Grades

I did pretty well this semester. I got one A-. I hate the - thing. It just blows. I am told that I am a mental case when it comes to grades. One professor asked me if an A- was better or worse than a B. Well logically the A- is worth more points than a B, but I still hate the A-. Maybe it's a negativity thing, the - is negative A. PHLLBBT!
I hate grades. Maybe we should just get accomplishment marks. Yes this student has accomplished all of the requirements of the course. Or not.
Just makes me so dang mean.
Well the kids all have short timer's syndrome. They can't wait for summer break. One girl is having such a tough time of it. She tried to tell me that the particular school is bad. I told her "No you don't" the school and instructors are excellent and the ESL program is unique to other schools in the district. She is getting an excellent education. So she admitted she is having trouble with some other students. It's unusual as she is not having racial issues or any other bias problems. She is Moslem and her antagonists are Moslem. Moslem is not the same from person to person, or group to group. I guess it is a little like Ireland where two Christian based groups are constantly fighting. Tsk. At any rate this young girl and I have had some good discussions. She has missed quite a bit of school, and the concept of an excuse from home is quite foreign to her. My master teacher has printed up special excuses that need only to be signed and dated by parents. So the girl finally got that straightened out. Before she did she got a notice for detention. I could see she was upset so I told her to go clear it up with the attendance office during lunch. She asked if she could go to jail for being truant. I told her that she could have a misdemeanor if she missed more than 3 days unexcused in the state of CA. I told her it was not usually enforced except in really bad cases. But I asked her if she wanted to pay a fine or do community service, like picking up trash on the side of the freeway. She said no, she would come to school. She was absent yesterday. So it goes, Meanie out

Further Notes

Classes are about over. I have one more final. It's my only final. I have a little something to say about giving grad students finals. Excuse me, but have we not proved our mettle? Word for the day; Mettle= a. Courage and fortitude, spirit. b. Quality of character and temperament. After all we've done projects, planning, and presentations. Now we have to be afflicted with a final exam, Please!
Okay a little venting by the mean one.
I am going to continue on with my students until the end of the semester. It's not required, but I can't leave them now. It's bad enough I only get to see them twice a week, (especially when the studetns themselves ask me to come more often) but there are only four more weeks of classes, so I'm going to stick it out.
I almost hated to wash my car last week, because someone drew a happy face in the dirt. I was ready for a "wash me" or some other sarcasm, but a happy face. It made me smile too.
Zoe called me, she has gained three inches and another pound. She is having a birthday soon and is sooooo excited. She gets to have a sleepover, and when her dad goes to sleep she gets to put whipped cream in his hand and tickle his nose.
Well I do have to work, it makes me so mean, but I still have to pay for school, meanie out.

Bernie I forgot this one

I still want you to look at everything, oh I forgot I was just joking. However I forgot to list this blog, "Active Learning".
I went to the computer lab with my students today. I am glad to inform everyone that I just might know a little more than my students when it comes to the essentials. They were using macs, so I actually was familiar with the machines. Thanks Bernie. ADHD was using one hand to type, so his little buddy was following his lead. I told ADHD to use his left hand to find keys on the left hand side of the keyboard. I told him, "I know you are athletic, I know you can use both hands. " When I passed the dynamic duo again they were both using two hands to type. I taught a few of the students to use spell check, and how to ignore it. Sometimes you must ignore the spell check.
I asked one of my beginning ESL students if she thought I would be a mean teacher. She said yes. I asked her if she thought I would be a good teacher. She said yes. Maybe she was afraid to say anything else. There are some benefits to being a little meanie. She didn't want to read her story, so I stood by her and read it to her. She was turning a bit red, so I asked if I was embarrassing her. She said no, so I read some more. That will teach her to be more truthful.
Love to all, the mean one is done for the day.

I'll be here

I'm having way too much fun with this thing to give it up. Anyway I'll address the current request. Hey Bernie, I think I want you to look at everything. Just kidding. Check out "Thoughts from a mean little red machine", "Reading Revisited", "You don't want to know what I'm thinking right now", "Whew" and "Well, Well, Well.
Hey Norma, you're phenomenal.
I've enjoyed The Rookie Teacher and What am I Doing. I think that is what the Blogs are called. I'm sorry I haven't kept up with a lot of the other blogs, but time as you know has been at a premium.
Bernie, I really enjoy the blogging thing, and I've been noticing many articles in the Trib about it, (great, more and more reading to do). I loved the video poems and I hope my students will have a chance to create them when I'm teaching.
I've picked up a few books for summer reading. Summerland and The Adventures of Cavelier and Clay by Michael Chabon, a book of altered fairy tales by various authors (including Gregory Maguire), Sahara by Clive Cussler and Angels and Demons by the Davinci Code guy. I got my husband Alone and Undercover a non-fiction piece by an ATF agent who went undercover inside the Mongols motorcycle gang. I still want to get The Mermaid Chair, it's by the author who wrote The Secret Life of Bees. I'll try not to compare the two books, but sure did enjoy her first work.
From the six disc, just bought the newest release from New Order. It's worthy. I'm waiting for a CD I ordered, the newest release from Us 3. They are jazzy, bluesy, kind of hiphop stuff. Really liked Flip Fantasia. Well I guess I'd better scoot along to class, It's been real mean, shouts of luv out to ya, from the little meanster.

Well, Well, Well

Hi to all you cyber readers, buckle your seatbelts, hey Norma,
This was one crazy week. So much went on in my classes that my head is spinning to the point that I may just throw up.
On the positive side, I am only in the classroom twice a week, and following a day's interval one of my students asked where I had been. I responded I could only be there two days because I had a job and other classes. He told me he missed me when I wasn't there. Okay someone tell me how to respond to that. I felt very good for an old meanie. I also attended a cultural festival held at the school. The students wore traditional dress and performed dances from their homeland. They were so wonderful. The students were very proud of their national identities. They brought flags from their homeland and waved them in the audience. The audience itself was a living thing. I thought they were going to bring the building down. They were dancing in the stands. What a great experience. Oh, and one of my teachers recived a call slip for my ADHD student right in the middle of an assignment he was very focused on. She walked back to me casually and notified me that the call slip was for him, but she was not sending him until he completed what he was working on. Glory Hallelujah! Score one for the good guys.
On the less positive side of things, one of the best students in my beginning ESL class failed her weekly test miserably. She did worse than any of the other students in the class, including those with very sporadic attendance. The cooperating teacher and I called her aside and asked if she was anxious about the test. We tried to reassure her that it was just a test and nothing tragic would happen to her as a result of her grade on that particular test, or any test for that matter. It's just a test. The student asked if she could take it over and felt she could do better. To me I see this student's situation as a problem when it comes to standarized testing. She does well and passes all of her assignments in outstanding form. Yet when it comes to the test she has anxiety to the point that she cannot perform. What will happen to students who pass all of their classes yet do not pass an exit exam? Bah Humbug!
I was chatting casually with one of my ESL students during some down time. I asked him when he came to the states. He has been here about one year. He grew up in Baghdad. I asked him if he liked it here." Oh yes". I asked him if he missed his home, he shrugged and said he missed his friends. Then he told me how at times in Iraq people would shoot their guns into the air. During one of these events he was walking with a friend when a bullet struck his friend and killed him. He went on to tell me how his 80 year old grandfather was struck by shrapnel and killed after a bomb went off. Okay I cannot imagine having been through any of these events. I expressed my sympathy to him, and I think he understood my lack of experience in matters such as these. If you get to know your students you may find they are operating from very difficult circumstances. Maybe that is why they may not do all of their homework or have difficulty focusing in class. In another class I found out that one of the brightest stars in the class is going to be a daddy, he's not fifteen years old. I had noticed a bit of a change in him, not the clowning wiggle worm he was a week ago. Oh the heaviness of responsibility.
I'm outta here, til next time, still mean, happy and sad