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Thursday, October 25, 2007

school cancelled due to the fires

the fires have surrounded colton in ontario, fontana, and san bernardino.  i know we haven’t been threatened by anything, not like the people living in the cajon pass or up in arrowhead, but we have been living through the rain of ashes and the clouds of smoke.  it was particularly bad on monday and tuesday, and all of us were wondering why we had the students walking around campus breathing in the harmful ashes.  i get to hide out in my room and i don’t have to walk anywhere all day long, but they have to walk all across campus all the time.

so finally my district gave in and gave them the time off school because of the hazardous conditions.  i would have preferred to stay home on monday and tuesday and had classes the rest of the week, but i guess 2 days off is 2 days off.  time to recover from having to teach while inhaling ashes and smoke!

so all of a sudden i have a 4 day weekend.  i think marlene and i were gonna try to volunteer to help those who have been evacuated…

Posted by kgrp on 10/25 at 03:59 PM
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

first student sighting

for me, living in colton and teaching in colton meant that i had a 7 minute commute, which i love. 

however, it also means that i live in the same neighborhoods as my students, and i was wondering how long it would take before i would run into students near my house.  i also knew that the neighbor kids of mine that sit in their garage and say hi to me every time i come home… i figured they must be high school students. 

well, yesterday when i came home early, trying to hide out in my house away from all the ash and smoke, i saw my student “junior” standing with those students in their garage.  in the garage next to mine! and i got out of my car, looked at him shocked, and he was like, ‘what!” as if it was normal for us to see each other there.  so i just said hi and pointed to my house… and he was like, yeah, i know.

ok…

it’s weird to be seen when you’re not wearing the ‘teacher hat’.  i remember one time when i was subbing in grand terrace, i went to the supermarket over the summer in shorts and a tank top.  one of the students from the junior high remembered me and said “hi miss puen!” in the aisles and pointed me out to her mom.  i immediately wanted to change into slacks and a button down shirt!!  i dunno why… i just don’t like looking un-professional.  it wasn’t that way at grove, but i think that was more casual anyways since they called me “math kim”.

in the traditional school though, it seems somehow wrong to be a “normal” person.

i wonder how many students have seen me in the local supermarket and just haven’t said hi yet....

Posted by kgrp on 10/24 at 06:21 AM
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Thursday, September 27, 2007

quote of the day

so… i was teaching my students how to multiply negatives and positives together.  i thought it went fairly well - especially since this is all a review.

but then it was time for them to do independent work, and a student raised her hand to ask me a question.

“ms puen?  -4(7)... is that positive 32 or negative 32?”

oy…

Posted by kgrp on 09/27 at 10:37 PM
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Monday, September 24, 2007

our first win of the season!!


yeah… so my girls won their first game today!  yay!!  i’m so happy!

go colton!

Posted by kgrp on 09/24 at 06:24 PM
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i am fast becoming that quirky eccentric (old) math teacher

today, we were reviewing counting numbers, whole numbers, and integers, and i actually did the count from sesame street.

y’know, count von count!

"one, two, three, FOUR!!!  ah ah ah ah ah...."

yeah… that was me in class.  you shoulda seen the looks on the faces of the kids who hadn’t grown up watching sesame street (is that the reason they’re still taking remedial algebra in high school?) they looked at me as if i were crazy.

i might be, but not because i imitate count von count!

Posted by kgrp on 09/24 at 02:23 PM
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Monday, September 17, 2007

classroom management

Prov 15:1, NIV “A gentle answer turns away wrath"

i think that the best thing i ever did was read harry wong’s book “the first days of school".  and attend the classroom management seminar.

the first few days of school, i had a couple of girls that had attitudes in my last period class.  within a few days, using the techniques i had learned in that one class and from browsing through the book, they became the biggest helpers and participators in my class.  i was so excited and pleased that within 3 days things had turned around. 

and then the counselors threw in 15 more students into that classroom.  all of a sudden i had twice as many students, and i felt so naive at thinking the counselors would overlook the fact that the last period class had only 15 students that were regularly attending (i had more on the roster, but they might have moved or changed schools without notifying anyone).

well… when my last period class doubled in size, the students that had become helpers joined the new girls with attitude.  together, they ditched my 4th period class, all 5 of them defiantly strolling into my 5th period class -after- the bell rang.  i didn’t know what i was going to do, but i knew i had to do something.

so last friday, i got to work early and sat there reading harry wong’s book, looking for tips.  and all he said to do was smile at them, address them by name, ask them to do something using the word please, and then say thank you when they comply. 

yeah.... it was so easy, but i realized i was treating them with the attitude i didn’t want to have, and so i changed courses and let them do the fun activity even though i didn’t think they earned it.  i complimented the ringleader on how great her project looked, and told her she could hang it on the wall when she was finished.

i can’t believe something that small and simple worked.

the girls today were altogether pleasant to have in class, the major disruptors stayed quiet all period, working quietly at their desks.  the most i saw them do was motion to each other across the room and mouth words to each other, but nothing worse than that.  today i thanked “the ringleader” several times for her great behavior, for staying on task, for being quiet, for being a good student, etc.  i tried to be specific and thank her for participating,

it’s so amazing to me that there has been such a drastic change with such a small action.  but i sure hope i can continue to do what it takes to keep that trust and cooperation.

Posted by kgrp on 09/17 at 09:13 PM
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Monday, August 27, 2007

one day down, 179 to go!

hahahah…

no, i’m not counting down. 

however, it is nice to have the first day over with.  it causes so much anxiety because it really sets the tone for the whole year… good news is, the day went great, and all i have to do is keep it up.  if i do, then this year will be (relatively) easy.  if i don’t set the right precedent..... well, it could be an uphill battle the whole way. 

anyways, -that’s- why i’m glad the first day is done.  i think i did a fairly decent job today, and i’m looking forward to a great school year!

Posted by kgrp on 08/27 at 07:56 PM
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