First day

Ahh, the first day of the semester at Fresno State! Always a good time... watching the kids get used to being on the big bad campus and all that.

Seriously, I was reflecting that last year I saw teaching as an adventure - each time I had to do something new, like give a District test, the State Graduation test, fill out a CPS report, etc. was new and kind of exciting. Not so much anymore! I want to regain that sense of wonder this semester.

Snow Trip

Today I took some triathlon kids (7) to the snow and we had a good time. Tiring though too! It's only 8:45 and I may go to bed soon... actually no, I'll probably go to the gym for a bit! Might as well... doing a duathlon this weekend I'm not ready for!

Extra trips like this are the core of what I do. It's all about building community for the kids and letting them know there is a group of people they can and should share experiences with. Regardless of whether or not I end up helping create a successful aquatics program at my school, these are the kinds of trips and memories that high school is created for.

Also got a chance while dropping kids off to talk with parents - including a new one of a kid that hadn't been on a triathlon trip before and he seemed to have a great time today which was gratifying. He's also one of my students.

School starts next Monday; tomorrow I guess I'll be doing some prep time and going to school too for room cleanup and getting ready for some new projects we'll be kicking off in January. fun stuff...

a fresh start for '08

I have internet once again in the apartment. and it'll stay that way cuz my roommate is moving out @ the end of january and i'll be alone in a one bedroom; which i'm looking forward to in some ways although it's been great to have a built-in friend for the past two years.

Anyway, for next year I want to actually make my blog about teaching and coaching. About the dynamics of having my athletes in my classes. When they make me proud, when they make me cringe, when they make me... confused! And also throw in some actual coaching technique stuff as well as math teaching technique. I'll also be working on the water polo team webpage here:
http://mclanepolo.googlepages.com/

Right now it's just a mock-up; i wanted to get it approved before i actually made it live. Tomorrow I'm working at a group home i worked at before I became a teacher. Should be fun to see the staff again (and I still know some of the kids because I've been helping out for the past few months doing some triathlon team stuff.) But it's from 7am-11pm! And i'ts 12:15am right now... hmm. i got a girlfriend tonight. well, we've been talking for a couple of months, so it was great hanging out with her tonight. i even treated her to Taco Bell before taking her grocery shopping at WinCo (kinda like FoodsCo/FoodMax if you have those) for her zoo class she teaches. i drive a hard bargain.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I was in Hawaii for a week then beautiful southern cali, where it was like in the high 60's or at least warm enough i could sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt... but after wearing a speedo for years i don't get cold that easily. i really gotta stop typing now...

absence

No internet at my apartment due to a roommate's errors in calculation... now that water polo season is over and i actually have some free time, i plan to fix that situation next week. no full time coaching until around February! Hallelujah in a way, although I'll miss the kids. Tomorrow night is a Water Polo team party at a pizza place which should be fun. i got a ball for my assistant coach for the kids to sign and a big picture for them to sign for the scorekeeper. i think it looks nice.

will have to report more later but i'm tired.

one month!

a month in an not a whole lot to report! Some challenges for some kids to be sure, including some of my athletes. but the support is there! Still only a few problems in classes which is so refreshing! Gave a test on Friday and will need to grade/record those soon... not looking forward to that so much but not bad either.

my new assistant coach for water polo is awesome. we are really making the kids work hard and it's showing. they're having a lot of fun too, and so am i because at least with another adult on deck it's not me at 22 (mostly new) swimmers/water polo players! We have our first two official games this coming week.

The Shaver Lake Triathlon is next weekend, and we're excited. Except it's gonna rain Saturday when we're planning on going camping :-( I don't know how I'm gonna fit everything in this week... but I'll try! Gonna go to the gym tonight and then eat dinner so i won't be hungry when i go grocery shopping.

After this triathlon I'll take a bit of a break then just will be training for a half marathon in november. if it's too much I'll just stop. It might be too much. I need to devote more time to the Algebra 10 class (algebra I rehashed for the kids who failed it.) I want to move to a problem-solving approach.

first week almost done!

well it was a busy first week! Almost 20 kids are out for water polo (well... about 12 showing up but 8 more that will be getting their physicals soon enough/this weekend). So that's cool. Triathlon practice Saturday (a brick workout at Woodward Park to get back into the swing of things... probably 4 miles running, 10 miles biking and some endurance workouts like lunges over the hills, carrying your partner, and sprints).

the kids are AWESOME so far! Algebra I is a bit rougher but because of their skill level... we spent almost all week on negative numbers and such and they had a rough time with it... but they're optimistic still! So that's cool. 39 kids in first period but they'll fix that soon. average of 32 in the tohers so not that bad. TPA rocks it! highlanders never quit!

mathnerd hope your first week is going well too! I think you're the only person who reads this other than cateacher guy and stuff. did he get a job after all? i'll have to check soon.

Sponsorships and a break and Volunteers

The past month has seen only one event happen (a one mile run race where six students participated) but a lot of other things! Xterra wetsuits donated 5 brand new wetsuits to the Tri Team, which will greatly enhance our water capabilities at the Shaver Lake Triathlon in September. We will be begin training for that next week.

Saturday the 18th I took four students (Victor, Angel, Albert, and water polo convert Marvin) to Fresno Pacific University to hunt for more volunteers for the Triathlon Team. It was a bit odd for me to go back and speak before people who were basically my peers... big bad Mr./Coach Dorman now. (the oldest students there were freshmen in college when I was a senior). But it went well, although at first the kids were immature and then when I asked them to say something cool about the triathlon team they uttered one-word responses. But the students loved them and a lot of students wanted to volunteer. So we'll see how that goes!

School starts on Monday! I'm scared but excited to teach algebra I from start to finish as well as get another crack at Geometry this year. I have quite a few students from sports who will be in my classes, which is a challenge but something I'm really looking forward to as well.

oh and on a personal note i have a girlfriend now so may be making frequent trips to UCLA this semester...