THE WARM UP, PART II

This is my 100th post!

I figured I wouldn't leave y'all hanging for one whole week of vacation, so I will write a couple of things to keep you engaged.

I was hoping to get you readers involved in my classroom, actually. I need you to give me some ideas for Warm Up questions. Here are some examples of one Warm Up I did:

"Who is your hero? How will you be someone's hero one day?"

Some answers from my seventh graders:

"god"
"I want to become an actress someday so someone may lookup to me as a good rolemodel."
"my mom. Work to be what I want to be."
"YOU"

I think they just wanted bonus points for that last one.

So, dear readers, what else can I ask my students? What do YOU want to know? My next unit in class will be covering the Renaissance. I can ask questions related to the Renaissance or just about anything I want. Because I have the power.

THE BREAK

You might not hear from me for a little while because I am on Spring Break! One of the greatest blessings of being a teacher, besides the intrinsic rewards derived from changing lives, is ridiculously long vacations.

I have a week-and-a-half off of work, and I am going to Boston tomorrow! Even though I am on my break, that doesn't mean the substitute skills go dormant. I had a student email me on the first day of break asking for help on the Rubik's Cube. So I emailed him some tips and websites that I learned from.

Peace, Phil

THE PARTY

My students just threw the raddest party ever.

Today is the last day of school before a week-and-a-half of spring vacation. I had students sign up for things like chips/salsa, candy, sodas, baked goods, etc. I also jokingly asked for students to bring The Fun. Everybody raised their hands for that one.

This morning, one student actually brought The Fun. Gio brought party hats, balloons, and those little party blowers. It felt like a huge birthday bash! Then some students found a pointer from another classroom and we did the limbo to Jack Johnson. We also played a great youth group game (Follow the Leader), mingled, gorged ourselves on completely unhealthy food (one student said he had a "kid hangover"), and generally had a fantastic last class.

I also discovered that one or two girls in the class definitely have a crush on me, which was made apparent to me by their constant giggling looks in my direction and saying my name throughout the entire hour. As they walked out the door at the end of class I heard a couple of singsong voices call out, "Goodbye Mr. V! Love you."

THE WARM UP

For one of my periods I get to create a Warm Up question each day. The previous teacher did this and it usually pertains to what we are studying, such as: Why did the Crusaders want to have Jerusalem all for themselves?

But I can ask whatever I want, mainly because I am curious about these little 12 year olds. The other day I asked the question "What would you die for?" This related to the Crusaders dying for their causes. Here are a few of the more interesting responses I got back:

"Food"
"Science/new discoveries"
"Elephants because I'm in love with them and I would also die for my little brother (Wesley), and also my mom."
"I would die for the same thing Will Smith did in 'I AM LEGAND [sic]' (movie)"

THE PHONE CALL

I did not call the student's parents.

Maybe I should have. Maybe not. But all I know is that after he left in tears, my student came back for the last fifteen minutes of lunch and completed an astounding amount of work. He did more work in 10 minutes than I had seen him do in three weeks straight. And that is no lie.

Since he was clearly motivated to do the work to avoid the dreaded phone call home, I told him thank you for working hard, and let's keep it up. And I will not call your parents. He came in the next day at lunch.

Now here is a true miracle: Today in class, this same student raised his hand to answer a question from the homework!

Fancy that.

THE FEAR OF GOD

Today I made a student cry.

Now, before you go on judging me out of context, let me explain why I was justified in my actions and how it was not really me that made him cry, but something more akin to terror. Let's just say I put the fear of God into him.

The young man in question has pretty much not done a single thing since I started three weeks ago. I'm not exaggerating--he literally has not done a single classwork assignment or homework assignment in three weeks.

So I finally said "I think it would be good if I called your parents today to tell them that you don't do your work in my class." His eyes got big. He stopped.

"No, I'll do my work! I'll bring it in tomorrow." What, all 12 pieces of missing work? He doesn't even have the instructions for anything anymore.

"No," I replied, "I'm gonna call them today. I don't understand why you don't do anything. Maybe they can help."

Panic sets in. My student counters, "No, I'll do it! I'll come in at lunch."

Me: "It's just been too long. I gotta call them."

Pleads, "I'll stay in at lunch every day until the end of the year!"

Now stop. Think about that last sentence that speaks volumes. Really? Is the pain of punishment at home so bad that he would volunteer himself three months' worth of detentions? Seriously.

But I hate compromise, and believe that rescinding on my word encourages slackers. So I told him I'm sorry, but I am going to call them today.

And he leaves my classroom (to go to another detention), leaning against the wall, clearly dealing with some major inner turmoil. He wipes his eyes with the hood of his green jacket that he wears every day. His voice cracks, "Please...Mr. V?"


I'll tell you the rest in two days.

THE MENTOR

I never imagined it would be like this: A student lacking a father figure. He is the most rambunctious student of all of mine. Throwing papers, out of his seat constantly, missing classwork, homework, and invites himself to stay in at lunch one day last week. He wasn't even in trouble. Just stayed back after all the students had left. Asked if he could watch TV. (I said no) But we talked for a bit, and then he left--halfway through the lunch hour--he said goodbye, and that was the beginning, I believe.

Friday he stayed in again, on his own accord, and finished his late work. But first, he went to buy his lunch. He came back with three cookies; one for me, two for him. "That is a terrible lunch," I told him. And I said "Let me buy you a lunch on Monday, a Subway sandwich." There is a Subway virtually next-door to the school.

Today, Monday, he was the first student in my classroom, and he looked at me and I knew, and he said "Mr. V," and I said, "Yes, I remember." Today, Jacob and I shared lunch. And it was wonderful.

THE THREE THINGS

"Three things that changed my life are: One, I picked up a football. That changed my life because football is my favorite sport. Two, I kissed a girl. That changed my life because it gave me a new view about life. And three, I went to school. That changed my life because I got smarter."

-Seventh grade student at Santa Barbara Junior High

THE QUIZ

Ok, so I asked the students to create a quiz for the other periods. First period makes a quiz for third period, and vice versa. This is my sneaky way of getting them to study without making it feel like studying. They have to get their facts straight in order to create a proper quiz, right?

I got some pretty hilarious quiz questions: Here they are (see if you can get them right):

Who died during the plague?
A) 25 million humans
B) 2 million humans
C) Tanner Mjelde [a student in the class]
D) Man-Bear-Pig

[if that last entry sounds familiar, it's a reference to a hilarious South Park episode]

Why did castles become less important after the Hundred Years' War?
a) Armies used gunpowder to their advantage
b) The decor grew old
c) All the monarchs were killed in battle
d) All the castles got termites in the stone

King Edward was the grandson of
a) Lydia Nelson [a kid in class]
b) Fat Albert
c) hatred
d) King John

People blamed the Bubonic Plague on:
A. Basketball players
B. Rick James
C. Foot Locker
D. Jews

What happened after the Magna Carta was signed?
a) there was a lift of towers
b) there was a shift in power
c) there was a gift for Austin Powers
d) all of the above

What animal carried the Bubonic Plague?
A. Rats
B. Tanner Mjelde [a student in the class]
C. Fleas
D. Dead cats

What did the French use as weapons?
A. Spork
B. Crossbows
C. Mace

THE QUESTIONS

Ok! More questions for Mr. V:

"What is your favorite animal? Have you ever been over 200 pounds?"

"Do you like the Beatles? Do you know who John Lennon is? AND DO you like him?"

"Do you prefer cheese?"

"Do you like swimming in chocolate? Are you voting for Obama? Do you live with your momma?"

[Note the similarities between this last one and this next one:]

"Do you like melted chocolate? Do you like watching chick flicks? Is Obama yo' dawg? (Hint: yeah foo!) Do you live with your mom?"

"how many fatal infections do/have you had/have? have you ever tryed to commit suicidied? Have you been to area 52? Are you a CIA/FBI undercover agent? What is your faviorit toe? How many Wallis and Gromit movies have you watched? Have you been arested for any crime, federal or otherwise? Do you have frequent spazems? Do you think loafers are disgusting? Do/did you ever jump off a train?"

As you can see, this last girl is pretty weird. Well, not really. Just quirky and probably has some issues going on at home. But I like her. She calls me by my first name. And she insists that I call her Wallace (as in Wallace and Gromit). When I answered the question about suicide (no), to my surprise, about four or five people in class volunteered the information that they in fact have tried to commit suicide. How about that?

I would now like to end with a little shared statement. Remember, I asked the students to ask me questions on one side of their paper, and on the other side of the paper write down at least two things that have changed their life. Here are three stories that made me smile:

"When I was born I was kicked out of the nursery for screaming too much and I woke up all the other babies. Now I don't scream that much any more."

"My first candy I ever had was a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. Soon after that I started to throw up and everyone thought I was allergic to chocolate but when we went to the doctor we found out that it was peanut butter and now I can never eat peanut butter again."

"I saw Star Wars and I became obsessed.

I saw a clown in a parade and I became scared."