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By Kyle, April 28, 2009 6:51 pm

Aerosmith – The Other Side

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I must be compromising my values. I must have become brainwashed. I wonder if it’s the sun. I wonder if it’s the pollution, but the slow transformation is near complete.

And no, I’m not talking about my switch from registered Republican to registered Democrat (jeez….that happened 4 years ago! Old news!)

What I speak of is this. I’m actually rooting for the Lakers! I don’t know what’s going on!?!?! I used to hate the Lakers?! They used to be for me what the Yankees are to baseball. What has sparked this recent change of heart?!?!? Good question. This only confirms the fact that God has a sick sense of humor, the same sense of humor that turned a college freshman who wanted to pursue any profession except teaching into a college senior (and current individual) who wants to do nothing else!

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By Kyle, April 25, 2009 4:19 pm

Peter Gabriel – Down To Earth

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It’s a lazy Saturday afternoon, and an evening Skype appointment with a long-lost sister (well, perhaps not so long-lost) will keep me mostly at home this afternoon catching up on all the things I’ve let slip by the wayside during the past few weeks….you know, basic things like cleaning my room, doing some laundry, and perhaps even picking up with Prince Andrei, Princess Natayla, and Count Bezhukov in a currently dull “Peace” section. (The “War” sections are significantly more interesting).

This morning was fairly interesting on two accounts, both of which occurred as a result of doing something I rarely do….cover an absent colleague’s Saturday School classes. Yep. I got roped into it, but it turned out to be rather interesting on two accounts.

First, this colleague is teaching two experimental classes (no, not experimental mathematics), but rather two classes that are gender-specific. Yes, that’s right. A class of nothing but 8th grade girls, and then another class of 8th grade guys. I must admit, I was a bit wary of the assignment. Both classes went incredibly smoothly and it seemed that students in each of the two classes focused more than has been my typical experience in the relatively few Saturday school classes I’ve taught. Yes, I’m sure we’re trying this out on an experimental basis, but I’m going to be really intrigued by the results.

Second, while this was going on, a team of about 500 employees from local cable company Comcast spent the day working on beautification projects at our school consisting of several huge new murals! This is really amazing stuff and I know the kids (who weren’t here this morning) will come back Monday simply agape at the changes that have taken place on campus in just a few short days! This ought to at least buy us at least a week of no tagging.

Oh yeah…almost forgot. Why the Wall-E poster? Friday, we had our 3rd pizza-movie party for Advanced and Proficient students in the auditorium after school! I forgot how much I liked Wall-E!

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By Kyle, April 22, 2009 6:43 pm

J.S. Bach – Cello Suite No. 1: Prelude

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Arrrgggghhhh. The seventh graders are getting tired of school and they can feel it. I can feel it. After the first truly hot weekend here in Los Angeles, the AC in my building has been turned on, creating a juxtaposition of ultra-heat for kids during their nutrition and lunch breaks, and my classroom during the day. Yes, it feels like summer, except of the fact that there are a full nine more weeks of school!

Being in a classroom with the expectation of preparing for the next three weeks for a test is just not good news when you’re thirteen years old. What’s even worse news for some of these kids is knowing that they’ll be participating in mandatory test prep sessions after school three days a week. Fun, fun, fun :) At least a granola bar at the end helps to abate the pain of not being able to simply wander the neighborhood with their pals for the two hours immediately following school.

On a different front, I’m finding myself wearing some quite different hats than I am normally used to. Tuesday afternoon turned me into “used car salesman”, as we finally “pitched” our 6th grade math program for next year, modestly titled “Kids Mastering Math (KMM")” to our math and science faculty, our prospective teacher group to disseminate basic skills content to kids who need basic skills. Truth be told, I don’t feel quite like a used car salesman, the difference being that I truly believe in the product we’ll be providing teachers, actual resources to help kids with the math they need, BASIC SKILLS. It’s yet to be seen whether our ideal group will immediately jump on board, although early signs are looking quite encouraging (two unsolicited positive responses)! The next hat I get to wear in this is that of researcher, as we figure out how on earth to teach elementary math to middle school kids. :)

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By Kyle, April 19, 2009 4:55 pm

After such a great experience last year, I decided to do it all over again this year. This year more than doubled the size of our group since last year (5 this year, after only 2 last year)!

The best part of the whole experience was the chance to literally not even think about school for an entire two days and get to enjoy something that I really do love, music! Another gracious reminder not to take myself all too seriously!!!

Counting it all, I got to see and enjoy significant bits of 18 artists, many of which were great, some of which were amazing. Some of my favorites:

Molotov:

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Drive By Truckers:

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The Hold Steady:

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TV On the Radio:

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Paul McCartney:

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What a great weekend! Now back to the craziness tomorrow morning! :)

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By Kyle, April 15, 2009 3:37 pm

Saved By The Bell Theme

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One of the best parts of my job is intercepting notes that students try to pass during class. 99.5% of the time, the note has to do with the weekly crushes, break-ups, and cat fights that are going on between students at the school.

Sometimes it’s simply hard not to laugh out loud at some of the notes that are passed. Such was the case not an hour ago during my 5th period class when I intercepted the above note.

The attention to detail, the ironic wit, and the social critique all led me to share this drawing with you all! I’m not sure which part of this drawing is my favorite:

1. There are six kids who don’t love math are anonymous, while the two "nerds” have names, indicating a whopping 25% of my student population loves math. In reality, that is far too generous an estimate.

2. Ironically, it was the six kids who don’t love math that were participating the best in class today (this picture was drawn by one of the six).

3. I’m not sure which disturbs me more, the fact that this student artist doesn’t know how to correctly spell “Hey!”, or that she could simultaneously draw and yet pay enough attention to know we were reviewing a lesson on subtracting integers today.

4. By far the best part of this, is that this student has drawn me with a striking resemblance to a weird combination of both Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker.

Days like today make me just laugh (which is a great reminder not to take it all so seriously)!

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By Kyle, April 14, 2009 4:55 pm

Arcade Fire – Neighborhood 1 – Tunnels

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Today the most powerful elected (consistently by 5-10% of registered voters) board in Los Angeles, our board of education, voted on a set of proposals that will most likely layoff close to 5000 teachers.

I sat at home after school today watching the board meeting unfold live on television. After the proposal was given by the CFO, each board member had the opportunity to pontificate for upwards of 5 – 10 minutes, during which they largely plumed their feathers, feigned outrage, and politicized while simultaneously trying to vote their conscience (yes, highly admirable) and retain constituency support (however unlikely that now may be).

And when it all came down to it, they voted.

Done. 6,500 teachers. Read the story here first. I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon in your local news outlet.

For those of my readers out of the TFA loop, a former TFA teacher, Steve Zimmer, will be replacing a retiring member (Canter) in July! Hopefully, this will present a step in the right direction from someone who definitely knows the internal ropes of classroom experience and what actually goes down in classrooms on a daily basis here in Los Angeles!

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By Kyle, April 10, 2009 4:13 pm

Brian Eno – Music for Airports 1/1

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Finally back in Los Angeles. The trip to Portland was much deserved, and much needed. Simply having 6 consecutive days in which I didn’t have to think about school at all was simply wonderful.

Yet, even upon returning back the madness starts right up again! At 10 a.m. I was downtown at district headquarters talking with the district mathematics expert about potential diagnostic assessment that Rustum (my partner in crime in developing/running 6th grade math intervention next year) and I might want to use. In short, even the 5th grade level math on this proposed assessment would have been too difficult for many of our middle school kids, let alone our incoming 6th graders.

The sad truth of the matter is that for any diagnostic test to be useful, it’s going to have to be on basic, basic math (we’re talking 2nd –4th grade skills here), a reality that no bureaucrat seems willing to admit. And until we as a district (or at least as a school) are able to “call a spade, a spade”, we’re not really going be be giving our struggling kids an adequate chance of success.

My colleague summed it his thoughts nicely as we left shortly before noon: if our math intervention next year succeeds, it will be in spite of the district, rather than because of it.

Anyway, in other news, yes, that is a screenshot of my very own desktop, compiled by a free program I’ve been using since yesterday called Bumptop. It has transformed my desktop from the mindless clutter that it once was, to being a wonderfully beautiful (and surprisingly efficient) way to organize items on my desktop. I love the slideshow photos which rotate through my computers saved pictures! Awesome!

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By Kyle, April 7, 2009 8:31 am

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Taking online classes at Santa Monica College really pays! Not only am I slowly making my way up the salary ladder in LAUSD, but I’m also able to take advantage of some great benefits that come as a result of having a student ID.

Por ejemplo, last night, I was able to take in the Oregon Symphony, which plays right here in Portland. Because I am a student, the ticket cost me a whopping $10.

Was there a downside to this? Absolutely. After hearing a Rachmaninov’s marvelous Variations on a Theme of Paganini, and Lindberg’s 1997 Feria, I had to sit through Ravel’s Bolero. Seriously, I have no idea why audiences can tolerate this piece, which in essence, is a 14-minute-long crescendo-ing repetition of the same two chords with an 8-bar melody on top of it. Over and over and over and over and over.

Anyway, today I’m going to check out the river, and maybe some of the other neighborhoods that I didn’t get to visit 2 years ago. Then tonight it’s dinner with my high school friend, her husband, and their (nearly two-year old) kid! Wow…feeling kind of old now.

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By Kyle, April 6, 2009 10:46 am

Derby – If Ever There’s a Reason

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So I’m in Oregon!

It’s beautiful, breathtaking, and (aside from the 6+ mile hike yesterday through the Columbia River Gorge), relaxing!

I’ve only been here one day and there are already some reminders of home!

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By Kyle, April 3, 2009 5:41 pm

Star***** – Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second

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Yep, so it’s finally Spring Break, and after floating around a couple of ideas in my head (one of which included staying here in L.A.), I’ve decided to make a return trip to the amazing city of Portland, Oregon!

For those of you faithful readers who may remember my journey of yesteryear (or, I guess technically, yesteryesteryear), this is a trek that I made during the summer of 2007, but only was able to stay 2 days. This time, I’m doubling that length to four!

This time, I actually know some folks who are there already, including a former roommate and a friend from high school! I’ll try to take some photos and post them here on the blog.

Anyway, gotta get packed and head off to bed so I can beat tomorrow morning’s o’dark thirty traffic out of Los Angeles.