Busy week

On Saturday morning, during Saturday school, I found out that I was in charge of "Math Night" at my school. Fortunately, I work well under pressure. The event was to be school-wide and would be kind of like a carnival of sorts for parents and students to attend. The purpose of the event was not only to allow the students to play games, have fun, and win prizes while doing various math activities, but also to expose the parents to some of the math related topics students are held accountable for when they are in school. Many of the "stations" (as we called them) involved the parents and students working together to solve problems, play games, or create something math related. This exposed the parents and ideally, will allow them to be better equipped to help their students at home.

The event actually turned out very well. I was able to get prizes on Tuesday evening after going to the gym with my friend David (who teaches the same subjects as me - only bilingual). He helped me pick out some of the prizes and be prepared for the next day. The prizes were nothing spectacular, in total we spent about $50, but the students seemed to enjoy them. We picked up a soccer ball and football for top prizes and then puzzles and board games for other prizes. We figured that the puzzles and board games at least encourages problem solving and develops critical thinking skills.

Today, Friday, was picture day at Berry Elementary as well. Picture day is always a little crazy as this is one of the few days that students are allowed to be out of their uniforms (green "Berry" polo-style shirt and khaki's). I spent about 15 minutes explaining what was appropriate to wear and taking questions regarding wardrobe at the end of the day on Thursday. The students were simply supposed to "dress nice." I explained this as "wear something that you'd wear to church" (no worries, most of my students are Catholic, those that are not are Baptist or something that is more strict - they all go to church - it is not taboo to talk about in school). When some of them still looked confused I reiterated, "wear something that you would wear to a Quince" (as in Quinceanera). After that I felt most of them understood me, but this morning I still had two students show up in jeans and a tee shirt. Being the mean teacher that I am, I made them call home. 15 minutes later, all of my students were "dressed up."

Picture day ran 2.5 hours behind schedule. We ended up taking our pictures after recess and after lunch. I was a little nervous about this, as we could have dirtied our clothes playing or spilt on our tops, but all of my students made it to pictures without any major catastrophes.

Picture day takes about 30-60 minutes out of instructional time... I am glad that it is over and we can get back to learn, which by the way, I think my students are doing very well at this year. I think it is the combination that I am a better teacher and maybe, my students are a little better (mainly in the behavior aspect), but this too could be because I am a better teacher now that I am in my second year.

- Joe