Thank you, Mr. Bub

Mr. Bub stopped by my classroom on the day before winter break to give me this gift and to wish me a happy holiday season. He also thanked me for the work that I do. Mr. Bub has been a very supportive and enthusiastic leader and I am thankful for his hard work. We strive to continue to work hard and have a successful 2017 and beyond.

Thanks Sadie

Sadie is an excellent senior student who is also an accomplished actress, a comedian, and a varsity volleyball player for our school. I had her in Pre-Cal last year and it means a lot to me that she stopped by to wish me a happy holiday and to give me this gift. Earlier this year, Sadie and Anthony won an acting award at a high school drama festival. Sadie and Anthony are also the hosts for our school's entertaining video production The Pawse.

Episodes of The Pawse is available on YouTube:
https://goo.gl/KI2qDa

Thanks Peony

I love self-made cards. Peony's self-made card also includes a cartoon. As you can see, Peony is a creative student. She is one of the many Pre-Cal students who I had two years ago in Geometry. It's very nice to have returning students. We already know each other, which makes me as a teacher relax and be more comfortable, and they help set the classroom culture for other students. Thank you Peony for your self-made card and gift card.

More from Peony in 2014:
http://mr-yip.blogspot.com/2014/12/delivered-from-china.html

Thanks Victoria

I have the pleasure of having Victoria two years ago in Geometry, and I was thrilled to have her again in Pre-Cal this year. She is smart, hard-working, and kind. I recall her giving me Christmas cookies two years ago, she again made me this creative and clever gift. 

A little humble brag: She came by for tutoring once during lunch, at the end I told her that she really should be in Honors Pre-Cal. She says "But then I wouldn't have you as my math teacher, Mr. Yip." My heart melted. Thank you, Victoria for your kind words and for this unique gift.

From Christmas 2015: 
http://mr-yip.blogspot.com/2015/12/thank-you-victoria.html

Thanks Anthony

Anthony is an aspiring actor with many talents. He loves reading plays and studying scenes. Earlier this school year, he and Sadie won an excellence award in  acting at a high school drama festival. I have seen Anthony and Sadie perform on stage. Moreover, they also do a great job with our online school video production The Pawse, which is available on YouTube. Thank you, Anthony, for your home-made cookies.

Episodes of The Pawse is available on YouTube:
https://goo.gl/KI2qDa

Thanks Vivian

Vivian and her twin sister, Diane, are both very quiet and hard working students. During the first couple of weeks of school, I was so confused that the same student was in my class twice (2nd and 7th period). By pure coincidence, I sat them both in the same seat! With 35 seats in my class, the chances of that happening was less than 3%. Thank you, Vivian, for your cookies.

Thanks Teresa

Teresa is one of my favorite people on campus. Among other duties, she handles all of the attendance issues of about 2000 students with grace and professionalism on a daily basis. She has a positive spirit every single day. Teresa will never let you know if she's having a bad day, and will be the first to make sure that you are having a great day with her bright smile. Thank you, Teresa, for making me this surprised special treat.

Thanks Priscilla

Priscilla is an unique character. I had the pleasure of having her in Pre-Cal last year. One time, when she went to the bathroom, I duct taped her backpack to her desk as a prank. She is in my AP Stats class this year. Priscilla gave me the directive of not opening the box until Christmas. Thank you, Priscilla, I particularly like the panda wrapping tape.

Thanks Vinny

Vinny surprised me today with this can of home-made cookies. Vinny is in my Pre-Cal class this year and was in my Geometry class two years ago. He and his mom bake for fun and they made me a special batch as an early Christmas gift. I am both touched and honored to receive such a thoughtful gift. The truth is, I sometimes don't know what kind of impact I have on my students. A generous gesture like this is very reinforcing and I feel extremely blessed.

More from Vinny in 2014:
http://mr-yip.blogspot.com/2014/12/early-xmas-treats.html
http://mr-yip.blogspot.com/2014/11/banana-bread.html

How Bad Do You Want It? - Matt Fitzgerald (Book Read 2016)

This is a collection of a selected few endurance athletes who have overcame some very challenging situations. The author uses their stories to describes ways to mentally prepare and cope with the difficulties of endurance sports. I find it to be a solid sports psychology book that is very easy to read. Some parts of the book are very exciting since it's a recollection of the thrilling critical moments of these athletes biggest races.

Time of Giving Charity Softball Game 2016

I participated for the third consecutive year in our school's Time of Giving Charity Softball Game. The faculty played the senior baseball/softball student athletes. The juniors played our local police team. Together, we raised money and collected toys for those in need. Over the past few weeks, our school also collected food items to those less fortunate. Happy Holidays.

Two Hours - Ed Caesar (Book - Read in 2016)

This book explores the quest to run the impossible marathon. Up to this point, no one has been able to run a marathon in under two hours. Caesar writes about the lives of several Kenyan long distance runners. I enjoyed the read as it contained both sports and science. I find the idea of pushing the human physical and mental limits very interesting

Thanksgiving 2016

Happy Thanksgiving. I am grateful for my family, friends, and food. Also, I am grateful for all of the teachers that I have had as a student and have had worked with over the years. 

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell (Book - Read in 2016)

It is a story of success. It is a common misconception, I think, that people accredit Gladwell with the ten thousand hour rule. While Gladwell discusses the rule in his book, I think his tenant is that success is much more than just practice by the individual. Social and circumstantial settings contribution much to a person's chance of having success. It is an influential book and I strive to read Gladwell's other books.

Trivia: Malcolm Gladwell is an excellent distance runner. He has a very impressive mile time at well under 5-minutes by some accounts.

CMC 2016 - Palm Springs

It was another fruitful trip to Palm Springs's annual CMC Math Conference. I attended the following sessions and noted these takeaways.

Friday
10:30a - Square Progression by Anna Kwak (Azusa USD)
The progression of the concepts of squares was modeled through the vertically alignment of the content strand from elementary to high school. 

1:30p - Making Sense of Inference for Sampling & Experiments by Daren Starnes (The Lawrenceville School, NJ)
Through both digital and hands-on simulations, we examined deeper understanding of inference questions on the AP Statistics exam.

3:30p - Knocking Down Barriers w/ Technology by Eli Luberoff (Desmos)
Eli, the founder of Desmos, showed how technology in education can be a double edged sword. We interacted with outstanding Desmos activities called Marble Slides and Point Collector.

Saturday
8:30a - Principles for Building & Using Effective Digital Tasks by Michael Fenton (Desmos)
Using a variety of Desmos activities, teachers learned ways to promote learning that is easy to begin and difficult to finish. (Low floor, high ceiling.) Vary the verbs and the nouns, don't just solve, solve, solve.

10:30a - Sparking Deeper Understanding w/ Simulations in Statistics by Douglas Tyson (Central York, PA)
Two very interesting and relevant activities were introduced. (1) Can you smell Parkinson's and (2) Spin that penny.

12:15p - AP Statistics Luncheon
Guest speaker Roxy Peck showed us a new statistics website for high school students and parents who may be interested in the field. (ThisIsStatistics.org)

1:15p - Significance Test Are More Than Juat a P-Value by Luke Wilcox (Kentwood, MI)
We used simulation to discuss the problem: Can yawning be contagious?

3:15p - Math is Power, Not Punishment by Dan Meyer (Desmos)
We need to offer students an opportunity to feel the need for mathematics. Teachers should allow math to be a tool for empowerment and not punishment.

Thank you cards.

Two of my top students gave me these thank you cards. Eric thanked me for a letter of recommendation that I had the pleasure of writing for him.  James thanked me for my recent recognition of his awesomeness.

My Year of Running Dangerously - Tom Foreman (Book - Read in 2016)

In this biographical story, the author tells the story of his transformation from a working dad to an ultra-marathon runner. It was a great read. I found the book to be both charming and humorous.

Born to Run - Christopher McDougall (Book - Read in 2016)

I listened to this audio book during my drives to work or to my workouts. It was a wonderful story of ultra distance running along with some science behind running. I don't agree with the book's main tenants, including that running barefoot is the way to go, but I still enjoy the story.

Bonita Faculty Halloween Outfit 2016

(My 600th post!)

Thank you to our student leadership and Mrs. Lindsay for providing the faculty with a fun Halloween costume each year. An additional thank you to Mrs. Hubbs for giving me a green bandana to complete the look. Happy Halloween.

Fall Drama Production Presents...

This will be a great opportunity to visit the Bonita Center for the Arts and to support a student drama production. See you there.

Thank you, Chase

Chase is a senior student who runs varsity cross country, what a fitting name. After learning that I also run, Chase gave me this license plate frame that he found in his parents' garage. Thank you Chase and have a great cross country season.

Homecoming Dress Week

Homecoming will be Saturday, September 24th from 7-11PM at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana. 

Homecoming Rally 2016

It was another successful Bonita rally. Thank you Mrs. Lindsay and the ASB Leadership for the amazing event. Mr. Wes and I teamed up for the Goldfish crackers catching game. We won! We went on a row when I caught the first ten. After stumbling for a bit, we went on a row again and caught a total of 20.  Mr. Wes brought up that I've been winning these rally games. It's true. I won the Chewbacca Roar Contest, Blindfold Musical Chair, and Goldfish Catching Game. Honestly, I just wanted to compete for fun so the students can have a good time.

New School Gear

New school year, new school gear. Go Bearcats!

Club Rush 2016-17

I support students' extra-curricular activity by serving as the advisor for two clubs: Robotics Club and Chinese Cultural Club. The truth is that these clubs are run by wonderfully self-motivated students. They have a fun time doing what they love.

Smudgepot 2016

It was a hard-fought loss that we took on our first game of the year. Our players will learn from this and use it as motivation for the rest of the season. I was able to take my cousin MJ to the game. It was a great experience for her since she is visiting from Hong Kong and this was the first football game that she has attended.

Smudgepot Rally

With less than one week of preparation time, the ASB again pulled off an amazing rally for the student body. It is much appreciated. Much respect and credit to all of the groups that performed.

Smudgepot Bon Fire 2016

We kicked off week one with our bon fire event. Many student groups did an amazing job performing for the audience as we wish our football team the best on tomorrow night's big game. Go Bearcats.

Smudgepot Spirit Week

The Smudgepot Rivalry Game (BHS vs. SDHS) will be played Friday August 26th at Citrus College. Go Bearcats!

Thank you, Class Council

Our students are so thoughtful. Thank you, Sophomore Class Council, for the goodie bag to welcome us back for an exciting school year.

Thank you, Carolyn (CCsweets)!

Through our morning group runs, I met a group of genuinely kind and fun-loving athletes. Carolyn is a great runner, and a better friend. She knew that I return to my role as a teacher next week and she made me these amazing personalized cookies. Moreover, Carolyn does a lot of voluntary work on top of her busy schedule of managing her successful bakery. She volunteers for Make-A-Wish, the Ronald McDonald House, and local senior centers. It's my pleasure to have met Carolyn. I'll miss our morning group runs. Until next summer, I'll see you at our local races. Thank you, Carolyn.

Thank you, Hannah

Hannah is a wonderful freshman student in my Geometry class this year. She is a part of Bonita's track team and she also participates in the girls scout program. Thank you, Hannah, for the gift card and your kind words.

Advance Placement Summer Institute 2016

It was a great week of summer professional development. The sessions were led by Mr. Starnes, who has been teaching all 20 years of the AP Statistics existence. Since I was a reader for the AP exams this year, Mr. Starnes gave me opportunities to present the two questions that I graded to the group. At the conclusion of the week, I raffled his new textbook and he was kind enough to sign it for me.