The new year has begun. With one class of gifted students (At least they claim to be gifted) and 3 classes of regular kids, I am really going full force. As usual, there are the few kids that really get under my skin.

One kid has already earned a nickname (Ivan the Terrible) from his core teachers. He is allowed to ask only 3 questions in class, and has cards to hold up for each question. His latest trick is to raise his hand and start "It's not a question; it's a statement" He is dominating the class, and other kids are not happy with it. I try to ignore his hand after he has used his three cards, but of course, he then blurts out . . .

Then there are the kids that really don't have a clue. I have one girl who forgot how to spell her own name during a review game. (These are 8th grade students). Another simply replies "I don't know" every time she is called on; there is no effort at all. Then there is the lack of homework. After only 9 days of school, there have been 5 homework grades. Some kids have 5 zeroes already. These zeroes don't seem to faze the kids. As a result, I have given TWO quizzes already. Each problem came from their homework. Of course, the same kids are doing the same thing in their other classes . . . .

It's looking like it is going to be a long year . . . . . ..

Well, the end of the year is finally in sight. As of today, there are 10 full days and 2 half days (exams) remaining. I can hardly wait; it has been a long year.

State testing began today. . . . the math section was done. 80 questions, 3 hours to complete. Only problem, my testing group finished in less than 2 hours. As another teacher said, this group is not a group of geniuses. This does not bode well" I agree 100%.

Next week is the algebra test. We shall see how they do. Anyway, tomorrow is the reading test. Hopefully students will do better than I suspect they did on the math test.

OK, so things are still crazy. Just as there was some semblance of order, the school has to go on lockdown. And it could not have happened at a worse time. I had my class of goofballs and knuckleheads. There is a field trip for band and chorus starting tomorrow. It is close to the end of the year. We have state testing in 4 weeks. Could anything have made it worse?

YES. The conference we had this afternoon. Once again, a parent came in looking to lay the blame on anyone except his child or the parents. Today, I was the target. Apparently, I embarrass the student when I call on him and he is wrong. Never mind that I call on students randomly, and give others a chance to help a student if they answer wrongly. Never mind that the student could not give an example of how I embarrass him. Of course, Dad has talked wioth other students (3 or 4) and their parents, and they say the same thing. Also, they are also failing. I guess I am purposely trying to ridicule students who are not doing well. . . . . . . . . . Will it ever end?

OK, so it has been a month since the last post. I have just returned from the NCTM confeence in Atlanta. WHat a place! Nowhere did it say that you would have to walk about a mile or so for each session. At least I came prepared with my tennis shoes! Of course, that is because I was planning to walk from the hotel to the conference center. Since the hotel had a shuttle service, I took that instead.

Many of the sessions were worthwhile. I especially enjoyed Dinah Zike's session. Talk about a bundle of energy! You would never know she is recovering from cancer.

Meanwhile, the same old things are going on in the classroom. We are trying to get ready for the end of year testing, and still have the same things -- apathy and lack of work. There is no way some of these kids will ever pass the test. I spoke with several teachers from other states in Atlanta about this, and see the same things. SIGH!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhh . . . . . the joy of progress reports. It is amazing how students have no idea they are doing poorly until they see the grade. Then there is a sudden change for a few days (at least). Ours went out on Monday. Today, there were several students who went through the motions of showing that they care a little. By Monday of next week, they will be back to the same old students.

Will they ever learn?

Also, high school registration has begun. Now there is a wake-up call. Students suddenly give a damn about grades. After all, they want to play sports, and take more challenging classes. Of course, they do so against my advice, but what does that matter. At least my AIG kids will choose the correct level for math. Most are not even asking what they should take.

I am doing my annual fear tactic to get the forms in. "If you don't turn in a form, then I get to choose your classes." This puts some fear into the kids - they know I will select the most difficult classes for them!

The Wall of Fame

We have started a team "Wall of Fame". Originally, it was just for Language Arts, but we decided to expand it. In Language Arts, students have to make a 100% on tests to earn a spot on the Wall. For math, I decided to be a little different. My criteria are that students must have shown "Outstanding Improvement." Today, 5 of my students went up on the Wall. They had shown a tremendous amount of improvement - some as much as 50 points - from the last test. None of the students had any idea that the Wall was being expanded to include other subjects for the Wall of Fame.

Hopefully, seeing their names on the Wall of Fame will be the motivation that some students need for the year . . . . especially since progress reports go out next week!

Knuckle Heads and Goofballs (Part 2)

OK, so the other day was not the last straw. THe last straw was today. We started a new unit on Probability. Lots of fun activities and hands on lessons. We started yesterday, and the discussion centered around the lottery and whether or not you ave a good chance of winning. THis lead to today's lesson. We first read an article about the PowerBall lottery, where lots of people had the exact same combination of winning numbers (They missed the PowerBall). THen there were some questions to answer.

That part wasn't bad. THe next part involved some thinking - probabilities when you roll one or 2 dice. I got so tired of "What do we do?" THe directions said "List all combinations of rolling 2 dice. Remember, there are 36 combinations" THis is straight forward, and they are working in their groups . . . . . . . . . . . so of course there are a million questions of "what do we do?" Third Period was the worst (Imagine that; this is home to the knuckle heads and goofballs!)

All I can say is "Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!