Remembering a Student

The funeral service for my student was held on Friday Jan. 7th, at night, at West Covina's Pierce Brothers Mortuary. That morning, I purchased a large glass jar. As the day's activity, I provided my students with origami papers and instructions for making paper cranes. The students did a wonderful job with filling the jar with beautiful and colorful cranes. I delivered it to the family on Friday night. There was also a church service on Saturday morning at St. Francis of Azusa. Due to my morning CAHSEE class, I was unable to attend the Saturday service.

Here is another related story from the SGV Tribute.

Obituary

I found out about my student's passing a few days after it happened. According to the SGV Tribute report, my student passed on December 22nd (I have not used her name or her photo on my blog to protect her privacy, but both may be found on the report). The report also provides information on donation to the family. Two car wash dates were held during winter break in her memory to help the family raise fund for her services. I participated in the second date, and heard that over $2,100 was collected from the community that day alone. The family told me that her service will be held on the evening of Friday Jan. 8th, and a mass on the morning of Saturday Jan. 9th.

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.