's a math opening at Canyon View.

Hmm...

Actually, there are a lot of math openings in Alpine that just came up in the last day or two. It always annoys me how many say things like, "Coaching ability preferred." What is it about math teaching and coaching that people think ought to go together? At least some of them say, "Coaching or willingness to supervise extracurricular activities." I understand them wanting someone willing to pitch in on extra things like clubs or whatever.

Well, the CVJH posting is open until the 25th of this month. Hopefully I'll know where I stand with NM and JMA before then, so I can hold that as an option.

(There's not a doubt in my mind that Amelia would hire me back in a second. But unless I get them to start up an ASL club or something, it's two years of Deaf Ed training for nothing...)

What I Know ... So Far

2006-04-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, NM called me to get GB's contact info. They were calling him this morning, just as I came into the office. He told them if he were in their position, he'd hire me in a flash ... and he told me that his gut feeling was that it was looking good.
NM called JAM (one of my fabulous personal references) who told them, in essence, they'd be crazy not to hire me.
NM called Mike (another of my fabulous personal references) who reportedly gave me a glowing recommendation.

Fremont sent me the written portion of their interview, and my first reaction was to roll my eyes.

The more I compare my gut reactions for these two schools, the better I feel about NM.

Meanwhile, I think JMA had state exams last week, so I get the feeling they're not fully into "recruitment mode" just yet. I'll have to pester the administrator again just to make sure they actually received my written interview.

Return of the Ace Interviewee

2006-04-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

I had my New Mexico interview this morning, and WOW, did that feel better! Somehow, the questions just felt more relevant and answerable. In short, it didn't feel like some kind of oral exam.

Also, something I realized that bothered me about the Fremont interview -- considering I had to send a big packet to them with an application, resume, letters of recommendation, and transcripts, I didn't get the feeling from the interviewers that they came into the meeting knowing anything about me.

New Mexico, on the other hand, had copies of my application and resume in their hands. So there were expected forms of questions, "We noticed such-and-such on your application..." then ask a question to follow-up or go deeper about something.

It felt good. It felt like all the other job interviews I've ever been on (besides Fremont) ... which have always resulted in job offers.

Here's hoping my SCPI earlier this morning went as well. (Also felt good, but so hard for me to tell...)

2 Down, 1 to Go

2006-03-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I've gotten the Fremont interview out of the way, and I sent my interview-by-email back to JMA last night.

The Fremont intervew ... I honestly have no idea how it went. They had all these on-the-spot questions of, "Give me three ways you would teach this... give me four examples of this ..." All stuff I could have thought of great answers for, given a little time. (I came up with answers, incidentally, but it took me a little time, and they probably weren't the best examples I could have given.)

And really, is the mark of a good teacher the ability to rattle off answers off the top of your head? Yes, teacher's should be able to think on-the-spot, particularly so they can take advantage of "teachable moments," but great teachers put a lot of thought and effort into their lesson plans.

Like I said, though, I have no idea what they thought of my answers ... or my signing for that matter. Being nervous and being on-camera (videophone) probably didn't do me any favors, but they certainly seemed to understand everything I said.

The nice thing: Fremont isn't really my absolute #1 choice, so I can consider this a warm-up to next week's interview with New Mexico (which is my top choice). Besides, I've heard that Fremont is the toughest in interviews, so it can only get better from here.

Interview #0??

2006-03-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

Um, okay, so my numbering system is off now.

Finally got the email from the Jean Massieu Academy in Arlington, TX. They sent me a form they use for out-of-state interviewees. So I've filled out most of it and will finish it up tomorrow (grabbing a little advice and feedback from my MSSE friends, no doubt). Then I'll email it back, so I guess you could count it as my first interview.

My least favorite question: If you could use one word to describe yourself, what would it be?

Still don't have an answer down for that one. Any ideas?

Math Games and Puzzles

2006-03-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

Some cool sites I found while trying to find stuff for my Consumer Math class to do:

Learn4Good
Brain Bashers
Puzzle Monster

(Trying to see how many more things I can get Mom addicted to...)

Four Days to Interview #1!

2006-03-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

Me, nervous? Never! ;)

Naturally, I'm coping with the stress by laying in bed at night thinking of different things they might ask and how I could respond to each (with the best possible use of ASL, of course). Sounds healthy, right?

Meanwhile, my students show an amazing ability to miss class when it's least convenient. I had four out of six in Consumer Math (one of the missing students will be able to catch on to the new project just fine, but it would have been nice to have that student for the discussion portion today). In Math A, only one out of four for the chapter test. Two were planned (on vacation during school... arg), but the other is absent for an unknown reason.

On the plate for this week:

TUESDAY: Work at department office (finish organizing alumni files), go to ASL class, go to Secondary Disabilities class. Home around 7:00.

WEDNESDAY: Teaching at RSD. Getting lots of students caught up, judging by today. Giving some make-up tests during advisement?

THURSDAY: Work at department office, test videophone for interview Friday, skip ASL class to meet with accreditation visitors, go to Political/Legal Environments. Home around 7:00 or 8:00.

FRIDAY: RSD for prep time -- thank goodness, because I'll spend most of it stressing about the interview. Rush down to NTID for interview by videophone at 3:45 pm. Home afterwards (whenever that is).

Does that sound like enough? I feel like I'm forgetting something...

Can you see me dancing?

2006-03-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

Guess who's got an interview with the New Mexico School for the Deaf!

Another videoconference interview, set for April 6th. (Something kinda karmic about that date, don't ya think?)

I wonder if this has anything to do with the email I sent last night, explaining how I hoped the fact that I got "Intermediate" on my first take of the SCPI (Sign Communication Proficiency Interview) wasn't making them think I couldn't cut it.

My next goal: To finally get serious about dropping this darn "mouthing English" habit I've picked up here in Rochester. (My ASL teachers at BYU would be in such pain right now...)

For my next try at the SCPI, I'm definitely ready to ramble.

Back to Alpine?

2006-03-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

There's a math opening (Level 4 -- does that mean I would teach above Algebra 1?) at Lakeridge. I've applied, and also emailed the contact person to see what the details of the position are -- specifically, what are the chances that I'd have at least ONE deaf kid in my classroom at some point during the day?

That's three balls in the air for now (a public junior high, a school for the deaf, and a charter school). . . waiting to see if New Mexico makes it four . . .

Yes, I work in the ghetto

2006-03-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

Check out this faculty email from the superintendant at RSD:

I want to let you know about an accident that occurred on the RSD campus around 5:30 a.m. this morning. A car crashed into Denton Hall, leaving a big hole in the building and damaging one classroom. Fortunately no one was hurt.

A structural engineer came in this afternoon and recommended that we close the room above the damaged classroom as well. He also determined that the rest of Denton Hall is safe. Based on that report, we will move Angela Burrows and Mary Jo Birecree's classes to other rooms in Denton Hall and have the building ready for school on Monday morning.

In addition, about 50 feet of the new fence along St. Paul Street in front of Lyon Hall parking lot was destroyed. Temporary fencing has been installed.

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know.

Thank you very much.

Harold

How drunk was that driver? I mean, sober people don't crash through metal fences into buildings, do they?

(FYI, Denton Hall is the Early Childhood Center's building -- kindergarten and younger.)

Time Flies...

2006-03-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so a lot of time has passed with me saying nothing on the blog front. So let's see if I can quickly cover what's keeping me busy...

Like I said in my last post, I got a job teaching two high school math classes at the Rochester School for the Deaf, where I student taught last spring. That's been going really well. One class is Consumer Math -- that's been tricky, because there's no set curriculum. Basically, it's just "teach them stuff they'll use in their lives after high school." So we've learned about a lot of financial stuff -- checking and savings accounts, taxes, etc.

The other class is integrated algebra, geometry, data and statistics -- the second half of what I student taught a year ago. That's also going well, except it's also tricky, because they have to take the state exam in June, and we have way too much still to cover before then.

My 16 credits in fall quarter were handled just fine, even with the teaching gig. (Another 4.0 quarter -- woo-hoo!) Winter's been a little slower, in some ways, with no actual courses, but I've been working at the department office again on my non-teaching days. Our program has accreditation happening this year, with the site visit happening at the end of this month, so that's actually been pretty busy.

I've also been continuing to work on the workshop PowerPoints I started with my professor last summer -- we're just trying to finish up getting the video clips we need now, and hopefully they'll be online soon. My master's project is also nearly finished. Actually, the project itself is finished -- we're now waiting for the "OK" to get it out to evaluators for some feedback.

More recently, things have been getting interesting at RSD. Some parents set up a blog for people to air complaints about RSD, and drama ensued. We're even getting cross-traffic with some pushes for reform at a Michigan blog. There are a variety of issues, some exclusive to RSD (student safety, access to administration and board) while others have broader implications for deaf education as a whole (especially bilingual education).

This reminds me of the Math Wars back home ... I think there must be a little bit of activist in me, so I'm keeping my ear to the ground. But I don't feel like I ought to get too deeply involved, since the odds are high that I won't be in Rochester after this year. (Videophone interview with Fremont on the 31st, emailing with JMA, and still hoping for a chance at NMSD.)

With so much going on, I'm going to try and keep the blog updated again. Anyone posting comments will notice I've enabled the word verification option -- this is to eliminate the "comment spam" I've been getting.

That's all for now -- here's hoping I get through tomorrow. (I'm helping proctor state math exams in the middle school while a sub covers one or both of my classes ... should be fun.)

Return of the Guru

2005-08-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, summer vacation – not much happening on the blog front, obviously.  I went home for a couple weeks, saw some old students, came back, and have been working ever since.

Working at what?  My two summer jobs:  office assistant for my master’s degree program, and collaborating with one of my professors on several projects related to best teaching practices for science and mathematics.  (Watch for them soon at DeafEd.net!)

The latter has led to beginning my master’s project well ahead of schedule.  I (with the help of two professors) am developing a 30-45 minute lesson introducing the use of discovery-based learning in mathematics.  We’ll use this lesson to test out Ectus MEDIA software, which the people at DeafEd.net are considering using for various “online learning” opportunities.

But that’s all old news now.  The big news is that I have a part-time teaching job at the same school for the deaf that I student taught at last fall!  Just two classes, but one of them is a group I worked with during student teaching.

I still have a full load of classes (16 credits) during fall quarter, but I’m sure I can manage.  Compared to teaching 200 junior high students in 7 classes a day with no prep period, while serving as department chair, MathCounts coach, and after-school tutor lab supervisor … 4 graduate classes while teaching 2 high school math classes doesn’t seem like a big deal.

(Watch this space to see if I eat my words in a few weeks…)

At any rate, the craziness will only be until Thanksgiving, when fall quarter ends.  Winter quarter will have one seminar that meets three times before Christmas, then this job will count for my second student teaching.  Spring quarter I’ll have two more classes to take, but they’ll be on Tuesday and Thursday – the two days that I don’t work at the school!

Am I the only one of my friends who’s actually excited for school to start up again?

Student Teaching 1, FINISH

2005-05-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

The last few days were great. They had a party for me on Friday, where the kids surprised me with cards they'd made, and my cooperating teacher gave me a nice frame with a photo she'd taken of me and a student on one side, and several overlapping hands showing the "I-LOVE-YOU" sign on the other side.

Reflecting back, a few things are now clear. I could be just as happy teaching in a school for the deaf as teaching hearing kids. My sign skills are sufficient enough that I could connect with many of the kids in a meaningful way, but there's still a lot of improvement I could make. Based on the experiences of my friend and what I know of the job description, I know that there's no way I ever want to be an itinerant teacher of the deaf. (Fine for some people, but it's not for me.)

Since my classes fall quarter are all going to be from 4 to 8 pm, I've decided to put myself on the substitute list for the school I was student teaching at. The kids would be excited to see me again, and the math (and maybe science) teachers would be excited to have a sub that could actually teach something in their content area.

Just in time for summer, I've got a new job at church (RS secretary). Between that and my job as a research assistant, I should be able to keep just busy enough until school starts up again.

The best news: I'll be home in FIVE DAYS!!! :-D

We're in the $$$

2005-05-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

Great idea for kids who need to develop their basic skills with money -- make math class an economic experience.

The modified classes are back in my cooperating teacher's hands this week, so she started them on a money unit. They're starting out with cash, but eventually they'll each have a little checkbook. They get money for doing their homework, coming prepared to class, being on-time, doing classwork, being polite, etc. But they have to pay for their classwork. A worksheet costs $1, but they get $2 for completing it. They can also buy popcorn, a free homework pass, laptop time on Friday (to play math games online). If they're chronically forgetting things like a pencil, or being disrespectful, they can get fined. And they have to keep track of their money on a "register" page.

It's been a little awkward the first couple days, explaining it to the kids and getting it going, but it's already starting to smooth out a little and become another part of the routine.

I'll have to keep in touch with my cooperating teacher to see how it goes through the rest of the school year. Seems like something I'll want to try with my own classes someday, if I have younger kids.

The 80's are Back!!

2005-05-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

No, I do NOT mean the era of super-big hair and Day-Glo everything -- I mean 80-degree weather. Very warm today. But Thursday the high's only supposed to be 55?! Go figure.

The 8th grade survived the first day of testing. It was interesting to observe. There are a total of 8 students. All have IEP's, so they all have different test accommodations indicated, most particularly time allowed. One girl had 1.25 time (she hardly even needs that -- she'd wipe the floor with most hearing 8th graders). 6 of them had time-and-a-half, and one boy had double-time.

This is supposed to level the field, but my cooperating teacher and I noticed that particularly in the case of double time, it was giving him more time to think about it than a hearing kid would get.

On the other hand, we can't do something that would level the field -- clarify English (not the mathematics) by signing portions of questions when requested by the student. However, this might get changed in the future, thanks in part to me and my cooperating teacher.

The other day, we were doing a practice test, and one of the students asked me about a question. The gist was, a class is going on a field trip, there's a certain price for adults and another price for kids -- if 1 teacher, 3 parents, and 25 kids go, how much will the total cost be?

The student asked me if 3 parents meant 3 moms and 3 dads or just 3 people (moms, dads, whatever). I clarified it for her, but as I was signing back to her, I realized what part of the confusion might have been -- the sign for PARENTS. With a 5-hand, you touch your thumb to your forehead, then your chin -- it's a combination of the signs for FATHER and MOTHER. So when I sign "THREE PARENTS", it feels like it means 3 mom-and-dad pairs.

Anyway, interesting...

Another day of testing tomorrow... all open-response questions (today was half multiple-choice), but they get to use a calculator. Should be fun...

Ninth Week, FINISH

2005-05-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

And we're on the home stretch.

Solo Week worked out fine. My cooperating teacher is taking back over the modified classes this week to transition them back. (I'll still be working with them, sort of in a teacher's aide capacity.) That's okay with me, since coming up with individual homework assignments/in-class assignments every single day was starting to fry my brain.

9th grade and 6th grade are finishing their current chapters, so I'll finish up the week with them. 8th grade has their state exam Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are going to be the fun days -- the 6th, 8th, and 9th classes get to make stellated icosahedra, such as this one:

For anyone who's wondering, an "icosahedron" is a polyhedron (3-d object, no curves) with 20 faces. The "stellated" part means that each face has been "pulled out" to form a pyramid or point. (If you've ever played Scattergories, the twenty-sided die used for that game is an example of a regular icosahedron.)

I spent the last 10 minutes of the 8th grade class Friday (the 3 boys) teaching them how to make the basic unit. Boy, I have never seen them so attentive and well-behaved. Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera and take pictures.

I'm definitely going to miss the students I've been teaching for the past two months, but on the other hand, I get to visit everyone at home in less than two weeks. I'll undoubtedly see some of my old students while I'm there, so it's a trade-off.

Here's hoping I get a decent amount of sleep to kick off the final week!

Have They Checked for Spiders?

2005-05-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Not one, not two, but THREE fire alarms today. Never did find out what precisely was going on, but we evacuated each time, in a very orderly manner, and waited in a parking lot a few minutes before getting the okay to come back in.

Fortunately, it never interrupted anything very important. The first was during 1st block, 9th grade just going through review problems at the end of the chapter. The second was during 2nd block, modified 6th grade (just two girls this week) doing their individual work. The last was during 4th block, which was my prep period today.

At my old school, that happened a lot one year. They actually determined that it was spiders crawling around in the system setting off the alarm. It got to the point where they said, "If it goes off again, just stay inside. If it's a real fire, we'll let you know."

Reality Hitting

2005-05-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Solo Week has gone smoothly... no disasters or even panicked moments.

My cooperating teacher has been camping out in the library all week -- she says she's getting so bored with getting all the non-teaching-type stuff done that she's really ready to get her classes back.

She was there in the library during advisement today, when the modified 5th grade class was brought in to do some special computer thing. She was chatting with one of the boys either before or after that activity, and somehow the it came up that next Friday is my last day. At first he misunderstood and thought it was my birthday (even though he knew my birthday was last month). She clarified it for him, and she told me later that his face just fell, and it was the sweetest thing.

When that boy and a girl from that class came back to my room just before lunch, the girl was trying to tell me something about my last day and missing me, but I wasn't able to totally figure it out, because the boy kept interrupting her saying, "Don't tell her!" Now I know it was about what the boy had talked to the other teacher about.

Nice to know my few weeks here have had some impact. That girl is the one who wondered the other day if I was coming back eventually.

I've always said if I have to choose between being liked and being effective, I'd choose being effective, no question. However, it's nice that those two things aren't really mutually exclusive.

Hopefully, tomorrow I can make an impact on the 8th grade boys. Two out of three said that a man who can make 12 pies in 96 minutes can make 5760 pies in 8 hours. (If you're wondering, that's 12 pies a minute.) And not one of them correctly answered the trig problem that I know they all know how to do. They'll probably get a clue if I can get them to sit still long enough to think about it.

Eighth Week, FINISH ...

2005-05-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

... and ninth week, START ... and I am flying solo!

Not that it's really a big deal. My cooperating teacher's been in and out the last couple weeks, and even when she's been there, it's not like I've had to rely on her much.

Plus, since most of the 6th grade's at Space Camp this week, the load's a bit lighter. The "modified" 6th class is down to two kids, and the regular class is down to just one. Had a nice little tutoring session with that one this afternoon.

Videotaping went fine Friday. I did force myself to watch the tape over the weekend -- all 70 or so minutes of it. Really wasn't too bad -- I can imagine worse. Naturally I saw plenty of things I'd like to improve, but nothing drastically terrible -- and I could generally understand what I was signing with the volume off. (The class I taped has one of the two kids I tend to voice and sign together with.)

The eighth graders are in serious Test Preparation Mode -- the state exam is next Tuesday and Wednesday, so until then we're practicing with last year's test. The girl who's obviously top of the class is going to do great -- her first time through the multiple choice section, she only missed two out of 27 problems. They're all a little anxious, but hopefully it'll be fine.

My supervisor comes again tomorrow -- he'll just be there for the morning, then he's heading to Michigan to observe another student. Mostly he'll see the ninth grade -- here's hoping Combining Inequalities goes well (it should, as long as they remember what they learned last Thursday about conjunctions and disjunctions). I might be videotaping that lesson, too, just to have choices.

And ... the digital clock has been banished. Realizing that far too many of our students are relying far too much on the digital message clock in every room, my cooperating teacher covered the portion where the time shows to force the kids to look at the analog clock. It's been a learning experience for many.

Better get this lesson plan written for the 9th grade ... I'm hoping to work in some "active/discovery learning" ... I used to do it all the time, but it's a lot harder to let the kids wade into uncharted waters when you're not so sure of your communication skills.

Logic and the Illogical

2005-04-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

The ninth grade class did really well with today's lesson on conjunctions and disjunctions. (For those who are not versed in formal logic, that's "and" & "or" statements.) Starting with everyday examples that were obvious to them really helped, situations where you have to do both ("and") as opposed to situations where it's okay to do one or the other or both, as long as you do at least one ("or"). Then when we started doing it with mathematical statements, it was pretty clear.

We'll see how they do next week on conditionals, though. It can be hard enough normally to explain why an "if-then" statement can be true even if the hypothesis (the "if") is false -- let's see if I can explain it in sign!

You know what I love about that class? The way two out of the three students (and sometimes the third does, too) will continually go back to their notes as they work on practice problems or homework. They actually get the concept that "hey, we did a problem like that during the lecture, and it made sense to me then -- maybe I should look back and remind myself what we did." It's nice to see.

On the opposite end of the logical spectrum, I survived my first SST (Student Support Team) meeting today. An hour and twenty minutes after school with all the teachers who have this kid, the principal, another administrator, school psychologist (I think), a counselor, and a couple other people whose jobs I'm unsure of. I walked out of the meeting with my cooperating teacher and her sister (who's also a teacher there), we went back to the classroom, and the sister said, "So what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"

All that time, and no one in the end could say what specifically had been decided on. I realize now that I've been spoiled with administrators who really knew how to run a meeting. People who wouldn't finish a meeting without declaring, "So this and this and that have been settled, and so-and-so will be in charge of this and get back to us, etc."

Regarding the same meeting ... I really hate hearing about parents who won't accept their kid's deafness. (As in, Dad says the kid's not deaf.) What do they think they're accomplishing by denial? Fine, maybe they see it as a traumatic situation and difficult to accept, but come on -- be the adult, get over it, and do what's best for your kid!

Now I get to make sure I'm ready to videotape my lesson with the 6th graders tomorrow. I don't really mind it, because it's good for me to be able to see myself and find ways to improve. But I'm not especially thrilled about it either. And since all my classmates are going to watch it during the week after student teaching is over, I've decided to also tape a lesson with the 9th graders next week, on the chance that one of the two will be exceptionally good.

So THAT'S Where the Problem Starts!

2005-04-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Overheard coming from an elementary classroom downstairs, regarding a math lesson:

"No, you don't have to think, just use your fingers."

Could this be why I have several middle school kids who have more than half the multiplication facts memorized, and yet NO addition or subtraction facts?

On the plus side, the 6th graders this afternoon were a refreshing change. Plenty of calculation ability. One even figured out 39/3 = 13 in his head, no problem.

Also, in the modified 6th grade class, I have two kids who don't think Roman numerals are easy (who does?), but they think they're fun to figure out. I introduced it to them Tuesday, and both then and today they said they want to do more of them. Go figure. (Wait till I show them how years are written at the end of movies -- that should blow their minds...)

Sixth Week, FINISH

2005-04-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

A boy who won't stop making "jokes" about shooting people or having a weapon, another who still isn't making friends because it's easier to make enemies, and some so-so test and quiz grades. My first week fully in charge of all the classes, and I survived.

Actually, it wasn't as bad as all that. The modified classes took pretty well to all the measurement lessons, and the fifth grade class seemed to like the Touch Math lesson I did on Friday. During my three prior years of teaching, I'd seen a few kids do this funny thing they'd learned in elementary school, where they touched the point of their pencil to certain places on the digits to figure out a calculation. Now I know how it works (and where the "dots" go on each number), my cooperating teacher and I have decided it will be particularly useful for the modified classes to use the method.

Most of these kids are still using counting strategies to add and subtract. Most deaf kids don't count out loud -- they count on their fingers. They have a slight advantage over most kids who try to count on their fingers -- with the ASL number system, they can count indefinitely on one hand. So, to do a problem such as 7 + 5, they might hold five on their passive hand, start with seven on their dominant hand, and move it along their five fingers as they count '8-9-10-11-12'. The weakness (and really, really annoying thing for both me and my cooperating teacher) is that they have to drop their pencil, figure it out, then pick up their pencil again to write down the answer. If they're doing a three-digit plus three-digit problem, that's three put-down-and-pick-ups just for one problem.

With Touch Math, their pencil can stay in their hand the whole time. For 7 + 5, their passive hand would hold seven, then they would tap their pencil on the "dots" for the five one by one, as their passive hand counted up from 7 to 12. They get through their problems a lot faster, they actually think it's fun to do, and some kids noticed on their own that for addition, it's faster if you start from the larger number (because they visually saw it had more dots to count on).

Now my big wish is that more of the kids would notice the easy things, particularly with subtraction. For instance, the idea that a number subtracted from itself is always zero. Or, a number subtracted by the number just before it is always one. It's very frustrating watching kids count their way through 9 - 8 over and over. Basically, they're only understanding subtraction as "taking away" that many, instead of the "difference" or how far apart those two numbers are.

This week is Spring Break (thank goodness!) That means I have time to really think about some lesson planning, so maybe I'll come up with something to help them get a broader view of subtraction.

Flying Solo

2005-04-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

My cooperating teacher was out to a workshop today (New York state, changing the math core again), so I was "on my own"... with the usual assortment of TAs, plus the science teacher next door popping in to make sure everything was going okay when the TAs left for lunch.

Actually, it went more smoothly than I had any right to expect. First block was prep -- got everything for the day completely ready with tons of time to spare. The two modified classes were pretty well-behaved, which is remarkable considering the "hot-spot" student in each class reportedly got off to bad starts in first block. During "advisement" time, two kids were on field trips, two were signed up by another teacher, leaving me with one easy-to-manage kid, plus another who dropped in because their regular teacher was off with the field trip. That same field trip meant my third block class (the 8th graders) turned into another prep, and fourth block was the 6th grade -- they had a test.

My birthday yesterday was nice enough, considering it's the middle of the week and I had to teach and all. My coop. teacher made chocolate-covered strawberries! That was really nice of her. The kids enjoyed signing (not singing) "Happy Birthday" every time they saw me. And I made them figure out my age by solving a single-variable equation (a good review).

I'm very tired, because I still don't manage to go to bed early enough, considering I have to wake up at 6:00. Next week is Spring Break -- hopefully I'll catch up on sleep and a few other things.

Tomorrow, I get to teach one of the modified classes about volume. They've done all right with perimeter and area so far. Hopefully the little boxes I made out of inch-grids (during all that prep time) along with some one-inch cubes will help make the idea concrete enough for them to grasp.

Random Notes

2005-04-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

The measurement lesson with the modified classes today was kind of so-so. Actually, 5/6 of the sixth grade class was fine. The fifth grade class was a little shakier, even though it was majorly simplified, but I think most of them got it in the end. A 40-minute (really 35-minute) class period just isn't quite long enough sometimes to emphasize and practice like they need to.
There I sat eating lunch, and right outside the window fly two red-tailed hawks, no more than 20 feet away. Benefits of the school's location right above a river? Mom will be jealous; it's apparently common to see them out the windows.
My federal tax refund has been direct-deposited into my account! $$ is good to have.
I just made my flight reservations for next month. I'm going to try flying Delta this time, connecting through Cincinnati (oh, the memories!) Arrive May 20th, 2:17 pm. Leave again June 4th, 8:29 am. (If it seems a little early, make the little sister drive me to the airport...)
The 8th grade quiz -- interesting mistakes were made. Always enlightening to see who's clueless and who's just not careful. (Not one got through the whole quiz rounding as directed.)
The 6th grade -- test on Wednesday ... it'll be interesting to see what they remember and what falls out of their brains between now and then.

Fifth Week, FINISH

2005-04-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

Halfway there! (Really more than that since week after next is Spring Break -- no school for a full week.)

Starting Monday, I'm in charge of all the classes. Not too big a deal, except that I'm finding the modified classes difficult to prepare for. Every course needs a backbone -- a textbook, core curriculum, something. The modified classes have the students' IEP goals, but they make for a very broad and less-than-sturdy backbone. Feels a little too much like flying by the seat of my pants. Really, I think I'd be okay working with courses like this, if I started with them from the beginning of the year. It's a difficult situation to jump into the middle of.

Other than that, the 8th graders have a quiz Monday/Tuesday, the 6th graders have a test Wednesday, and the 9th graders are starting on inequalities. Two of the three ninth graders really aren't as solid as I'd like when it comes to solving equations, so I'll need to re-emphasize the whole "inverse operations" idea when working with inequalities.

That's what I need to work on preparing today, plus a week-long unit on measurement for both modified classes. We're going to have to start simple -- "Here's a line, here's a ruler, here's how you measure to the nearest inch/half-inch." Several of them are still so clueless about fractions that measuring more precisely in inches will be a big leap. *sigh*

I Hate Daylight Screw-Up Time!

2005-04-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Overslept this morning, yet still made it to school at the exact same time as usual... so typical of me...

Busy week, as evidenced by the lack of posting. The two boys in the modified 5th grade class often seem like they can't get along to save their lives. One is the new boy. He comes from a very different world, so the school for the deaf has been a bit of a culture shock. He speaks fairly well, and is only now really beginning to learn sign. (Today I noticed him signing without speaking a little more often, which is a good step.)

He's had a lot to adjust to, but he isn't exactly making it easy on himself. A lot of the time he's very sweet, but then sometimes he'll go a little "tough guy" and pick on other kids. The other boy in the class has somewhat been the target this week -- more in other classes than math, apparently. So the other day, he came in and eventually let loose with a rant to me about how the new boy shouldn't be here because it's a school for the DEAF and he's hearing, he talks and doesn't sign, and he hopes the new boy gets sent to the major local mainstream program.

There's up to four adults in that class at any given time, and up to three of us spend most of our time trying to make sure those two stay apart and don't bother each other.

Mathematically speaking, things are going about as they're expected to. The 8th graders are doing pretty well -- they get a quiz next week. We counted and realized there are less than 10 class sessions remaining until their state test, thanks to block scheduling. The 9th graders took a quiz today -- not very pretty. Same old teacher dilemma -- they seem to understand so well in class, but it never shows up that way on assessments.

The 6th graders are doing great. Yesterday I did a lesson on symmetry, similarity, and congruence, and they were totally into it. Even the newer boy in that class, who just started here this year -- another who is a little awkward socially and is only slowly developing sign skills -- even he was enthusiastic. I had to keep a mental checklist to make sure I called on everyone fairly evenly -- they were all begging to be called on almost every time.

Speaking of the 6th grade, I need to finish getting ready to play a review game with them tomorrow. They get to learn Review Baseball, since they seemed interested when they saw the poster still hanging after 8th grade one day.

Fourth Week, FINISH

2005-04-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe I'm almost halfway through student teaching already.

Things are still going well. My supervisor came to observe me yesterday. It was my first day teaching the ninth graders, but everything went fairly smoothly. I just got his notes and feedback today, and it was all really positive. One area for improvement was showing more enthusiasm -- something I do better at when it's not the first class of the day, not my first day teaching a group, and not my second language -- but I'll keep it in mind as something I need to focus on.

The sixth graders were crazy with April Fool's Day in homeroom this morning, trying to get everyone right and left. One girl kept trying to pull the exact same thing on several people, pointing and saying, "Look, your mom's right there, look!" My response was to not break eye contact for a second and say, "My mom's two thousand miles away, try again."

Just in time for the weekend, I seem to have come down with a slight bug. Yesterday I thought it was allergies, but today it feels like something else. I was able to function all day at school just fine, though, so if I just rest this weekend, I should kick it easily enough.

Mathematically, the students are hanging in there. Funny how they seem to understand and do it right when you're there with them, but when they hand in their homework or take a test, you wonder if some kind of "invasion of the body-snatchers" phenomenon has taken place. So we'll review and clarify a few things next week. (And the ninth graders will take a quiz Thursday -- lucky them!)

Teacher ASSISTants?

2005-03-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

Yet another item in the "new-for-me" category of teaching at a school for the deaf: lots of TA's to work with. In three years of teaching public school, I never had any kind of teacher assistant. This week, we got 3 new TA's -- one in the 9th grade class, one in 6th grade, and one in the "low-end" 6th grade (replacing the lady who retired).

In theory, this is a nice thing. The students I'm working with often need a lot of individual attention, and a teacher can only spread herself so thin.

The Problem: What does a math teacher do with TA's who don't know math?

The answer my cooperating teacher came up with (and it can only happen because I've taken over enough classes to give her sufficient time to do it) is to put together resource booklets for the TAs with information about the topics the kids will be covering.

So who exactly are these people assisting? They're essentially extra students for the teacher to educate, so they're not assisting her that much. It's not going to take the kids long to see through the superficial nature of the TA's knowledge, and they'll figure out if they really want to know what to do, they should ask the teacher or the student teacher, because we know what's going on. So they're not really assisting the kids that much. Actually, a teacher has to be on her toes to make sure the TA's don't give students wrong information (I've already seen it happen).

On the bright side, with the resource booklets, I'm pretty sure the 9th grade and regular 6th grade TA's will be somewhat okay. The thing is, I really have no idea how to use them. Yet another thing they don't teach in teacher-preparation programs.

On an amusing note... Tomorrow when my university supervisor comes to observe, there will be at least one class where there is a one-to-one ratio of kids to adults in the room -- 5 students, myself, my cooperating teacher, my supervisor, one of the students' 1-to-1 aide, and the TA for the rest of the class. We had to count and make sure we'll have enough chairs.

The Results Are In ... !

2005-03-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Got my "unofficial" scores for the two certification exams I took at the end of February. One was the basic liberal arts and sciences test that makes sure the people they certify as teachers are reasonably educated and literate; the other was the content specialty test for math. All these tests are scored on the same scale from 100 to 300 -- how exactly that works is beyond me, but it's supposed to create consistency. Anyway, 291 on the first and 289 on the second ... I'm guessing that's pretty good.

Two down, two to go... (content specialty for deaf education and general teaching skills exam) ... those will get taken next year.

Elbow-Deep in Math

2005-03-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Poughkeepsie was fun for the weekend, but I'm so tired that I'm already anticipating the next weekend.

Anyway, it's getting more intense this week. I'm completely taking over the 6th grade and 9th grade classes, plus the 8th grade classes that I've already been teaching. The 8th graders have been pretty easy, since they're just reviewing, but the 6th and 9th graders still have new chapters to cover. I haven't gotten into it yet with them, because both classes had a test first thing this week.

Tomorrow I start with the 6th graders. They're getting a lesson on angles and using angle measures. Acute, obtuse, complementary, supplementary, all that kind of thing. Lots and lots of vocabulary for me to sign, fingerspell (I'm getting better), and write on the board/overhead. Three out of the four learned the stuff at the beginning of 5th grade (long enough ago that they'll need a refresher), and the other student was at a different school last year, so we're never sure what he's already learned. I got to choose between hitting this chapter next (lots of geometry) or a chapter on primes, greatest common factor, and some fraction stuff. I'll eventually teach the other one also, but since the kids just finished a chapter on fractions, they seem to need a break. It'll be interesting to see what they can remember with a chapter in-between.

The 9th graders get a lesson on averages Thursday. Some will be simple, some not so much -- meaning, finding the average of a list of numbers will be easy; figuring out the missing value that will make a particular average might be a little trickier. If I can get them to set up the equation properly, they're pretty good about solving them.

It'll be interesting to see how classes go Thursday, because I'm getting observed by my university supervisor. Fortunately, I've been assigned the professor that actually does math (as opposed to the English or social studies professors), so I should get some really good feedback. I'm pretty used to being observed; I just have to make sure I don't let myself get nervous about my signing, because then it falls apart. (The professor's Deaf, so that sort of raises the standard -- and the pressure, although he's really very nice and supportive about it.)

I also need to put together a mini-lesson for the 8th graders about fraction/decimal conversion. They know how to change a fraction to a decimal; they know (supposedly) how to change a terminating decimal to a fraction (probably need a review); but they haven't yet been taught how to change a repeating decimal into a fraction. So I'll set up a worksheet for them to go through investigating the patterns as they change ninths to decimals, then ninety-ninths, then nine-hundred ninety-ninths, etc. Should be a good little activity for my supervisor to see Thursday.

Third Week, FINISH

2005-03-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, that one kind of flew by. Maybe that's because it was only a 4-day week.

Again, I'm getting more comfortable trying to explain mathematical concepts in ASL, asking questions, clarifying, etc. Not that I'm really very comfortable yet, but it's getting there.

I had the 8th grade class with just two boys again today (third boy's still sick). If I walked into a regular classroom with 30 kids right now, I might go into shock -- these small classes are starting to seem normal.

Next week I officially take over 9th grade Pre-Algebra (first part of New York Math A, really) and the 6th grade class. The 6th graders are either going to do a chapter on primes, divisibility, GCF and LCM, etc. or one on angles, nets, and other geometric topics. I get to choose which chapter, so I'm going to look over the book this weekend. The 9th graders are taking a test Tuesday, then doing a section on problems involving averages Thursday, and one on working with literal equations (formulas) on Friday.

My university supervisor is coming to observe me Thursday. So he'll see the averages lesson with the 9th grade, me helping whatever kids need help in the two "low-end" classes, and whatever I decide to do with the 8th grade. I think I'm going to do a short review of how to change terminating decimals into fractions, then extend to a lesson on turning repeating decimals to fractions, which they haven't learned yet. It's easy enough to teach -- just give them a list of fractions to turn into decimals, that all have denominators of 9, 99, or 999 (and so on), and they'll see the pattern. Then we can play a little Baseball with whatever time's left.

So, there's the main goal for Easter weekend: write really good lesson plans for Thursday. Since all the 8th grade's been doing so far is reviewing, my lesson plans have been kind of so-so, because there's just not much to say.

I also need to find a way to get those problems using trig ratios to really sink in for the 8th grade. Yesterday I reviewed at the beginning of class, warned them they needed to really understand to do the homework, and they claimed they were clear. Then the girl who's top of the class turned hers in today, and she only got half of the problems correct. This is a sign that my suspicions were correct, so we're spending the full class Monday working on that.

Add It to the List...

2005-03-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

... of reasons I became a teacher.

Today was my first day teaching the other 8th grade class -- just 3 boys in the class, and one was sick today. They picked up the Review Baseball idea really well and got started with problems. One of the problems was something like the following:

A 15-foot ladder is resting against a building so that the base of the ladder is 9 feet away from the base of the building, and the top of the ladder is resting against the wall 1 foot from the top of the building. The bottom of the ladder needs to move how many feet closer to the building so that the ladder will reach the top?

(It was worded better than that, and had a picture to go with it. Nice application of the Pythagorean Theorem -- twice, even.)

When my cooperating teacher takes notes while watching me teach, she's often found that just as she's noted something down, I do something to address what she was writing about. Instead of deleting the comment, she uses strike-through on the font, then adds what I did to make her prior comment irrelevant. This was one such situation.

The two boys had gotten through figuring out that the "missing leg" on the right triangle (in other words, how far up the building wall the top of the ladder was resting) was 12 feet, and were struggling a little to figure out what else they had to do. My coop. teacher was noting that maybe I'd need to explain the question in sign, because she didn't think they were really understanding what was happening.

At that moment, one of the boys started signing animatedly at the other and picked up his whiteboard slate. At first I didn't know what he was saying, because I couldn't see him well at that angle; the second boy looked to me for help instead just as I realized what the first boy was doing, and so I told him to look back at his classmate and watch what he was explaining.

He was using his left forearm to represent the wall of the building, and the slate to represent the ladder. He showed the slate leaning against his arm, with his fingertips poking above the edge of the slate, signing something along the lines of, "See, it's here, and it's 9 feet from here to here, and 12 feet here, but there's still 1 foot up here. If I slide the 'ladder' so the top's here, see the distance down here is less, so we have to find out how much less it is."

It was a beautiful moment, *especially* since the boy who clearly had a firm grasp on the problem is the one who sometimes lags behind. He's apparently really been picking things up since January, no longer relying on the excuse he used last year, that he was really a year younger than the other kids. And he wasn't even feeling well today! (Later in class, he said he was feeling dizzy, and my coop. teacher agreed that he looked pale, so we sent him to the infirmary -- he'll be fine.)

In all, it was a good day -- and there are only two more days this week! (Friday off -- thank goodness!)

Second Week, FINISH

2005-03-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today with the 8th graders felt really good. I felt a little like I was back to my "teacher self" -- the person my old students would recognize. The students seemed more comfortable with me, we were able to joke around a bit. It's still a little hard to explain things in sign language on-the-fly, but it's getting better. Actually, I think it's going to be tougher when I start working more with a couple classes where there are kids who need me to both voice and sign. As soon as I turn my voice on, it's like my hands forget how to work. But that's something I need to improve also, so it's just as well.

I'm ready to add the other 8th grade class next week, and I told the first class how the baseball is going to change to one class against the other -- they seemed enthusiastic about it. I'll also be sort of halfway taking over the 6th grade class -- really more like team-teaching with my cooperating teacher. Half the period each day will be spent on a data project, and the other half will be spent reviewing for a test the following week; I'll probably work with them for the review, then just provide support as they work on the project.

I'm definitely glad I'm placed in a school for the deaf. Most of my hearing classmates who are working as itinerant mainstream teachers of the deaf are feeling worried about losing their sign skills; meanwhile, I can already tell that by the end of the 10 weeks, I'll be leaps and bounds ahead of where I was when I started.

In fact, I'm planning on seeking a residential school placement again next year for my second student teaching assignment. Basically, I know I'm never going to take a job as an itinerant teacher of the deaf. The job description and requirements don't really fit me, it wouldn't make the best use of my skills, and I think I would find several aspects of it frustrating. Honestly, if I can't find a desirable math teaching job at a school for the deaf, I know I can find a good math teaching job in a regular school, and I'll have that certification also. Win-win situation for me!

Next week's a short week, too -- no school Friday because it's Good Friday. And Thursday one of the T.A.'s is retiring -- after 35 years working at this school! So there's a party the last period of the day, and the kids are working on making a scrapbook for her. Should be a good week.

All I See is Green

2005-03-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day came and went without too much incident. Some of the students were really decked out, and I got a green-frosted cupcake from one of my students. :-)

The review baseball went okay yesterday. My cooperative teacher had positive comments and some good suggestions. We're going to continue tomorrow, with the other team up to bat. Next week, when I take over the other 8th grade class, I think I'll change it a little. That class just consists of 3 boys, so splitting into two teams would be a little awkward. I'm thinking I'll make each class one team, and keep track of the points each class scores each day. I'll have to modify the rules a little, but I think it'll be better, because then I can help a little more.

I've also been working with some of the other students individually -- sort of acting as a T.A. Communication is still holding up pretty well, although I also still have to keep my brain really turned on to stay with it. It's weird how I'm getting used to being extremely ASL with one student, then talking with signing more as a support to another. (Fortunately, this is in different classes -- if I'm addressing one whole class, I can't exactly be switching around to fit each individual.)

Tomorrow's Friday! I'm definitely ready for the weekend -- I'd almost forgotten how much energy teaching takes out of me. Planning on having dinner with some friends Saturday night, too, so that'll be a nice chance to relax and catch up.

Happy Pi Day!

2005-03-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today was fun, but I may never have the desire to make a construction paper chain again. Assigning a color to each digit, we made a chain representing the first 200 or so digits of pi -- it's now strung along the hallway of the middle school, almost coming full circle. The good news is, ours is longer than the high school's, but both sides are going to work on it for one more day, and we'll see where we are then.

Also, I had my first day teaching a class. Just reviewing with the 8th graders, and I didn't stink up the place too badly. There's a pace issue, because one of the girls is always going to take a lot longer than the others, so I need to figure out something so they'll all have something to do at all times. Another interesting thing is trying to decide whether a student's lack of understanding is because of a communication breakdown on my part or a mathematical breakdown on their part. Hopefully as I get more confident/comfortable in my signing and as I get to know the students better, it'll be easier to know which is the case.

I know all my students' names -- now if I could just keep all the name-signs straight...

I have my first homework assignments to grade! A whopping FIVE of them... it's definitely a give-and-take, though -- way less time grading, way more time prepping.

Should be a good week. We'll see how baseball goes on Wednesday.

First Week, FINISH

2005-03-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

There wasn't much to say yesterday. Two out of four blocks, our kids were in the auditorium for a special Drug Awareness presentation. My coop. teacher and I went to help supervise in the afternoon -- it was interesting, but got a bit convoluted and off the point. It'll be interesting to ask the kids next week what they got from it. Of the two remaining blocks, one was prep, and the other was the struggling kids. She taught them about pi and had them start working on a color-coded "pi-chain" for Pi Day on Monday-- we're trying to make a longer one than the high school. It was fun helping them with that.

Today was a professional development workshop day. Very interesting and enlightening in most respects, but I was very tired because the cats woke me up half an hour early this morning.

I've also planned out exactly when I'm taking over each of the classes. Plus, in the great teaching tradition, I'm stealing an idea from a former colleague (specifically Tisha). Next week the 8th graders are going to learn how to play Review Baseball. Now I just have to hope I can get it all together all right since I've never done it before myself. This also means I need to go through all the sample questions I've got and split them into four difficulty levels. I should have plenty of time to do all that, though... I'm not starting it with them until Wednesday.

I'm getting along well with the other teachers, especially the core middle school teachers who are right near us. My coop. teacher and I seem to be kindred spirits, so this should be a really good experience.

1 week down, 9 to go ...

A Day for Disaster

2005-03-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

No, don't worry, I'm fine. The disaster in question was for the science teacher next door. She broke a mercury thermometer in her classroom during lunch. Those of you who know your science know this is a big deal. She couldn't go into her classroom the rest of the day (still don't know when she'll be able to get back in), and a crew came in, with white suits and everything. Way more drama than a teacher needs.

I've now met all my students. The sixth graders are adorable! And they know stuff about fractions that I would have paid to see my PA8 classes understand last year.

The plan is that I'll take over one of the 8th grade classes next week. They're pretty much just reviewing for their state test in May from here on out, but on some topics, they need a more in-depth review -- almost a re-teach. Tomorrow will be a good day for planning, because of a Drug Awareness activity that's going on for the 8th - 12th grade students through most of the day. Between that and the prep period, I'll hopefully be able to get next week planned -- maybe even start on the next, if my coop. teacher and I decide which class I'll add that week.

I definitely need the weekend, though. I just haven't caught up from the lack of sleep Sunday night, so I'm dragging a little. Now that I'm a little more "in the flow" things should be fine. It'd be nice if the weather would warm up just a little, too. Like just about every other school I've ever been in, the climate-control in this one leaves something to be desired.

Meeting the students

2005-03-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

First of all, would you believe that yesterday after school it was about 50 degrees, and today it was 20? (Factor in wind chill and it was... lower than I want to contemplate.)

Today I met almost all the students. The only ones I haven't met are the second class of 8th graders, plus one 6th grader who was absent today. All around, a great bunch of kids, but some of them have a lot of struggles. Imagine an 11-year-old who can't figure out 15 - 7 without a lot of coaching. A lot of that has to do with language issues. (See prior rant.)

Speaking of language issues, I definitely saw that for a lot of these kids, the only thing really holding them back is their reading ability -- cognitively, they get the mathematical concepts just fine, but understanding what that tangle of English words is trying to say is another issue.

Tomorrow, the coop. teacher and I will decide which class I'll take over next week, and I'll probably continue to pitch in and give some 1-on-1 help to the kids in the low-level classes (who are so drastically different in their abilities that they have to work independently on different assignments).

Signing ability is holding up okay so far, but explaining to a kid who just has no idea what anything means is really difficult to do in a second language.

No classes Friday -- what a weird week! No students yesterday because of IEP writing, then no students Friday because of a professional development day. Some of the workshops look interesting, so that should also be good.

Advocacy

2005-03-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

[steps onto soapbox -- begins idle rant]

Honestly, I hate hearing about all these cases of deaf students who arrive at school (at age 5 or sometimes later) and have essentially no language whatsoever, or have major language delays. Instead of focusing on providing hearing aids, cochlear implants, intensive training, etc. that might provide enough for them to develop a reasonable level of spoken English, let's consider that the one language we know is accessible to them is sign language. I don't have a direct problem with developing speech skills in addition to establishing a solid foundation in sign.

(Side issue: how about signed forms of English? I feel those are inefficient and awkward, since English has evolved in the context of speech, hearing, and written text. ASL and other natural sign languages are the ones that effectively utilize their 3-dimensional, visual-spatial nature.)

But 90% of deaf children have hearing parents, and when they first find out their child is deaf, the first people they get advice from are doctors, audiologists, speech pathologists, etc. who are almost always hearing as well. The recommendations tend to be for hearing aids or cochlear implants and concentrating on spoken language development.

Is anyone out there actively pushing for ASL, getting the word out to hearing parents? We see all sorts of commercials for things like, "Read to your child every day," and "Know what's going on with your child to keep them off drugs." How about a public awareness ad for establishing language development early with deaf children using available community resources like ASL classes? "Call the following 800-number to find a Deaf Child Outreach Center near you."

Of course, this would require some form of bureaucracy to organize such outreach centers.

I don't know. I'm sure there are lots of reasons for these students showing up with little to no language, reasons so many deaf students are well below their grade-appropriate reading level. But we ought to know enough by now to get past those "reasons" and do something to change it. (Maybe this summer I'll find some research to take a closer look at Sweden.)

[ends idle rant -- gets off soapbox]

IEPs

2005-03-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

That's what I spent a good chunk of today doing -- reading IEPs. That was only fitting, since my cooperating teacher spent all day writing IEPs (for next year). First I went on an extensive tour of the school. Then I read some IEPs. Then lunch, then more IEPs. Then got my email/internet access passwords set up. Finally, chatted a little with my coop. teacher about the students.

In some ways I feel like I didn't do a lot, but I got to know a little about the students I'll be teaching. There's a huge range, from working right on grade level to 12-year-olds working at a K-2 level (fortunately not in the same class, though there are some kids much closer to grade level in the same class as the K-2 level group). The teacher says they're all really good kids, though -- each with their struggles and usual adolescent antics, but overall good kids.

Ironically, the 2 8th grade classes will likely be as close to my old 8th grade classes as I could expect -- pretty much on grade-level, on the academic track. One of those two classes consists of 3 boys -- that's it. Should be interesting.

I'll be working with two different aides -- one is a 1-to-1 aide for a specific student, and another is a class aide. Never had the opportunity to work with aides before, so this will be a nice new experience.

Good news, Mom! My coop. teacher is into standards-based math! She's into various methods for multiplying, and even noted that she wished the high school math teacher upstairs would use arrays/area models for multiplying algebraic expressions. She can't wait for her turn at textbook ordering to roll around. I may get to do something with the hot-cubes/cold-cubes model for operations on positive/negative numbers.

This looks like it's going to be a good experience. Tomorrow I get to see the 9th grade class (3 students), both "modified" classes (distinctly below grade level, 5 or 6 students each), and the 8th grade class with all boys (3 students). Plus, they have an "advisement" period every day, but it's just for 30 minutes, and it's essentially homework or reading time.

More updates to come once I actually meet the students and see how the class runs.

Special Me!

2005-03-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

My "learn-by-doing" approach to technology once again proves effective! Finally, commenting on this blog will be (I think) simple and intuitive. And since the person I tried to ask is obviously too busy having a real life (no crime there), I figured it out all by myself! I'm almost all the way up to an extremely bare-bones, survival understanding of HTML.

So, if you want to read and/or post comments, simply click the link at the bottom of the post where it says "# COMMENTS" -- you'll find the comment form at the bottom of the page you're taken to, beneath any comments that are already there. Again, you can put whatever name you like in the "Name" field -- it doesn't have to be any kind of registered username. Email and URL are optional -- keep in mind that anyone stumbling across this blog will be able to link to them.

The Cats Came Back

2005-03-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

The roommate has returned, thus so have Gus and Josie. I got a little used to them being gone -- I'd forgotten how much noise they make trying to open cabinets and closets. But it's good to have them back.

One more day ... Part of me gets the urge to be nervous, but it gets shut down by the part that says, "You'll go, and it'll be fine. It's not like you haven't done this before (excepting the students being deaf part). And at worst, it's only 10 weeks -- 9 if you throw out Spring Break." We'll see if that attitude holds when I'm trying to get to sleep tomorrow night.

Spent some time on Amazon earlier today ... resisted the urge to buy anything ... very proud of myself. Birthday's coming up, though -- maybe I should e-mail the link to my Wish List to a few people. Some of the books I want the most are from NCTM, though. Finally re-established my membership, so I can get those books cheaper myself with the member discount.

I actually read my "Student Teaching Supervision Handbook" last night. It's going to be a little weird being a student teacher after being a "real" teacher for 3 years, but I think it would be a much more negative "weird" if there weren't this new deafness element being thrown in.

I wonder how nervous my classmates are? Since none of them have shown any evidence of seeing this blog, I'll have to make some calls/emails tomorrow.

Random Note

2005-03-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

CMP2 is coming out soon! I know I shouldn't be so tied to a single program, but I just fell in love with this one. It just fits me, and the things I saw my students do with it were amazing. Even if I never actually use it again, I'm still going to tend to teach in the same way I did the last two years -- student-centered, focused on problem-solving, etc.

(I still have this intense curiosity about whether anyone's ever tried using this specific program with deaf students. They take such a visual approach to so many things. Alas, I may never know...)

2 1/2 Days & Counting!

2005-03-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, in 2 1/2 days I begin my student teaching assignment. Of course, the first day won't exactly "count" since it's IEP writing day. (What a concept! A school where every single student requires an IEP, therefore they dedicate a whole day to it.) That should be very educational, though, since I have very limited experience with IEPs. I was the designated "regular classroom teacher" in a couple meetings at my old job, but had little to do with any of it. I was actually involved more with meetings about 504 accommodations, but even that wasn't too frequent.

My cooperating teacher emailed me today. She's told all the students that I'm coming next week, and says they're all very excited. (Hopefully this is at least somewhat true.) At least she's hearing as well, so the students are used to that, and I can probably put aside my paranoia about whether they'll accept me. My thoughts are all over the place on this -- I'll have to write more once I've straightened it out a little.

One very good thing about my first day being faculty-only -- I just realized I haven't signed since February 23rd. I'll need to get back in that groove, and I'd rather do it conversationally with other teachers than students I'm really trying to convey information to.

I'll be sure to give a full report Monday night. (Are Mom and Dad even reading this? Eh, I'll probably call anyway...)

Productivity

2005-03-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dad should be pleased -- I finally took the car in to be serviced today. Oil changed, tires rotated, everything checks out. Interesting note: the sticker on the windshield says I should come in 3 months or 3000 miles from now, the paperwork says 4 months or 4000 miles, and the maintenance guide that came with the car says 6 months or 5000 miles. Since I'm not planning on driving cross-country again within any of those intervals, I'll probably push toward the longer choice, but keep an eye on everything.

I've got a little time on my hands (rare thing), so I've finally started reading a book I got ages ago -- The Essence of Chaos, by Edward N. Lorenz. Hmm ... how many people really read books about chaos for fun?

The "teaching" dreams started a few nights ago. By now I'm used to them; they're just a little bizarre. Not like when I first started teaching -- those were high-anxiety dreams, starting more than a month before school started.

Birthday's coming up, and my driver's license expires. Might as well look into getting a New York State license (finally).

Tomorrow maybe I'll look into getting my taxes done. The question is whether to go the H&R Block route, or wrestle with the internet until I figure out how to handle the fact that I lived 8 months in one state and 4 months in another last year. Maybe I'll try half-and-half -- look on the internet long enough to see how hard it looks, then make a decision.

Late-Night News

2005-02-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Got the comments hack working! If you want to post a comment, click the "time" link at the bottom of the post, then scroll down to where there's a box for you to enter your comment. You can enter your name where it says "Name" and the comment post will display that name, without you logging into Blogger. So don't worry about registering. Email and URL are optional. Now working on setting up the main page so the "# Comments" link goes straight to the new post-comment section. (Yet another computer situation where I know exactly what needs to be done, but not exactly how to do it.)
Got an email from my History of Ed. professor. Glowing feedback regarding my final exam ... feeling very warm and fuzzy now. She even strongly recommended that I submit the answer for one of the questions (a short essay) to a particular publication -- either their e-zine or quarterly publication. It's so nice feeling appreciated, validated, affirmated (I might be making that word up, time to go to bed)
Mike (the Brother) tells me it was very nice in Utah today, almost spring-like. Definitely still winter here. Lots of fun driving back home in the snow this evening. Still need to work on inventing a quick, effective, hassle-free way of clearing snow off the car. I can't remember the last time (in Utah) I had to do it more than once in a single day; now that's a regular thing.

Quick Notes

2005-02-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hmm... Like many other bloggers, I'm finding the "commenting" process annoying. Found some hacks that should improve it. Play with it later.
It's official! An A in History of American Educational Thought & Practices means a 4.0 for my 20 credits this quarter (and almost a 3.9 cumulative thanks to that one B last quarter ... my own fault, though).
The TV series Numb3rs is having a bad/good effect on me (the value judgment depends on your perspective). I'm getting the urge to get back into some higher mathematics. Teaching helped deepen a lot of my math foundations, so maybe I'm more ready to tackle the heavy stuff now. I should snag my Abstract Algebra textbook next time I go home for a visit.
The boys downstairs are being noisy again. Amazing how their voices carry. We never hear any of the upstairs neighbors.
Now I have to head off to the Dougherty's. It's snowing, and I haven't been there before. Hopefully the roads will be okay.

The Beginning

2005-02-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Since this is accessible to pretty much anyone, I'll start off by trying to make sense to anyone who stumbles across it.

My display name -- mathpro411 ... I really don't consider myself entirely "pro" at math. There are plenty of people out there who know a lot more than I do. Except maybe first-year algebra... after 3 years teaching that at a junior high, maybe I'm starting to be a little pro at that. My former students are the main people who would consider me a "pro" or a "guru".

My bachelor's degree is in Mathematics Education, and now I'm working on a Master's in secondary education of deaf students with a focus on math. One week from today, I start student teaching at a school for the deaf. How strange will that be, being a student teacher after being an actual teacher for three years? I didn't even student teach my first time around; instead, I interned a full year on my own with a mentor and supervisor that came to observe once a week. Plus, I'll be teaching six classes, ranging from 5th to 9th grade, using ASL. It's going to be different, but I'm excited.

Speaking of exciting, it looks like I'll be doing some interesting work as a research assistant this summer, with projects focusing on "best practices" of teaching math and science to deaf students. There's going to be a wide variety of projects, and the professor I'll be assisting is amazing, so this is definitely something to look forward to.

Along the way, hopefully I'll learn a little more about web design and development. I'd like to rework the design template for this thing, but it's a little beyond my current skills. My sister, brother, and sister-in-law are the ones that know all sorts of things on that topic -- I just ramble about math pedagogy and deaf issues. I'll just need to sit down and fiddle with it in Dreamweaver sometime.

No time for that right now, though. Now it's time to whip up that field experience portfolio so I can turn it in before Thursday. What educational issue should I write my phony "letter to the editor" about?

Hello out there!

2005-02-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

As if I didn't have enough distractions, I've decided to go ahead and start a blog. (Yes, I've actually given in to a trend!) It should be a good way to keep in touch with mathematical friends, deaf-ed friends, other friends, and family alike.

Right now, though, I've got to get some sleep. Haven't quite recovered from the lack thereof Friday night. (Still think I did okay on the certification exams, though...)

So, I'll get this rolling tomorrow...