So explain me this...

I'm trying to sell my condo so I can get a bigger place (too many books, natch). Yesterday someone came to see it and said they liked it, but it was too small. Um, hello? It's a one bedroom. That's the point. It's supposed to be small. What were you expecting, a palatial condo with a reading room and jacuzzi? Seriously, what exactly were they thinking they were going to see?

Celebration to excess

Yesterday was my birthday (hey! Where's my present??), and I had not one, not two, but THREE pieces of cake. It's a bit much, don't ya know?

Cake number one: Student made. She made it for me so we could have it during their final presentations yesterday. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Tasty. The other students in the class were much appreciative of it - they swarmed around it like moths to a lightbulb. Or whatever metaphor you wish. Sorry, simile. Mrs. Green would be so embarrassed. She was my 12th grade English teacher. She was awesome, by the way.

Cake number two: As part of department celebration. Birthdays here are not so much about the person whose birthday it is, as they are about the opportunity to eat cake. The fact that it was my birthday was just an excuse for incredibly rich chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Again, tasty. (Hard to go wrong with chocolate)

Cake number three: With my string quartet. At least that followed a good 2 hours of music playing, and Schubert too, which hopefully burned a bunch of calories. The Schubert was basically one hour of non-stop playing. So i don't really feel guilty about that last piece of cake, but I definitely feel decadent. No more cake for me for a while, I think.

The cool thing is with the three cakes, I got serenaded three times. No, I lie. Four times of "Happy birthday". How's that for a celebration???

By the way, if you were hoping for some kind of reflection now that I'm firmly entrenched in my 30s, you can forget it. I am not feeling very reflective at the moment (in fact, I think the Schubert may have done me in ... my arm is killing me. One shouldn't really take on Schubert like that without working one's way up to it).


China countdown - I leave a week from today. I have my shots, I have all my luggage (I think), and I'm collecting the toiletries I might need. I think. I've got a 1 gigabyte memory card for my camera, so I'll take tons of pictures, I promise.

Catch the fever!

I admit to being a victim of World Cup fever. Not one to really watch much in the way of sporting events (I've been known to go to a baseball game once or twice a year, and I think I've actually been to one NBA game, oh, and of course the Harlem Globetrotters, that's more theatre than sport, isn't it?), I will acknowledge that I enjoy watching (true) football, and I do enjoy World Cup. I don't know that I will spend my time sitting in my living room watching the games on my own, because that's just not fun (and frankly, a bit sad). But if there's a chance to, I'll watch a few games with friends. I'm also excited to see that the Czech Republic is ranked two, right behind the standard number one team, Brazil.

To that end, here's a fun video clip about football. It includes footage of Brazilian player Ronaldinho, who apparently has his own Wikepedia entry.

I have several students from Central and South America, El Salvador and Uruguay in particular, who have been "feeling ill" since about Monday ... the football flu, as it were. They're actually cute about it. My advice to them was to not overdo it - the doctor's office is worse than school if your aim is to watch the games!

Let me know...

What you think of the new template. I'm not sure I like it yet.

So much to do… Everyone keeps asking me if I’m all set to go. Well, the answer to that is a categorical HELL NO not yet!!

Here’s what’s on the agenda first:

1. Get my vaccinations. That’s today's fun. Right now, according to the CDC website, I should get the following vaccinations:

Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B – if having sexual contact with the local population…ummm…ok, no comment.
Japanese encephalitis – if visiting farms
Malaria – if traveling to a malaria-risky area. And there’s no vaccination, just get a prescription anti-malaria drug
Rabies – if extensive outdoor rural exposure
Typhoid
Tetanus, diphtheria, measles

I believe that this afternoon I will be getting three shots. I know I need tetanus, haven’t had one since college. I’m good on measles and diphtheria. I am not planning on having “extensive outdoor rural exposure”….In fact, those of you who know me know that I don’t really do rural. No, I’m a huge fan of indoor plumbing. Hooray for the flushing toilet! So no rabies needed. Not planning on farms, see above, so no Japanese encephalitis (there’s a specific Japanese one?), which leaves me with Hep A, typhoid and possibly malaria. I don’t know about that, but since it’s not a vaccination, that won’t be an issue shot-wise. I’m mostly worried about my reaction to the typhoid. Not sure why – I’ve never had any Hep shots, so not sure how my system will react to that either. Perhaps it’s the reactions I’ve been getting from my friends who have had these shots before when I say that I need a typhoid shot: “Oooh.” This is usually accompanied by a pained expression. One friend “got sick”. She didn’t say more than that.**

Now, if all goes well, maybe I’ll just show up at the travel clinic today and they’ll say “Oh, you only need this one”, and then I can go on my merry way. See, it’s not having a shot that I’m worried about. It’s all three at once that’s kind of freaking me out.

NOT ENCOURAGING!

2. Get the extra $1000. The guy who got the grant from Fulbright asked for $90,000, but only got $80,000, so there’s an extra bit that we need to pay for visa apps, entrance fees, etc. I have sent a letter of request to the PTSA. I understand they met last night to discuss my request. Let’s hope they thought kindly on me. And that whatever amount they come up with, my principal will find a way to cover the rest.***

3. I should probably see my doctor to get two things: antibiotics and sleeping pills. I don’t sleep on planes. I can sleep just fine in cars, but not planes. I also get very, very antsy and irritable towards the end of long flights. And by long, I’m talking flights to England. So now let’s just see…I believe that my last flight to England was 7.5 hours. I think my flight to China will be 14 hours. You see my dilemma? Anyway, I’m hoping that won’t necessitate a doctor’s visit, but I think it might.

Um, I’m leaving June 27. So there might not be time for number 3.

There’s more. Let’s get through number one first shall we?

**Update: got the skinny on the typhoid vaccination from a friend of mine who spent her stint in the Peace Corps in Lesotho. She has gotten vaccinations twice for typhoid, and she said both times she got ill from it – queasy and feverish, but that it wears off in a few hours. So I’m feeling a little bit less nervous about that shot. (just a little) Phew!

***Update: The PTSA came through! Well, on half, but awesome! Woohoo!!

Did I mention...

That I'm going to China this summer? For a month?

Ok, I was hoping to include a fab picture of the Great Wall (one of the many sites we will be going to see), but my computer is not cooperating.

I hope to have relatively frequent access to computers, so I can post often about our adventures.

More frequently than I post now. When I have access to a computer on a daily basis.

Really.

I promise.

The personality of a class

It's funny how one class can have such a different personality than another. This is never more apparent than it is with my two AP Psychology classes this year. My second period has 29 students, many of whom are bright, curious and funny. My sixth period has 24 students, many of whom are also bright, curious and funny. However, my 2nd period is a vastly different group of students as a whole than my sixth is. In my second period class it always takes much longer to complete a lesson. With my sixth period, I am frequently done early, whereas I'm always sneaking a little time from the announcements (shh! don't tell the principal!) to finish up the lesson. Why is that? Well, first of all, any class that has 29 students is going to take longer to do anything - presentations, handing out papers, attendence, etc. But what I've noticed is that the students are just genuinely more curious about the subject than my sixth period is. They ask more questions. They ask more thoughtful questions. They discuss the topic with each other more (and ok, yes, sometimes it just takes a bit longer to get them focused on the topic, but that's to be expected from any class of 29 students, really).

Here's an example:

I assigned debate topics to groups of four students. They were to present their topic, state their opinion, try to persuade the class, etc. The guidelines gave them 30 minutes to have the debate in front of the class, and then they were to take questions from the class, so all in all, they would probably go a little longer than 30 minutes if they followed the guidelines of the assignment.

In my sixth period, we got through four of the groups in about an hour. And while that averages 15 minutes a group, I can tell you right now, that only one group took about 20 minutes, while the other three groups took at most 10 minutes. At the end of each group's turn, when it came to ask questions, it was the typical cricket chirp response (that would be a great giant silence, in case you were wondering).

Today in my 2nd period, we got through three groups. And I had to cut off two of the groups and the question/answer period at the end because we were running out of time.

By the way, they had the same list of topics:

Should the insanity defense be used in criminal trials?
Should animals be used in medical testing/experimentation?
Are humans naturally good?
et cetera and so forth.

So why does this happen, one wonders? What magical grouping of children did I get in 2nd period that I don't have in 6th? I am quite convinced that i have some of the brightest students in the 11th grade class in my sixth period. I have some very bright students in my 2nd as well, but I think that I have something like 8-10 out of sixth, and 5 or 6 in my 2nd. That's nearly 40% of my 6th period and 20% of my 2nd. So what's the story? Here are some theories:

1. Time of day: I have my second period first thing in the morning: 7:30-9:05. Ok, this could actually be an argument for less of a stellar performance, especially given all the research on sleep and teenagers recently. But, I'm getting them first thing, they haven't gone to any other classes, and so maybe haven't had a chance to be exhausted by the rest of their day yet.

2. Number of lower performing students in the class. The percentage of students in my 6th period who have lower skill levels, and weren't prepared for an AP level course is higher than it is in my 2nd period. I also think that many of the students in my 6th period aren't really that interested in the course, and therefore just don't care to participate as much as in my 2nd period. I also think I have a higher number of "performers" in my 2nd period - they are more willing to talk, more willing to take chances than in my 6th period.

3. Time of day part II: By the time I get to my sixth period, it's already the third block of the day (it's 11am), and I'm tired, so perhaps I'm not conveying properly my ideas about how the assignment should go, or something like that.

So the question remains, as it does for any good teacher, how can one avoid this syndrome? How can one alter the personality of a particular class so that the lesson goes equally well in one class period as it does in another? Ah, the eternal question.