Wednesday, November 10, 2010
A Little Piece of Jeriel's Blog
"So, I wanna talk about the girl I love. She has curves like no other. The way her body flows is incomparably indescribable. She causes guys and girls to lose it. She calms me down when I'm angry, fuels me when I'm pumped, massages me when I'm sore, puts me to sleep every night(if I go to sleep), clears my mind when my thoughts are driving me to insanity, kisses my lips whenever I tell her to, and picks me up when I'm feeling down. She is my everything. I love her and her name is Music."
Friday, November 5, 2010
An E-mail from Bradley
"I'm so sorry that I messed up your headphones :'(, I've been feeling bad all day. I will do what ever you want and will pay you back as well, but don't be mad at me because I love you! I should of never borrowed them :'( from now on I will learn not to borrow stuff because you wouldn't want to break them. I will try to remember to take my own headphones from now on.
Again I am tremendously sorry, my sincere condolences to your right headphone. :'("
Yet another reason why I love my students.
Again I am tremendously sorry, my sincere condolences to your right headphone. :'("
Yet another reason why I love my students.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Justice Journals
We have started reading To Kill a Mockingbird in class, and the students will be participating in various journal entries that tie in with specific chapters. Our first journal was about justice, and the students had a choice to speak about injustices within the book or within the world at large. What follows is David's rather timely response:
"A person or people I know that have been judged unfairly are the Mexicans or immigrants. I think that they have been judged unfairly because some of them are drug traffickers and some are criminals. But most of the immigrants or Mexicans come to this country to find a job and to care for their family. The country has looked at them only as bad people, but they actually have lots to offer to this country. Most Mexican immigrants are mistreated and disrespected when coming to this country because of their reputation of being bad people. Also when the H1N1 or Swine Flu came out the Mexicans were treated badly even more.
I think the government is being very racist when making the Arizona law. A lot of innocent families were broken up because of this law and it’s just not right. I think that immigrants should have a chance to come to this country only if they are good hard working people. I think the government should make laws against drug traffickers and criminals, not immigrants that come to this country for freedom."
"A person or people I know that have been judged unfairly are the Mexicans or immigrants. I think that they have been judged unfairly because some of them are drug traffickers and some are criminals. But most of the immigrants or Mexicans come to this country to find a job and to care for their family. The country has looked at them only as bad people, but they actually have lots to offer to this country. Most Mexican immigrants are mistreated and disrespected when coming to this country because of their reputation of being bad people. Also when the H1N1 or Swine Flu came out the Mexicans were treated badly even more.
I think the government is being very racist when making the Arizona law. A lot of innocent families were broken up because of this law and it’s just not right. I think that immigrants should have a chance to come to this country only if they are good hard working people. I think the government should make laws against drug traffickers and criminals, not immigrants that come to this country for freedom."
9th Grade Scavenger Hunt
Yesterday, I took my 9th grade students on a Scavenger Hunt around Manhattan. They had an incredibly specific list to follow... and they had a BLAST! Here are some of the best pictures:
Jose, gettin' down on one knee, to "Yo Ms.! That girl be slammin' hot!"
Ali, helping clean up our beautiful city.
Leticia and Natalye playing a piano at Guitar Center on 14th street.
Jeneilson scooping his own icecream.
The whole crew hangin' upside down!
Jose, gettin' down on one knee, to "Yo Ms.! That girl be slammin' hot!"
Ali, helping clean up our beautiful city.
Leticia and Natalye playing a piano at Guitar Center on 14th street.
Jeneilson scooping his own icecream.
The whole crew hangin' upside down!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dolphins
Josefina, senior extraordinaire, just came back from the bathroom with the following:
"Ms., I have a question. We have gay rights week to support people who are gay, right? Well... why don't we support people who love dogs then? I mean, they're both different than what's normal... so..."
Interesting teachable moment.
"Well, Josefina, it all goes back to what we call 'societal norms.' Originally, homosexuality was taboo in our society. But as we've evolved, and sex has become something people do for recreation and not just procreation, it has become less taboo. Some people simply are more sexually attracted and fulfilled by same sex relationships than opposite sex relationships. However... I think that bestiality is still pretty taboo in our society."
Edwin then chimed in with: "Dolphins have sex just for fun."
Alex: "Yeah, and we learned in Science and Society that dolphins also have guy on guy dolphin sex."
Yet another day in Technology Skills for Life.
"Ms., I have a question. We have gay rights week to support people who are gay, right? Well... why don't we support people who love dogs then? I mean, they're both different than what's normal... so..."
Interesting teachable moment.
"Well, Josefina, it all goes back to what we call 'societal norms.' Originally, homosexuality was taboo in our society. But as we've evolved, and sex has become something people do for recreation and not just procreation, it has become less taboo. Some people simply are more sexually attracted and fulfilled by same sex relationships than opposite sex relationships. However... I think that bestiality is still pretty taboo in our society."
Edwin then chimed in with: "Dolphins have sex just for fun."
Alex: "Yeah, and we learned in Science and Society that dolphins also have guy on guy dolphin sex."
Yet another day in Technology Skills for Life.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Vincent
Vincent: "Ms. Mayer, can I tell you the racist joke now?"
Mayer: (sighs) "Yes."
V: "Okay, so this black guy walks into a white man's bar..."
M: "Why does it always have to be about a white guy?"
V: "If you look throughout history, white people are always angry about stuff. Can I just tell you the joke??"
M: "Yeah yeah, go ahead."
V: "Okay, so this black guy walks into a bar and the white owner says 'We don't allow colored people in here.' And the black guy says, 'Colored? You're pink when you're born, green when you're sick, blue when you're cold, tan when you're in the sun... and you call ME colored??' and walks out."
Mayer: (sighs) "Yes."
V: "Okay, so this black guy walks into a white man's bar..."
M: "Why does it always have to be about a white guy?"
V: "If you look throughout history, white people are always angry about stuff. Can I just tell you the joke??"
M: "Yeah yeah, go ahead."
V: "Okay, so this black guy walks into a bar and the white owner says 'We don't allow colored people in here.' And the black guy says, 'Colored? You're pink when you're born, green when you're sick, blue when you're cold, tan when you're in the sun... and you call ME colored??' and walks out."
Monday, October 18, 2010
Friday: Last Period
It's 3:01pm last Friday. My last class comes barging in, and Kiana marches straight up to me with a pouty little look and says, "Look what they put in my locker." She hands me a piece of folded paper. I open it to find a drawing of a penis. At this point, it's ignorable, so I tell her, "I'm sorry... stupid boys. Let's just forget about it and start class."
3:03pm: Kiana comes to the front of the class while I'm in the middle of getting started and hands me another piece of paper with a "Ms. Mayer!" look on her face. It is, of course, another drawing of a penis. No longer ignorable, I hold up both drawings to the class and say, "Is this how we're going to end our week?" A couple shouts of "It's Anthony! It's Anthony!" rain out.
This disturbs Anthony, who immediately flips open his notebook and fiercely draws a penis. He comes to the front of the classroom holding his own drawing, and I realize that at 3:06pm, I am standing in front of my 9th grade English class with three separate drawings of a penis. It becomes clear, however, that Anthony is not responsible for the first two drawings as his penis drawing is clearly different. I announce, "Okay, Anthony, we can all agree that the first two drawings are not yours. Can we PLEASE start class now? Enough penis talk."
Everyone gets settled. Class is running smoothly. I am rotating to each student to check the outlines of their Of Mice and Men papers. It is pin drop silent as each student is finally diligently working on their writing. I am pouring over a student's work when I hear from behind me Pamela Reyes yelling.
"It won't go in Ms. Mayer! It won't go in!"
I freeze. I have a total panic flashback to the beginning of class. I take a deep breath, realizing there is NO WAY the two incidents can be related.
But it's too late. Mohammad sees the look on my face. He says, "Ms. Mayer, seriously? That's where your head is at??"
I turn around to see Pamela trying ferociously to get a piece of lead back into her mechanical pencil.
Deep breaths all around.
3:03pm: Kiana comes to the front of the class while I'm in the middle of getting started and hands me another piece of paper with a "Ms. Mayer!" look on her face. It is, of course, another drawing of a penis. No longer ignorable, I hold up both drawings to the class and say, "Is this how we're going to end our week?" A couple shouts of "It's Anthony! It's Anthony!" rain out.
This disturbs Anthony, who immediately flips open his notebook and fiercely draws a penis. He comes to the front of the classroom holding his own drawing, and I realize that at 3:06pm, I am standing in front of my 9th grade English class with three separate drawings of a penis. It becomes clear, however, that Anthony is not responsible for the first two drawings as his penis drawing is clearly different. I announce, "Okay, Anthony, we can all agree that the first two drawings are not yours. Can we PLEASE start class now? Enough penis talk."
Everyone gets settled. Class is running smoothly. I am rotating to each student to check the outlines of their Of Mice and Men papers. It is pin drop silent as each student is finally diligently working on their writing. I am pouring over a student's work when I hear from behind me Pamela Reyes yelling.
"It won't go in Ms. Mayer! It won't go in!"
I freeze. I have a total panic flashback to the beginning of class. I take a deep breath, realizing there is NO WAY the two incidents can be related.
But it's too late. Mohammad sees the look on my face. He says, "Ms. Mayer, seriously? That's where your head is at??"
I turn around to see Pamela trying ferociously to get a piece of lead back into her mechanical pencil.
Deep breaths all around.
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