Good second week

Twas a good second week! Had a nice meeting with my BTSA provider this morning as we assessed student work based on projections (some kids I thought would do well didn't; likewise some students I thought wouldn't do well did great!)

I gave them two point (-4,-5) and (4,5) and they had to completely put it into slope-intercept form without any notes. this week we went from reviewing slope on Monday to point-slope on Tuesday and Wednesday, and yesterday practiced this. Most did very well and I was pretty proud of them! These are my second-year algebra students...

Gotta go get some Carl's Jr. for lunch today! I'm hungry. Last night dinner was a frito boat because I went from coaching winter water polo (4-6pm) to dropping kids off from that to working the basketball game to sell license plate frames for Turning Points Academy, the learning community I'm in. (http://mclane.fresno.k12.ca.us/academics/tpa.html) Got hoem from that and i Was tired!

This weekend will be busy as well! Tonight goin out to dinner with the girlfriend Meagan and some colleagues from school, tomorrow morning working out on the bike, afternoon doing a nice workout again (should have more kids and volunteers tomorrow!), and Monday doing a service project with some volunteers from Fresno Pacific University and my students. Sunday will be spent planning the week's lesson and finishing up grading today's quiz.

Today my geometry students will have to draw and completely label a parallelogram such as a rhombus, square or rectangle. probably rectangle cuz we did those yesterday... i'm off to get food and caffeine!

Good Bike/Run Workout

Today went running and biking with some (mostly new) Triathlon kids. Thanks to Kristina for coming to volunteer... (last time she came with us she fell and had to go to the hospital for stitches and a concussion! :-( )

It was a good time! I ran 4 miles and biked just two, some kids biked as much as 8 miles on a somewhat hilly course and combinations in between. Very positive kids and it was really fun to hear and see friendships between the kids start to develop (no one knew more than one other kid before today's 4 hour outing)... including getting free donuts from one of the kids brothers on the way home!)

3 new websites

I made three new websites over the break:

http://mclanepolo.googlepages.com (for all information regarding McLane Water Polo)

http://paltriathlon.googlepages.com (for the Fresno PAL Triathlon Team - the regular Fresno PAL website is out of commission currently)

http://dormanmath.googlepages.com (I'm proud of this one! It will be an actual website for my students! Not perfect - the images on the practice quiz don't work, for example - but it really can send me their results as they test themselves throughout the unit! And they for sure have internet access this semester because we're out @ Fresno State!)

Today I spent an hour or so working on documents for BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assistance or something like that. just like being an intern but without classes).

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.