Report Card - Fall 2009

I've worked hard academically for many years before I became a teacher. After a few years away from taking classes, I wondered if I still had it in me to earn good grades. This past quarter, I attempted 16 units while teaching full-time (and often on Saturdays). It was a perfect opportunity for me to test myself. I did just fine.

At the same time, I'm also aware that I've often neglected my family and friends along the way to attain these grades. More recently, I've also realized that I've neglected myself for so many years. Once my degree is completed, I strive to move on to the next part of my life.

Brief Update

From the SGV Tribute, Tuesday, December 15th, 2009:

"Azusa: Student hit by truck still in critical condition.

A 16-year-old girl who was hit by a truck while walking to school last week remains in critical condition, school officials said Monday.

Police say the Gladstone High School student was crossing Gladstone Street near Enid Avenue at about 6:20 a.m. on Tuesday when a westbound bobtail truck hit her. The driver stopped to help, and the crash was believed to be an accident."

My Student

Sadly, one of my students was involved in an auto accident on her way to school. She was seriously injured. The SGV Tribute article has more information. Our school office staff collected donations and food/snacks/drinks for the family. I've been visiting the student and the family at the hospital. Our thoughts are with them.

Flash Project

I've known of the capabilities of Flash for quite some time. This quarter, I finally put together a project on Flash. It is an amazing application. I have so much more to learn...for now, please check out what I have:

Mr. Yip's Flash Site

Jump the Star Party

We ended school early today. Instead of having a staff meeting, we celebrated students who improved their scores on last year's state tests. I support efforts toward congratulating academic achievement. The kids seemed to enjoyed the food and games. I remember participating last year as well.

I do have questions though. Will kids remember a November after school celebration when they take the tests next May? Do you remember the agenda for a staff meeting six months ago? (We also went over scores with them in October, about tests that they took the previous May.)

CMC - 2009 Palm Springs

I attended the Palm Spring Math Conference on Saturday. It is my fourth time attending this annual event. Due to budget cuts, there was no funding support for this trip. Nonetheless, I find it fruitful for me to visit this conference and attend the sessions in each of the four time slots. This year, I attended: 1) Google for math teachers, 2) Digital delivery and assessment, 3) Teaching and learning with Mathematica, and 4) Singapore math system. Of the four presentations, Ms. Brown's session on Mathematica was most inspiring. She is a teacher from San Diego. Presenting with her were five advanced math students. They show cased a series of high level math topics/projects via using functions within Mathematica. While I am happy teaching lower and middle level mathematics in the high school, I strive to be like Ms. Brown and challenge advanced students in creating high level math projects.

Presenting...

Ms. Lydia Valencia and I presented to the faculty today. We are thankful for their attention and support. Check out our slides in this choppy video (I'll work on improving it):

Mike

I lost a dear friend yesterday. I've known Mike since about fourth grade, that's about 20 of my 30 years. We lived together for three years at UC Irvine. It was pure good times. We studied together, we worked out together, we ate together. Mike inspired me to teach. He was a LARC tutor before I knew anything about LARC. If it wasn't for Mike, I may have never became a LARC tutor at UCI, and may have never became a teacher. Teaching is a huge part of the present "me", I often feel that aside from family and friends, teaching is all that I have. Mike will always be a major part of what I do as "Mr. Yip".

Mike, I miss you. I know you fought with all that you've got. I am so proud of you, and as proud to have spend so much quality time with you.

New Role

This may be my important role yet as an educator: My principal and district personnel director appointed me as a site supervisor for a new student-teacher from La Verne. I got an email late last week asking if I would oversee a student who has an urgent placement need. I replied "Of course". Ms. Lydia Valencia and I met Monday. It is going to be an interesting five weeks for the both of us as we go through this new experience. Thankfully, Ms. Valencia is bright and enthusiastic about teaching. I have no doubt that she will have success in the near future. But more importantly, I feel an obligation to be at my best. I strive to be consistently positive, helpful, and encouraging. Considering my super tight schedule, this is going to be a very challenging task. Nonetheless, I am grateful for this opportunity for me to develop as an educator.

Night Classes

After an unexpected summer break due to Cal Poly's budget cuts, I returned to taking night classes in the Educational Multimedia program this Fall. My first night of class was extremely interesting. It was a DVD Productions course. I was expecting more of the same in terms of introductions to educational technology. To my pleasant surprise, the instructor taught the class as if we were film school students. It was his first day on campus, and because of technical difficulties, he couldn't present with his prepared PowerPoint slides. Though I was curious to see the quality of slides presented by a film instructor, I treasured last night's lecture very much. It is rare these days to sit through a lecture without PPT. And since most PPT decks are bad, many lectures are bad. Mr. Scott was so knowledgeable and fun to listen to that I was glad there weren't any PPT slides.

I now wonder how my students feel about my visual presentation each day. Are they so tired of it that they wish I wouldn't use it? As I was walking to my room this morning, I also wondered what it feels like to be a student walking into Mr. Yip's class each day.

T.O.Y.

Our district held a reception for the Teachers of the Year this past Tuesday. I was blessed with the opportunity to be in the same room with some of the best educators. Before the ceremony, I had brief chats with different members of the district. Each of the school's administrator introduced the school's teacher of the year. I was awed and humbled by these outstanding teachers' dedication and grace. My principal could not be there that night, I am grateful for Mrs. Gayton's classy introduction. She continues to be a huge inspiration. The highlight of the evening was the honoring of Ms. Walker as she was our district's teacher of the year. We wish her the best as she progresses to future rounds of the county selection process. I strive to continue to work hard and improve as a math teacher.

Old Veteran

I am a part of the "chain gang" for our school's football team. It can be an enjoyable duty, though I joked that it's really detention for teachers and that the half-time is our recess. During the game, an old veteran GHS math teacher came to visit us. To my surprise, Mr. Anderson knew me. He has taught for 36 years, 18 with our school. I took advantage of the opportunity and asked him many questions. Mostly about how I can improve and stay positive in the long run as a teacher. I learned that there are no secrets - he highlighted working hard and treating everyone with respect as keys. Also, Mr. Anderson complimented Ms. Kwak's amazing work ethic and talent as an educator. He said that he thought he was a good teacher up until he met her. Lastly, he said that the students are ultimately responsible for their learning. I still have more questions...

Buddy Teacher

My principal gave me the honor to be a "Buddy Teacher" for one of the new math teachers. This "new" teacher was actually the valedictorian of her class at our high school some years ago. Also, she has already taught at LAUSD before. She is very bright and enthusiastic. Frankly, she doesn't need me much at all. I recall the difficulties that I faced during my first year and how thankful I was for Mr. Mulfinger's support. I must have gone into his room to whine each day during the entire first semester. Yet, he stayed positive and encouraged me each time. I hope to stay positive as the year progresses and maybe, just maybe, someday I can be like Mr. Mulfinger or my current department chair Ms. Kwak.

Tabula Rasa

The new school year officially begins tomorrow, with students coming in on the day after. This will be my fifth year as Mr. Yip. The excitement and nervousness is at a higher level than ever before. The biggest tangible difference this year is that I've spent a lot of time preparing in my classroom throughout the summer. Mr. Yip - version 5.0 - is looking forward to a good year.

My First Keynote

On the last day of a three-day Algebra Symposium, I presented a lesson using Apple's Keynote for the first time. Though I've presented numerous times using PowerPoint, I was anxious to give Keynote a go. I actually tried to do it on the second day of training, but I had difficulty forming the connection between the laptop and the projector. I was very excited when I solved that problem on the last day. The Keynote went smoothly. I also used the Apple remote to help with the transitions. This experience has encouraged me to use Keynote in future presentations.

Summer Basketball

Earlier this summer, I practiced with the boys' basketball team. Two hours a day, five days a week. It was a great way for me to get back into physical shape. I walked away with more than just the fitness benefits. Coach Kilmer was such an inspiration. During each practice, he kept every kid involved through his coachings. We warmed up (anticipatory set), ran drills (guided instruction), and received motivating talks at the end of each practice (closure). Coach Kilmer is simply awesome. Coaches are easily the most under-appreciated and under-paid people in education. Yet, they often have the biggest impact on our students. Personally, I have been greatly inspired by my high school badminton coaches: Mrs. Wells and her son Mr. Kemp Wells.

Congrats c/o 2009

One of the highlights of each school year is definitely the graduation ceremony. As purely symbolic and highly unoriginal as it may be, it celebrates achievement. It signifies the end and the beginning. I have been looking forward to this year's graduation very much given the difficult times this year. I was given the honor to lead the faculty line along with the incredible Ms. Kwak. (I have no clue who made that decision, I thanked Evelyn from Activities for informing me.) At first, I was hesitant to do so, I felt that another veteran teacher would be a better fit. But nonetheless I am extremely grateful of this symbolic honor. I rocked my UCI Honors chords, Phi Chi Honors Stole, and Harry Potter's Gryffindor tie.

Mockingbird

I put together a photo slide show at the end of each school year. I fill it with fun snapshots of the kids taken from my classroom. This has been an emotional year; I had an idea to take the show up a notch. I recorded a rap song to Eminem's Mockingbird. Using my MacBook Pro, I wrote the lyrics in Pages, recorded my vocals in GarageBand, exported it to iTunes, edited photos in iPhoto, and finally pieced it together using iMovie. The whole Apple iLife suite was involved! In all, I'd estimate that I put in about 20-25 hours into this four minute song. The kids seemed to have enjoyed it. I have no plans to post it on the web, it was just a song for my students, for that moment in time.

Why School?

One of my favorite bloggers, Seth Godin, provided this starter list for the purpose of school. I would have to think hard to find what more to add, and what to remove.

Become an informed citizen

Be able to read for pleasure

Be trained in the rudimentary skills necessary for employment

Do well on standardized tests

Homogenize society, at least a bit

Pasteurize out the dangerous ideas

Give kids something to do while parents work

Teach future citizens how to conform

Teach future consumers how to desire

Build a social fabric

Create leaders who help us compete on a world stage

Generate future scientists who will advance medicine and technology

Learn for the sake of learning

Help people become interesting and productive

Defang the proletariat

Establish a floor below which a typical person is unlikely to fall

Find and celebrate prodigies, geniuses and the gifted

Make sure kids learn to exercise, eat right and avoid common health problems

Teach future citizens to obey authority

Teach future employees to do the same

Increase appreciation for art and culture

Teach creativity and problem solving

Minimize public spelling mistakes

Increase emotional intelligence

Decrease crime by teaching civics and ethics

Increase understanding of a life well lived

Make sure the sports teams have enough players

Senior vs. Staff Soccer Game

For the second year in a row, we played a student versus staff soccer game. We had a lot of clean fun in this friendly game under the sun. Of course, I competed and wanted to win. It was great to see the students have fun with us. Soccer is a great group game, it allows players of different abilities to be involved. After the narrow 6-5 win, Mr. Dolter reminded me that this really was about and for the kids. He showed why he's such an amazing teacher who is super popular with the kids.

(I wear Nike Tiempo Mystic, pictured above. They are relatively inexpensive, comfortable, and durable for recreational play.)

Sunday Basketball

I played basketball with my younger brother this Sunday. I got these Jordans when I bought the shoes for badminton about a month ago. Like academics, sport at the recreational level, is often won by those with better effort. I certainly played with a lot of energy that day; my brother played high school ball and is quite good. We rolled five 4-on-4 games in a roll. Who's next?

(I wear these Jordan Dentros. They were a bargain purchased from an on-line store. After a few weeks of use, I found them to be comfortable and durable.)

T.H.E. Banquet

Mrs. Campbell (an awesome English teacher) and I are recipients for this year's Teachers Honoring Excellence (T.H.E.) Award from our school. On Thursday May 21st, a banquet was held at Pomona Fairplex to celebrate all of the recipients throughout the district. I was honored to be a part of this celebration and felt blessed by Ms. Kwak's nomination. Our union president handed out golden bells to recipients, each engraved with the teacher's name. I am thankful for the tremendous support from the staff at this school. Congratulations go to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell. I also extend my gratitude to Ms. Kwak, Ms. Fieri, Mr. Rodgers, Ms. Rios, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Corum, Ms. Elliot, Lorrie and Catherine for supporting us by coming to this wonderful dinner party. They inspire me to improve as an educator.

Ice-Cream Social

My fifth period this year is crazy...crazy good! In the past, the period after lunch had always given me headaches. This year's fifth period class will potential be my best class ever - in terms of behavior and performance. I'm amazed each day. So on Thursday, I told them that I'd bring ice-cream. I've developed this habit of telling the kids what I'd do so that I have the pressure to do it. I also invited the top three students in each of my other classes to come. After the lesson, I served them ice-cream. Many of the other students from other periods also come. The kids took some pictures. Simple, innocent, good fun.

Comedy

My friend Bryan invited me to one of his improv shows today. It was at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood. Two comedy groups performed improv skits for about 30 minutes, each group had seven members. They were fantastic. It's not easy to be funny. And even harder to be funny to strangers.

Ever since I was a kid, I had always appreciated comedy. I think it's the most universal form of art. Bryan had encouraged me to take comedy or stand-up classes with him. I never did...just as I never got to learn to play a musical instrument, join a dance team, or learn to draw. Oh, how I wish I can take more non-traditionally academic classes.

Dark Matter

A colleague lend me a DVD that he highly recommends. I'm not a huge movie fan, the last movie I saw in a theater in the states was probably one of the Lord of the Rings movies! While waiting for a dinner meeting with friends, I stayed in my classroom and watched Dark Matter. It's about a stand out Chinese scholar trying to earn a Ph.D. in the states. It was a remarkable film on many levels. I felt that it respected both cultures while staying authentic. Without giving away any spoilers, I recommend anyone who is interested in the dynamic of Chinese/American culture to give this file a viewing. I was impressed.

Summer School

I really enjoyed teaching summer school last year. My classes were small and student were much more motivated. It was nearly zero stress. This year, due to the district's situation, summer school will not be held on our campus. Additionally, this has already been a very eventful year. I have decided not to apply to teach this summer. A veteran teacher once told me to not teach summer school, he said: "Be poor, but be happy." One goal that I would like to achieve this summer is to visit New York. For quite some time, I've wanted to visit NYC more so than any other city or country.

Dance Competition

After doing my Saturday CAHSEE Intervention class in the morning, I played an intense game of soccer under great weather. I then attended a dance competition at APU to watch our school's dance team. Though I missed their earlier routines, I caught their main routine - coed hip hop. They were very good. The kids performed with much energy, there were no signs of stage fright. And since APU is near our school, there were many friends and family members cheering them on. As always, it's wonderful to see kids do what they love. When I was at UCI, I took hip hop classes and had a great time. I only wished I had done so earlier in my life so that I can be more creative and have a more versatile skills set.

Apple Workshops

The Apple Store offers free workshops held by Apple trainers. I've attended a few of these workshops to learn more about using the Mac. They're quite good. The trainers are generally younger Mac experts, and they are very engaging. I attended the workshop on iMovie and iDVD yesterday. Due to some technical glitches, the trainer wasn't able to show all that he wanted to show. Having the equipment work exactly as they should during a presentation is still a challenge for technology demonstrations. I felt that the trainer did the best he could and deliver a very good lesson. One cool line he said at the end, was: "If you liked the workshop today, my name is Matt. If you didn't, my name is Charlie." Well done, Matt.

New Racket

I try to commit to exercising each day of each school break. So far, so good. To stay motivated, I'm doing different sports. Today, I shot some baskets at the gym before I did my time on the treadmill. Yesterday, I splurged on a new badminton racket. It's actually the first racket that I've purchased. My Auntie Martie and Uncle James have given me the rackets that I've used throughout my high school playing days. After some brief research, I committed to buying a Yonex ArmorTech. At the store, the AT300 that I was looking for was in fact discontinued. I ended up purchasing the AT600, which was on sale, and added Yonex 85 strings at 24 lbs. I'm very much looking forward to playing with this racket. It'll bring back good memories that I've had when I was obsessed with the game as a high school student. To compliment the new racket, I also purchased new shoes online. 

I must admit, splurging on athletic gear is one of my vices.

Mountain Biking

I rode for the first time in about a year with Cong and Sunny yesterday in the Santa Monica hills. It's nice to be outdoors doing a healthy activity. My bike needs some repair. Hopefully, I can get that done during Spring break and ride it more often.

I bought my first bicycle when I was in college. It was a $60 Huffy Backwater from K-Mart, and it weighs close to 40 pounds. My buddies and I make fun of it, but it's a good bike. "The Huff" features a kick-stand that is unavailable in most high-end bikes. I actually completed an off-road triathlon with it. I still have it.

A year ago, it was time to upgrade. I splurged and bought the Trek 6000 above. It's an awesome ride. After only a couple of practice runs, I used it in an off-road triathlon. It's a rookie mistake, and I paid for it by crashing. Luckily, I was okay. More importantly, the bike was okay. Despite some nasty injuries, I completed the race. A big motivator for me was that I wanted to prove to my students that quitting isn't always an option. A mentor once told me that quitting is only difficult the first time, after that, one gets used to it and it can become habitual. Lance Armstrong famously wrote in his book, It's Not About the Bike, that "Pain is temporary, quitting is forever." I often persuade my students to not quit, and to not give up. I've shared these quotes, and pictures of my injuries, with them. I also find it interesting that quitting is almost always an option, and at some level, quitting always works. But to be strong, one mustn't chose what's easy and available. Dig deep.

Badminton

Friday afternoons are precious to teachers. As much as I love teaching, the end of sixth period on Fridays means time to breath and restore. Often times, I stop by the fields to watch my students play sports. Today, I went to the gym to watch several of my students play badminton. Naturally, one of the kids challenged me. I picked up a racket and realized how rusty I was in a sport that I played competitively for over five years. My eye-hand coordination was off, my legs weren't as responsive as they were 15 years ago. Nonetheless, it was the most fun I've had playing sports in a long time. I had all along thought I was done with badminton, that I no longer like it anymore. With just about half an hour of hitting with my student, I found my love for the game once again.

BTW, I beat him.

Bamboo One

The Bamboo One is awesome. It has a much larger writing area (4x6 inches) compared to the PenPartner+ (2.5x3.5 inches). Further, the tablet surface provides a much better feel. It's also very well designed: the tablet has a groove for the pen, and the writing surface has a protective plastic shield pre-installed. While I do miss the two action buttons on the PenPartner+ (which I used to erase and to advance slides), the Bamboo One's overall write-feel improvement overshadows the lack of buttons. When the tablet is plugged in, the red light in the middle lights up. The lights switches to green as the pen puts pressure on the pad - - pretty cool.

Actually, I recently purchased another Wacom Bamboo model which includes buttons. If you're keeping scores - I have four digital tablets: two copies of PenPartner Pluses, my current Bamboo One, and the Bamboo.

PenPartner Plus

Uncle James entered my life during my teens, when he married my Aunt Martie. Since then, he's been a supportive mentor, a loyal confidant, and a guiding light. He's a busy and successful religious leader in Hong Kong, yet he took the time to shop with me for a then-obscure product during one Spring day in 2007. He was patient with me as I was trying to find a digital gadget that I described as "a mouse that's shaped like a pen". We found it in a small store in one of HK's computer markets. It was a product by Wacom, the leading company for computer writing tablets, and the PenPartner Plus was the company's base model. Though it's discontinued now, it worked wonders for my classroom for the past two years. Each time I use it, I think of Uncle James and that wonderful afternoon. I am still grateful. This simple tool transformed the way I teach - it's been a big part of Mr. Yip's classroom.

In fact, I loved the PenPartner so much that I had my dad purchase a second set for me the following year. (But the product was so durable that I never needed a second set.) My dad bought for me a higher model called Bamboo One, which I've tucked away for over a year. Today, I finally gave my PenPartner a break and tried the Bamboo One - it's awesome! I'll review it in the future. I think it's time to retire the PenPartner. Thanks "Partner", and thanks Uncle James.

Sample Slide Deck

I am putting together a hard copy of my slide show. Using PowerPoint, I compiled a deck of slides that are representative of my instructions. Then, I saved the slides as JPEG files, reinserted them into PPT as smaller images and saved it again as a PDF. The result is anticipated to be a half-page size booklet of my slide deck. It was very difficult to pick out representative slides that can accurately summarize my daily instruction. Nonetheless, it's been an interesting experiment so far. I have not pick up the print-outs yet, I'll see how it turns out.

Name Tags

I don't remember where this idea came from. For the past year or so, I've been making name tags for the good people around me. It's a way to thank them for helping me build the brand of "Mr. Yip". The font and coloring scheme is definitely introduced to me by my friend Tan @ CopyCats DS. I would print the name (here, "Catherine" for example) and fit it in an acrylic frame. It's a way to counter those boring metallic/wooden name tags. Mostly, they've been given to school secretaries - they love them. I've given a few to teachers. It's my way to saying: "Thanks for being a part of Team Yip!" Recently, I've added a reflection. Currently, I'm working on a few for my friends. In case you're keeping scores, no one has yet won a Yippy and a name tag.

Getting Old

I turn 30 this week. My awesome roommate took me to a great Japanese restaurant Friday night along with his friend, we had a blast. My two best friends Cong and Sunny planned a dinner with me Saturday night at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Pasadena. It was much more extravagant than I really deserved, but the guys insisted as a way to combine the celebration with my TOY award. They didn't bring their wives when they picked me up so I really thought it was just the three of us. When we arrived, it was a surprise with seven other of my closest and dearest friends: Sunny and Cong with their wives Cathy and Kitty, my college roommate Mark, another college roommate Duy and his wife Mariane, a college friend/ex-coworker Jon Cue, and my actor/comedian friend Bryan. Even with all of the materialistic goods aside (best of food, drinks, gifts, atmosphere, etc.), it was the happiest time for me in a long time. We joked, debated, and laughed all night just as we always do.

With so much ups and downs for me professionally this year, I have spent very little time with my family and friends. At the end of the night, I told Cong that I'll re-evaluate where my life should go and how I want to be. As much as I strive to be the best teacher, I truly want to be a better friend to my friends. At Cong's wedding in August 2008, I was honored to be his best man. During my toast, I said that he's been a better friend to me than I have to him. It's been true. If I'll be so lucky to marry someone special one day, I hope he can say the same to me.

Keynote

One of the inspirations in my MacBook Pro purchase is to incorporate Keynote (Apple's presentation application) into my repertoire. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm working on it. While I think I will continue to use PowerPoint to present my lessons in the classroom, I strive to use Keynote to do presentations for adults. Currently, I am mind-mapping, trying to organize my contents into a coherent slideshow.

Balance

I have not been able to balance my role as a teacher and that of a runner. For the past couple of months, I have been teaching a CAHSEE workshop on Saturday mornings. We just wrapped up our final session last week, which would free up more time for me to run. While I'll miss the students and sessions on Saturdays, I do want my life back.

This picture is from my only race thus far in 2009 - Chinatown Firecracker 10K. 

And the Yippy goes to...

One of my proudest new features is the "Yippys". I give these "certificates" out to some of my coolest students. The categories are silly: for example, Smallest Handwriting, Softball Superstar, etc. This one is for a student who donated a lot of change for our Pennies for Patients campaign. The design of the certificate didn't take long, but to get it printed correctly caused some headache. I designed them in PowerPoint, used various apps to correct the logos, saved them in PDF, and sent them to Staples for print. It's funny how some kids are now asking me for a Yippy. I told them that I'll talk to the Yippys Award Committee...

Geometry Web Site

Using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, I completed a website project. It took less time and effort than expected. I feel that I'm finally putting my MacBook Pro to some good use. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going and continue to create more features using technology.

Check it out: Mr. Yip's First Website.

I especially thank Mr. O'Brien for his technical help (he is also a great teacher, good friend, and supportive mentor).

Pink Friday

Support public school teachers. Visit www.pinkfriday09.org. Let's make some noise.

Passion

Joanne, who is one of our wonderful office staff, walked by my room this gloomy Monday morning as she usually does each day. This time, however, she came in with tears in her eyes and just gave me a big loving hug. She said that this past Friday was just a Black Friday. We both knew exactly what was going on. We'll miss each other if and when I do indeed go. She mentioned that there are two teachers who shouldn't go and I was one of them, I didn't ask her who the other one was ... maybe I will when I have the chance. She told me that I was the best. I was a bit shocked when she told me how highly she thinks of me. It made my day! We had always been friendly, but I never expected her to think much of me. I saw her genuinely mixed emotions. In that moment, she showed more passion and spirit toward our school than I've seen in anyone else. Despite never having taught in the classroom, Joanne showed me today that she may well be the most passionate and caring staff on campus. She wants the best for our students. I comforted her and insisted that she go and have a great day. We saw each other briefly during lunch and had a quick laugh and chat. She apologized for her tears in the morning. Joanne - you never have to apologize for having passion for education. We love you, Jo!

New Challenge

Though I felt bad for leaving the profession in 04, I never regretted the decision. Two weeks after receiving the biggest recognition of my life, I was handed a "RIF" notice yesterday. This may be the true test of my drive to be a teacher. No matter what happens, I'll push myself to be the best teacher for the next three months.

These logos are used to engage my students - I do not profit from these designs.

The Yippys

Got a new idea today. Musicians get Grammys. Actors get Emmys. So naturally, my students will get Yippys. Currently, I'm working on the categories and the certificate...

Renaissance Rally

The Renaissance Rally today used the Pirates of Caribbean as a theme. It honored students with good GPAs. It's great that students' academic achievements are being recognized. I was also honored with a plaque...I'm still in some disbelieve of the recognition. The highlight was the skid with teachers dancing. Of course, I was one of those who participated, in both rallies. It was fun and embarrassing at the same time; I actually stayed up until midnight watching dance videos on YouTube the night before. I'll try to post the video if I can get a copy from one of my student's camera.

Save the Teachers

At another special board meeting last night, various teachers voiced our opinions on the budget crisis. In general, we are fighting against cutting teachers, increasing class sizes, and removing educational programs. It was uplifting to see awesome teachers express the same passion that I share. These are anixous times for educators, we are trying to stick together to get through this huge huddle. Judging from the closing comments from the meeting, I felt that cuts are inevitable. We just hope that teachers won't lose jobs.

These logos are used to engage my students - I do not profit from these designs.

It's official!

During our after school staff meeting Monday, I was presented with the Teacher of the Year honor by our principal. It is a moment that I have been preparing for since about a week ago. He asked how I felt during the moment of the announcement and I simply said that I was shocked but was very excited. After he gave me the certificate, I asked if I could thank a few people. I must admit that I was pretty calm. I thanked everyone for pulling for me, not just with their votes, but for their support during the past two and a half years. I congratulated Mr. Dolter and Ms. Curtis for their recognition. I expressed that there are great teachers at GHS and I strive only to be a part of the culture. Lastly, I thanked the math teachers for the wisdom that they've shared with me.  I name checked Ms. Kwak for her exceptional support as a mentor.