Gift from a student

My student Julianna had been telling me about her ceramic pig for weeks. She insisted that she'll give it to me. I jokingly insisted that I didn't want to see it. Today, my pig arrived. On the other side of the pig, it reads "Increase the Peace". Cute.

Honors Pre-test

The math department gave out honors and AP pre-tests to students this afternoon. It's always refreshing to see students who are willing to stay after school to take a math test. These are the top students that our schools have to offer academically. Let's hope that we'll get our top students passing more and more AP tests.

The starfish story

On our last day of Link training, my coach John gave us this starfish pin and told us the related story. John's a masterful storyteller, his message really touched me. It closely reflected how I often feel as a public school teacher...

At a beach, a young man is picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. An old man gazed in wonder as the young man again and again threw the small starfish from the sand to the water. He asked, "Young man, why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time. There're thousands, if not millions of dying starfish." The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. "You can't save them all!" exclaimed the old man. The young man looked at the small starfish in his hand and threw it to the sea, and said, "Well, I saved that one!"

JV Banquet 2010

Our JV badminton players enjoyed a fun afternoon with Coach Kilmer and myself at Shakey's. We had pizza with mojos, played arcade games, shot baskets, and I even participated in an eating contest! Coach Kilmer is awesome; he handed out the certificates and awards to the players. Congratulations to our Most Improved Players: Elida and Arturo, and Most Valuable Players: Melissa and Louie. Coincidentally, all four are my students.

Visiting Sistine Chapel

I had my graduate class in Second Life tonight. I'm still not a fan of Second Life, I think its user interfaces are too cumbersome. Nonetheless, our virtual field trip to the Sistine Chapel was very neat. If you have a SL account, you ought to check out the Sistine Chapel virtually. It brought back my memories of being there in the summer of 2004.

May Development Day

Mr. Perdomo emceed the May Development event for about 100 potential Link Leaders for next school year. Mr. C. and I got involved in two separate activities. I felt that I could have done a lot better with my Name Tag activity. Mr. C. on the other hand was fantastic with Team Juggle. During the last activity, we divided the 100 students into four large groups for 64-Square. In all, the event went well and had high energy. I, however, feel that I need to be much better. While I know I am hard on myself, I also know for certain that my section was perhaps the weakest today. I'll need to put in more time to practice to "make it happen".

Panoramic classroom

Joshua took this photo and emailed it to me instantly using his iPhone. What a powerful gadget!

Guest teachers

After their AP tests, the calculus students are visiting other math classes and teaching a lesson for their year-end assignment. So far, I have had two lessons in which an AP student presented a lesson. Lizette went over the conics section and Ke taught a lesson on arithmetic sequence. I think it is great that my students are getting a different perspective and learning from these higher performing, advanced students. This format is Ms. Kwak's brilliant idea.

Difference Maker

The ASB students went to a seminar called LeaderShop this weekend. They each received a "Difference Maker" pin and were asked to give it to a special teacher of their choosing. I am so blessed to have received three! Attached to the pin is the following poem:

Most people might not get a chance

Or just don't take the time,

To thank the ones who change their lives

The way that you changed mine!

A thousand things you did for me

I'm sure you're unaware

But I know, because you showed me,

I, too, now help and care.

Thank you for being a giver

When I was still a taker

You are a special kind of person

You are a Difference Maker!

*Thanks, Elida and the Twins - Paula and Maria!*

Friday's pool party

A picture of me cooking for the Link leaders. I joked that I went to college so that I didn't have to flip burgers. It was a fun event.

Betrayal

I think I do a pretty good job of focusing on the positives, especially on this blog. Evil acts, however, do exist. Sadly, I have seen and heard a lot of negatives recently. We should acknowledge them and learn from them.

Students told me yesterday that during an AP test, a particular student broke a test taking rule. I don't have the details on the extend of the violation, but it's leaving the AP teacher feeling sad and mad. She feels betrayed for she has given so much for her students. Let's hope that the situation is resolved quickly so that this teacher and her honest students get to realize their efforts.

Rumors exist that there was injustice during a recent anonymous voting for a leadership position.

Another teacher friend told me that an older male student in her college math class yelled at her for deducting points off of his quiz for not showing work.

Very few students (only about one in four) said "thank you" after I handed them either a donut for breakfast during the CSTs last week or a burger/hotdog during yesterday's barbecue.

I can only point fingers at myself. If I am ever so lucky to have my own children, I strive to teach them to be honest, kind, and grateful.

End-of-year poolside BBQ

Link Crew celebrated a great year with a pool party with barbecue. The great team of coordinators helped set up a grill, icicle machine, and audio. I contributed by cooking! It was a lot of fun grilling burgers and hotdogs for 50+ kids. We started right after school and concluded the party at around six. The leaders enjoyed a nice day outdoors with loud music, most of them jumped into the pool and just played.

Strangest coincidence

My internet wasn't working at home, so I went to the Pasadena City College library to use the internet. It's my first time on this campus. I walked by a kid who I immediately recognized as Francisco. He was a student during my first year of teaching at Marshall Fundamental. We were genuinely glad to see each other. I'm glad he's in college. He told me that I was a good teacher and had taken the time to teach him math. Francisco, by the way, is now 22 years old.

Mr. Yip returns

After a memorable training, I returned to my classroom with more vigor. I could hardly wait to share my experience with my colleagues. I chatted with previous trainees, which include a counselor and an assistant principal. I also shared some of the tenets that I picked up this week with my students. In particular, as I showed my students pictures from Temecula, I tried to articulate the concepts of "going big", "being your best self", and "making it happen". To fully realize the potential of this training, I ought to be more involved in our already-successful program. I am grateful and excited for the opportunity.

Day Three: Part Two

I continued to learn a lot on our last day together in Temecula. Our awesome coach John guided us through more activities. At the conclusion of our small group meeting, John gave us many gifts (story of starfish, our certifications, and more learning materials). I invited everyone to take a group photo. When everyone agreed, I realized that my camera was in my car by the lobby! I decided to sprint my way up hill to get the camera. Go Big! I'm glad the group was still there when I returned. There were so many great ideas from today and yesterday:

• Be audacious.
• You're not doing it alone.
• Say a little, play a lot.
• Trust it (the Link methods).
• Make things happen.
• Teach kindness.
• Give power and skills to your leaders.
• Believe in your leaders.
• Everyone can read a map, but people relate to stories.
• Create "How come we didn't get this?" moments (so that kids want more).
• It's not about being the best. It's about being your best self.
• Practice.
• Be responsible for your own learning.
• Lazy people don't change the world.
• Carolyn's Mission: Change the world.