08 June 2013

Graduation!

My litte brother finally graduated from high school.  It has been many years in  progress and one extremely busy and involved senior year.  We are very proud of him for being a smart, funny, good young man.  He's headed to the University of Utah and on a mission.  We are all excited to see what life has in store for him.  Congratulations Willie!

 
His valedictory address included a metaphor about life as a shaved ice employee and rising from the bottom to the top.  My favorite part was when he said he wasn't sure if he was a pteradactyl or the star of the next Harry Potter movie.  He also spoke about being terrified in 3rd grade that he was never going to make it to 5th grade and once he did make it to 5th grade he knew he could do anything.  He ended that by telling the graduating class that in true Napolean Dynamite fashion that all their wildest dreams will come true.


07 June 2013

10 Years

Today I wrapped up the 10th year of my teaching career.

3 years, Tooele Junior High
2 years, Tooele High School
5 years, Murray High School
4 classrooms
Courses taught include Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Math Secondary II, SLCC Math 1010, SLCC Math 1050, U.S. History I, U.S. History II, and a variety of advisory classes
Well over 1000 students in my classrooms

When I started teaching at Tooele Junior High, I looked at the teachers who had been doing this forever and thought to myself, "there's no way I'm going to be doing this exact thing, in the same classroom for 30 years . . . no way."

Now that a third of that time has passed, I think my perspective has changed slightly.  I still agree that I don't want to be in the same school and classroom for 30 years, but I think I could do this same job for that long (or at least the next 10).  I genuinely like my job and I like what I do.  I like having a job where I get days off for holidays and, of course, the summer.  I like the atmosphere of school and learning.  The main reason I can see myself doing this for a lot longer, however, is that I like interacting with kids!  I think the job of a teacher can be the most influential job you can have in the educational life of a kid.I have a hard time, at least today, envisioning myself working as a counselor or administrator because I would miss the day-to-day interaction with students in the classroom.

Year 10, itself, was a rough one and I don't think that I was as good of a teacher this year as I have been other years, but I guess you probably have years like that in anything you do.

Why was this year a bit rough?
  • New curriculum with extremely limited resources, and stressful planning of the curriculum while working closely with my colleagues
  • Working with students of a vast spectrum of math skills, in the same classroom (due to students of all different levels being thrown into the new curriculum)
  • Tired mama of 2, trying to teach school without dosing off
  •  I don't really have any better specific reasons.  It was just tough.
 I took a picture of my classroom the other day:


One other part of this year is that I've had a hard time remembering names.  I can remember some names of kids I taught 10 years ago, but then I forget names of kids I taught yesterday.  I either have early onset Alzheimers or I have "my name cup runneth over" (a personal theory I could expand for you at a later date). 

Finally, year 10 marks the death of a good and loyal companion.  The Sansui combo DVD/VHS player was given to me as a gift by my Grandma Huber at some point more than 10 years ago (she liked to give appliances as gifts).  I don't show a lot of movies, but it is still a very vital part of any classroom.  The VHS side of this device died a few months ago (it plays audio, but no video) and just this week, the DVD side also died (it spits out every DVD and refuses to play it).  The death of this machine is sad because it is something that my Grandma gave me, but it is also sad because it has been with me through all 10 years of teaching.  All good things, even off brand electronic devices, must come to an end at some point, I guess.


Well, that's it.  Raise a cherry coke to the end of 10 years and look to the future for many more!

05 June 2013

Doctor Visit

Molly, Jack, and I went to visit Dr. Havlik for check-ups - Molly her 3 year visit and Jack his 1 year visit.  This is the second time we've done a double visit and I don't know if I'll do it again.  It's a bit crazy!  Plus, Dr. Havlik is so thorough, but with two kids in the room, I think I miss a few things.  Oh well.  They are both good and healthy - Jack for another 3 months and Molly for another year.

Molly's Stats:
  • 32.8 pounds (70th percentile), 37 inches (47th percentile)
  • 16.8 BMI (80th percentile)
  • 88 heart rate
  • 86/58 blood pressure
  • 1st eye exam - with shapes chart, even though she knows her capital letters (cooperated a little bit while covering her left eye, but was done cooperating to cover her right eye)
  • Ear tubes - left ear's tube is out, but the hole has not yet healed - right ear's tube is still there
  • Passed all developmental questions, though I don't really remember what they were
  • Talked about her weird sleeping habits
  • Read books and was pretty well-behaved through most of the appointment

Jack's Stats:
  • 23 pounds 6 ounces (59th percentile), 31 inches (84th percentile)
  • 47 cm head size (68th percentile)
  • 4 Vaccinations including chicken pox vaccine
  • Passed all developmental questions inluding: can point to something, grab a small object with a pincer grasp, clap, say mama or dada, walk, pull himself to standing, etc.
  • I asked about his bow-leggedness and Dr. Havlik said he's fine, don't worry about it
  • Jack was super antsy and a bit grumpy before it was all said and done. 

That's it!