Electric Light Philharmonic
Comments (0) 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. :)
Themocracy