Every Day Is Like Sunday

Well, I hope not. I'm at that middle point in my year where I'm no longer excited and anxious at the beginning of the new week, but I'm not really dreading the same-old yet. I haven't hit the doldrums yet. (Can you ever, when you work with 140 sprightly teenagers every day?)

On a Sunday evening in January, I guess I'm just vaguely apprehensive of what the new week is going to bring. That being said, I am sticking to my new philosophy, where Monday is the best day of the week, because it brings with it a new beginning, a chance to make the new week a really good one.

Where My Heart Is

This week, I really started to feel at home at school. Like I have a community, and I belong. It's a really nice feeling.

Adventures on Gchat: January 27, 2010, 7:57pm

7:57 PM Adorable But Slightly Sketchy Student: lat me know if u got the assay
7:58 PM i wrote real fast lol
me: yes, i got it
i can tell you wrote it fast - you misspelled every other word
Adorable But Slightly Sketchy Student: lolzzzzz

Hint: It's a Double Helix

I gave a quiz on chromosomes and the cell cycle to my biology classes today. I could write a book about my emotions before, during, and after quizzes, but tonight I am going to post some interesting responses to one simple quiz question: What is DNA?

We discussed DNA at length in class, and we reviewed it before the quiz. However, judging by some of the answers I got, I'm pretty sure my students pay much more attention to CSI than they do to me.

6. What is DNA?

-- blood. I don't know how to spell it.

-- DNA it's a type of cell in your body for example like blood or saliva that help you find out what type of thing you are.

-- DNA is something that comes out of you like blood, spit, saliva. It can tell people who that person was.

-- someone's blood?

-- sperm/egg

This final response is sort of on the right track, but I find it really funny:

-- DNA is information that tells you about your insides.

Do Now Sketchiness

My students must complete a Do Now at the beginning of class each day. On Fridays, I always assign a "Free Write," giving students the opportunity to write about whatever they want.

Here is Adorable But Slightly Sketchy Student's gem:

I chilling right now talking to mad females in myspace ya dig.

Some Notes on a Monday

Several things:

1. I wrote two students up for yelling curses at me when I asked them to stop talking and running out of my class. When I brought their pink slips to the dean of discipline, she told me that both girls were totally uncontrollable -- that not even their parents could control them. The dean told me she had no idea what to do with them -- and that I should continue putting up with them for the remainder of the year. Even at the expense of the education of the rest of the class, I asked? Yes, she said.

2. Faculty meeting blah blah blah

3. I love working in my school. I really do. But it sucks planning labs and realizing I don't have even the most basic chemicals and lab supplies. I'm limited to whatever I can buy at the local grocery store. Yay creativity?

And yes, I realize that soda was probably a poor way to illustrate anaerobic respiration. I promise better labs and demonstrations next year. If you have any suggestions/ideas, please share! I'm open to anything and everything!

Quote of the Day - January 22, 2010

Sorry I'm a little late with this one:

Likes to Make Out with Guys During Class: Miss, can I go get a drink of water?

Me: Okay, sure. Bright Kid with World's Biggest Attitude Problem, go sit down and do your Do Now.

Attitude: No, I'm going with her.

Make Out: Yeah, miss, I need him to help me get a drink of water.

Me: No, go by yourself. Attitude, go sit down.

Attitude: You just hate me because I'm gay.