Absent last Friday

Well, I took last Friday off for a doctor appointment. I really don't like to take days off, mostly because it is a real pain. First, you have to plan for a substitute teacher. Depending on the substitute, you may have to give just busy work. Then when you come back, you have to figure out what the sub did or did not do. If you assigned work to keep students busy, you then have to correct all the work. Most subs do not correct assignments.

I was pretty lucky with my sub. She did everything I asked, and she graded most of the papers that came in. (I didn't even ask her to do that.) One thing that I truly love about this sub is that she really manages a class well. She was a former teacher, and it shows. I've had some subs that when I get back, nothing was done, and my room was a wreck. Not with Friday's sub.

Even though the sub was awesome, I still had some catch-up work to do. She did grade papers, but I had to go through them again. At times I have told students something different than what the answer key has, and I have to give students credit for those answers. Really, I just had to adjust a few grades, which is much easier than grading from scratch (sometimes.)

Well, I was just excited today because I knew my DVD's I had ordered had arrived. I'm teaching Evolution in biology, and due to the timing, most students are not thrilled to be doing book work, so I ordered a set of videos that appear to be quite good. The video set "Evolution" is a PBS work, and I've thought most of the PBS works were quite good. So far, this one is good.

Well, I've caught up on most of Friday's grading, but I'm still behind from prior assignments. I've tried to schedule an easier week, just so I could get caught up with grading before the Christmas Break.

Run Down for the Week

• ESCI - Today: Watched a video on Earthquakes. I really enjoy this video because it shows what happens during an Earthquake. Tomorrow: Video on Tsunami's. We are studying Earthquakes, and Tsunamis are a result of them. Plus, most of the students really are curious about them do to last year's Tsunami. Wednesday: Test over Earthquakes.
• CHEM - Monday through Wednesday: Watching a video on the 100 most influential people of the last 1000 years. I try to get the students to understand that over the last 1000 years many accomplishments were due to scientists and inventors. The only thing that I don't like about the video is that they focus on Western Europe/North America quite a lot. Yes, Europe became a world player, but we are forgetting quite a bit of the rest of the world just by focusing on Europe.
• LSCI - Today: Review Worksheets. Tomorrow: Review for Test. Wednesday: Test over protists and fungi. (Pretty easy week for me, harder for the students.)
• PSCI - Today: Took a test over simple machines. Also assigned chapter 8 vocabulary. Tomorrow: Notes of the 4 states of matter. Wednesday: Students will begin preparing notes and a demonstration over one of the following topics - Charles' Law, Boyles' Law, Archimedes Principle, Pascal's Principle, Bernouli's Principle.
• BIO - Today: Watched the first part of the Evolution video about how Darwin came up with Natural Selection. Tomorrow: Finish Darwin. Wednesday: Watch the video on the Great Transformations life forms have made.
• ADV BIO - Today: Catch-up day. Last week was pretty messed up, and I only had the students occasionally. Today, got everyone caught up on assignments they missed. Tomorrow: Notes on Neurotransmitters. Actually just notes on Dopamine, Norepinephrine (and epinephrine), GABA, Glutamate, and Serotonin. Wednesday: Lab on reaction times.

Well, it's a short week. Only three days of classes. On Thursday, the students will take "fun" workshops part of the morning, and watch a movie before lunch. After lunch, school is dismissed for Christmas Vacation.

Grading Papers

MY FAVORITE HOT PINK PEN IS RUNNING OUT OF INK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Now how am I going to grade papers. Perhaps I should start using my special* purple pen.)


*It's just special because it writes in purple.

TV thoughts

Well, tonight is the big night. Yup, the finale of the Amazing Race. Presently, the families are in Absorakee, which is about an hour's drive from where we live now. In fact, my wife has co-workers that live there. Who's going to win tonight? I don't know. I'm rooting for the Linz* family.

The Survivor finale was last Sunday, with Dani beating Steph. I really can't blame the jury for the way they voted, Steph really did cause their demise. However, the person that truly deserved to win came in 3rd. Yup, I think that Rafe should have one. Granted, he didn't win the last immunity challenge. If he had, I don't think there would have been anyway he could have lost. He probably played the best game I've seen from a Survivor contestant in a long time.

Last night we watched "How I met your mother." I think it was a repeat, however, we had not seen it. I just loved it. Personally, I would much rather go to a Wine and Cheese party than some dumb old night club. I really don't get clubs. I would much rather spend time with the company of a few close friends than with a bunch of strangers.

Vikings News: Some columnists are suggesting we trade Culpepper. I know Brad Johnson has basically saved the team (well not really), but can the Vikings afford it. As far as the team being saved, the offense has been just average (granted, BJ isn't turning the ball over like DC was), but the defense and special teams have picked up their game play considerably. My only fear is that Zigy is going to actually think that Tice can coach and keep him around for another year. So, should I be hoping the Vikings stink the last few games so Tice gets canned, or do I hope the Vikings can win their last games, and possibly make the playoffs. Oh the dilemma?

Twins News: Jacque Jones turned down the Twins offer for arbitration. That means that Jacque will probably not be in a Twin's uniform next year. I've read that he's had multi-year offers from several team, including KC. Umm... Jacque, why the heck would you want to play for KC. Also, the Dodgers have expressed interest, and I can see him playing in LA. Since he grew up in San Diego, LA would be close to home. As for the Twins, this probably means that Lew Ford will get to be an everyday outfielder. Although, I've read from a few insiders that Cuddyer might be our everyday Right Fielder. O.k., I like Cuddyer, but he's no Lew Ford.

Oh well, enough ranting. Time to take some advil. I've been having horrible back pains the last few days. Probably should go to the doctor, but won't. As long as I don't wake up with any NEW pain, I'm doing ok.


*EDIT: Ok, so I wrote Linz, but I meant Bransen family. I really don't like them Linz's

Check Out

I can't believe it. The student that gives me the most headaches, and is probably the biggest problem in ANY of my classes has officially checked out the school. That means I don't have to deal with him, his antics, or his attitude the rest of the year. This really does make my day.

I know I shouldn't feel this way, but there is little we could do to help. We have tried numerous strategies to help him, but nothing works.

Last Week

Last week was the longest week I've had in a long time. I had 3 meetings with parents, 1 during my 15 minute lunch. The meetings were with seniors that are on the verge of not graduating this year. Hopefully these seniors can get their act together so that they CAN graduate.

Also, I had to put off biology lab because my supplies still haven't showed up. Because of that, we ended up reviewing chapter material and taking a test. Today (Monday,) the supplies aren't here, so I'm postponing the lab until after the Christmas Break. Until then, we will be starting the Chapter on Evolution (and no, I'm NOT going to be teaching Intelligent Design.) I've ordered a few videos for the evolution unit that I hope will be useful and entertaining.

Last Friday, the Class of 2009 began their class fundraisier. They've decided to raffle off an IPod. We are selling 1 ticket for $2, 5 tickets for $5, and 15 tickets for $10. If you want to help my class, and have the chance to win an IPod, send some money my way and I will enter you in the raffle. The bad part about the raffle is that I had to stay late after school. In fact, I didn't leave school until almost 6 pm on Friday.

But wait, we also sold tickets on Saturday's Game as well. I also had to take entry tickets for the game. As a result, I was at the school on Saturday from 1:15 until almost 6 pm again.

As a result of the fundraising and long week last week, it seems like I never left school.

Well here is what is planned for today.

• ESCI - Had to figure out how to spend our winnings on the Door Decorating Contest. We are going with Ice Cream. After, they spent time doing vocabulary for the Earth Quake Chapter.
• CHEM - Flame Tests today!!!!
• LSCI - The students presented their own power point presentations on their assigned sections. Today we finished up Protist Classification, Plant Like Protists, and Protozoans.
• PSCI - They finished their lab on single fixed pulleys and block and tackles. I've been quite impressed with how well they understand the material. I rarely have to explain them how to do something twice.
• BIO - Started the chapter on evolution. Just vocabulary today.
• ADV BIO - We are going to have notes on Action Potentials and Synaptic Transmission today. Should be our last full day of notes.

Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow to fill you in on biology and the other classes.

Door Decorations - High School

Last Thursday, the student council sponsered a Christmas door decorating contest for each class. (Yes, we had a Christmas Door Decorating Contest, not a Holiday Door Decorating Contest.) Because I'm the Class of 2009's advisor, my door was decorated by the freshmen. We took the last 2 periods of the day. I must say, that of all the high school classes, only the freshmen work together and remained on task. Read below for the winning door.

Here is the Senior's Door.

A Gingerbread House for the Juniors!

A fireplace for the Sophomores.

And a Christmas Tree for the Freshmen.

Here's a better shot of the tree and presents. Obviously we won!!!!! (Yup the freshmen beat the Seniors.)

Door Decorations - Middle School

Here are the middle school doors for the door decorating contest.

Here is the 8th Grade Door.

7th Grades Door. They won the middle school door competition. Their theme, Rednek Krismas.

Door Decorations - Upper Elementary

Here are the entries for the Door Decorating contest for the Upper Elementary. Winning Door was the the 6th Grade.

Bottom part of the 6th Grade's Door

Here's the Top Half of the 6th Grade Door

Here's the Fifth Grade's Door.

Here's the 4th Grade's Door.

Door Decorations - Lower Elementary

Lower Elementary got in the spirit also. Check out their doors. Winning door was 2nd grade.



As you view the pictures, doors are 3rd grade, 1st Grade, Kindergarten, 2nd Grade.

Comments on Survivor, The Apprentice, and Sports

Wow, what a night on TV last night.

Lets start with Survivor
Judd is a sore loser. Boy he was sure upset when getting voted out of the tribe. He claimed everybody lied to him and he never lied, playing the game on the straight and narrow. WHATEVER DUDE! Never lied. Ha! Let's see, the hidden immunity idol is on the ground (not!). He even got caught lying. And come on, I don't think any player can win survivor without some backstabbing and lying. And with his ass getting voted off, now everyone can see what a sore loser he is.

The Apprentice
Randall has it in the bag now. The only way Randall won't become the next apprentice is if some emergency happens in his family and he can't compete in the final task. After the entire losing team got fired yesterday, I can't see how Randall won't win. The other contestant (name escapes me) hasn't shown me that she can compete with Randall. Granted, Randall has been my pick all the way to win, and my sentimental favorite.

Twins
Well, the off season is starting to look interesting. Just today, the Twins traded for Luis Castillo from the Marlins, in exchange for two minor league pitchers, Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler. I really don't know how good Castillo will be, but he was a solid (very solid) player for the Marlins. The problem is, I just don't follow NL teams so I can't determine how good he will be. And with rumors circulating about trying to acquire Mueller or Garciapara, I'm afraid that the Twins will let Jacque Jones go. If he does, let's hope he goes to his home town, so I can suggest a player for my mother to root for. And if the Twins manage to get Garciapara, you know I'm going to try to see a series this year. We really do need offensive help, and the twins have plenty of good young pitchers in the minors, so expect more deals made.

The one player I really would not want on the team is Piazza. I know he can hit, but really, getting just a DH. I think the Twins would be better off trying to get a good offensive player that can DH or play a position in the infield other than catcher. We've got a great catcher!

T-Wolves
How are these guys in First place in the Northwest? The Northwest must really be crappy these days. Hopefully the rumors of KG being traded to Detroit are totally bogus. Although, if it does happen, perhaps I'll be a detroit fan. When I first started paying attention to basketball, Detroit was my team. Thomas, Dumars, Sallie(sp?), Lambier (sp?), Rodman (when he wasn't a freak, just a little odd). Man I loved Rodman's game. Defense and Rebounds. In fact, Ben Wallace kind of reminds of the type of game I liked. Now with Detroit's new head coach (Yeah! Flip is coaching again), and the possibility of KG joining the team, I'd be crazy not to root for my old team.

Vikes
Still suck. But are getting better. Brad Johnson is making the respectable, just like the first time he was a back-up/starter for the Vikings. Hopefully Ziggy fires Tice (actually, does not offer him a new contract, as Tice's contract expires at the end of the season). I think Tice might be the worst head coach in the League. For now, I'm going to watch Payton and the Colts try to go undefeated (won't happen), and win the Superbowl (could happen, but something tells me it might not.) And if Payton doesn't win the Superbowl, at least he will still have the funniest commercials on TV (Can you sign this for my little bro? He's a huge fan of yours. De-Caf!) I just love those commercials. (And if you didn't know he was a profootballer, you might actually think Payton was one of those nerdy, fantasy football fans, like me.)

Lunch Duty

It has been crazy here at school the past few weeks. I can never seem to get caught up with grading and my other responsibilities. For instance, this week I have lunch duty, which is no fun.

The classroom is an absolute mess, as is the lab area. I have ongoing labs in 3 classes, two of which need to use the lab space.

Yesterday, two other teachers and I were complaining that most of the high school students don't care if they get their homework done or not. You can give them extra time and they won't work on it. You can make it due at the end of the period, and the result is the same, they don't work on it. You may guess that homework in our school isn't graded heavily, but over half of our students have D's and F's in 2 or more classes, so obviously not doing homework has consequences. Many of these students are failing core classes like English, Government, and Math, not to mention science.

Today, the high school staff had a meeting before school to address the problem. We are absolutely clueless as to what to do. Parents are notified weekly if students are failing or have D's. When staff members talk to the students in question, the student's basically tell us they don't care. So, how to make them care. I would think with their attitude they wouldn't even be able to get a job. Our present solution is that as a group (of teachers), we will sit down individually with each student and discuss and come up with a plan of action to get out of the situation they are in. Of course, that may make things worse because as more than one student has said, "All of them teachers is out to get me." (Yes, I actually heard a student say this, poor grammar and all.)

It sounds all gloom and doom I know, but at least in Grades 10 - 12, most of our students have a horrible attitude about school. However, grades 7 - 9 generally like school, get their work done (on time), and have a very good attitude. What really upsets us as a staff is that there are a few students that are genuinely trying to do want to do well, and their classmates won't allow it to happen.

Well, on to today's happenings:

• ESCI - Started our Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rock Lab. I actually enjoy these rock labs, and for the first time in many years, the students are actually trying to figure out the differences between different types of rocks. Hopefully their positive attitude will continue the rest of the year.
• CHEM - Finished our lab we started yesterday. Yesterday we began the process of turning Aluminum (Foil) into Alum. The purpose was to try to illustrate the concept that if you know (have) a balanced formula, you can predict how many grams of a substance you will produce (in this case Alum), if you know how many grams of a substance you started with (Aluminum.) Plus, in this lab they get to play with KOH and H2(SO4)*.
• LSCI - Continuing our little microbiology lab. Yesterday, students went around the school collecting "bacteria" samples off objects. The day before they tested the effectiveness of handwashing and hand sanitizer on removing bacteria. Today they started to collect their results and write their lab reports. Just a word of warning: You may not want to touch most of the 7th grade boys' hands, but the girls' hands are much safer. (The boys' petri dishes had 10 to 50 times more bacteria than the girls' dishes.)
• PSCI - Reviewed for tomorrow's test. They did o.k. I sure hope the test goes well. I did give them an extra credit assignment. I told them I would give them even more extra credit points on the test if they could tell me how many grams of Alum can be produced from 1.4 grams of Aluminum**. (For those of you that want to try, the formula mass of Alum = 474, mass of Aluminum=27, and for every mole aluminum, you produce 1 mole alum.) Obviously, the kids complained it was too hard, but some realized that the chemistry students might know how to answer the question.
• BIO - Finished working on their crossword puzzle. The took their vocab quiz. Then started today's assignment. They are supposed to write a story illustrating the concepts in our present chapter (Bacteria and Viruses). They will get to finish it tomorrow.
• ADV BIO - Worked on their study guide for Friday's Test. The test was supposed to be tomorrow, but the school counselor is taking all the juniors out of class in the afternoon to go over their ASVAB scores.

* the 2 and 4 should be subscripts. KOH = Potassium Hydroxide, H2SO4 = Sulfuric Acid
** You should produce 24.6 grams Alum from 1.4 grams Aluminum.

Why I haven't blogged recently

So, these past few weeks have been rather busy. School, as usual, has kept me busy. But with the addition of the Holiday Season now upon us, it seems as if I'm more busy than usual.

The Thanksgiving Weekend was very nice. My wife and I (along with the pooch), drove to my parents house on the Canadian Border. Yup, we spent Thanksgiving 1/4 of a mile away from Canada. How exciting. I did make it into Canada once. Yup, dad and I drove to Duty Free for a flat of beer.

Thanksgiving was great, with my sister and her family showing up. Got to watch a little football, eat a little food, and just relax. Friday was more relaxing, and Saturday we drove back home. The bummer was though that I started to get sick on Friday, and got worse on Saturday. Those darn students, givin' me some nasty head cold. Bummer #2, I think I gave my wife whatever I had, so now she's not feeling as well.

With Thanksgiving done, we've started to put up Christmas decorations. Sunday, I put a few lights up on the house (Boy, it sure is easier when you have a ladder to help), along with some lights on our scrawny bush outside. I must agree with my wife, the bush needs more lights. Maybe I'll get a little adventurous and put some up on the roof as well.

Inside more Christmas Cheer. The tree is up, but not yet decorated. This year, in order to save room, I only put up 1/3 of the tree. Yup, that's right folks, I only put up the front side of the tree. That way it takes up less room in living room, meaning more room for the dog and cat to chase one another. My wife has also been busy putting out other small decorations and adding other small touches. Next on my list (other than help decorating the tree), is to start working on that X-mas letter.

In between work, travel, decorating, walking the dog, I've been keeping myself busy with TV and books. Presently I'm 1/3 of the way through A Feast for Crows and absolutely loving it. As for TV, of course we watch the Biggest Loser and Amazing Race. The Biggest Loser finale was great, albeit maybe a little to long. My favorite, Matt, won, which was really neat. Boy, some of those contestants looked really good. I hardly recognized most of them.

I told you so, The Amazing Race made their way to Yellowstone Nat'l Park and Old Faithful. Next week, it looks like they will be a Reservation. My question, if they're in Yellowstone, and the crew stayed in Billings, which reservation do you think they went to? If they stayed near the Interstate, maybe the Crow, buy if they came up through Cody, maybe they went to the Northern Chyanne. I can't wait until next week.

Something not work related

Well, I've just finished posting to my work blog. I am quite upset. To understand why I'm upset, please read my latest post on that blog.

So, to get my mind off work, I've decided to post about anything other than work.

To start with, my X-mas wish list:

1. I can't tell you, otherwise Santa won't give it to me.

Next, my take on the Timberwolves:

• KG is still the man.
• The T-wolves are not fielding a competitive team which translates into a long season. However, The T-wolf season will be more interesting to watch than the present Vikings season.
• Flip Saunders is awesome. To bad he now coaches for the Pistons. Did you hear, the Pistons haven't lost a game yet.
• Did I mention KG? He sure is good.

Wine:

• Yes, I do like a good glass of wine. These days I'm partial to a good Australian Shiraz.

TV Shows:

• Boy, Dr. Jeff sure looked good last night. To bad he was not "The Biggest Loser". I know giving him the boot was a strategic move, but it would have been nice if he could have made it another week.
• The Biggest Loser had better stop zooming in on Matt when he gives his "eviction" speeches. He makes me tear up every time. I know he is emotional, but please, I don't need to cry with him.
• Where was my Amazing Race last night?! CMA's or Amazing Race? Really, it's no choice. Gimme my Race.
• So how long do you think Stephanie will last on Survivor? I don't think she's going to make it many more weeks. At least Bobby John made it to the Jury this time.
• So, who wants Randall to win the Apprentice? I know I do. I think he may be the best contestant remaining. At least Marcus is gone. I am enjoying these board room massacres.
• Does anyone care about The Apprentice: Martha Stewart? I don't. But I am enjoying some of the drama between the contestants. Martha herself is just plain boring.
• My favorite new show is still "How I Met Your Mother."
  
• Which Law and Order is the best one? I just can't decide. I really like CI, but SVU really gets my attention every Tuesday. And what about the original. I would probably lean toward the original, just because I really like the "Order" side of Law and Order.
• Is there any good show on Friday Night?
  

Book Tapes:

• Right now I'm listening to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. So far, I've really been enjoying it. Granted, I'm only 45 minutes in, but those 45 minutes have been darn good. After I listen to the next 32 hours, I will let you know what I thought of the whole book. The book has been described as a "Harry Potter for adults".

Speaking of Harry Potter:

• How many of you are going to try to see the latest movie this weekend? I think my wife and I may try to see it. It will probably be an anniversary present of sorts. (You see, it was about this time we had our second date/official first date.) Our first official first date was on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I think we may even be going to the same restaurant that we went to the first time.

Books:

• I'm about 1/6th of the way through George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows. Boy is it sure good. To bad I have to go to work everyday, otherwise I'd be at home reading it right now.

Well, I probably should get back to work. I must figure out what I'm going to do with a few students.

A little respect please

O.k., so I'm fuming mad right now. It seems as if a few of our students do not respect other cultures and people.

So, the last few days, a few of our junior boys have taken to imitating the manner in which Native American people speak. While doing this, they will insert comments about their modes of transportation, activities, and anything else they associate with Native Americans. Of course, none of these additional comments are positive. The students in question probably think they are being cute, but instead they are just plain offensive.

(Yes, there are many problems on our reservations. Yes, some Native American people speak differently. But harassment is harassment. And I am aware that the line between harassment and fun is not always clear.)

I will admit, I may be overly sensitive about this particular issue. Growing up on a reservation, I was surrounded by not only all the problems on the reservation, but by all the exceptional Native Americans trying to make a difference in their lives and community. It is very easy to see the problems on reservations, but there are many people trying to make things better.

O.k., so the behavior of the junior boys does anger me, but today they have gone one step further. Today, during lunch, that have started incorporating Spanish names into their little dialogues. And yes, my name was included. Were they talking about be, probably not. My first name is a very common Spanish name. Suffice it to say, none of it was spoken in a positive manner.

BUT, the straw that broke the camel's back was when they referred to my classroom. You see, they said they were going to (insert Spanish name here)'s class. Not to the science room, not to Mr. (insert last name here)'s room. No, they used my first name.

I know sometimes in small towns, kids know the adults by their first names. I have no problem with them accidentally using them. Often, they correct themselves right after using your first name. But these students had no intention of correcting themselves. Prior to their use of my first name in reference to me, they had used the name in a derogatory manner about a more famous individual that shares my first name. So obviously I am livid.

Well, I won't have these students for another 1 1/2 hours. But when they show up, I believe we will be having a little talk about respect. The problem is, I don't know how I'm going to "talk" to the students without become very angry and upset. I will have to think on it.

Hey look, it's us!!

Yup, that's right folks, my wife and I have been turned into South Park characters. Thanks to grrrbear for point this site out on his blog. As grrrbear warns though, it can be a bit tricky saving the image you create.

Now, if the developers of the site can only figure out what Santana and Wulfgar would look like as South Park Characters.

Books: A Feast for Crows; Science; Footprints

Well, I got my book yesterday! Boy, I sure wanted to start reading it. I mean, it has been 5 years since there has been a new book in the series. Sadly, I was too tired to do much more than read the first page. Hopefully, this weekend I will get to start the book. I do want to finish the book I'm currently reading though, and I might take it to work and read it there.

The book I'm reading IS a science book, so I guess it would be o.k. to take it and read at work. So, the book might be a bit political. I mean, how can it not be with a title like The Republican War on Science. It is a very interesting book on the politization of science, and how both Democrats and Republicans have abused science for their own needs. Not surprisingly, Republicans have abused science more so than Democrats.

What has surprised me so far has been that Bush Sr. actually did not abuse science like that of his predecessor or his son. In the eyes of the author, Bush Sr. might actually be a champion of science. His son has however cannot be considered a champion of science. In fact, more than any other administration, the Bush Administration has repeatedly and continually abused science, distorting to achieve his own goals. Of course, this is made easier because many in the general public do not understand how science works.

I am in the middle of another book that will have to be put on the back burner until I'm done with both my science book and of course, A Feast for Crows. The book, The Footprints of God, was given to my by my parents after my grandmother and my parents read it. So far, it has been a fun book to read. But sadly, it will now have to wait until I'm done with my other books.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

On a different note, I'm extremely frustrated with current Minnesota teams playing. The Vikings are playing pee-wee football, and really don't stand a chance doing well against real teams. (Real teams being any team not in the NFC north.) Brad Johnson is playing with the Vikes again, he will surely make this season a little better. I remember when he first came on the scene, replacing Warren Moon I think? Now he's back replacing Culpepper, who is out for the season. The only problem I see is that because of Daunte's injury, Mike Tice might be back for another year. I can just see it, those in charge would feel that Tice failed not because he is a crappy coach, but because he didn't have his star. Hopefully they don't forget that we sucked this year even when Daunte was on the field.

As for the Timberwolves, so far, I'm not impressed. Sure, they beat crappy teams, but do they really have a chance against teams like San Antonio, Miami, Detroit, or the Pacers. I don't think so. I don't know how many more seasons KG can play on mediocre teams.

I haven't been following hockey, but the Wild has not been my team. My team, the Flames, probably won't even make it to playoffs, but I have to root for them. Not only can they not compete with the rich American teams, but shouldn't the winner of the Stanley Cup be either from Canada or from some Northern State.

Enough ranting, I can't wait to get home and read my book(s).

Testing. 1,2,3, testing

Well, my students are taking a test, so I thought it might be a good time to post some to this blog.

I just kicked a student out of lab. Actually, I removed him from lab last period, during chemistry lab. The group of students in chemistry tend to get a bit rowdy, so before lab, I warned them that ANY messing around, no matter how minor, will get them removed from lab. The lab is pretty simple, but requires students to burn magnesium metal over a laboratory burner. Anyway, 35 minutes into lab, the student in question decides he will start making saliva bubbles and project them onto the lab bench, his lab partner, or any other object within view. Well, needless to say, he was removed.

I hate to second guess myself, but I believe I was right in my actions. The saliva bubbles were not large, but essentially I view it as spitting. Definitely gross. Well, he claims other students were doing the same (which I don't believe), and if that was the case, I caught HIM red-handed. After being removed, he pouted, says he wants to move to another school, etc.

Earlier in the year, I removed him from lab for "punching" another student in lab. I put "punching" in quotes, because they were attempting to see who could withstand the most pain. (I should say, both involved were removed, not just the one.) As they were punching each other, they would occasionally fall backwards, or brace themselves on the lab bench, a lab bench with beakers on hotplates, and students trying to filter solutions.

Most of the students did not finish lab, so I have to determine if I let him back in. His partner is very capable of finishing the lab by himself. I will have to think on it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm extremely tired. Tuesday, as I mentioned in my previous post, was Parent/Teacher conferences. It was supposed to run from 4 to 7 pm. By 7:45, my last set of parents had left my room. So, my prediction of a 14 hour day was correct (if you include the 2 hours of commuting.) Because it ran long though, I didn't get home until close to 9 pm, where I then had to eat something really quick, and then get to bed, so I could be at work by 7:40 the next day. As a result, I have not really felt up to par these last two days.

The good part about Parent/Teacher conferences is that I saw well over twenty sets of parents, representing about 35 of my students. Most of the meetings went very well, there was one meeting, that I did not think went as well as all others. My question though is this, why is it that the parents that show up for Parent/Teacher conferences are the parents of the good students? I saw very few parents of students having problems. However I did see a few, which is quite an improvement over past years.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I might have to stay late tonight. I have been recruited to help some of the BPA (Business Professionals of America) students on their projects for the upcoming regional competition. Specifically, I'm supposed to help the students that designing web sites. It seems that I'm the only staff member that has used any sort of web publishing software, in particular, FrontPage 2003. I took a class on it this summer, so hopefully I can remember the basics of the program. I must say, using Frontpage 2003 is much easier than coding your website by hand (which I have done before, and is not much fun.) I just have to remember to teach the students about tables. I know many of them want to put all sorts of glitz in their website, but I'm going to try to get them to do the basics. Hopefully though, I won't be too late getting home tonight, as my wife also has a meeting tonight and will definitely be getting home late.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's happenings:

• ESCI: Finished our Igneous Rock Identification Lab. Most of the students are now starting to figure out the difference between intrusive and extrusive rocks!
• CHEM: Lab. Turning magnesium metal into magnesium oxide. The lab walks them through the procedure, and then how to determine the empirical formula from the data.
• LSCI: Test over classification, scientific names, biogenesis, and spontaneous generation. I think they will do pretty well.
• PSCI: Test over Mechanical energy, thermal energy, temperature, and specific heat.
• BIO: They have a vocabulary quiz, and then will start to construct a phylogenic tree out of random shapes.
• ADV BIO: Just working on chapter 6 vocabulary. The chapter is about muscles cells, their structures and how they function.

Hopefully I will have time to post tomorrow. I just hope the rest of the day is pretty easy.

It's on its way!!

They shipped my books I ordered. Yup, A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin is on its way!!!!!! I can't wait. It has been too long since a new book has come out. Yippee!!!!!!!! Hopefully, I'll have it before Wednesday. Although, I do want to finish my current book, before I start this one.

Start of a new week

I really should be grading papers right now, instead of blogging, but I could use the break.

After a disappointing weekend for both athletics squads (both lost in their respective playoffs), the students came back, energized, but not at all focused. Trying to get them to stay on task today was incredibly difficult, except for biology class (more on that later.) Of course, the fact that the boiler is on, and my room is very warm, does not help. Very few high school students got their work done today, and I'm quite tired of reminding them to get back on task.

Biology class was a bit different though. Most worked through the period, without interruption. Well, I handed back the test they took on Thursday. Simply put, the tests were absolutely horrible. So today, we corrected the test, and of course, being the meanie that I am, made the corrections due at the end of the period. That made for an extremely quite, and productive period.

Not much on the horizon as far as class work. I can't wait until Thursday. On Thursday, the chemistry class will be preparing Magnesium Oxide. It's quite fun, and demonstrates how to use the concepts (moles, molarity, deriving empirical formulas, etc.) we have been learning this chapter well. I hope the students enjoy it.

Today in Science Class

• ESCI - Finished talking about Igneous Rocks, how to classify them, Igneous Rock structures, and volcanoes.
• CHEM - Hydrates. Learned how to determine how many water molecules "adhere" to each formula unit if given the amount of each compound.
• LSCI - Worked on a study guide to review the concepts of the chapter
• PSCI - Started a review worksheet.
• BIO - As mentioned above, they corrected their tests today.
• ADV BIO - Review work for Thursday's test on the skeletal system, ossification, and joints.

Tomorrow is Parent/Teacher conferences, So I probably, will not be blogging. It will be a late night, as I have to remain at school until 7 pm. So it looks like it will almost be a 12 hour day, closer to 14 if you count the commute.

Been to busy to post

I'm sure you have noticed that I haven't posted anything new in awhile.

Last week was the end of the quarter. And this week with grades due and a few activities that required quite a bit of prep, I haven't had much free time to add any new posts. Hopefully that will change after the end of this week.

Do not fret, I haven't died, nor run off. Just been to darn busy.

I'm Back, I think

If you haven't noticed, the posts have been sparse the last two weeks. Well, there is a very good explanation for this. Last week was the final week of the first quarter at school, so I was busy trying to get caught up with work (both my and students' work). Well, this week, grades were due on Wednesday, so obviously, I spent my few spare minutes at work doing grades, rather than posting to this blog. Well, grades are in, all of last quarter's work is done, so now I may have more time to blog.

Just a few random thoughts

Last Friday, my wife and I went to the opera at the Alberta Bair Theatre. The opera, La Traviata, was quite fascinating. We sat in the front row. My favorite part was examining things like the set, the costumes, the orchestra, etc. I also enjoyed trying to figure out what the heck was being sung. I was able to figure out a few of those Italian words, but not enough. The nice thing about the Rimrock Opera Theatre is that for those newbies they have a basic translation projected above the stage. Granted, it was difficult for my wife and I to see the projection at times, but it was very useful.

Well, our x-mas shopping is almost complete. We have just a few small gifts to get for some family members and then we will be done. Boy does it feel nice to be almost done. On the other hand, I have just started shopping for my wife's presents. My only problem is trying to find hiding spots for them so she won't find them. Presently, the best hiding spot is at school.

Lastly, I am just giddy with anticipation about the upcoming 4th novel of A Song of Ice and Fire, A Feast for Crows. Hopefully, my copy will arrive shortly after next Tuesday. I'm almost done listening to the audio book version. I've been listening to it because it has been 5 years since the last book came out. I've heard many good things about the book. Problem is, I frequent a few posting boards, and well, all the topics have spoilers about the book. Those darn brits (and those Americans that couldn't wait for the U.S. version)! They got the book first, and they are just tempting me to read the spoilers to ruin my enjoyment when I do get my hands on the book. Hopefully, I will remain busy enough that I won't have time to view those spoiler topics. Hopefully.

Back from Chico

Well, my wife and I made it back from Chico Hot Springs late Saturday night. The conference ended on Friday, but we decided to stay an extra night, and go into Bozeman on Saturday.

I got plenty of work done on Thursday, grading all but one set of papers (a set of 9th grade lab reports, ick!). Then on Friday, I relaxed by reading some, and watching special features of Spidy 2 and Batman Begins. I can't believe how much I like these superhero movies.

Thursday night, my wife and I had dinner with many of her school psychologist friends. Although I only knew 1 of her friends, it was a very pleasant evening. The one friend that I did know was our Matron of Honor at our wedding, and after dinner, my wife and I showed her many wedding pictures that she hadn't seen yet. We also through in a few pictures of Santana.

Friday, we ate in Livingston, at a superb Steak and Rib House. After dinner, my wife and I tried to find the small apartment she used to live in. Although it had been a few years, she successfully guided me to her old abode.

Saturday, we did go into Bozeman. Our primary stop was the Museum of the Rockies, which my wife had not been to before. I always love going here, but I think that she loved it as well. We did some shopping in Bozeman before we headed home.

Got home, and unpacked, cleaned a bit, and played with the cat. Boy, he sure was talkative. I don't think he kept quiet until the dog showed up.

Picked up the dog from the doggie hotel on Sunday, and boy was he glad to see us. Although, after about 3 hours at home, he kept on wandering down to the bedroom, where we would find him in his bed. Apparently, visiting the doggie hotel makes you tired.

On a separate note, I'm sure am eagerly awaiting the 4th novel in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. The novel, A Feast for Crows, has been 5 years in the making. The previous book, A Storm of Swords, came out in October of 2000, and now 5 years later, the next book came out. Part of me wishes I would have ordered the book from Amazon.co.uk, but I really didn't want to pay the extra shipping. The only draw back to the new book is that they changed the cover art. Oh, some people are whining to that their favorite characters won't be seen until A Dance with Dragons, book #5. I for one, am glad the book is coming out. For me, this is perhaps the best Fantasy series ever.

Pleasantly warm outside, bitter cold inside

I can't believe it. The long weekend is over. I had a great relaxing time at Chico Hot Springs, and would surely go again in the future. Although I did not attend any conferences, I believe that my wife's conference was useful. (You'll have to ask her though.)

It was a little difficult trying to get back into the swing of things today. First off, I really didn't want to get up and come to work. Not to worry though, I did make it to work 10 minutes early, which is my usual average these days.

However, when I got to work, I was in for a rude awakening. I guess someone heard me complain about my room being to hot. So today, when I stepped in the room, it was 55 degrees. By the time lunch arrived, the room temperature had risen 8 degrees to 63. After lunch, I broke down, and got the space heater out of the storage room and turned it on. Granted, I'm warm, but the space heater is only large enough to heat a small portion of the room, so the students weren't warmed much.

The reason I had to get it out after lunch, is the fact that I have lunch duty this week. I don't know of one teacher that likes having lunch duty. The nice thing today (and hopefully the rest of the week), was the weather. On nice days, most of the students go outside after lunch, meaning the hallway isn't nearly that crowded. Although I have more area to cover when the students are outside, it is easier to see the students when they are getting into trouble. However, because they are more spaced out, they don't get into as much trouble. I did confiscate a long, cloth key chain that one student was using to hit other students. I really did want to keep it because it was a Timberwolves key chain. To bad the student picked it up after school.

I was thinking I should take a day off this week, and looking at my schedule Wednesday would be the perfect day. No labs planned (that would be Thursday and Friday), no real notes to go over, and primarily review work. Sounds perfect, right? Well, turns out that it is picture day. Normally, I would still consider it a perfect day to take off. The last two years however, I can't. Because I'm the National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society Advisor, I'm required to be in the picture.

Hopefully tomorrow will be less crazy than today. Today's madness:

• ESCI - Most students finished up their labs. A few students are only half through, due to numerous bouts of gossiping.
• CHEM - Well, turns out only 7 of the 16 students did their work from last week. All but three finished this period. Problem is, they have another assignment due tomorrow. Now, if they were really struggling with the material, and actually attempting to do it, I might give them extra time. However, the students that were behind, spent the entire period discussing nothing. Even when told late assignments would not be accepted, they still decided to talk.
• LSCI - of my class of 16, only 10 were in class today. Looks like I'm going to have to push back their test another day.
• PSCI - Just did some vocabulary, and went over last Wednesday's test. Pretty mellow.
• BIO - I can't believe it! Some of the students actually did their homework during the long weekend. Other's actually used their morning study hall to complete the work. Only 1/3 of the class or so wasn't done when class started, and of those 1/2 finished during class. Wow. I'm guessing they must have used up all their energy this weekend though, because very few work hard on today's assignment.
• ADV BIO - Notes on bones and their structures. Personally, I like this chapter because it's very easy to relate these structures to the students, especially if they are into athletics. Seems like athletes really want to know about their muscles and bones.

'Til tomorrow.

Have a good week(end)!!!!!

Really quick post.

Last Night, Wulfgar's Stepmom and myself ran errands last night. We didn't get back until near 9:30. I did purchase Batman Begins though and can't wait to watch it, again!

We missed both Biggest Loser and the Amazing Race last night, so if anyone has any details, please let us know. We really would like to know before next week's episodes.

Well, we are off to Chico Hot Springs tonight for Teachers Conferences. I don't have to go, so pretty much all I'll be doing is getting caught up on grading (and relaxing of course.)

No new posts until next week (either Monday or Tuesday.)

Have a good week(end) everyone.

Last Day of the Week!!

Wouldn't you know it, they changed the schedule for the Pre-ACT again. So today it was supposed be periods 3, 4, & 5, but for some odd reason, they decided to make it periods 2, 4, & 5. That means, on this short week, I only had Chemistry once (yesterday). Now, I won't see them until next Monday, which means they will have had six days off. The students were just starting to understand how to write chemical formulas and name compounds, but now I can guarantee you that when Monday comes, only a few will remember how to do things. And I wonder why I'm always behind at the end of the year. Also, due to the Pre-ACT and volleyball games, I've only had Advanced Biology once this week as well (today). At least we finished a chapter last week, so the students haven't missed much, but it still puts us behind.

Now, I just can't wait until school ends today because I'm off to Teacher's Convention. Actually, because I took classes this summer, our school districts policy is that attending MEA-MFT conferences is optional. So, I have optioned not to go. Instead, I'm going to my wife's conferences. Her organization's conferences are at Chico Hot Springs. So, as my wife is getting learned in RTI, I will be relaxing in one of the hot springs there.

Today in the Classroom:

• ESCI - More minerals to identify. Students worked very well today.
• CHEM - No chem today.
• LSCI - Played bingo to review vocabulary terms. Then took a quiz over elements and their symbols and vocabulary terms.
• PSCI - Had a test. After everyone finished, some of the girls decided they would write practice problems on the board and solve them.
• BIO - Worked on making flash cards for cell organelles.
• ADV BIO - Went over the major bones of the human body. Handed out a coloring working sheet on bones.

Well, next post won't be until next Monday, October 24th. Have a good weekend everyone!

Busy Tuesday

Wow, only 1 day left this week.

Tuesday proved to be an interesting, and somewhat productive day.

As for the interesting, due to poor planning, Pre-ACT students had their scheduled changed again. Initially (as of a week ago) they were only supposed to miss periods 5 - 8. Yesterday, it was announced that they will be missing periods 4 - 7 (and maybe some of 8th). Today, the counselor walked in and said it had changed again. So today, they missed periods 3 - 6 (and some of 7th). Tomorrow's schedule has already changed once, and I'm expecting it will change again. You know, it is very difficult to make plans for a class, when you don't know if you're going to have them or not.

Productive - I did get more grading done. Now, I'm still behind, but caught up with everything from last Thursday. The papers left to grade are from before last Thursday. Also, the computer guy showed up and got me the proper cable to hook up my classroom printer. I knew that either the printer cable was faulty, or that it was a one-way cable. Well, it turns out it WAS a one way cable and I needed a bi-directional cable. After that, the computer guy got me set up for web hosting on our school server. Very cool, and important, seeing as how I am going to be helping Business Professionals of America (BPA). It seems as there are several pairs of BPA students that want to do a project on web site design. Well, I did talk a class this summer on this exact topic. Also, I'm the only staff member that has any experience/expertise on the matter. Our business teacher does know some things, but I definitely have more experience.

Well, one more day, and then off for Teacher's Convention.

What happened today:

• ESCI - Vocabulary quiz. After the quiz, they started their 3 day lab on mineral identification. I have about 20 different minerals that I set out and they have to record the various properties of each mineral. Properties include hardness, streak, cleavage/fracture, specific gravity, color, and unique characteristics. Eventually, they should be able to name each mineral by its characteristics.
• CHEM - Lab on chemical formulas and names. It wasn't a real lab, however, they did have to use manipulatives to figure out formulas. Really helpful for those having trouble understanding the material. It was probably a waste of time for those few that really understand the material though.
• LSCI - Played games reviewing for tomorrows element/symbol/vocabulary quiz. Tomorrow we start by playing bingo to review the vocabulary.
• PSCI - Went over tomorrow's test. Looks like they know the material pretty well.
• BIO - Went over some cell organelles and their functions. Class pretty much slept through it.
• ADV BIO - Only one student was here. So, nothing new got assigned.

Only 3 days of school this week

Well, homecoming week didn't kill me. Friday was quite an experience. The students (grades 7 to 12) built floats all morning. The floats were actually pretty good, considering that the school hasn't done a homecoming parade for at least 20 years or so. The only problem with the morning activities seemed to be when everyone had finished their floats. The student council had allotted the entire morning to build each float. However, the students really only needed a couple of hours. After they had finished their floats, mass chaos ensued. As the chaos started, it seemed to me that every teacher decided to disappear (o.k., so there were teachers present). As a result, I ended up doing much of the "baby sitting". Not much fun yelling at kids all morning.

The parade was very nice, and quite a bit longer than some anticipated. Of course the seniors won the float competition, and the 5th grade class won the spirit competition.

Well, today most kids were tired, but worked pretty hard. My only complaint, football. It has been in the announcements for a week that the bus for the football game leaves at 3 pm today. Well, at 2:30 I had students check into class and then say they needed to leave for the football game. Well of course, I get a little upset with the students, because they are not leaving for another 1/2 hour. Well, looks like I'm wrong. The football coach decided that his players needed to check out at 2:30. This is not the first time this has happened this year. Frequently, this year, the announcements have said one time and the coach changed his mind. It is very difficult to plan when the coach is not consistent on the times he needs his students dismissed. (Is this making any sense?)

Well, today's happenings:

• ESCI - Finished notes. Got to talk about Yogo Saphires, rubies, and other gems.
• CHEM - Was only supposed to have 1 student today, but ended up with 3. Still not enough to do anything with. Just a study hall today.
• LSCI - Did a bit of book work/review work today after the long(?) weekend. Told the students about this week's plan, including retaking the quiz they had last week.
• PSCI - Started gearing up for Wednesday's test.
• BIO - Started a new chapter. Chapter 5 - Cell structure and function. Yup, very exciting. The kids freaked out when I said we were doing vocab today. Apparently someone looked at the list of vocabulary in the book and couldn't fathom doing 53 vocabulary terms by tomorrow. Well, neither could I, they only had to do half today. Next week they will get the other half.
• ADV BIO - Only 1 out 3 students here. Can't really do much when the class isn't here.

Tomorrow should be just as hard as today. Hopefully I can get some more grading done. I did manage to get the remaining quizzes and tests graded today. Only 2 more days until Teachers Convention (which for me will be at Chico Hot Springs!!!!)

Nice Weather, Baseball, and no money

It has been unusually nice the last few days with temperatures up in the mid-70's. Very nice. Because of the nice weather, I was able to do a few things around the yard, like deal with all the darn leaves. Also, I was able to clean the air conditioner and several other things around the yard. The weather is supposed to remain pleasant the rest of the week, with Thursday and Friday cooling off just a bit.

I really don't know what my wife and I are going to do after the World Series. Any of our available free time seems to be spent watching and talking about baseball. Perhaps, if football were any better (let's not even start with discussing that mess), we would switch gears when the baseball season ended. But until then, lets just enjoy the NLCS and World Series.

We are not big NL fans, and we really only root for the White Sox when the play against the Yankees. However, both of us have been really enjoying the NLCS. Both of us are actively rooting for the Astros to make it to their first World Series. Last night, the White Sox made it into the World Series. It will be their first trip to this big dance since like 1959 or so. Should it be the Astros vs. the White Sox, I know both my wife and I will be root for the Astros. However, both of us would not be extremely disappointed if the White Sox do win the World Series. (However, if they do win, the Cubs MUST absolutely win it next year, that way we can do away with ALL these curses running around.)

Well, we were supposed to do our monthly shopping this past Saturday. The problem was though, my pay check was never deposited, so no money for us. boo hoo. When I got to school today, I was informed that anybody that had their pay check directly deposited into their accounts didn't get paid. (My wife and I were under the assumption all weekend that the bank was at fault.) So, hopefully today there will be money in the account. The nice thing about the mix up though, if people did overdraft their accounts under the assumption they had money in it, the school will reimburse people for any overdraft fees .

One more day left

Well today is super hero day. I wore one of my Spiderman ties. Lots of great costumes today. In fact, one student came as Might Mouse.

Its still extremely hot in my classroom. Hopefully it will cool down. Although, I'm betting that I won't have a cool room until May now.

I wasn't able to post yesterday because I had an IEP meeting. That wasn't much fun because the parents showed up 20 minutes late.

Well yesterday was a pretty easy day, with 2 classes at a presentation in another town, and one class had less than 1/2 the students.

Yesterday's run down:

• ESCI - Went over the previous day's test and started the new chapter, Minerals.
• Chem - less than 1/2 the students present (other 1/2 was taking the PSAT.) Reviewed how to write formulas and name compounds.
• LSCI - No LSCI today.
• PSCI - No PSCI today.
• Biology - they finished working on their study guide for their test, which they will be able to use on the test.
• Adv. Bio - Review work. It was too hot to be in the room, so we worked outside.

Today's happenings:

• ESCI - Started discussing minerals. Most were pretty involved in the discussion/notes.
• Chem - took a quiz on naming compounds and writing chemical formulas. Looks like we will be taking it again next week.
• LSCI - Finished notes. Took a quiz on vocabulary terms and elements and their symbols. Just like chem, they will probably take the quiz next week.
• PSCI - Finished up their gravity labs. Had the students working in MS Excel to graph their data. Only a few had ever done a graph on Excel. Those that didn't know how, found it pretty easy to work with.
• Bio - They had a test. After the test, most actually found something else to work on. For once this week, I didn't have to yell at them for getting back to work or for finding something productive to work on.
• Adv Bio - They had a test too, albeit a pretty simple one. Lowest score was a B-. Way To Go Adv. Bio!

Tomorrow is homecoming. I'm really not looking forward to it at all. We are building floats all morning. Then after lunch we will be having the parade. After the parade is the pep rally. After the pep rally is clean up. Hopefully the day goes by without too many problems.

I AM SO PUTTING THIS IN MY BLOG - How I met your mother during the Amazing Race

I was really worried there for a second, but the LA Angels (it should still be Anaheim Angels) managed to beat those Yankees, and after a Game 1 win against the ChiSox, they might be on their way to winning another World Series.

Other than getting home late from work these days, not much is going on. Two days ago, the shower decided that we needed less water pressure during our bathing experience, and hopefully today, I will have fixed it. (O.k., so it's fixed now, but I didn't have any teflon/plumber's tape, so there is a bit of leakage.) If the leaking doesn't stop, I may have to replace the shower head.

Presently, at our house, there is one NEW TV show that we absolutely love. Yup, you guessed it, it's "How I met your mother." It's a very interesting premise of a dad, telling stories to his two teenage children, about how he met their mother. Funny thing is, after several episodes, he hasn't met her yet. O.k., sounds lame right, well it very well could have been, except for one thing, Neil Patrick Harris. Yup, that's right, Doogie Howser is in the show. And man is he funny. He plays one of those guys we all know (and yes, love.) The guy that really doesn't want or know how to have a committed relationship. Alyson Hannigan (of Buffy and American Pie) is in the show, and plays a very similar role to BtVS and AP. But really for me, it's Neil Patrick Harris that steals the show. So, SUIT UP!

Also, there has been much discussion at our house about the current season of the Amazing Race. I don't really have any one team I'm root for, but their are a few I really don't like. (Actually, not so much the teams, but some of those punk kids the parents have brought along.) It looks like most of the race will be primarily in the USA. If they do get out of the country, I wonder where it will be to. Seeing as how it is mostly in the USA, wouldn't it be neat if they went to Glacier National Park or Yellowstone National Park. I think anything to show off Montana would be very cool.

Retro Day

Day 2 of Homecoming week, and today is/was Retro Day (a.k.a., dress from your favorite decade.) So, obviously, I dressed from the 1980's. Yup, went as one of my favorite tv characters. That's right, Alex P. Keaton. (Which means, I didn't have to change a thing about my wardrobe.)

As for today, it was hot. The room progressively got hotter as the day went along. At noon it was 80 degrees, and now it is 87 degrees. It is very uncomfortable for the kids to work in the room when it is this hot.

I'm going to wrap this up quick, as I'm off to watch a junior high volleyball match. I haven't watched one all year, and seeing as how I coached these girls last year, I'm curious as to how they are progressing as players. I can't wait to see them play!

Run down for today:

• ESCI - Took a test. Grades were consistently good, but some of the better students didn't do so well.
• Chem - Worked on more problems with naming compounds and writing chemical formulas. Graded yesterday's assignment, overall it went well, but there are some problems that will need to be addressed on Thursday. (I won't have 90% of them tomorrow, PSAT testing.)
• LSCI - More notes/discussion. It is taking longer than I anticipated, but the class is very lively with discussion.
• PSCI - Worked on a lab. Yup, dropping balls, then timing how long it takes to fall. They will be graphing the data so hopefully they can "see" the ball accelerate. They aren't quite at the level yet to "calculate" the acceleration due to gravity.
• BIO - Gave them the exact same quiz as last week. Overall, the vocabulary scores went up, but the concept portion just stank. Over half the students didn't even bother to answer the questions. I even told them up front that it would be the exact same quiz. It shows me that they didn't even bother looking at the quiz when it was handed back to them last week.
• ADV BIO - Just finishing up summarizing the extremely short chapter. Out of my 3 students, 2 were done 20 minutes into class today. The third, after 2 whole periods, had managed to summarize the first 3 paragraphs. And he wonders why I'm upset with him.

Tomorrow should be an easy day. I'll pretty much have off 2nd, 3rd, and 4th period, as those students are doing other activities.

Baseball

Really quick

Yesterday's Houston/Atlanta game may have been the best baseball game in history.

Let's hope the Angels win today, if not, I will be forced to be a White Sox fan (which may just kill me.)

It was nice not hearing about a horrible Vikings loss this weekend. Of course, they didn't play this weeked, which helps.

Homecoming Week Begins

Yes, it is the beginning of homecoming week here at school. To make matters worse, if our football team wins its game this week, we will be the conference champions outright. Here's why it gets worse:

1. Of course, very little education will be done this week (especially toward the end), because most students are more concerned about what they will wear, or how badly they will beat their opponents this week.
2. To make matters worse, the school is basically taking Friday "off". Yup, that's right, no real school. Oh sure the students will be in school, but the whole morning is scheduled as "float building". Then lunch. Then the homecoming parade. After the parade, there will be a pep rally. After the pep rally, school is dismissed.
3. During our weekly meeting with the students, we told the students that we expected them to work hard this week, have fun with the homecoming activities, and show school spirit. After that announcement, the Head Football Coach, announced to the teachers (and the students, because they were present) that football players probably won't participate much this week, "Because they have to maintain their concentration". Granted, they do have to concentrate, but by announcing this to the teachers (and the students), didn't he just guarantee that the football players aren't going to do a darn thing this week. (I can just hear it, I'm not working because I'm concentrating on the game, and I'm saving all my energy for the game.)

As you can tell, I'm a big fan of the homecoming activities. (Actually, I do see some point to them, but often it is overblown. To much fun and not enough learning.)

I'm not very happy with Head Coach's announcement. (To top it off, he never seems to put any information in the daily bulletin/announcements. Next thing I know, kids are being dismissed from class for one of his activities.)

Only other important thing today, I ordered my desk calendar for next year. Yippee!!!!
(And no, I did not get much grading done today, which means I'm even more behind. Crap!)

Run down for the day:

• ESCI - Reviewed for tomorrow's test. I thought they would do o.k., but after the review session (where I give them actual questions from the test), I'm not so sure. I gave them all but 2 questions today, and we probably only got half of them correct.
• Chem - Worked on some problems with naming compounds. Most of the students seem to understand. Tomorrow we work on the second half of the problems, writing chemical formulas.
• LSCI - Continued with notes. 10 minutes into notes, my overhead projector died, again! Stupid projector is really ticking me off. (I did fix it later.) Notes when really slow, but we had a nice class discussion as we went.
• PSCI - Review work. Sadly, I have the feeling in this class that I'm not working as hard with these students as I should be. Although it is toward the end of the chapter, which means I'm having the students do more review work.
• BIO - Review work. Tomorrow I give them a quiz. The same quiz in fact that I gave last week. Let's hope they do better. (I have even told them it is the same quiz.)
• Study Hall - I have several students that do not believe they need to study in class. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem, because in the past, students like this, just slept, or read comics. However, these students insist on disrupting the whole class. (And yes, some of the students ARE trying to get their homework done.)
• Adv. Bio - Students spent the day reading/summarizing the new chapter. It's pretty much a preview of what we will be studying the rest of the year, so I don't put much effort into drilling the material into their brains. Started the chapter today. Will be done with the chapter Thursday.

Hmmm... Must have turned my brain off

Well, its the weekend finally. Plans for the weekend include cleaning the house, relaxing a bit, doing some yard work, and catching up on all my grading I have to do. But...

Whoops, I accidentally left all my homework at school. (And yes, I do have A LOT of grading to do.) I was pretty tired when I left, so naturally I forgot the homework. But, I did remember to bring my glasses home (which I had left at school last weekend.)

On another front, I purchased tickets for the opera on October 28 at the Alberta Bair Theatre. It should be way cool. I am a little leery due to the location of the seats though. I seem to have purchased front row tickets. Now, there's no excuse to sleep during the opera! Actually, I'm more concerned that I won't be able to see everything because we will be too close to the stage. The opera, in case you are wondering, is La Traviata. I have no idea what it is about. I'm sure we'll make an evening of it and have a great time.

If you can't stand the heat, then don't come in my classroom

All I can say is that it is hot in my room. For those of you unaware, my classroom can get quite hot. My room is right above the boiler. During some winter days, I will walk into my room when I get to school and the temperature will be above 90 degrees. And with only 1 window, a fan that works sporadically, the room remains hot. (And lets not talk about the heat when I have labs that involve the lab burners, that can push the temperature up even more.)

Well today the classroom temperature is hovering a bit above 80 degrees. The thermometer on the Iguana cage is reading 85, while the one on the wall behind me is reading 80. I didn't think they would turn on the boiler this soon because we all knew the temperature would be heading up again after our brief snow storm.

Despite the heat, the students are fairly upbeat today (ITS FRIDAY!!!).

Today in my classes:

ESCI - Had the students work on a simple review worksheet about atoms, their structure, and the states of matter. Not very exciting, but not very taxing either.

Chem - Corrected yesterday's assignment in class. The only students that didn't do well were the ones that didn't do the assignment. The finished the period with a quiz over element names, symbols, and common oxidation numbers. Again, the only students that didn't do well were the ones that didn't do yesterday's assignment (presumably they didn't study either.)

LSCI - We were supposed lecture on chemical formulas, solutions, and metabolism. Instead, we played game to review elements and their symbols. Yup, we played chemistry baseball. Girls against boys. Score at the end of the period Girls 6 runs, Boys 5 runs. However, the game will need to be rescheduled due to rain in the middle of the 5th inning (the bell rang.) Lots of fun, and I'm sure other teachers will complain because we were a little more than loud.

PSCI - They took a vocabulary quiz and then worked on a little book work. The quiz did not go so well. I guess next time when I give them study time they should actually study.

Biology - Finished lab. Then we talked about the python eating the alligator. Very cool. Thanks to grrrbear for pointing this article out earlier this week.

Advanced Biology - Current events in science and finishing their tests (still.) Again, showed them the python/alligator article. As far as topics discussed today, here is what the students talked about. (Hopefully the links they provided me work!)

• Junior Boy #1 - Eating dirt might be good for you. Turned into a discussion about cravings and novelty acts like eating nails.
• Junior Girl #1 - West Nile season winding down. After the article, discussed various things such as people they knew who got west nile to where various counties in MT are.
• Junior Boy #2 - Spanish Flu of 1918. Perfect article after discussing West Nile. It turned into a discussion of flu, pandemics, and awareness of issues around us.
• Junior Girl #2 - Melanoma seems to be a rising threat to children. Lead into a discussion of people they know that have had skin cancer and to ways to help prevent it (SUN BLOCK).

Very cool articles. I'm always intrigued by what the students have chosen for their weekly articles.

Now let's hope I can get some grading done this weekend (as well as get plenty of rest.)

Overhead

Well, I got my overhead projector working this afternoon. Let me tell, what a pain it was. Of course, this morning I needed a projector, so I turned my desk into the LCD projector station. My desk, never being neat, was thrown into even more disarray. Well, I managed to clean up my mess during my prep period and the beginning of my study hall.

Speaking of mess, let me tell you that my lab is an absolute nightmare. I have different labs going on each lab bench. Some chemistry students are finishing up their lab (make-up work.) However, ESCI is just in the last stages of finishing their mixtures lab. They are trying to figure out how to measure the mass of salt in salt water. But also today, I started a biology lab where the students use Iodine and Benedict's Solution to determine the type of carboydrate a liquid has. So, each lab bench has a different combination of beakers, test-tubes, liquids, compounds, etc. Just an absolute mess and nightmare. Clean up won't be that much fun either. Although the students will "clean" their respective equipment, I will have to put it away. (Let's not get into the condition of the store room right now.)

Run Down for the day.

ESCI - Homecoming almost a week away. I'm the 9th grade advisor so we spent over half the period today discussing our float, nominating and electing our homecoming Prince and Princess, and then debating the prices we would sell our raffle tickets at for our fundraiser. The last 20 minutes or so the students were finishing up their lab and writing their lab report. Also, I handed out a crossword that is due tomorrow. If it sounds like we spend more time on class activities than on ESCI, that's because right now we are.

Chem - Discussed how to name binary compounds and write chemical formulas. Pretty easy stuff really. The students paying attention already have mastered it (I hope!). They had a small homework assignment to reinforce the concept. Tomorrow they have a quiz over chemical symbols and major oxidation numbers of common elements and polyatomic ions.

LSCI - Well, pretty much the same thing as chemistry actually. Today the students learned the difference between elements and compounds, and the symbols for the important* elements. Had lots of fun discussing these with the kids.

PSCI - Spent 1/2 the period talking about Newton's 3rd Law of Motion. The other half was spent studying for the quiz tomorrow. (O.k., so only 2 or 3 studied, the rest just gossiped.) As the students were supposed to be studying, I was finishing setting up the biology lab. I didn't quite get it all done, but was able to finish the setup during the actual lab.

Bio - Handed back their quizzes (they weren't that good.) Told them they will see the EXACT same quiz next week. Let's see if they do better. Started the Carbohydrate Identificaiton Lab. The kids seemed to enjoyed the lab, and tomorrow they will finish.

Study Hall - Finished cleaning my desk after I made a mess of it earlier today. Lots of kids working on computers, either doing General Business (9th Grade), Computers I (10th grade) or typing/keyboarding (7th grade). Of course, most do their computer homework during this period because they don't have access to the programs/files at home.

Adv. Bio. - Students finished/started yesterday's test. Pretty relaxing. I do enjoy ending the school day like this, however, I haven't really graded a thing today, and the papers are starting to pile up. Hopefully I'll have the energy to grade papers this weekend.

*By important, I mean interesting and ones that will be used through out the year. Personally, my favorite right now is Tungsten (W). Usually that is one of my extra-credit questions on my quizzes.

Snow Days

You know the day is going to be challenging when you leave for 10 minutes early, but arrive late to work.

Well, I'm still fighting with my overhead projector. The darn thing broke last week. I was using it in Biology class when it all-of-a-sudden died. Thinking it was the bulb, I opened it up, yup, the bulb was bad. However instead of it being the filament that broke, the actual prongs that plug the bulb into the overhead had melted!!! Well, after much work, I thought I might have got it working, but no... it still doesn't work.

On the plus side, all my important notes are typed on the computer, and I can spend some time putting them into powerpoint. My LCD project works perfectly, but I really don't have any decent wall to project onto, especially when you consider where my computer is located.

Our school counselor decided today that he would use the only working copier in the school. Of course, this meant that everyone else couldn't copy a darn thing. I had to wait 4 hours before I could "sneak" in to do some copying. I shouldn't be surprised though, he tends to do this often. Mostly I suspect because he is very disorganized (at least that what it seems like to me.)

I guess volleyball players are to be dismissed early today, so that they can get to the gym safely (due to weather?). I had no idea until one of them showed up and was very eager to start their test because they were worried they wouldn't be able to finish it on time. You know, it wouldn't be hard for certain coaches to let teachers know that they have decided to pull the kids out early. They could email teachers, or because our school is soooo large, just talk to the 6 teachers that have high school students in the afternoon.

Here's the run down for today

ESCI - Spent 30 minutes designing our homecoming float. (I'm the freshman class sponsor.) I think we have a pretty good idea, and several dedicated students that will make the float look really nice, I think. Spent last 20 minutes finishing up lab.

Chem - Handed back their tests. Many were not shocked, but they did want to know how much the test hurt their grade. Not much. They were not shocked because most knew they didn't study and try to hard on it.

LSCI - Just book work. The school nurse came and did vision screening, which took all of 10 minutes. Some of the 7th graders were very happy, it was one test they knew they wouldn't fail.

PSCI - Had a very good discussion about projectile motion, moving in circles, and being weightless. Got to move about, practice isometric exercises, talk about using sling-shots, and just throwing stuff. All good fun, plus I think they kind of understand the material.

Bio - Gave a quiz, then gave extra-credit. This quiz had two parts, vocabulary and concepts based on notes. I expected the kids not to do well on the concept part, but wanted to give them the quiz so they would know what their test looked like. I expected them to do well on the vocabulary, since we have a quiz on vocabulary every chapter. Well, it looks like they didn't do well on the concepts (expected) and did o.k. on vocabulary (not as good as expected.) I believe though that the class has been working about as hard as chemistry (which means not hard at all). I must not get down though, some students are working very hard, and trying to do their best.

Adv. Bio. - Handed out a test. Will see how it goes. Also, because only 3 are taking it, I have had time to write this post.

After school I have to begin setting up for biology lab. We are going to test various carbohydrate solutions to see if we can't figure out if they contain monosaccharides, disaccarides, or polysaccharides. Should be lots of fun.

Wrists & Snow

Well, it sure has been an interesting day so far.

Woke up today, actually feeling a bit refreshed (a change from the previous week or so). After getting ready for work, I went outside to see how much snow, ice, and slush there was. To my surprise, the snow was not as deep as I thought it would be (only 1 to 2 inches), and there was no ice (but plenty of slush.)

Because of the weather, I left for work 10 minutes early (only 10 minutes because I typically get to work 10 to 20 minutes early on normal days).

Listening to radio coming to work (instead of my book tape), the weather guy said that the airport had received over 10 inches of snow. Not just any snow, but really wet snow.

Then, after the weather report, the road guy came on and said the typical stuff, like roads were slushy, take your time, etc. However, he then proceeded to tell me (I'm assuming he was talking to me), that Zimmerman Trail (a narrow, steep, winding road I take) was closed! I have never known Zimmerman to close. Of course the road guy tells me this as I'm 4 blocks away.

Crap!!! That means that I had to take the long way around town. Had I known it was closed earlier, I would have gone a different way to work, but now being so close, I was committed to the longer trip. Anyway, on the longer trip, many trees had fallen (branches mainly, but some whole trees), making driving even worse.

Because I went the long way, I ended being late for work (by 3 minutes!)

Other big news: Apparently I have sprained my right wrist. I do not remember doing this, but it is swollen and certain types of activities do bother me. I had been complaining for a few days that it ached some, but today (o.k., so last night I figured it might be sprained), during a demonstration of Isometric Exercises, I definitely knew it was sprained. My only guess is that while sleeping one night, I may have sprained it.

Oh well, let's hope the trip home tonight is not eventful. (Because my book tape, Thud! by Terry Pratchett is absolutely hilarious. I can't wait to buy the companion book, Where's My Cow?)

Glacierman Daze

Well, it's snowing, alot. I guess we are supposed to have up to 7 inches of snow when we wake up tomorrow morning. Although I won't be driving in a lot of snow (it's melting quite a bit), I will be driving in inches of slush. I would much rather drive on snow.

The dog seems interested in the snow. He really doesn't know what to think of it. He is very timid when it's falling from the sky, but absolutely loves to eat it. I sure hope he stays away from the yellow snow.

The Amazing Race is on, right now. I can't believe how much some of these families yell at each other. My only guess is that they have many people in their family that are deaf. (Maybe they went deaf so they wouldn't have to hear all the yelling.)

I found a really good review of Serenity today. (By good, I mean well written, although it is a very positive review of the movie). It was written by Orson Scott Card. Some of his personal views can be quite conservative, but I always have enjoyed his science fiction writing. The reason that I point out this review, is that it quite accurately describes why I feel Serenity (and most of Joss Whedon's works), deserve the praise and why they should be embraced by many people.

So, other than spiffing up this blog a bit today, I have done something I wanted to do for some time. Rather than boring all of you with my school comments and happenings, I have created a second blog. The second blog will only be about my day at school or school related topics. Cleverly titled Glacierman Daze, it can be found at v-ischeduledaze.blogspot.com, or clicking anyone of the two links in this post, or the link to the right. For those of you interested in reading about the everyday life of a rural science teacher, check it out. But don't worry, I will still be posting to this blog about anything not school related.

So, check out my new blog to see what I do at school. Otherwise I'm writing you up, and that means detention!

Tuesday, but it seemed like a Monday

Oh boy, what a day. Catching a student cheating on an assignment, giving out tests to two classes, and lab. Here's the run down:

Earth Science (ESCI) - Kids were still separating their mixtures of sawdust, salt, and iron filings. Most of them were having a good time, and nothing was broken today (unlike yesterday.) Lots of fun for me and the kids.

Chemistry (Chem) - gave out a test. corrected it later this afternoon. Lets just say the average was 62.8%, and that number was skewed HIGH because one student earned a 95%. Next highest grade was 81%. I usually would be upset, but I am not. The students (most, but not all) have not been taking the class seriously, and I guess this is what they have earned.

Life Science (LSCI) - They had a test also. But unlike chem, they have been taking the class seriously, and only 1 student scored less than 70%. These students really do try to do their best.

PSCI - Notes today. They moaned, complained, and whined alot. That stopped when I told them the overhead was broken (yup broken), and I would have to write the notes on the board. Then they moaned because they said my handwriting was horrible. I showed them, not one question about what was written. (Lots of questions about the material though.)

Biology (Bio) - Had a review crossword puzzle for the kids to prepare them for tomorrow's quiz. Most worked on it most of the period. 1 student actually took a crossword puzzle out of the "turn in" box with the intent to copy it. Geez... what gall. The student never actually did copy it. Had a discussion with the student with an appropriate punishment.

Advanced Biology (Adv. Bio) - Let the kids finish their study guide to help them study for tomorrow's test. One student hadn't even started theirs. So instead of working on it, they proceeded to tell me (or anyone who would listen) why it wasn't done. By the end of the period, they had finished one whole question.

That was it for school today. Homecoming a week from friday.

Serenity

Well, this past Saturday, my wife and I saw the movie Serenity. Admittedly, I was/am a huge fan of the tv show, and couldn't wait to see the movie. My wife had only seen snippets of the show here and there, so was not nearly as excited as I was, although she was looking forward to the movie.

Let me just say, the movie was frickin' awesome!!!!!!!!!!! (Sorry about that crude language, but the movie just rocked.)

I won't give away any plot details, except that the movie is definitely typical of other Joss Whedon adventures, in particular Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There are some definite moments in the movie when you will say, "Hey, that's a Buffy move/pose/etc."

Like I tell people, believe in Joss and go for the ride.

As with most Joss Whedon shows, the action is fun, fast-paced, and just barely believable. But his dialog is in still in rare form. Yes, you can tell it is scripted at times, but it is darn funny.

The most important thing, I believe, was that the characters stay true to form from the tv show, and remain somewhat believeable in the actions. Mal is still Mal, looking out for number 1, but still putting his neck on the line for anyone he cares about. Zoe, still takes charge. Wash (Hawaiian Shirt and all) is still upbeat and provides a nice alternative to Zoe. Jayne still needs a brain, but is still hilarious, and may actually be a good guy. Simon still needs to eaze up a bit. River is still as crazy as ever, but does get to show case her "Buffy" powers. Kaylee still knows the workings of the ship better than anyone, and is the only femine influence on the ship. Shepard Book is not in the film much, but does provide Mal on some insight into Mal's beliefs. Inara is still Inara (which of course makes for lots of fun when Mal and Inara are together.)

But the best character was The Operative. Wow! I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the operative explained why he did what he did, and how he knew he was evil.

I can't wait for the sequel. (Provided this film makes enough money.)

Checking Out

As an update, 2 new students today, but a different one has checked out and will not be coming back. I think he was expelled. (At least that is what the students are whispering to each other.)

Happenings and thoughts

Wow, I have been busy enough that I haven't been able to post a regularly as I would like.

Before I discuss my topic of interest today, a few notes.

1) Dog is in Doggie Jail during the day now. After digging up parts of the kitchen floor, he now has to reside in a large crate/kennel. Don't worry though, he has plenty of room to rest and play in it. Suffice it to say, the crate/kennel takes up a good portion of the kitchen now.

2) I have 2 new students today, one of which I was told about. Yes, 6 weeks into the quarter, 2 students have arrived. 1 is a 9th grader (and I have had them before), and the other is a new 8th grader. The office told me about he 9th grader, but was absolutely shocked when 3 hours later a new 8th grader walked in.

3) Can't wait to read a new book we purchased this weekend. Teacher's have it easy. It looks like one of those books that makes you mad and think.

4) Baseball's regular season is done. The Twins had a less than spectacular season this year. I am rather upset that the Yankee's not only are in the playoffs, but also won the division, again. So my sentimental picks for the World Series will be Padres over Red Sox. Realistically, look for the Red Sox and the Cardinals to be in the World Series again, but this year with the NL winning it.

5) Vikings Suck!!!! Can this team play any worse. Maybe it's time to look at hiring a REAL head coach. After that, lets just revamp every aspect of the team.

6) NHL is back. I am starting to get interested. Hopefully Calgary will have a good team this year.