So, last week Friday was Halloween. Halloween is not a widely celebrated holiday here, but at school, since there are so many kids that have lived in the States, and then American teachers, they decided to make it be a “Rainbow Day”, meaning the kids didn’t have to wear uniforms, but were encouraged to wear orange, black, or purple. The seniors had a haunted house in their classroom, which, conveniently for them, meant no class. So, I spent the morning helping them decorate their haunted house, and then the rest of the morning being in charge of the lights for them in the haunted house. For the materials they had, they did an excellent job! Seeing some of my big tough ninth grade boys scream and hug their friends in it was probably the highlight of the day. It was very funny. You can check out pictures of Halloween at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008578&l=7968a&id=88400178.
That night, we decided to have a Halloween party at our apartment. Danielle, Lauren, and I went to the colmado (a little grocery store) that has a live-in cat to get some snacks for our party. As we were walking there, it was a really rough “hit on the Americans” kind of night. Cars slowed down so they could look at us for longer, we got whistled at, a car full of about ten year old boys told us “We love you!”, you get the picture. When we stopped to buy empanadas at the corner a creeper there asked us where we lived, for our phone number, and if he could come home with us. Even in the colmado, we got hit on by the workers, who see us like twice a week, so you’d think they’d be used to the fact that we are young and white. Anyways, we were royally annoyed by the time we started home. Walking down our dark street, someone drove up one what sounded like a motorcycle very slowly behind us, and we were like, great! So, we decided to ignore the guy even though he was like “Excuse me! Excuse me!” We were annoyed and totally ignored the guy. He kept going though, “Excuse me, excuse me, please! Excuse me!” And we kept ignoring him, refusing to even look at him. “Please, can you tell me where Jose lives?” That’d be like driving down a street in the United States that had a bunch of apartment buildings and asking someone, do you know where John lives? So, we keep ignoring. And he asks again, “Please, please, can you tell me where Jose lives?” And he sounded so pitiful, I finally gave in and turned and looked. The guy was on a four-wheeler and immediately flashed me his adorable smile and said, “Hey Miss! How are you?” And I just started laughing and was like “Good, you?” And Danielle was like, “WAIT! YOU DON’T KNOW THIS GUY! DON’T TALK TO STRANGE CREEPY MEN!” Well, we actually had lucked out… It wasn’t a strange creepy man. It was George, one of my ninth graders, looking for Jose (one of my tenth graders) who lives by us and was having people over for his birthday. How crazy is that! Then a little later, we saw another one of my tenth graders in a car with his mom going to the same place. Crazy! Anyways, we got home, dressed up, and had a pretty fun Halloween party!
This week has been a little rough at school. I think I’ve had to deal with more cheating this week than any other since I’ve been here. Four of my ninth graders had cheated on a biology lab, so I pulled them out of class, talked to them about it, gave them a 0 on the assignment, and made them call their parents to tell them that they had cheated. Two, almost three, of them started crying when they were talking to their parents. Hopefully they learn a lesson. I’ve also caught three others cheating for other teacher’s classes this week. It’s so frustrating. If any of you have any great, no cheating, ideas, let me know! In ninth grade on Monday, I also almost had a fight break out. I was talking to the girls, and all of the sudden, Juan calls my name. I turn around to see him and Sebastian shoving Jose, and I was like, what an idiot, if you are going to start a fight, getting your teacher attention before it is probably the smartest thing to do. Then, I realized that Rony had Oasting from behind in basically a wrestling hold, but somehow he had Oasting’s arms pinned to his sides. Yang Gi and Frankie were standing between Oasting and Rony and the other group yelling. Apparently, what had happened, was that Oasting had gotten mad at Jose (over what, I’m still not sure) and was ready to take a swing at him, when my other boys broke it up. Kind of ironic considering like a two weeks ago, Marcel and Juan had told me, “Teeeeacher! You are VERY small. If there is ever a fight, we would break it up for you because you are so small.” So, I guess Juan followed through. (Marcel was home sick with pink eye, so he couldn’t be the hero.) School is definitely never, ever dull!
Today, I’m not teaching because I either 1. have conjuctuvicus (aka: pink eye) or 2. had another allergic reaction to whatever the heck I’m allergic to here. So, I’m hanging out at home and taking it easy. Hope all is well at home! I miss everyone! Let me know what you are all up to!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
"C" is not always right! "C" could read: "Miss Scislow's reaction when someone flips Sebastian's desk over."
Kids are crazy I've decided. Like, I knew that before, but seriously, they just get crazier every day it seems like! The past week and a half have been good for the most part though. Crazy nonetheless however.
So, last week, we are having a nice quiet biology class. The kids are being really good, they are taking notes, no one is hitting each other... And I turn to write stuff on the board because since for a lot of them, English is a second language, I help them out by putting all the notes on the board. I suddenly hear Sebastian angrily exclaim, "What the heck?!? TEACHER!" I turn around, and realize that Oasting, and an accomplice who I wasn't sure who it was, had taken Sebastian's entire desk when he got up to grab something and flipped it upside down. Deciding what they were going for was a reaction, I decided to completely ignore it. Sebastian eventually went and found another desk, and class continued smoothly. However, thinking it was quite amusing, it became a multiple choice answer on their biology test. In the middle of the test, Frankie jumps out of his desk and yells, "Miss Scislow! You put me on your test!!!" And I'm sitting there thinking..... "uhh.... no, I didn't...." And he's like, "You put on there were Oasting and I flipped Sebastian's desk over!!" I had put as an answer to nuclear membrane: "Miss Scislow's reaction when someone flips Sebastian's desk over." So, I guess I inadvertently discovered the other culprit. Haha!
Then, another day, I was doing a demonstration of diffusion, so I showed how red food coloring diffused through water, and then how molecules can diffuse through air. To show this, I sprayed my body spray in one corner of the room, and then had the students say when they could smell it so they could “see” it move across the room. Well, Marcel, as soon as he could smell it, loudly exclaimed, “Teacher! It smells like girl!!!” Then Juan decides to join in with, “Teacher, it smells like you!” Those boys!
In the Dominican, when they greet one another, they kind of half touch, half kiss cheeks. Well, my ninth grade boys love this way of greeting people, especially when those people are me. So, this morning, I was a little stressed, trying to figure out what to do about my pre-calc test since the copier was broken, attempting to re-print all my lesson plans for when the secretary of education comes, and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my ninth graders since I wasn’t supposed to really have them, but then ended up having “lab” with them even though the lab was not available because there is a book fair in the lab at the moment. So, I was a little stressed, walking around with a cup of coffee, when I turn the corner and almost crash into George, one of my ninth graders. So he’s like, “Good morning Miss Scislow!” And I try to smile and be cheerful because he’s genuinely happy to see me. So, I’m like, “good morning”, and he leans in to do the check greeting thing and almost spills my coffee in the process. But I manage to not get coffee all over everything as he plants a huge kiss on my cheek and says, “Miss Scislow, you have very soft skin.” Talk about awkward! Haha :) I’m getting used to awkward situations though, remember… So, at recess, Marcel comes up to me and says, “Teacher, I had a dream about you last night.” Oh, boy! Apparently, he had a dream that I was giving Juan (Marcel’s best friend and my self-declared favorite student) lots of presents because I liked him best, and he (Marcel) was very jealous. So, I guess now my kids are dreaming about me too?
Other than that, school has been going well. In eleventh grade, we are talking about evolution. It’s a little hard to teach considering I don’t believe it. I brought in some of my pictures from the Galapagos Islands, which the kids loved, even though they told me I look like I was about 18 in the pictures. (Little do they know, it was last summer, and I was actually 19 in the pictures…. Haha!) One of my kids asked why I majored in biology and not in Lutheranism if I didn’t believe in evolution, but other than that, it’s been going smoothly.
Twelfth grade is always interesting as well. The girls in that class are so sweet. We started an SAT prep elective class since they really don’t know what to expect from a standardized test, and they are very dedicated to working hard on that. If you’ve got any ideas on motivating some very unmotivated senior boys though, I’m all ears. I’ve got basically three and a half that are senior sliding really bad, and I’m not sure how to pull them out of it enough to make sure they will actually graduate in May. So, I’m open to any suggestions!
Hope all is well at home. I haven’t heard anything back from med schools yet, but hopefully good news will be coming in that way pretty soon. Let me know what you all are up to and what’s going on with you. I miss everyone! Lots of love!
So, last week, we are having a nice quiet biology class. The kids are being really good, they are taking notes, no one is hitting each other... And I turn to write stuff on the board because since for a lot of them, English is a second language, I help them out by putting all the notes on the board. I suddenly hear Sebastian angrily exclaim, "What the heck?!? TEACHER!" I turn around, and realize that Oasting, and an accomplice who I wasn't sure who it was, had taken Sebastian's entire desk when he got up to grab something and flipped it upside down. Deciding what they were going for was a reaction, I decided to completely ignore it. Sebastian eventually went and found another desk, and class continued smoothly. However, thinking it was quite amusing, it became a multiple choice answer on their biology test. In the middle of the test, Frankie jumps out of his desk and yells, "Miss Scislow! You put me on your test!!!" And I'm sitting there thinking..... "uhh.... no, I didn't...." And he's like, "You put on there were Oasting and I flipped Sebastian's desk over!!" I had put as an answer to nuclear membrane: "Miss Scislow's reaction when someone flips Sebastian's desk over." So, I guess I inadvertently discovered the other culprit. Haha!
Then, another day, I was doing a demonstration of diffusion, so I showed how red food coloring diffused through water, and then how molecules can diffuse through air. To show this, I sprayed my body spray in one corner of the room, and then had the students say when they could smell it so they could “see” it move across the room. Well, Marcel, as soon as he could smell it, loudly exclaimed, “Teacher! It smells like girl!!!” Then Juan decides to join in with, “Teacher, it smells like you!” Those boys!
In the Dominican, when they greet one another, they kind of half touch, half kiss cheeks. Well, my ninth grade boys love this way of greeting people, especially when those people are me. So, this morning, I was a little stressed, trying to figure out what to do about my pre-calc test since the copier was broken, attempting to re-print all my lesson plans for when the secretary of education comes, and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my ninth graders since I wasn’t supposed to really have them, but then ended up having “lab” with them even though the lab was not available because there is a book fair in the lab at the moment. So, I was a little stressed, walking around with a cup of coffee, when I turn the corner and almost crash into George, one of my ninth graders. So he’s like, “Good morning Miss Scislow!” And I try to smile and be cheerful because he’s genuinely happy to see me. So, I’m like, “good morning”, and he leans in to do the check greeting thing and almost spills my coffee in the process. But I manage to not get coffee all over everything as he plants a huge kiss on my cheek and says, “Miss Scislow, you have very soft skin.” Talk about awkward! Haha :) I’m getting used to awkward situations though, remember… So, at recess, Marcel comes up to me and says, “Teacher, I had a dream about you last night.” Oh, boy! Apparently, he had a dream that I was giving Juan (Marcel’s best friend and my self-declared favorite student) lots of presents because I liked him best, and he (Marcel) was very jealous. So, I guess now my kids are dreaming about me too?
Other than that, school has been going well. In eleventh grade, we are talking about evolution. It’s a little hard to teach considering I don’t believe it. I brought in some of my pictures from the Galapagos Islands, which the kids loved, even though they told me I look like I was about 18 in the pictures. (Little do they know, it was last summer, and I was actually 19 in the pictures…. Haha!) One of my kids asked why I majored in biology and not in Lutheranism if I didn’t believe in evolution, but other than that, it’s been going smoothly.
Twelfth grade is always interesting as well. The girls in that class are so sweet. We started an SAT prep elective class since they really don’t know what to expect from a standardized test, and they are very dedicated to working hard on that. If you’ve got any ideas on motivating some very unmotivated senior boys though, I’m all ears. I’ve got basically three and a half that are senior sliding really bad, and I’m not sure how to pull them out of it enough to make sure they will actually graduate in May. So, I’m open to any suggestions!
Hope all is well at home. I haven’t heard anything back from med schools yet, but hopefully good news will be coming in that way pretty soon. Let me know what you all are up to and what’s going on with you. I miss everyone! Lots of love!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Seriously? I mean? Is it hit on Miss Scislow week or something?!?
After that nice trip home, it was back to “reality” in the Dominican Republic. I had to teach right away Monday morning. It was a slightly crazy week!
When I was gone, two computer monitors got stolen from the computer lab. So, now, school is full of a bunch of key Nazi’s. On Monday, we couldn’t get into the teachers room until well after school had started. So, I had to teach my first couple classes with no books and no notes. Then, on Wednesday, the science lab was locked, and the keys were missing. So, I couldn’t teach chemistry lab that day since I didn’t have time to prepare anything before hand. Then, on Friday, they lost the one set of keys there are to the science lab/ ninth grade room, which made for another great day.
Everything else was pretty crazy too. I’m not sure what the deal with the kids was, but apparently it was national hit on Miss Scislow week. On Monday, Henry and German almost started a fight with another kid in my class because that student was “being mean” to me, and they “wouldn’t tolerate anyone being mean to their favorite teacher.” Later on, Juan gave me a hug and told me that he missed me tons when I was gone and was so glad I was back. Henry came running over to make sure Juan wasn’t being mean to his favorite teacher. (Juan is my self-declared favorite student.) On Thursday, the day before graders were due, I made some of my kids stay in from elective to work with me to finish some stuff up so they could pass. One ended up staying until almost 5:00, and then hung around until I had entered my grades so he could drive me home. On Friday, Alexandra, one of the pre-school teachers who had just had a baby, brought him in for everyone to see. I was holding him, and Jose told me I “looked very good holding that baby.” On Friday, I got whistled at very loudly and royally embarrassed at lunch. Then, I got invited to a party. I politely declined, giving my typical, “I can’t go to parties with students” answer, and then the, “I don’t go out with people I make call me Miss Scislow.” They told me I could just “happen” to run into them at this party, and then it would be ok, obviously. And I was like… “Uhh… still no!” They told me that I told them I couldn’t go to parties with them, and then pointed out saying that I never said I couldn’t leave parties with them. It was pretty funny! Then, I gave the eleventh graders a work day in math, and was walking around to see how they were doing. I asked Federico how he was doing, and he told me with a smile, “I was doing great until you came over.” Since I could tell he was joking, I pretended like I was really made and stomped away, and he jumped up and gave me a big hug making a big deal about how he would never say something like that for real. It was funny. Overall, it was a really long week since I was so tired from my crazy, un-relaxing trip home. But, it wasn’t too bad! Miss you all!
When I was gone, two computer monitors got stolen from the computer lab. So, now, school is full of a bunch of key Nazi’s. On Monday, we couldn’t get into the teachers room until well after school had started. So, I had to teach my first couple classes with no books and no notes. Then, on Wednesday, the science lab was locked, and the keys were missing. So, I couldn’t teach chemistry lab that day since I didn’t have time to prepare anything before hand. Then, on Friday, they lost the one set of keys there are to the science lab/ ninth grade room, which made for another great day.
Everything else was pretty crazy too. I’m not sure what the deal with the kids was, but apparently it was national hit on Miss Scislow week. On Monday, Henry and German almost started a fight with another kid in my class because that student was “being mean” to me, and they “wouldn’t tolerate anyone being mean to their favorite teacher.” Later on, Juan gave me a hug and told me that he missed me tons when I was gone and was so glad I was back. Henry came running over to make sure Juan wasn’t being mean to his favorite teacher. (Juan is my self-declared favorite student.) On Thursday, the day before graders were due, I made some of my kids stay in from elective to work with me to finish some stuff up so they could pass. One ended up staying until almost 5:00, and then hung around until I had entered my grades so he could drive me home. On Friday, Alexandra, one of the pre-school teachers who had just had a baby, brought him in for everyone to see. I was holding him, and Jose told me I “looked very good holding that baby.” On Friday, I got whistled at very loudly and royally embarrassed at lunch. Then, I got invited to a party. I politely declined, giving my typical, “I can’t go to parties with students” answer, and then the, “I don’t go out with people I make call me Miss Scislow.” They told me I could just “happen” to run into them at this party, and then it would be ok, obviously. And I was like… “Uhh… still no!” They told me that I told them I couldn’t go to parties with them, and then pointed out saying that I never said I couldn’t leave parties with them. It was pretty funny! Then, I gave the eleventh graders a work day in math, and was walking around to see how they were doing. I asked Federico how he was doing, and he told me with a smile, “I was doing great until you came over.” Since I could tell he was joking, I pretended like I was really made and stomped away, and he jumped up and gave me a big hug making a big deal about how he would never say something like that for real. It was funny. Overall, it was a really long week since I was so tired from my crazy, un-relaxing trip home. But, it wasn’t too bad! Miss you all!
My Week Home
Life has been pretty busy lately! Two weeks ago Monday, I was almost done with the day, almost free for the week since I was leaving for the United States on Tuesday morning. I was just ready to start my last class when Chris (one of my tenth graders) runs up to me yelling, “Miss Scislow, Miss Scislow!!! Arlenys bit me!” He pulls up his shirt sleeve and on his shoulder are HUGE teeth marks. Ugh! Seriously, you’d think I was teaching two year olds at the time, not tenth graders! Haha!
Tuesday, October 12th, I flew back to the States. I had to leave super early in the morning, but was back in Chicago around 1:00. Dad was there one a business trip and talked the people into giving him a pass to get through so he got to meet me at the gate!!!! I was so excited to see him! It was really nice too because I didn’t have a phone, so I really had no idea how I’d find him. We got some delicious lunch and then started the long drive home. We made it home a little after nine where I was greeted by a very excited Mom, Kathryn, and Jennie. Buddy just went crazy too! He was tearing around as fast as he could so happy to see me! I also got to meet Rubie, the foreign exchange student from China who is living in my room. She is really nice, and I was excited to finally get to meet her. Dad and I baked chocolate chip cookies, we all visited for a while, and then I went to bed.
On Wednesday, Mom and I left early and drove up to Duluth for my medical school interview there. I think it went well…. My first interviewer there was crazy! He asked me how tall my high heels were and told me he thought women looked best in 3 ½ to 4 ½ inch heels. Then, he asked me if I had met any cannibals in the Dominican Republic. I told him that one of my tenth graders had bit another one of my tenth graders on Monday, but I didn’t think that she was trying to eat him. He laughed really hard. After the interview, Mom and I drove back to the Cities and went to St. Croix’s playoff soccer game against Humboldt. It was really fun because I got to see both my little sister’s score goals! I also got to see Hannah, Michelle, and JR, three of my players from the summer team I coached, play. It was really fun to get to watch them all!
On Thursday, I got to hang out with Mom all day. We did some shopping, got some shirts, a season of The Office, and some other stuff I wanted to bring back, including candy for my hooligans. Dad came home, and we had a delicious lunch. Grandma Scislow stopped by quick, so I got to see her too! It was fun. That night, I flew to Denver, and then to Omaha. I got into Omaha at like 11:30pm where I was picked up by a current Creighton University medical student. We went back to her house and went to bed. In the morning, she brought me to where I needed to get to for the interview day at Creighton. It was a long day, but it went well. I really liked the school and felt like my interviews went well. Now, it’s just a waiting game until I hear anything back. Keep it in your prayers! After the interviews, she picked me up again, we went back to her house to change, then went to the Old Market area and wandered around before heading back to the airport. I flew to Chicago that night and Dad met me and we went back to the hotel they were staying at for Jennie’s soccer tournament.
Saturday, we hung out, and went to Jennie’s soccer games. They won one and tied one. It was fun to get to see her play and to get to hang out with her and Dad.
On Sunday, I flew back to the Dominican Republic! Amazingly, there were no problems with any of my flights. Everything was pretty on time for the most part, and there were really no problems. Yay! (That’s pretty amazing for me…. Haha!)
Then Monday, back to work!
Tuesday, October 12th, I flew back to the States. I had to leave super early in the morning, but was back in Chicago around 1:00. Dad was there one a business trip and talked the people into giving him a pass to get through so he got to meet me at the gate!!!! I was so excited to see him! It was really nice too because I didn’t have a phone, so I really had no idea how I’d find him. We got some delicious lunch and then started the long drive home. We made it home a little after nine where I was greeted by a very excited Mom, Kathryn, and Jennie. Buddy just went crazy too! He was tearing around as fast as he could so happy to see me! I also got to meet Rubie, the foreign exchange student from China who is living in my room. She is really nice, and I was excited to finally get to meet her. Dad and I baked chocolate chip cookies, we all visited for a while, and then I went to bed.
On Wednesday, Mom and I left early and drove up to Duluth for my medical school interview there. I think it went well…. My first interviewer there was crazy! He asked me how tall my high heels were and told me he thought women looked best in 3 ½ to 4 ½ inch heels. Then, he asked me if I had met any cannibals in the Dominican Republic. I told him that one of my tenth graders had bit another one of my tenth graders on Monday, but I didn’t think that she was trying to eat him. He laughed really hard. After the interview, Mom and I drove back to the Cities and went to St. Croix’s playoff soccer game against Humboldt. It was really fun because I got to see both my little sister’s score goals! I also got to see Hannah, Michelle, and JR, three of my players from the summer team I coached, play. It was really fun to get to watch them all!
On Thursday, I got to hang out with Mom all day. We did some shopping, got some shirts, a season of The Office, and some other stuff I wanted to bring back, including candy for my hooligans. Dad came home, and we had a delicious lunch. Grandma Scislow stopped by quick, so I got to see her too! It was fun. That night, I flew to Denver, and then to Omaha. I got into Omaha at like 11:30pm where I was picked up by a current Creighton University medical student. We went back to her house and went to bed. In the morning, she brought me to where I needed to get to for the interview day at Creighton. It was a long day, but it went well. I really liked the school and felt like my interviews went well. Now, it’s just a waiting game until I hear anything back. Keep it in your prayers! After the interviews, she picked me up again, we went back to her house to change, then went to the Old Market area and wandered around before heading back to the airport. I flew to Chicago that night and Dad met me and we went back to the hotel they were staying at for Jennie’s soccer tournament.
Saturday, we hung out, and went to Jennie’s soccer games. They won one and tied one. It was fun to get to see her play and to get to hang out with her and Dad.
On Sunday, I flew back to the Dominican Republic! Amazingly, there were no problems with any of my flights. Everything was pretty on time for the most part, and there were really no problems. Yay! (That’s pretty amazing for me…. Haha!)
Then Monday, back to work!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Reproduction: "is like that thing you do... you know..." (True biology test answer)
Once again, I don't think I'll ever have a dull week here! On Monday, I almost had to break up a fight. That was interesting. It was between class time, so the eleventh graders were out in the hallway getting their books, and one of them popped his head in the room and Jamie, one of my seniors, said something to him, but I wasn't really paying much attention because I was answering questions. And, all of the sudden, Federico (the 11th grader) slammed the door open into the wall as hard as he could, so I whipped around to see what was going on. Federico asks if I heard what Jamie called him, and I said I didn't, and calmly asked Federico to go back to his class. He proceeded to tell me what Jamie said, which was a very derogatory thing to say to someone, as Jamie just laughed and shrugged, confirming he had said it and telling me it was true. At this Federico started at Jamie and Jamie jumped out of his chair. I looked at Jamie and yelled for the first time I've actually yelled while teaching, "Sit back in that chair, right now!!!" Which, fortunately, he did. And then I grabbed Federico by the arm and dragged him out of the room. So, thank goodness, problem averted. Other than that, 12th grade has been a little frustrating this week. They were in a big huge fight over something, that I'm still not sure exactly what it was, but I didn't have a full class until yesterday because half of them were always pulled out trying to get their issues resolved. So, I think things are fine now.... Today went well with them. They worked hard on math. Henry told me at recess he hopes that some day he will date a woman that is just like me... Then proceeded to ask if I have any sisters... (Don't worry Kathryn and Jennie, I told him you were much too young for him and that we have a very mean brother. I'm glad for you Cute Lips!)
My eleventh graders have been really good lately. I really like that class of kids a lot. They are, for the most part, a hard-working, smart bunch of students. They are really fun to work with because they get really into learning and are super participative in class. This week I had them draw me picture of the processes of DNA replication and transcription and got great work from every one of them. I'm going to hang them up in their room. I really like teaching them math, because they get it, and they are my one class that doesn't really dislike math. There are a lot of kids that really enjoy math, so that makes it more fun to teach too. And kids like Federico really make teaching worth it. Apparently, he was just awful last year, causing all kinds of problem, failing classes, getting kicked out of class all the time.... And he got a 95% on our math test. The other teachers and I also picked him for the 11th grade student of the month for September. I don't think I've ever seen a kid as excited when he came and told me that (even though I already knew, which he didn't know). And the girls in that class are really fun to work with too. I can tell that they could get really catty with each other and with me, but they are really good. Jennifer is really smart and has been working really hard. Angela also really gets into math. And Nairamys who is terrible at math, puts in a lot of effort, and is great at biology. It's such a fun bunch.
Ninth grade has been really good for me this week too. I'm having a lot more fun with them. We played a review game in class on Wednesday, and they got so into it. It was pretty funny. I gave them a review guide for the test since we've been going over a lot of stuff and doing it since the beginning of the year, and amazingly, all but 1 turned it in completed before the test today. I was so proud of how they did on the test! 13 out of 24 scored above a 90%! Even George, my tongue ring boy, got a 90%, and I didn't think it was an easy test at all. I like to give them some silly question to get some easy points, and I give them a point for their name. It was pretty funny. Juan, after class, told me he knew he got at least one right because of his name, and I told him that I only would give points to the kids who didn't have dumb names. He looked at me completely shocked before realizing I was kidding. It was cute. (He didn't get his name wrong, and ended up with a 94%, so that's good.) He tells everyone he's my favorite student and that I'm his favorite teacher. Four of my girls asked me to eat lunch with them to help them study, and they pulled out 2 98% and 2 100% between them, so that was super nice too. So, just when you are fed up with them, they pull out a stellar test basically across the board, which is always nice.
This weekend I'm going to be doing lots of planning since I'm not going to be here Tuesday through Friday to teach. I think I'm going to the beach tomorrow though to relax a little before my crazy, hectic trip home. Keep my med school interviews in your prayers. I miss you all!
My eleventh graders have been really good lately. I really like that class of kids a lot. They are, for the most part, a hard-working, smart bunch of students. They are really fun to work with because they get really into learning and are super participative in class. This week I had them draw me picture of the processes of DNA replication and transcription and got great work from every one of them. I'm going to hang them up in their room. I really like teaching them math, because they get it, and they are my one class that doesn't really dislike math. There are a lot of kids that really enjoy math, so that makes it more fun to teach too. And kids like Federico really make teaching worth it. Apparently, he was just awful last year, causing all kinds of problem, failing classes, getting kicked out of class all the time.... And he got a 95% on our math test. The other teachers and I also picked him for the 11th grade student of the month for September. I don't think I've ever seen a kid as excited when he came and told me that (even though I already knew, which he didn't know). And the girls in that class are really fun to work with too. I can tell that they could get really catty with each other and with me, but they are really good. Jennifer is really smart and has been working really hard. Angela also really gets into math. And Nairamys who is terrible at math, puts in a lot of effort, and is great at biology. It's such a fun bunch.
Ninth grade has been really good for me this week too. I'm having a lot more fun with them. We played a review game in class on Wednesday, and they got so into it. It was pretty funny. I gave them a review guide for the test since we've been going over a lot of stuff and doing it since the beginning of the year, and amazingly, all but 1 turned it in completed before the test today. I was so proud of how they did on the test! 13 out of 24 scored above a 90%! Even George, my tongue ring boy, got a 90%, and I didn't think it was an easy test at all. I like to give them some silly question to get some easy points, and I give them a point for their name. It was pretty funny. Juan, after class, told me he knew he got at least one right because of his name, and I told him that I only would give points to the kids who didn't have dumb names. He looked at me completely shocked before realizing I was kidding. It was cute. (He didn't get his name wrong, and ended up with a 94%, so that's good.) He tells everyone he's my favorite student and that I'm his favorite teacher. Four of my girls asked me to eat lunch with them to help them study, and they pulled out 2 98% and 2 100% between them, so that was super nice too. So, just when you are fed up with them, they pull out a stellar test basically across the board, which is always nice.
This weekend I'm going to be doing lots of planning since I'm not going to be here Tuesday through Friday to teach. I think I'm going to the beach tomorrow though to relax a little before my crazy, hectic trip home. Keep my med school interviews in your prayers. I miss you all!
Friday, September 26, 2008
No School Sept. 24! Why? Because it's the 392nd anniversary of the proclamation of la virgen de las mercedes as the patron saint of Hispaniola!
Wow! There really is never a dull moment teaching. I feel like life is crazy here all the time. Not even just at school, just living in a foreign country is always full of challenges. Walking down the street is an adventure even! You have to make sure you don’t fall in potholes, don’t get hit by cars or run down by motorcycles, avoid getting hit on too much, and watch out for the occasional donkey.
The new high school building is finished. It’s really nice! (Well, compared to something in the States, maybe not, but by standards here, it’s really good!) We moved over about two weeks ago. 10th through 12th grade have classes there, and 9th grade moved into the old 11th grade room and out of the science lab. It’s so nice to have some more space!
I taught my first science lab on Tuesday this week. It went really, really well actually, despite like everything else being an adventure. First, I had to go to the grocery store to get some yeast for this experiment. Trying to explain to a worker that you need yeast when you don’t know the word for it is quite interesting. He kept giving me baking powder and telling me it does the same thing. Eventually he got one of his buddies to find it, so that was good. Then, I had to figure out what to do since I don’t really have much equipment at all. I ended up kind of making things up as I went, but got the yeast cells broken up enough that the enzymes were released and activated, which is what I needed for my lab. Everything else we actually had at school, including Benedict’s reagent, which surprised me. I tested the lab twice before we did it with good results, so I was pretty pumped. Doing it with 25 ninth graders was a little more challenging. Especially things like measuring 1.5 mL for example with a 50 mL graduated cylinder. Fortunately precision was not vital in this lab. All the kids got really good results which was good! It’s a pretty cool lab with really neat color changes if everything goes as planned. So, it was pretty fun to have a successful first lab.
Cheating is a huge problem here. It’s so frustrating to have to deal with it nearly every day. So if anyone has any good suggestions as to how to deal with it, let me know! I caught one of my seniors cheating on a chemistry quiz a while back. One of my ninth graders came and found me after school last week and told me, “Miss Scislow, I want to tell you something before Mr. Hernandez does. I was copying someone’s biology workbook, and he saw me…” Then, I’ve caught quite a few other kids cheating for other teachers classes. It gets really frustrating because I don’t go out of my way to look for cheating, yet when they are dumb enough to do it right in front of me, it obviously needs to be deal with. So like I said, any suggestions? Let me know!
On the plus side, my ninth graders are really starting to come around. Juan, my little trouble maker that HATED me at the beginning of the year because I “got him in trouble” over something he wrote, is one of my favorite students. He does his work, participates in class, listens well, answers questions, and is really good for me. I know he still causes problems for other teachers, but he’s really helping turn ninth grade around for me. They are still loud and talkative, but are doing much better. Eduardo, my senior tutoring charge, I figured out is not as dumb as he tries to make people think he is. He’s actually really smart, just lazy. He got an 89% on my pre-calc test today though, so that’s exciting! And definitely promising! My eleventh graders also told me I’m their favorite teacher today and that they really like my classes, so that’s always nice to hear! One of my senior girls, Alana, brought me an apple on Thursday for being a good teacher, which was super cute. I thought only happened in make-believe! Haha! Anyways, even though it's a constant challenge, I'm loving teaching!
Oh, I’ve got two interesting stories that are slightly connected. First, my ninth graders were giving group presentations last week. At recess, Oasting and Marcel come up to me and angrily tell me that George (their other group member) was refusing to present because he said his braces hurt too much to talk. So, I asked if they could do it without him, and they said that of course they could since George hadn’t done anything anyways. So, they presented without George, who mumbled something to me about how his braces hurt. I told him when I handed back grades later that I couldn’t give him a grade because it appeared to me he didn’t help his group much (I didn’t include the fact that both his group members, who are friends with him, and separately given him a 0 out of 10 for group participation.) This was Friday, so I told him he had to present on Monday, by himself, to me at recess and that he better be ready. So, later that day, when I don’t actually have a chance to talk to him, I notice something a little weird…. That doesn’t quite fit with his not-believable braces excuse... So, I decided to call him out on it on Monday. At recess, we went to the lab so he would present, and I was like, “Ok George, I really don’t appreciate getting lied to.” And he responds with, “I don’t know what you are talking about…..” as he can’t make eye contact. So I told him that generally, I’m pretty easy going when I know what is actually going on, but that I know his braces weren’t the problem. The reason he couldn’t talk all week was because he had just gotten his tongue pierced. Smart kid, huh? He did his presentation well though at least! So the next day, I was chewing on a paper clip while my tenth graders were working on geometry activities. I was walking around helping, and like always, I was chewing on something. That day it just happened to be a paper clip. And Chris was like, “Miss Scislow, you have your tongue pierced?!?” And I was like, “No, what are you talking about???” Apparently, the whole class thought I did because the paperclip in my mouth apparently looked like a tongue stud. How funny is that?
So, like I said, life is never dull here! I fly back for medical school interviews on October 7th (October 8th: University of Minnesota-Duluth; October 10th: Creighton, Omaha, Nebraska), so wish me luck and say some prayers that they go well!
The new high school building is finished. It’s really nice! (Well, compared to something in the States, maybe not, but by standards here, it’s really good!) We moved over about two weeks ago. 10th through 12th grade have classes there, and 9th grade moved into the old 11th grade room and out of the science lab. It’s so nice to have some more space!
I taught my first science lab on Tuesday this week. It went really, really well actually, despite like everything else being an adventure. First, I had to go to the grocery store to get some yeast for this experiment. Trying to explain to a worker that you need yeast when you don’t know the word for it is quite interesting. He kept giving me baking powder and telling me it does the same thing. Eventually he got one of his buddies to find it, so that was good. Then, I had to figure out what to do since I don’t really have much equipment at all. I ended up kind of making things up as I went, but got the yeast cells broken up enough that the enzymes were released and activated, which is what I needed for my lab. Everything else we actually had at school, including Benedict’s reagent, which surprised me. I tested the lab twice before we did it with good results, so I was pretty pumped. Doing it with 25 ninth graders was a little more challenging. Especially things like measuring 1.5 mL for example with a 50 mL graduated cylinder. Fortunately precision was not vital in this lab. All the kids got really good results which was good! It’s a pretty cool lab with really neat color changes if everything goes as planned. So, it was pretty fun to have a successful first lab.
Cheating is a huge problem here. It’s so frustrating to have to deal with it nearly every day. So if anyone has any good suggestions as to how to deal with it, let me know! I caught one of my seniors cheating on a chemistry quiz a while back. One of my ninth graders came and found me after school last week and told me, “Miss Scislow, I want to tell you something before Mr. Hernandez does. I was copying someone’s biology workbook, and he saw me…” Then, I’ve caught quite a few other kids cheating for other teachers classes. It gets really frustrating because I don’t go out of my way to look for cheating, yet when they are dumb enough to do it right in front of me, it obviously needs to be deal with. So like I said, any suggestions? Let me know!
On the plus side, my ninth graders are really starting to come around. Juan, my little trouble maker that HATED me at the beginning of the year because I “got him in trouble” over something he wrote, is one of my favorite students. He does his work, participates in class, listens well, answers questions, and is really good for me. I know he still causes problems for other teachers, but he’s really helping turn ninth grade around for me. They are still loud and talkative, but are doing much better. Eduardo, my senior tutoring charge, I figured out is not as dumb as he tries to make people think he is. He’s actually really smart, just lazy. He got an 89% on my pre-calc test today though, so that’s exciting! And definitely promising! My eleventh graders also told me I’m their favorite teacher today and that they really like my classes, so that’s always nice to hear! One of my senior girls, Alana, brought me an apple on Thursday for being a good teacher, which was super cute. I thought only happened in make-believe! Haha! Anyways, even though it's a constant challenge, I'm loving teaching!
Oh, I’ve got two interesting stories that are slightly connected. First, my ninth graders were giving group presentations last week. At recess, Oasting and Marcel come up to me and angrily tell me that George (their other group member) was refusing to present because he said his braces hurt too much to talk. So, I asked if they could do it without him, and they said that of course they could since George hadn’t done anything anyways. So, they presented without George, who mumbled something to me about how his braces hurt. I told him when I handed back grades later that I couldn’t give him a grade because it appeared to me he didn’t help his group much (I didn’t include the fact that both his group members, who are friends with him, and separately given him a 0 out of 10 for group participation.) This was Friday, so I told him he had to present on Monday, by himself, to me at recess and that he better be ready. So, later that day, when I don’t actually have a chance to talk to him, I notice something a little weird…. That doesn’t quite fit with his not-believable braces excuse... So, I decided to call him out on it on Monday. At recess, we went to the lab so he would present, and I was like, “Ok George, I really don’t appreciate getting lied to.” And he responds with, “I don’t know what you are talking about…..” as he can’t make eye contact. So I told him that generally, I’m pretty easy going when I know what is actually going on, but that I know his braces weren’t the problem. The reason he couldn’t talk all week was because he had just gotten his tongue pierced. Smart kid, huh? He did his presentation well though at least! So the next day, I was chewing on a paper clip while my tenth graders were working on geometry activities. I was walking around helping, and like always, I was chewing on something. That day it just happened to be a paper clip. And Chris was like, “Miss Scislow, you have your tongue pierced?!?” And I was like, “No, what are you talking about???” Apparently, the whole class thought I did because the paperclip in my mouth apparently looked like a tongue stud. How funny is that?
So, like I said, life is never dull here! I fly back for medical school interviews on October 7th (October 8th: University of Minnesota-Duluth; October 10th: Creighton, Omaha, Nebraska), so wish me luck and say some prayers that they go well!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
"If you don't stop hitting on me, you might have to sit in the hallway!"
I know it’s been a long time since I’ve updated people on what’s going on here. School has been keeping me super busy lately, but hopefully I’ll get settled into a better routine pretty soon. I teach all four levels of high school, each that have their own rewards and challenges.
I have biology with ninth graders this semester. My ninth grade is probably my most difficult class at the moment. There are twenty five of them, and we have class in the science lab right now since the high school classrooms aren’t finished, and it’s just way too small of a space for them. You can hardly walk up and down the rows which means they are so close to each other that they just have to poke each other and touch each other and hit each other and throw stuff at the people sitting next to them…. I mean, what else can you do? They get very loud, very fast, and it’s very hard to get them quieted down. So, it’s a little challenging at times, but they are a nice group of kids except when they cheat, which is another whole issue there. I had a chat with Juan, the ring leader of the naughtiness, the other day. That seemed to help things a little, so I think I’ll keep working on that one and figure things will only get better if I can get some of the naughty ones on my side!
Next come my tenth graders. I have geometry class with them. To start with, they were my least favorite class, but they are really starting to grow on me. They are another pretty big class, but listen better than ninth graders. They are a nice group of kids, and there are definitely characters in that class. Chris, for example, told me he is a professional skater. Mike is a quiet one that sits in the back, but always has a smile. JP is the chubby kid who likes to play soccer and is just a general goof in class. Little Eduardo doesn’t speak much English but works really hard and is just so eager to learn. It will be fun to keep getting to know those kids.
My eleventh graders are a bunch of characters. I teach them algebra 2 and biology. They are for the most part, a very smart group, and at least so far have been pretty motivated. The girls seem like they could get really catty with each other, but so far seem to be ok. There are 11 kids in that class, and only three boys. The new boy, Michael, has blue eyes, and all the sophomore girls think he’s dreamy. It’s pretty funny.
My seniors are another bunch of characters. I have chemistry and pre-calculus with them. The girls in that class are very smart and very motivated. They work hard, ask questions, and always do what they are supposed to. They are genuinely nice girls and always tell me they like my clothes. Christie is probably the smartest one out of the bunch. She is very intelligent and applies herself, but yet she’s not nerdy at all. Alana is just a genuinely nice girl, and you can tell all the younger girls seem to look up to her. The boys are good kids too, but a handful. I have to tutor Eduardo every day after school in algebra 2 and junior chemistry both of which he failed last year, while at the same time trying to teach him pre-calculus and senior chemistry. It’s a little difficult, but we are making it work. Henry tries to hit on my call the time. In the middle of class yesterday while I was doing examples of pH calculations on the board, he raised his hand and says, “Miss Scislow, I have a question. Can you please smile? We were just discussing what a beautiful smile you have.” Awkward! German is another character. He is just a big flirt in general, but not quite as blatant as Henry. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s the next Rico Suave or something.
So, like I said, each class is very unique and has it’s good points, yet also it’s challenges. I think it will be a really difficult year at time, but also a really rewarding one. I’ll try to update more about what I’m up to. Send me e-mails to let me know what you are all up to too!
Also, if you didn’t get it, I have new Facebook pictures up that show my daily “walk to school” basically. The link is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008132&l=d78c1&id=88400178.
I have biology with ninth graders this semester. My ninth grade is probably my most difficult class at the moment. There are twenty five of them, and we have class in the science lab right now since the high school classrooms aren’t finished, and it’s just way too small of a space for them. You can hardly walk up and down the rows which means they are so close to each other that they just have to poke each other and touch each other and hit each other and throw stuff at the people sitting next to them…. I mean, what else can you do? They get very loud, very fast, and it’s very hard to get them quieted down. So, it’s a little challenging at times, but they are a nice group of kids except when they cheat, which is another whole issue there. I had a chat with Juan, the ring leader of the naughtiness, the other day. That seemed to help things a little, so I think I’ll keep working on that one and figure things will only get better if I can get some of the naughty ones on my side!
Next come my tenth graders. I have geometry class with them. To start with, they were my least favorite class, but they are really starting to grow on me. They are another pretty big class, but listen better than ninth graders. They are a nice group of kids, and there are definitely characters in that class. Chris, for example, told me he is a professional skater. Mike is a quiet one that sits in the back, but always has a smile. JP is the chubby kid who likes to play soccer and is just a general goof in class. Little Eduardo doesn’t speak much English but works really hard and is just so eager to learn. It will be fun to keep getting to know those kids.
My eleventh graders are a bunch of characters. I teach them algebra 2 and biology. They are for the most part, a very smart group, and at least so far have been pretty motivated. The girls seem like they could get really catty with each other, but so far seem to be ok. There are 11 kids in that class, and only three boys. The new boy, Michael, has blue eyes, and all the sophomore girls think he’s dreamy. It’s pretty funny.
My seniors are another bunch of characters. I have chemistry and pre-calculus with them. The girls in that class are very smart and very motivated. They work hard, ask questions, and always do what they are supposed to. They are genuinely nice girls and always tell me they like my clothes. Christie is probably the smartest one out of the bunch. She is very intelligent and applies herself, but yet she’s not nerdy at all. Alana is just a genuinely nice girl, and you can tell all the younger girls seem to look up to her. The boys are good kids too, but a handful. I have to tutor Eduardo every day after school in algebra 2 and junior chemistry both of which he failed last year, while at the same time trying to teach him pre-calculus and senior chemistry. It’s a little difficult, but we are making it work. Henry tries to hit on my call the time. In the middle of class yesterday while I was doing examples of pH calculations on the board, he raised his hand and says, “Miss Scislow, I have a question. Can you please smile? We were just discussing what a beautiful smile you have.” Awkward! German is another character. He is just a big flirt in general, but not quite as blatant as Henry. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s the next Rico Suave or something.
So, like I said, each class is very unique and has it’s good points, yet also it’s challenges. I think it will be a really difficult year at time, but also a really rewarding one. I’ll try to update more about what I’m up to. Send me e-mails to let me know what you are all up to too!
Also, if you didn’t get it, I have new Facebook pictures up that show my daily “walk to school” basically. The link is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008132&l=d78c1&id=88400178.
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