Well this past week has been great. My parents and my aunt visited me. Getting to spend time with family really is great for boosting the spirits. It also meant that I had the opportunity to see a number of Broadway musicals. Thursday night we saw Promises Promises with Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenowith. It was absolutely amazing although I never realized just how short she is. Friday we saw the Broadway version of Elf. It was a ton of fun and thoroughly enjoyable. Saturday we was Chicago and Million Dollar Quartet. Overall there was quite a lot to take in, but I loved every minute of it. The best part by far was having family from home coming to visit. My parents were able to see my school and meet my co-teacher. It also didn’t hurt that instead of eating in all weekend I was able to eat out at some pretty great places. We found a wonderful little Indian restaurant right next to my apartment that I will definitely be visiting again.
This week in class has been pretty low key considering last week ended with a student punching a staff member in the face. Since it was a three day week and only half a day on Wednesday for classes we focused more on review than learning new material. I had a student explain to me his theory on how algebra was created by teachers to make busywork. I then set that as my facebook status. The best part is the first person to comment on that status was my old algebra teacher who I probably used the exact same line on. I also had a student who decide to make vulgar sexual noises all of the class period. That was one of those moments where I had to choose whether or not to address the issue. I did originally, but when it continued it I decided to focus positive attention elsewhere. He was convicted the week before and finding a way to invest him in the class was challenging. I also had a student ask me why we do work every day in class. My response was that we were in class to learn and it was my job to teach him so that is why we have lessons every day. He said that I should try taking a day and not doing a lesson. To which I replied, “Do you think it is ok for me to show up to work and not do my job? Who would want to have an employee who doesn’t do their job?” He then stated, “I couldn’t trust someone like you to do a job Mr. Hamilton. You are too perfect.” Well I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment from my student or not. It is however slightly disturbing to think that he thinks you can go to work and some days just decide not to do anything. We are going to have to work on that. Students quiz scores this week were up significantly which is exciting.
I am in Boston for Thanksgiving with a friend from TFA. It is great to be out of the city and in a home. I’m sure I will have more to say soon.
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