The Things People Believe...

Miguel has a co-worker with a great sense of humor. A couple days ago, two of his students asked his co-worker where he worked. He told them he was a bottomless pit inspector. It's a classified job, and he is often on call. 

They believed him! 

He strung them along for two days. And no, these weren't little kids. One of the students is 20 and the other is 35, one going to school to be a PA and the other to be an environmental scientist. 

I worry about our future...

Surrounded by Morning People

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures. My poor brother. Surrounded by the abomination of nature called Morning People.

Salt Lake Snow

We visited the Bonneville Salt Flats near Salt Lake City, Utah. I was astounded by the landscape - I had never before seen land so flat for so far. Amazing.

At the Salt Flats, we stopped to see a vehicle that was being built and tested by a university. We didn't get to see the car run, but Ian and I did have a photo op. Amazing how the salt looked, and felt, just like snow in 30 degree temperatures. It was somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 degrees when this photo was taken.

We had to taste the salt. Had to. You know what? It tasted just like salt!

Ian and I beside the rental car at the Bonneville Salt Flats

Graduation

Graduation. The culmination of years of hard work, exhaustion, and a fair amount of tears. I did it. I earned my Masters degree in Mathematics Education.

But I didn't do it alone.

My brother Michael was a constant source of unwavering encouragement and support. Even though he lives on the other side of the country, I could not have done it without him. I've looked up to him since childhood; I have immense respect for him as an adult. When things go horribly wrong, Michael boosts me back up and offers objective advice to calm my emotional hailstorm. And when I've done something I think is stupid and I feel like I should turn in my Mensa membership card and tell them there's been a terrible mistake, Michael would probably tell me I'm right, which makes me laugh to recovery. Somehow he just instinctively knows what I need when I need it.  I love him, and when I grow up, I want to be just like him. But a female version with no chest hair. I cannot thank him enough. Worshiping him from afar will just have to do.

My son Ian was such a good kid through it all. When Mommy did her homework, Ian did his homework. And as he began evolving into a young man, he helped with chores to lighten my load. He's a better cook than I am. I love him as well. He changed my life for the better, although he'll never know how much until he has a child of his own. Just. Like. Him.

My mentors Karla and Annie were amazing during my time at WGU. They heard me laugh with joy and cry with frustration, kept me on track, and cut me slack when I needed it. They helped me when I struggled, and rejoiced in my successes. I got to meet them at my graduation. Their kindness, confidence and strength shines, and I am richer for having them in my life.

Wait to see what I can do as a middle school math teacher. Look out world!

I'm a Teacher.

Well, it's over. 

The late nights, early mornings, panic attacks, pop quizzes, pre- and post-assessments, student teaching, sleep deprivation, and (hopefully) spontaneous crying jags. 

I finished my last paper for my last course, and will officially graduate with my Masters in Mathematics Education in August of 2015. 

I can't really explain how I feel. I'm happy that I have finally accomplished what I set out to do, but I feel a strange sense of loss. 

I'm sure I'll sort myself out in time.

In the meantime, I have my professional educator's license in the State of Utah. I am (not so) patiently waiting for New York State to get around to reviewing my application for my initial certification here. They've only had everything they need, including receipt of the fee, since April, so perhaps I'm rushing things. 

My New Favorite Song!

Compliments Keep Me Going.

I received a compliment yesterday that made me feel great! Between student teaching, working, raising my son, and trying to keep my home from turning into a disaster area from neglect, I do get a bit tired and down-trodden. 

My weekly journal entry for my student teaching segment was, "Reflect on how you are balancing teaching with your daily life and family. What are you doing (or what could you be doing) to take care of yourself and make it through demonstration teaching in a strong way? Based on your experience so far, describe any adjustments you could make to help the second half of your DT experiences go even more smoothly."  

Go even more smoothly?HA! I need to meet their pharmacist!  This is what I wrote in response: 

Adjustments? Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha! My typical week goes like this: 

Monday thru Friday: Up at 5:00 a.m. Shower, dress, have a cup of coffee while packing our lunch and dinner for the day, wake up the Boy Child and address his needs (I am a single mom), review lesson plan for the day, make the 3x5 card as my guide, leave at 7, arrive at school at 7:15, leave school at 3:30, pick up the Boy Child, go to work, arrive at work by 4:15, work until 9:15, go home, make sure lesson plan is in place for next day and if not, draft it with the appropriate worksheets, fall into bed completely exhausted and generally still completely dressed at 11.

Saturday: Up at 6:00 a.m. Shower, dress, have a cup of coffee while scribbling a grocery list for the following week, wake up the Boy Child, start lesson planning for following week, be at work by 10 with the Boy Child, leave work at 11:45 to take Boy Child to baseball camp, back at work by 12:05, leave work at 2:50 to pick up Boy Child from baseball camp, back at work by 3:10, order something to eat from someplace that delivers around 5, work until 10:30 p.m. (or later, if I need to put in more than 12.5 hours on the weekend to make my total hours at work 37.5), go home, fall into bed completely exhausted and generally still completely dressed between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., depending on how long I had to work.

Sunday: Up at 7:00 a.m. because by Sunday, I can’t get up at 5 or 6. Grab a cup of coffee and get laundry started, plan lessons for the week including worksheets and tests, eat whatever Boy Child prepares when he gets up and then quickly shop for groceries, prepare and freeze sandwiches for lunches/dinners for the week; get journal entry done for SGAK in Taskstream, respond to weekly discussion in edTPA community, finish lesson planning for week, fall into bed completely exhausted at 10.

Adjustment? Somewhere in here I have to cram writing my edTPA. It’s not going to get any better until the middle of May when I am done student teaching, unless somewhere, somehow, more hours get put into a day.  I cannot quit my job, or even take a leave of absence. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid. If I don’t get paid, the bills don’t get paid and we can’t eat and end up homeless. Homeless people generally do not have laptop computers and access to the internet, so obtaining my education would come to a screeching halt. Furthermore, test results are in, and it is discovered my son has a learning disability. He helps me how he can, but has needs of his own.

My son is doing the housecleaning, shoveling, taking out the trash, all of the things we did together before I started student teaching. He is on board and knows this situation is temporary.  It is what it is. The fact that this situation is temporary is what is getting my son and me through it. We can do anything as long as we know it won’t last forever. 

My mentor's response was great:   

WOW! You really have this down to a science...time management at its best! I totally understand that this is a stressful time in the life of a student teacher and that sometimes family takes second place. But this will soon pass and things will get back to semi normality - whatever that is. ;-) Hang in there!

I will, Denise. I sure will. Although my friends and family think I'm absolutely bonkers for wanting to teach math - to middle school kids, no less! - it is my dream, my goal, and my purpose. I will make it happen. 

Integrating Technology into My Classes

The kids LOVE to sing and dance...so why not give them song about Math? 

Certification Testing

I am really not looking forward to my upcoming certification test. The first time I took it (and 'not passed') was an incredible experience.

I was instructed to arrive at the testing site, an elementary school, 45 minutes prior to the start of the exam. At that time, all students were herded into the auditorium, where we were read very specific instructions about what is and is not permitted at the testing site and in the exam rooms. For example, water is not permitted unless it is in a clear, plastic bottle with the label removed. No mechanical pencils. No purses or bags. Nothing with a power button, including cell phones, iPods, iPads, smart phones, mp3 players, etc., unless you are taking a Math test, and then only certain graphing calculators from a State-approved list are permitted. 

After the rules were read, we were escorted to classrooms to take our certification exams. The rules were again read. It was announced that the bathrooms would be closed for the first 45 minutes to hour of the exam. The monitors then began coming around the class to clear everyone's graphing calculators. 

One of the students in my room did not have an approved calculator. She had a scientific calculator, and said that was all she had. She was told it was not permitted, which she should have known prior to coming to take the exam because the list of approved calculators is sent with the admission ticket. She burst into hysterics and began asking if anyone had an extra calculator. (They are $100+ calculators; not likely anyone would be carrying an extra. Besides, we were not permitted to bring any purses or bags into the room. Where would we keep an extra calculator?) At this time, she is instructed to calm down or security would escort her out. My nerves were beginning to fray.

Then someone's cell phone went off. I couldn't believe it. After the 45 minute lecture that included "NOTHING WITH A POWER BUTTON"? We were held up until security arrived to escort him out. I noticed I had begun to tremble and was having trouble writing my name.

The next announcement? "The bathrooms are now closed."  I don't care if you haven't had anything to drink in a month, as soon as you are told you cannot use the bathroom, that's exactly what you need to do! All I could think of was Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop saying, "There is no bathroom!" 

By the time the test began, I couldn't remember my name. I'm not kidding. So when I opened the text booklet and had to find the volume of a rectangular prism, I drew a complete blank. I couldn't have added a column of figures at that point. 

This time, before the test, I am going to take some precautionary steps. I am going to make sure I get up early enough to have eggs for breakfast, because I will need protein to get me through the four hour exam. I will not have any coffee (which is a diuretic) and will have just one glass of milk. I will meditate before I leave, arrive early, and meditate again in my car. I will make sure I have new batteries in my (State-approved) graphing calculator. I will have two sharpened pencils with new erasers. And I will be calm.

Xanax, anyone? :D

Just shoot me.

In the course of getting my New York State Teaching Certification done, I have to take a few exams: the Praxis II 0069, which tests Middle School Mathematics knowledge, the Mathematics 004, which tests secondary school Math knowledge as a whole, and the Pedagogy exam, which tests teaching methods (never mind that I don't have any yet). So, on April 4th, I signed up, paid for, and scheduled all three: Praxis for 4/13/13, Math 004 for 6/8/13, and Pedagogy for 6/15/13. 

I spent Thursday evening and all day Friday brushing up on my Middle School Math skills. It is a 4 hour exam, and I was confident I would do well.

Saturday morning, at 7:45 a.m., I showed up at Buff State to take my Praxis 0069. They gave me test 0061. I told them I didn't think that was right; I signed up for 0069. No, it turns out I really did make a HUGE mistake and I signed up for the 0061. Better yet, the test was on trigonometry, which I pretty much haven't touched in six years.

And even better yet, I paid for it. To the tune of $115. 

No refunds, and since they didn't have the 0069 there with them, I took the wrong test.

The next time the 0069 is offered is 6/8/13, but I already have 004 scheduled for that date and time. The next time it is offered after that is 7/20/13, which would be okay as long as I pass, but if I don't pass or for some reason an emergency comes up and I can't take it on that date, I would not be able to student teach in January as planned because all my testing has to be complete by August 1st in order to qualify for January 2014 student teaching. 

Another bonus? The prices of the tests went up. Instead of paying $115 for the 0069, it now costs $139. 

I'm not sure whether to laugh, cry, or drink. I figure this way, though. If I did well on it, that's one more thing for my resume. If I did poorly on it, it doesn't count anyway, because it wasn't the test I was supposed to take. 

I'll find out how I did next month.

What Teachers Make

I found this poem on a website for teachers, and think it is absolutely perfect. I am not pursuing a degree in Mathematics Education because I am seeking 'big bucks' or 'gobs of time off'. I will probably be dirt floor poor and scraping to pay my student loans. But I will be making a difference. 

I do have to say, too, that I doubly enjoyed this poem from the standpoint of a legal assistant to personal injury attorneys. Mr. Mali says it well:



What Teachers Make, or
Objection Overruled, or
If things don’t work out, you can always go to law school

By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

He says the problem with teachers is, “What’s a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about
teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.

“I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor,” he says.
“Be honest. What do you make?”

And I wish he hadn’t done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and a**-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won’t I let you get a drink of water?
Because you’re not thirsty, you’re bored, that’s why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.

I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a g**d*** difference! What about you?

Mr. Mali's website can be found at www.taylormali.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TaylorMaliPoet?ref=ts&fref=ts

I PASSED!

I passed the New York State Teacher Certification Exam!

 (Yes, I do realize that I'm the only one that is surprised by this.) :D

What I find most surprising is, even though I know I have wonderful Math skills, I received perfect scores on the "Artistic Expression and The Humanities" and "Written Analysis and Expression" subareas. I expected to score highest on the Science, Math, and Technology subarea, but in actuality, I didn't. Very interesting...

Ian 'sniped' me!

Doing some homework... I should probably turn on some lights. 

I look pretty scary. :D

I think the funniest thing about this is that I have to move my glasses half-way down my face to read. Word to the wise...don't buy glasses at Walmart. :)

Math Can Lie

When I was young, my father told me a story that had me hooked on Math ever since. He attributed the tale to Einstein, who was a speaker at a business convention in Germany. I haven't been able to verify that, or even find this example anywhere, but it certainly rings true that Math does not always paint an accurate picture.

Einstein was allegedly attending this conference when an audience member opined that anything can be proved using Mathematics as it is always true. Einstein disagreed. As my father tells it, Einstein said, "Math can lie.

"Three salesmen found they needed to spend the night at an inn. They asked the front desk clerk the cost of the room for the evening, and were told, '$12'. Each man paid $4, and the bellhop took them to their room.

"Later that evening, the desk clerk discovered he made an error. The cost of the room for the night was only $8. He gave $4 to the bellhop and instructed him to return it to the salesmen.

"On the way to the room, the bellhop took $1 as a tip, as the salesmen had not tipped him earlier. He then gave the remaining $3 to the salesmen.

"Now, $8 for the cost of the room plus $4 refunded totals $12.  Each man originally paid $4 each, for a total of $12, but now they have paid $3 each and received $1 each in refund for a total of $12. This balances perfectly, no?

"So where did the dollar come from that is in the bellhop's pocket?

"Math can lie."

When I got older and went shopping for my first car, my father reminded me of this story, and warned me to be careful of the calculations the car dealers would throw at me. With the right knowledge, and perhaps a little bit of talent, anyone can twist the numbers to make them suit their needs.

Time flies!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted, but in view of all that's happened over the past three months, it is certainly understandable.

I will update everyone soon, beginning with the car accident my family was in and the extensive care my stepmom has needed, to finishing my Geometry course and enrolling in the Master of Arts program for Mathematics Education.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is well.

Blurry but Beautiful

Yay Me! :D