Amanda Takes Off...

My brother and I chatted last night and somehow got talking about...zombies.

"Wouldn't you want to go to an island if zombies attacked?" I asked.

"Oh no, no, especially if they can walk on the ocean floor. Nope, bad idea."

Good Man had his first behind the wheel driving lesson. Because I love him, I am paying someone else to teach him. I asked him a few days ago if he was nervous.

"Well, no, not really, they will not make me drive the first day, right?"

I looked at him. "Probably not in the first twenty minutes, but if we're paying for two hours of behind the wheel, you'd better drive!"

"But... I do not know how to drive! What if I hit something?"

"They have dual controls, so the instructor can use the gas and brake on his side, too."

Good Man looked at me. "That is simply not possible!" I just laughed and he changed his tune. "Fine, fine, I will see."

I called him at lunchtime today to ask how his lesson went.

"Nnnn-kay. I did not kill the man."

"Well, that's good."

"You said he would not put me on highway right away. You said we would do side streets, but he did put me on highway! He just told me to drive! For two hours I drive! I went to that area, by public health, um, Seven Corners, and it was so scary! The signs are too confusing. And I do not understand why I can only use one foot. You use two feet to drive—"

I nodded at the hell that is Seven Corners and said, "I drive a stick. You're driving an automatic. You only drive an automatic with one foot."

Good Man slowly shook his head. "I think that is not true in Korea."

"Well, that would explain why Koreans are scary-ass drivers."

"I drove all over! And turning is hard. Why don't you accelerate in a turn?"

I was confused. "You have to accelerate in a turn if you start from a stop."

"But when I hit accelerator I go vrooooom too fast, even when I am gentle!"

I laughed, "You just need practice. Want me to schedule you for two times a week?"

"No! It is too scary! One time a week. Two hours is a long time!"

I let Good Man continue a bit longer. I finally said, "And this is why I want you to learn how to drive! It's stressful and it's not fair that I always have to be the one to drive!"

Good Man raised an eyebrow. "You are very sneaky! You let me complain and never disagree just so you can make me not quit and have to learn more!"

Amanda Teacher: So can something you own own something? If I own this book, what does the book own?

Dead Meat, mumbles.

Amanda Teacher: What? I didn't hear that.

Dead Meat, shakes his head, finally, after I've assured him he's not going to get in trouble: The book owns the pages.

Amanda Teacher: But I can tear the page out.

Dead Meat: The pages still own the words.

Amanda Teacher: And the words?

Dead Meat's classmates are grinning, whispering answers, and egging him on.

Dead Meat, after a pause: The letters.

Amanda Teacher: And the letters?

Dead Meat: The lines!

Sub-Atomic, beating me to the punch: What about the lines?

Dead Meat: ... The ink!

The class cheers and looks at me as if to say, "Ha! What now, Ms?"

Amanda Teacher, slowly: But who owned the ink before it was on the page?

Dead Meat, jaw drops: That's not fair.

Student Aide: Wow, this is like philosophy.

Quiet Student Who's Suddenly Been on the Ball Lately: Can we do more of this?

Sure, kids, we can do more of this.

When I went to Korea, I was pretty strict about what I brought into my house, since I knew I'd be leaving again. I was afraid that coming back to the States would change my habit.

Luckily, for the most part, it hasn't.

Still, one of my goals this year is to bring less into the house than I push out of the house.

I've started with a very obvious, tangible thing: my books. I've made it a goal to get 100 books out my door this year, and to bring in 10 books or fewer (this is post-Korea spree). So far, 61 books are out the door and another 20 or so are ready to be donated, given away, or sold.

By finally admitting that I'm not going to read or re-read books, I've been freed. I've let go of my own self-created obligations. This has made me eager to read the books I've chosen to keep.

I've gone beyond the books a bit. I've cleaned things up, sorted things out. I've finally restrung a necklace that's been broken for years. On the other hand, I've gotten rid of jewelry I no longer wear but have felt compelled to keep because it was a gift. It's getting easier to see what's important to me. The broken jewelry was more important than the unbroken jewelry.

It's magical how getting rid of things makes you happier with what you have.

Snowmageddon 2010 Album

Damn. This is some snow.

Being snowed in for one weekend is fun. Being snowed in for two weekends in seven weeks? Not so fun. Today Good Man and I were going stir-crazy and since it'd finally quit snowing (!) we could go out without risking life and limb. Well, went out we did for a 3.5 mile walk and some lunch at Cosi. At some points I was thigh-deep in snow.

Now, I grew up in Minnesota, but even this is unusual for the Great White North.

School is canceled tomorrow and the custodians aren't even expected to go in. This makes me suspect we won't be back Tuesday, either.

Heck, the Federal Government is closed tomorrow. That's how you know it's a bad, bad storm!

Making a Snow Angel

Making a Snowball

OK, Virginia, I thought you were in the South. The South politically and physically. So what's up with the damn snow?

My school district canceled tomorrow's classes as of 4:15 this afternoon. We aren't even supposed to get snow until noon tomorrow. I've taught two days this week, and we've now used up all of our snow days and we have to give up holidays to make up the days.

Ridiculous.

Good Man ran to the grocery store, called me, and said, "I think it is the end of the world going on."

Yes, it is, Good Man. The snow is coming!

As part of my GT endorsement class I had to survey a small group of gifted students on curriculum. I surveyed my math class.

I only have six students in my math class, so it was fairly easy. I told them that I would only use their answers to make math better and I wouldn't be upset with anything. They must trust me, because I got very honest answers.

Their responses were interesting, funny, and... surprising. Five of my six students said that algebra is their favorite part of math. It's their favorite thing to do.

What I like MOST about math is: when we solve algebra problems because it helps you in real life.

We should do more word algebra problems because they're more challenging than the regular algebra.

What I like MOST about math is: Algebra, some I get, and some I don't. I feel good when I complete it.

When I was in sixth grade, around February, thirty of us (twenty boys and ten girls) started doing seventh grade math. We were with the math specialist and even though I'd always been strong in math, algebra stumped me. Oddly, the teacher had done Hands-On Equations from September through January with Mark and one other student. But when we came through, that went out the window and she made us just memorize all of the steps. I didn't understand. I remember getting in a huge argument with my mom over it in the car one day.

Plus, under the Chicago Math series, we were allowed to re-test and re-test as many times as we wanted until we got "mastery." As a teacher in a high-stakes testing environment, I know why this is done. We have to re-teach students until they show mastery. However, as a student, I know that we took advantage of that. What's the point of studying and trying and learning it the first time if you're never allowed to fail? (One student asked another teacher at my school, "If I fail this test you'll just keep me after school and re-teach me, right?" Things don't really change.)

I did come to love algebra, once we got into more interesting questions—one of my major difficulties was that "x + 7 = 12" was too stupid to solve step-by-step, so what was the point? ("Mom, they know it's five. So why write x?!")

But while I wanted my students to struggle a bit with algebra, I didn't want them to dread it. So I introduced it like my mother did: as a game, as a puzzle.

And whatever I did worked, because most of my class loves algebra and wants more of it. And even the one who didn't claim it as his favorite part of math said it's OK when they're not "those super long algebra equations [...] they just are paper eaters."

And we've gone far, far beyond the one-step equations that the curriculum mandates and onto "set it up, simplify it, and two-step it" word problems.

There are four brothers. The oldest gets $10 more for Christmas than the second oldest, who gets $10 more than the third oldest, who gets $10 more than the youngest. If the total money they receive is $220, how much money does the oldest brother get?

My students know how to set that up, solve it, and check it. And almost all of them like it.

Success!