How the Grinch Stole Christmas Quiz

    The last day of school before Christmas break is typically a difficult day to teach a lesson or give a test. Yet I have trouble letting my kids have a day at school where they do nothing. Mostly this is because if you give 32 adolescents lots of sugar and unstructured time in an enclosed space, tragedy ensues. So I show a movie and not just any movie, but the cartoon version (the only version, in my mind) of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". While my kids watch this, I give them a group quiz during which they may shout out answers to each other and use calculators and ask me. I don't grade it and I fess up to that if asked. "I will look at them," I reply. "But will it count toward our grade?" "I will not score it, but I will look at them..." ambiguity is my friend.
    Geometry gets a more difficult version. So test your skills. Cue up the movie and see if you can answer these questions. They are in sequential order and are intended to be answered while watching the movie, not after. Best of luck and Merry Christmas!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas Quiz

1. How many sizes too small was the Grinch’s heart?

2. The Grinch lives in what compass direction from Who-ville?

3. How many servers with trays were inside each other?

4. If each server is half the size of the previous and the first one is 3 feet tall, how tall is the smallest one?

5. How many years has the Grinch “put up with Christmas?”

6.  How long is the pole with which the singer would not touch Mr. Grinch?

7. Explain the physical principal that causes Max to fall forward (hint: it has to do with centroid).

8. What did the Grinch use to pull out the mails holding the stockings above the fireplace?

9. What geometric shape are the Christmas ornaments with which he plays pool?

10. How many kids were in the same bed?

11. What did he take the last can of?

12.  Write an inequality to describe the possible age in months of Cindy Lu Who.

13.  If the smallest size of a crumb that a mouse would eat is 2mm wide, write an inequality to describe the possible sizes of crumbs left by Mr. Grinch.

14.  What three words can be used to describe Mr. Grinch?

15.  How many feet up Mt. Crumpit did he travel?

16.  Use the following diagram to discover the altitude of the tip top of Mt. Crumpit.

	(*There is supposed to be a diagram of a right triangle, the base of which measures 8,000ft*)

 

                     

                           8,000 feet

17.  If the Volume of the Grinch’s heart was 4 cm³ before it grew, what would be the new volume of his heart?

18. What was the equation used to describe the Grinch’s new strength?

19.  If the strength of one Grinch is 3 horse power, what was the new strength of the Grinch?

20.  What are your plans for the winter break?

Questions

I'm a pretty happy person. It takes a lot to rile me up. Here are couple things that make me actually so angry that I'm willing to show that anger and even say something about it:

1) The adult bookstore by my house makes me furious. Mostly because they tore down some ugly building and started building this gorgeous place with flagstones and good landscaping and I thought, "finally, something to make our community more beautiful!" and wouldn't you know, it's a store designed to profit from the sin and weaknesses of others. Ohhh, I hate that building and all that it stands for and I pray that it will go out of business so it can stop assisting people in ruining their lives.

2) I get mad when people go against a member of my family. This rarely happens, but I seriously wanted to find the people who once pulled a gun on my brother (years ago) and chase them down and explain to them the value of life...with my fists. This is probably not the best reaction to have for many reasons, but my anger in this case makes me irrational.

3) I get mad when people think that my faith makes me stupid or that I must be stupid to have faith. There is a billboard up right now that states: "Faith does not have the answers, it impedes questions."

     I get mad at this for two reasons, the first that people are advertising lies about my faith to encourage me to believe in their universalism (or atheism). I am assuming the next part, since I don't really know the beliefs of the creators of this billboard, but I assume they believe in relative truth. Many people believe that truth is relative with respect to each individual. Like I may believe that purple elephants created the world and you may believe that it was actually yellow turtles and that neither of us has a right to declare one to be true over the other. One is true for you and the other is true for me. No truth can be proven absolutely, so there is no absolute truth. This kind of relativistic tolerance is given to everyone as long as everyone subscribes to this relativistic tolerance. I can believe what I believe as long as I agree that my truth might not be the only truth. But that, in itself is a statement of truth. It is an axiom of living. People who believe their is no absolute truth, believe absolutely in a truth that there is no absolute truth.  It's a paradox. Everyone believes in something, even people who believe in nothing, that's a belief. I get mad because these people are trying to convince me to stop believing in my truth and start believing in theirs, by declaring belief to be a stupid thing. It's simply illogical.

The second reason I get mad is that they say that faith impedes questions. I'm assuming they mean that my faith tells me or forces me to squelch my questions and just blindly follow what is put before me as truth. My faith says that I must turn off any inquisitive intellectual devices within me, and just believe. I am less mad about this and more eager to clarify.
   I teach math, a subject which people are quite willing to express their frustrations with, loathing of, and general inability to understand. "I'm just not a math person" "I don't have a math gene" "I was never good at math". Math is not a mystery which only the smartest can unravel (well, some of the crazier stuff, yes, but not algebra). People just haven't seen it expressed in the best way for them to understand it. But because of possibly poor teaching, people assume that all math is too hard for them.
   Faith is like this. There are people who are people of faith who say to people with questions, "You just have to believe, stop asking questions!" I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had questions about the hows, whats, whys, and even some I'm not sures about Christianity and have been told that questioning is wrong. So I see why the billboard may have said what it says, but please don't attribute all faith with the failings of some of its followers. Just as I ask you to not attribute your frustrations with mathematics to math itself, but in the way it was presented to you.
    You see, God created us with intelligent, curious, inquisitive minds and asks us to use them. He created so many things with so many complex mysteries and presents them to us as a puzzle to be solved. But, just like any good teacher, God exposes us to the puzzle, asks us to question and guides us to the truth. I reward my students for asking good questions, and I reward them for answering these questions, but I don't say, "Sure, you can believe that," for any and every answer they give. I tell them they are wrong if they are wrong and to keep trying until they get it right. Sometimes I give them the answers, sometimes I give them the steps and guidelines they must follow to get to the right answer, and sometimes I let them discover the truth for themselves. God is like this with us. Some answers he just plain gives us, some he presents guidelines for, some we must discover on our own, and some we must accept as unknowable mysteries to be revealed later.
   I am sorry for people who feel like faith is for blind, unquestioning followers. I am angry at people who think that I throw aside my logical or scientific brain when I approach scripture and faith. And I really want to tear down that billboard (although I believe in the freedom of speech, and I'm totally against vandalism...)but I hope that I live my life in such a way that people see that intelligence and faith do have a place together. That my creative, wise,logical, intelligent God welcomes my questions and fills me with the answers either in this world or the next.

  So bring on your questions, God welcomes them. The answers I find only make my faith stronger.

Because of Him

If I ever thought I was smart, it's because of him.

If I ever loved the blues, it's because of him.

If I ever realized that ice cream can cure any bad day,  it's because of him.

If I ever thought that I was good at music, or writing, or singing, or acting, or dancing, or any other art I attempted, it's because of him.

If I ever learned the importance of being a good friend,  it's because of him.

If I ever used movie quotes interspersed in my conversations,  it's because of him.

If I ever loved learning, it's because of him.

If I ever wondered how something worked or why something happened, it's because of him.

If I ever loved an old movie, it's because of him.

If I ever thought that I was strong and able, it's because of him.

If I ever read a book to savor the beauty of a well written sentence, it's because of him.

If I ever thought a boy was an idiot,  it's because of him.

If I ever felt so confident that I knew I could do what others could not,  it's because of him.

If I ever loved science fiction,  it's because of him.

If I ever learned how to rebuild an engine, it's because of him.

If I ever loved rap,  it's because of him.

If I ever felt like I was special and important,  it's because of him.

If I ever loved the ocean, it's because of him.

If I ever knew that I had something to offer the world to make it better,  it's because of him.

If I ever saw the importance of family, it's because of him.

If I ever felt like there was no place I could fall where I would not be caught, it's because of him.

If I ever felt safe, it's because of him.

If I ever desired to serve God and seek Him, it's because of him.

If I ever thought that all firemen were brave and strong and kind and handsome, it's because of him.

Happy Birthday to my dear Dad. He somehow was able to make me simultaneously feel like his little girl and empower me to be a strong woman. I could ask for no better father. It's because of him that I am me. Thanks, Daddy.

Children Should Be Heard

  I am good with kids. I have known that since I started being old enough to say, "I'm good with kids." I've tried to figure out why it is that I can relate to kids and talk with them and have them talk and relate to me. Part of it is certainly because I love things that are kid-like. I enjoy bubbles, coloring with sidewalk chalk, dancing to anything, novels meant for kids, tv shows meant for kids, and just being silly. But I've decided the most important reason is that I listen.
   I've recently been observing other adults and their interactions with kids. Some adults can't hear kids as they continually shout out, begging for attention. Some talk over kids in the middle of a story and start talking to another adult because they don't think what the kid is saying is valid. Some respond with a simple "oh really" while they are doing something else. I've also seen some who look kids in the eye while they speak. Who pause in conversation to listen. Who ask questions and respond like they want to know the answer. Who actually have conversations with kids as if they are people and matter.
    See, that's the key. Listening to someone tells that person that you think he or she matters. What you have to say and what you think about things and what you have done is worth hearing. When do kids become valid human members of society? Some might say adulthood, some when they get a job, some when they can talk. I say that all of childhood is a time when you are valid. You matter no matter how old or intelligent or learned or intelligible you are. So when a 3 year old at church wants to tell me about her dress, how is that any less valid than me wanting to tell people about my dress. And when a twelve year old is telling me about a book she loves, I want to know (mostly because I'll probably love it too).
     So often kids feel like they are not heard, like they don't yet matter. But they do matter! They are a functional and integral part of our society and they deserve to be heard. And just think about what you teach a kid when you listen. You teach them that respect is given to everyone no matter who they are, what they look like, or their age. You teach them how to listen by being a listener. You teach them that words have power. You teach them that they are valuable and have a purpose. You teach them to think of themselves in a communal way - a way that can lead to seeing outside of themselves and looking to others.
    The next time you see a kid, I challenge you to ask them a question. Start with, "How's school?" if you are feeling uncreative. But you might move into, "reading anything interesting?" or "what shows are you watching?" or "would you ever want to live in another country?" or "do you think that aliens have art?" or "what makes you happy?" or "who's your best friend?" It may be awkward and you may have to carry a large part of the conversation, but it doesn't matter. What the kid will hear is, "I'm interested in knowing more about you." The key is, when they answer - listen!

An Interesting Fact About You

Every year my kids fill out info cards about themselves: phone numbers, birthday, etc. But my favorite is an interesting fact they tell me about themselves. Most are about what sports they play or a talent they have, but some are just an excellent reflection of why I love to teach junior high. Here are some top samplings:

I like to play with my nails

I am a girl

I am boring. I do nothing.

PC NOT Mac

I love Pandas

I go to church every day

My favorite hobby is math and I love to play sports

I am aware of my surroundings and the people around me

In chess, I can beat everyone I know except for the computer.

I love and have a propensity of always using more complex vocabulary words when conversing with anyone when possible.

I mostly get "F's" in math. I don't know why.

I love to read Harry Potter books.

I have the same birthday as my sisters.

I don't know much Spanish.

(one girl's was a bulleted list):

•       I'm just a simple and nice girl
•       creative
•       nice with lettering

I am your student.

I have 2 ducks, 12 doves, and 3 parrots.

I like to dive in the pool and I can snap my finger really fast.

I like red, black, gray, white, and werewolves.

I love my sleep.

I like holding my lizards.

I could climb a lot of stuff.

In bsa (boy scouts of america) and courteous, scientific

I like to travel around the world.

I have a twin sister named Margaret. Don't get mixed up. :)

I know much about the Japanese culture.

There are haunted dolls up my attic. Really creepy. They appear every day on the ground. Then they disappear in a hour.


                This is going to be a fabulous school year...   

Waiting in Line at Comic-Con is Different from Waiting in Line Anywhere Else

Comic-con is a wonderful experience and part of that experience is waiting in line. It may seem like waiting in line would be a bad part, but it actually is pretty awesome. People are prepared for the wait and it's expected, so you show up hours before you want to see something and just embrace the wait. And while you wait, you get to thinking about how different this kind of waiting is from any other kind and I decided to analyze the why's and how's of this phenomenon.

1) Most of the people in line are really nice. If you are waiting in line for the DMV or even a movie premier, there is always bound to be some jerk or person who you just wish would go away, but I've enjoyed every line buddy I've made. Everyone seems pretty excited and patient and they like all the same stuff you do, so there's no need to explain what a TARDIS is or why you have on a ridiculous orange and yellow hat.

2) People bring books with them. I'm not just talking kindles or nooks, I'm talking full on novels. Like books that are over 500 pages and with small print. And not just a few people bring books, I'd say close to 40% do. And it's a beautiful thing when you don't feel a social stigma for pulling out a novel that's called Plague with pictures of superhero kids on the cover and reading it in public - a beautiful thing.

3) People are friendly, but they also don't mind being socially awkward. In the middle of a conversation, if someone gets a text (a major form of comic-con communication) that person doesn't excuse themselves from the conversation or ignore it, he/she just whips out his/her phone and starts to respond. They might even do this while still talking to you or just start ignoring you. It's totally acceptable protocol at SDCC.

4) Unlike Disneyland, the people wearing costumes are not paid to be there.

5) Strangers shout out at other strangers about what you are wearing and their opinion of it. This is especially true if you are wearing a costume or a shirt that is a subtle homage to a favorite tv show or movie. I wore a shirt last year that had the orange orange logo from Chuck - I got a lot of shout outs about that one.

6) Cutting in line is acceptable and expected. You may be one person alone in line one minute and then ten minutes later you are joined by five of your friends. No one huffs at you saving seats or spots in line because they have done it too. It's the only way to travel.

7) A three hour wait doesn't seem that long. You bring food and games and entertainment and make friends and have a seat and prepare for the journey. It goes by pretty fast and it's amazing how fun the wait can be.

    Comic-con is a people watching mecca. I suggest, if you love to people watch, try to get yourself a ticket for at least one day so you can sit in line and experience it for yourself. It really is its own little world.

My Comic-Con 2011 Top Ten

  I went to Comic-Con for my second time and this time I went for the whole shebang, four days of craziness. I got to do many things and had lots of fun. Some people say I have something called the luck of the Dempseys. I don't believe in luck, I think that I just have really great things happen to me a lot. Even the bad stuff often turns out to be good. But after this weekend, I have to wonder about the effects of a certain hat I wore and the amazing things that happened while I wore it.

10) We got to see so many amazing panels: Twilight, Chuck, Fringe (with a charming and living Joshua Jackson), Castle, Eureka, Merlin, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog sing along, what's hot in young adult fiction, diversity in young adult fiction (where I got to meet and talk with an author I had read recently), two tv premiers: Terra Nova and Alcatraz, and TV Guide's fan favorites with a smorgasbord of celebrities. That may not seem like much, but with 2-3 hours of waiting for each panel, that's quite a lot to accomplish. And except for the Doctor Who panel, that was everything I wanted to see! Well, I did miss Psych :( but I happened to see the main actor from that show while I was in line for the bathroom and that counts for something.

9) I got interviewed while waiting in line for Twilight. I made some references as to how I thought that some members of the panel might be more coherent than others (implying that Kristen Stewart wouldn't be so clear). That got a laugh, but I think I won't make the extras on the DVD, not like the girls screaming Twilight!  I also got to meet Nikki Reed and speak with her (she had a main role in the film). We had excellent seats during the panel, got to see some sneak peaks of some scenes in the film, and heard some good questions and answers including some surprisingly insightful answers from Kristen Stewart.

8) I made many line buddies. You see, half of comic con is just waiting in lines. I mean like sitting down for 3 or more hours waiting to see a panel of people or a movie screening. And when you are sitting in line for so long, you start to make friends with the people around you. And since most of them are nerds like you, you are bound to have things in common. Things like: the Hunger Games is a great book, or David Tennant is the best Doctor, or whether or not Harry Potter will be considered a classic years from now. Also while waiting in line, you get to see lots of interesting costumes. It is a people watching haven!

7) I got to see the Doctor. Doctor Who? Yes. Matt Smith was on a panel with a whole bunch of other great people including Zachary Levi (from Chuck) and Jorge Garcia (Hurley from Lost). He was floppy haired and beautifully British. He was charming, but not David Tennant, but still charming. My friend works for comic con this year and he found out that I liked Dr. Who. I had to miss the main Dr. Who panel, but he said he might be able to get me in to a private signing with the cast!!! He tried to get me in, but by the time I got the text saying that I could come, I was about 2 blocks away and on the wrong floor. I ran through the crowds wearing my huge backpack, which I had just filled with 6 books I had bought (or received for free) on the main exhibition floor. At one point my backpack opened up and books spilled out. People helped me pick them up and I carried them in my arms as I ran down the hall. I got to the door and just missed them. But at least I was several feet from the Doctor himself.

6) The Chuck panel was amazing. It is the last season of the show, a show that was first screened at comic con and basically got its start and support and sustenance from the nerds there. We got free shirts as we entered (after waiting in line for 2 or 3 hours). They showed fun clips and Jeffster sang. They were super funny and entertaining. But the best part was at the end as Chuck (I mean, Zachary Levi) was speaking about why he loves comic con and how he feels about the end of his show. He started to speak about how much he loves the people of comic con and his fans and he started crying...like all manly yet choked up. And then the whole crowd just stood up and started clapping and continued clapping for several minutes. I love overly sentimental moments and this was a great one.

5) So here is one way the hat became magical. You see, last year, my friend wanted a hat from a show called Firefly. It was a sci-fi show that had a short run and a huge following. One of the gruffest characters (played by Adam Baldwin on Chuck) got a hat in one episode from his mother. Now fans of the show wear these yellow, orange, and red knitted hats to show their love for the show. They were selling them for $30 each last year and I told my friend I could make them for $10. I ended up making 4 of them (at a cost of about $10 each) and we wore them at panels where members of the cast were presenting. I was wearing the hat after the Castle panel with Nathan Fillion. A girl came up to me and handed me one of the the tickets we got during the panel. Hers had a special stamp on the back that meant you could go meet the cast at a signing! She gave it to me because I had on the hat that said I was a true fan! I gave it to my friend because she's a truer fan than I am and it would mean more to her.

4) We went to dinner at a restaurant near the convention center. I did not want to wear my hat at this fancy place, but it started to get cold and we were outside, so I put it on. One of my friends noticed an actress from the show, Firefly, was walking right in front of the restaurant. I got up and stood on the sidewalk as she passed. She looked at me, smiled and asked, "Would you like a picture?" Her husband took two pictures of us and they were so nice. I thanked them for allowing us to interrupt their evening and told her I thought she was great.

3) While crossing the street and still wearing my hat I looked at the handsome man walking toward me and threw off my sunglasses while shouting, "You're Nathan Fillion!!", yes, I'm cool like that. He said, "I like your hat," to which I replied, "I do too and you're awesome!" I would have asked for a picture, but we were in the middle of the street and he wasn't stopping.

2) My friend who works at comic con gave my friend a text during the Twilight panel: if you leave now, you can come to a private signing with the Twilight cast. We left right then and ran to where he told us to go. We waited while the workers told us if we got out our phones, cameras or pens or asked for a hug or anything but smile we would be asked to leave. Then we entered the room and met the big three: Taylor Lautner, Rob Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart. Taylor was first and he asked me how I was as he signed my poster. I responded with my usually over excited positivity and he said and I quote, "I like your energy" ha! Rob Pattinson was a little strange but even with a half shaven head, was still good looking. I felt bad about bad mouthing Kristen Stewart earlier, especially as she had actually done a really great job on the panel. So I told her I thought she had some great things to say on the panel and she thanked me and smiled and now I take back half of the things I said about her.

1) And now the most magical of all. I forgot to bring my lunch from the hotel to the convention center. One of my friends was leaving later and she promised to bring it to me. She was in a ballroom far away from the panel we were waiting for. One of my friends waited in line for me while I ran across the street to meet my other friend with the lunch. I was wearing my hat, despite the heat, mostly because I had hat hair. As I was crossing back across the street, I started to walk around a group of people walking the perpendicular direction. I looked and saw that it was Morgan from Chuck! As if I was pushed in a current of a stream, I started walking sideways the wrong direction so that I was in front of him and then I noticed Awesome from Chuck! I finally started walking the right direction (with them instead of backwards in front of them) and said, "I loved your panel, it was awesome!" Captain Awesome gave me a thumbs up and a thanks and a beautiful smile and then I heard from behind, "You've gotta be pretty brave to wear that had in public," and I turned around to see Adam Baldwin himself, the man whose character originated my hat. I turned into goo, incoherent, bumbling goo. "I've always wanted to see you while wearing this hat!" I so eloquently replied. He gave me a hug and asked for my name and said, "We're off to have burgers at the Hard Rock," I don't remember what I said next except it involved stupid words and lots of smiling. I didn't get a picture (another walking in the street thing), but I thought that was the coolest thing to say to a fan and it certainly made my comic-con.

              So we have tickets for next year (which required us to wait in another 3 hour line) and although I am exhausted and thrilled with my time there, I don't know how next year can top the amazing things that happened this year. I'll be sure to bring my hat and the luck of the Dempseys.

Good and Bad

           As I was brushing my teeth tonight, I realized that I still hadn't rescheduled my appointment for my teeth cleaning. I then thought about how bad I am at rescheduling appointments. I then thought about how I needed to wash my car and change the oil and how bad I am about that. I then thought about blogging about how bad I am at things, but that's a little too negative for me so I thought I'd intersperse some things I am good at so I can counterbalance the negativity.

Bad thing 1: Rescheduling appointments...or even scheduling appointments. I like hanging out with people who are my friends. I don't like hanging out with people who hurt me by poking at my teeth and then charge me money for it.

Good thing 1: I'm really good at hanging out with my friends.

Bad thing 2: I'm really bad at selecting a professional to do some job and then feeling confident about my choice. That means I stick with a bad mechanic or dentist just because the idea of having to choose someone else is far more repellent than the state of staying with the bad one I already have. I guess that means I'll never choose divorce...

Good thing 2: I'm really loyal.

Bad thing 3: I am messy. I try to deny it and hold on to the false hope that I am not a messy person, but I am. I don't like to make my bed and if my laundry basket is full I just leave my clothes where they land until I get down to doing laundry.

Good thing 3: I don't ever make people feel bad about having to clear off their front seat so I can sit on the passenger side.

Bad thing 4: I am horribly forgetful. I think it has to do with the fact that I try to do too much and then I don't sleep that much and my brain doesn't work well. I remember stupid and potentially unimportant details like the fact that the kid I saw at the picnic had a black Nintendo DS he carried in his left hand, while I cannot remember his name.

Good thing 4: I also forget the bad things, so if you do something bad and then apologize and I say, "It's forgotten," I really mean that in the literal sense.

Bad thing 5: I hate calling businesses on the phone. I am always afraid that they will ask me questions to which I don't know the answer or I will feel the pressure to answer before I've had time to think it through and balance all of the pros and cons. I don't know if I want two medium pizzas for the price of one large...what's the cost per piece difference? Is there a volume difference per slice? Would a more accurate question be a cost per ounce analysis? And then I have to decide about toppings for the second pizza and I don't know if everyone wants pepperoni. Would someone else besides me eat the Hawaiian? Too much stress.

Good thing 5: I love providing people with food, whether I make it or order it.

Well, now you know. I am filled with imperfections and I'm sure you know of others, but these are the five I felt comfortable sharing. Please don't think less of me.

Chocolate Wrappers

       I love chocolate. I really love it. I love how it smells, I love how it looks, I love to cook with it, I love to make a ganache with melted chocolate and butter. I love dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with stuff in it and chocolate covered stuff. I love chocolate ice cream, chocolate pudding, chocolate sauce, chocolate brownies, chocolate souffle, and chocolate bars. I went to Hershey, PA when I was 9 and I still vividly remember the vats of melted chocolate glistening as they were carefully churned. Even the air smelled like chocolate.
        I once read a book about a girl who had never tried chocolate (that wasn't the point of the book, but it was the part that resonated most with me) and I just couldn't imagine such a thing. But let's try. Imagine the best Swiss chocolate truffle made with the greatest of care. It is the kind of chocolate you eat with your eyes closed, it's that good. Now imagine that I've eaten the chocolate and left the little wrapper behind. A girl who has never eaten chocolate before, sees the wrapper, reads that it is chocolate, and smells the wrapper. The smell is pretty wonderful, it smells sweet and dark and warm and the smell is close to the taste, but it is only the residual glory of the chocolate that once was.
           The girl might think that this is what chocolate is. This glorious smell. But she has no idea of the greater glories this wrapper held. She doesn't really know what chocolate is like, she has this glimmer of leftovers, but has not experienced the textures of the chocolate or the nuances of the flavors or the way it slowly melts over your tongue and leaves a sweet coating in your mouth long after the chocolate is gone. She only knows this smell and thinks that that is what chocolate is like, there is no way she can imagine all of what she is missing. She couldn't even comprehend it until she has experienced it.
      Today, my pastor said something interesting. He commented that all we have seen and known of God is only the afterglow of His true glory. It is a small fraction of the awesomeness of God. We have seen a lot of God's glory in the Bible and in history and in life - the pillar of fire, the protection of the Israelites throughout the ages, His coming to earth as a man, Jesus' death and resurrection. We have seen a lot! But like Moses, we have only seen the shadows of His glory. Christ is glorified in heaven with God and I can't even imagine what that is like. I know the difference between what I know now and what God's glory is really like is even far greater than the difference between smelling a chocolate wrapper and eating the chocolate inside, but it can help me appreciate what is to come. The same God who made this earth made that heaven, and He promises that it will be better than we can even imagine. I cannot wait to try my truffle.

Why Books and the Sun Don't Mix (alternatly, How I Came to Be Known as Brenda Burnbutt)

 Most Spring breaks in my life have been spent at the beach. My family (and when I say family I mean nearly 30 people) usually camps together at the beach every Easter break. This year was a particularly lovely one as I felt like I needed a reprieve from everyday life and I sure got it.
  I love camping at the beach with my family because my day generally consist of this:

• wake up
• eat bacon
• read in the sun
• eat candy
• talk with family
• read in the sun
• take a nap
• maybe do some beachy activity 
• eat melty red vines
• read in the sun
• take a shower (for 50 cents)
• read in the sun
• eat dinner
• sing songs around the smokey fire while making s'mores
• sleep

 Which leads me to my next part, famous Brenda burns. I have a tendency to try to read as many books as I can during my break. I sit in the sun (usually with sunscreen well applied) and read. This is good, unless I fall asleep. I sleep through the time I was supposed to reapply and then get the most ridiculous burns. The all-time best are listed below:
1) While wearing a bathing suit and laying on a lounge chair, I fell asleep. The book landed on my stomach, the corner of which landed on my leg giving me a white triangle on my thigh that lasted for months.

2) Another year, I read a book while in my bathing suit on a lounge chair, but this time I was on my stomach. When I fell asleep for over an hour, my butt proceeded to burn to a toasty red (I had not applied any sunscreen there). I had difficulty sitting for the rest of the trip and was forever labeled as Brenda Burnbutt.

3) This year I did not fall asleep in the sun and I did remember to wear sunscreen, but I was so into my books (I read three in one day) that I forgot to reapply or move. So I burned my nose, forehead, tops of my feet and just half of the back of each hand. Why half, you ask? Because I only burned the parts of my hands that were facing the sun while I was holding my books. Yes, that's right, I burned my thumbs because I didn't move my hands from the book holding position for like seven hours.

I had to close my eyes because I had my eyes dilated and I used a flash.

So I now I actually put on makeup each morning to try to cover the red, peeling blob of a nose I have and I try not to imagine all of the skin cancer I have just voluntarily given myself. The makeup is ok from far away, at least in the morning, but by sixth period it gets pretty ugly. A kid asked me what was wrong with my nose.
"I forgot to reapply sunscreen."
"Who wears sunscreen?" He asked
"Umm...white people," I replied. To which every kid responded by laughing in shock and staring at the only white kid in the room and asking if it was true.
Sadly, I can only say that once white people become red people we remember why all white people should.

Pentathlon Students Wander No More

   You know when you can taste fear? When it creeps up slowly from the pit of your stomach, tightening each muscle as it passes until you're sure that it will eventually choke you from the inside out? That was how I felt at the pentathlon awards night. Most of our team was there (including three of our alternates) and we sat in the front row of an intimidating auditorium waiting to be called. We, the teachers, knew that our team had won a team award, but we did not know what place or what award. The students knew nothing about the awards. They have eight categories: Literature, Essay, Math, History, Science, overall individual, Superquiz team, and overall team. They begin by announcing 6th place winners in 7th grade then 8th grade and they move back and forth until they get to 1st place. Students often tie for each place, so there may be 8 or so winners for each place.
     They started with literature and I could feel the panic forming. We got no medals for 6th place...I suddenly panicked that we might not win any medals for literature and the world would know that I failed as a lit teacher! Fifth place was announced and still, no winners. I absently clapped for the other schools as they were called and I felt like I was going to die from nerves. Finally, for 4th place they called a kid from our school. I was relieved for a moment, but one 4th place winner was not good enough for me! I wanted more! The overachiever in me wanted at least four medals. Third place, no one. Second place - three winners!! I was so relieved! That was respectable. I had not failed them.
     The night continued on like this. Our lone eighth grade team was called up several times to the stage, with several students earning 3 or even 4 medals. Other schools had two, three, or even four teams so they were called more often. It was intimidating to hear their names called again and again. Some were from special advanced schools that offer pentathlon as a class during the regular school day. We heard schools' names called over and over again. But each time they called us, we cheered wildly and we teachers filled with pride.
     Some of our kids earned overall medals for doing well in every category. They were so excited and so proud of what they had done. Then came the team awards. For Superquiz (the best part of the competition where the kids compete in a form of group jeopardy! - sort of) we waited for them to call our names: 6th place, nothing, 5th place, nope, 4th place, still not us. We all looked at each other - could we have placed this high? 3rd place - not us, now we were getting really excited. Surely we won second, but 2nd place was not ours. The first place winners were many (I think 7 schools tied for first place) but we were the last school called and we went crazy. We all screamed and cheered and ran to the stage to receive the plaque.
    I love our alternates. They came to the awards ceremony without any expectations of receiving a prize (they did not compete on the competition day although they learned all the material too). They cheered for their classmates eagerly and when the team award was called, they cheered, but stayed in their seats. "Get up there!" I said from behind. "What?" "You are a part of this team and our team just won, get on stage!" They were filled with pride. I was too. What a great example of excellent attitudes these kids had. We had our pictures taken and then sat down as overall team awards were called out.
     It made sense that we would probably get a team award too, but as the places started climbing up, hope rose with it. We started whispering between us, "Could we have made top 3 here?" When we still weren't called at 2nd place, even the kids started giggling and looking toward each other with anticipation. Only 2 teams tied for first - the first one they called was a school in our district, we cheered for them loudly. Then they called us. It was like the ending to some cheesy Disney movie. Our little team from our little school stood, screamed, and ran to the stage. We had won first place overall! We beat out all the private schools, all the magnet schools with special classes, and our kids did it with sportsmanship and the best attitudes I've seen in a long time.
     They even did our cheer: "What team?" "Jaguars!" "What team?" "Jaguars!" "What team?" "Jaguars! Get your brain in the game!" Seriously like living in my own Disney movie.

Encouraged by...Haggai?

So I've been in this slump with God lately. I am not mad at Him, I am just discontented. I know He is teaching me lessons, but I don't really want to learn them right now. So I've done the stupid and common thing; I've decided to slowly let myself separate from Him. We're not talking renouncing my faith or committing flagrant sins in defiance. We're talking giving God leftovers and not really engaging my heart in worshiping Him. I'm still walking the walk, but my heart is grumbling.
   And for those of you who have done this dance, you can guess how things have been going for me. I've been full of stress and anxiety. I am frustrated with the world and all who live there. I've been feeling helpless and hopeless and generally disgruntled. I have some great friends who are helpful advisers and they encouraged me to take time to be with God.
    God and I had a date today. One hour spent outside with my blanket, my Bible, and a journal. I read in some of my favorite books (Romans!!) and journaled some thoughts. I have recently been studying about the true gospel message and Romans is a good place to go. I learned from today's reading that I do righteous deeds because I am a slave to righteousness and no longer a slave to sin. All good and pretty encouraging stuff. But I was still feeling that grumble in my insides.
    I started to pray that God would move me away from this fear I have inside me. Fear that I am unable to solve all the world's problems and fear that I will not be able to fix my own problems and fear that I will not get to live my life exactly the way I planned (All things that I actually am unable to do). I prayed again and again that God would cause me to trust Him and seek Him. I wrote down all the reasons why I shouldn't worry and why God is able to protect and care for me (He is loving and promised to care for me, He is powerful and is able to care for me).
   Then I looked up "trust" in my concordance. It brought me to Zephaniah and that was a good read. It encouraged me that God does love and care for me. I then looked at the next book, Haggai.
  Hmm...when's the last time I read Haggai? So I decided to conquer all 2 chapters of it. It starts out with God telling his people that they need to rebuild the temple. They have returned to Israel and are concerned about rebuilding their own lives, but God's house is in ruins. He then explains why things haven't been going so well for them lately - they haven't invested in the worship of God! God reminds them that they had struggles building the first temple and that it was so beautiful and so difficult to create. But then he promises that His Spirit is still with them and they have nothing to fear. He said that this temple will be more beautiful than the first and they would be even more blessed after it was completed.
   So here I am trying to rebuild my house and worried about all the things I have no control over while I'm letting God's temple lie in ruins. And then, when I realize that I've kind of let things go, I worry over how I'm going to rebuild it, how I'm going to find the time and energy to make it right. My brain goes right into 'fix it now!' mode and I start to fret. And God says to me, "My Spirit is still with you, do not fear." God can fix the temple in my heart, even though I've let it fall apart. He's got me and He's promised to bless me. Praise God for Haggai!

Wreckless Cooking While Under the Influence of a Stupid Teen Novel

So before you can understand the depths of my sadness you must understand two facts: 1) I once read that the kitchen sink is filled with more germs than a toilet. Since then I've been petrified of anything that touches the sink. 2) I hate to waste food. Wasting food has been ingrained in me as the worst kind of evil.
    So every morning I make shakes for me and my roommate for breakfast. These shakes sometimes can be hard to blend if I add too many berries. This morning's shakes were a killer. I spent half the time mixing it by hand to get all the berries to the bottom and it took me twice as long to make. I was running late for church and I was trying to put everything back when I knocked my cup into the sink. "Noooo!" I screamed. I had no other quick breakfast food to bring with me and I didn't know what to do. I saw the shake in the sink and I thought, "scoop or not to scoop" I had this argument in my head between oh-the-money and oh-the-germs. I got a spoon and scooped the top section off the surface and dumped it into my shake. I then poured a little of Julie's shake into mine and warned her that she needed to have a little extra food with her breakfast. I tried not to think of the germs as I made my way to church. Julie keeps the sink impeccably clean, so it's probably just my own ocd that makes me freak out.
    This evening I made chicken and rice soup for dinner. Once everything's prepped it's mostly just stirring, so I brought in a chair and my book. Once my mise en place was set up with seasonings, I just stirred and read. And then my book got really good. You see, Anna just realized that she was in love with St.Clair and she just got back to Paris and she wasn't sure if they could maintain their friendship now that she was aware of her feelings and he bought her a banana charm and it was so sweet...and then I needed to add the seasonings. So I opened up the bottle of thyme and started to shake as I continued to read. The bottle felt strangely empty and I realized the thyme bottle is my only spice bottle that has no shaker lid, just an open top.

   I gasped as I looked at the entire contents of my thyme bottle floating on the surface of my boiling soup. I grabbed a spoon and scooped out as much as I could and laughed at myself. I always have a problem with underseasoning, I guess I would not have that problem today. The soup turned out pretty good, but I guess I need to pay better attention when I cook. Apparently I can no longer read and cook at the same time. The soup turned out fine but I now need to buy some more thyme...if I could have thyme in a bottle, I would put a shaker spout on it.

I need to focus better when I cook

Wait, This Isn't the Shower for Bridget?

About ten years ago or so, my friend, Aleta, went to a party where a girl suddenly burst in, tripped, spilled all of the articles from her purse, collected her things and quickly left. This was actually a game. The party attendees were supposed to write down as many things they could remember about this mystery guest. For ten years she has told me about how she would love to do that and today, that dream has come true - only better.
   Aleta threw a baby shower today for a friend at church. I didn't know most of the people there (I knew 3), but I came as the mystery guest. I dressed up in a bold print dress and my vintage Audry Hepburn hat and showed up thirty minutes late to the shower. Guests were building scrapbook pages for the mom to be and I wandered around the room, waiting for an opportunity to get to know people.
   The night before, I was in a panic. I did not have a good back story to my character and I needed a reason to: a) be at a shower and not know anyone there b) have people frequently see the contents of my purse. Finally this morning at around 9, I had come up with a solution that seemed easy and probable. In my story, my mom was supposed to come to the shower and she suddenly got ill. She asked me to go in her place so I could bring a present and take pictures of what happened.
    Back at the shower I finally sat down to do my page for the scrapbook. I introduced myself to all sorts of people (including accidentally introducing myself to the mom-to-be who looked a little confused as to why a stranger was at her party). I got up the courage to talk to my first group.
  "Hi, do you mind if I take your picture? My mom was supposed to come and she got sick so she wanted me to take pictures so I could show her later." I then proceeded to pull out several items from my purse as I looked for my camera. Those items included several books, anti-bacterial gel, sunglasses, and I think even some chapstick. I finally pulled out my pink camera and snapped a shot. I repeated this 6 times throughout the party at each table. Some people saw me take out my stuff a couple times and I'm sure they wondered why I didn't just keep my camera out.
   We sat down for food and I felt like I was giving an unfair advantage to my table mates as I was talking longer with them, but they were just so entertaining and interesting that I was actually giving them true facts about myself that I didn't even intend to include: my city, my church city, my most recent vacations, my gluten intolerance, my penchant for French food, the fact that I speak a little German, and about my blogging. One girl at my table had never had a chocolate covered strawberry before. I took a picture of her second bite and she looked like she loved it. She even said she had to thank the mom-to-be for getting pregnant so that she could try chocolate covered strawberries. Such a fun group.
   Then Aleta stood up to start the games. She had told everyone there was to be a game of memory requiring you to be perceptive. She had a tray of baby items on display and started to cover them.
   "Oh, but first, I just want to welcome you all to Carrie's baby shower..."
   I covered my mouth with my hands and then said, "Wait, who? Carrie?"
   "Yes"
   "This isn't the shower for Bridget?"
   "No, it's for Carrie."
   I stood up and covered my mouth again, "I'm so embarrassed. I'm at the wrong shower, wait, not Bridget, right?"
   Aleta shook her head no.
   "I'm so embarrassed." I started to walk out from the front of the hall to the back end passing each table to get to the exit. "It was really nice meeting you all. I can't believe I did this!"
   Then as I was about to leave, a woman told me to wait and she took out her camera and took my picture. I stopped and said, "Oh, I better get the present."
   I walked back to the gift table and took my gift off of it and ran out the door hearing people laugh, as they were trying to be polite and hold it in.
   I got to my car, shut the door, and laughed heartily. I was on a high for hours. It was just like acting again only even better! The people at the shower then had to list as many facts they could remember about me. I wish I could have overheard their reactions when they found out the true story. After the game was over, Aleta texted me saying they wanted me to come back, now that they knew who I was. The woman sitting at the table with me won (unfair advantage since she was so nice to talk to), but a woman at the first table I took a picture of got second place with 13 facts correct. She was a pro since I probably spent only 1 minute total with them.
   That was so much fun! I can't believe it worked out so perfectly. What a fun thing to play such a great role in making a friend's ten-year long dream come true.

What is Purple For?

Today is pi day and I really like to celebrate it. I mostly like to do this because I never let my kids have a day off. It's nice for them to get some relief from the normal day and also do something fun. We were talking a little bit about pi in the teacher's lounge and a fellow teacher asked, "Does pi really go on forever without repeating?"

"Yes, it's irrational," several math teachers responded at once.

"Irrational, what's that mean?"

"That it goes on forever without repeating," I responded.

"But how do you know? Are there other numbers that do this?"

             I was a little surprised, but I continued on and with the assistance of other math teachers, we started to explain about square roots of numbers like 7 or 10 and how we can approximate the decimal value of those numbers by multiplying by a series of more precise decimals that narrow down the upper and lower bounds, but that you can never find the exact decimal value of your answer. It makes more sense if I can explain it with a white board and some markers, but he understood.

"But what's it for?"

       What's it for? That threw me. Does it have to be for something? It's like teaching someone colors and they point to a swatch of color and ask,  'what's that?' and you say, 'purple' and they say, 'what's it for?' Purple's not for anything. I guess we use the word to describe things that are that color, but it's not like we'd be in an emergency situation asking if anyone nearby has some purple.

      I finally figured out that he was asking how it was used in math or life and I explained that you would use irrational numbers to describe the length of the hypotenuse of certain right triangles. Kind of like asking, "What things are purple?" which is a much more valid question.

     It made me realize that people think that math is like art or poetry or movies. And in one sense, it certainly is like those things in that it is beautiful, allows people to be creative, stimulates the mind and fills up a lot of our time. But it is different in that it is not made up. I mean there are parts of it that people just make up and we all agree on it, but in principal, math is not created, it is discovered. He thought that someone made up the idea of irrational numbers and then tried to use it, when really irrational numbers exist and someone finally found them and named them.

    Let's take pi, for instance. Pi was named pi by a Welsh dude in 1706 (William Jones). Why? Because he made up the name. With good reason and all that, but he made it up. That was his creative choice and a bunch of people agreed and now math cannon causes us all to follow this choice (or not, if you feel a little rebellious). But the essence of pi, it's existence and the refinement of our knowledge about pi is not created by the whim of a smart nerd. It is discovered. A bunch of people from ancient times on noticed that the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter is always equal to the same number, no matter what circle. When you get a constant like that, it seems like it might be interesting to study. So people did: Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Israelites (Pi is mentioned in the Bible!!), and Chinese among others.

       Archimedes (on my top ten list for cool dead guys) refined our knowledge about pi and even gave it some upper and lower bounds. Not because he arbitrarily and creatively sat down to make up some number, but because he studied this number and found out some true things about it.

    So to summarize: Edison did not create electricity, neither did Ben Franklin, math and science are discovered. No group or body of people said, " What do you think we should make 2 + 5  equal?" 2 + 5 = 7 because we labeled (the creativity part) ** + ***** = ******* with certain symbols. This creativity part doesn't change the number of cows I have if I had 2 and you gave me 5. Who decided it was 7? It just is! The label may change, but the amount of cows I have does not.

   So there is my rant about how people think math is some made up set of arbitrary rules that people memorize so they can be super nerdy and prove that they have better memories than you. Math is about logical analysis of the world around us and it is described using a specific language. Ok, I feel a little better, thanks.

  I'm going to end this with my Pi-Ku for today. It's like a Haiku only with a 3-1-4 pattern
Oh, pi day,
joy
you bring to all

What is Love: A Junior High Perspective

I always ask my kids a non-math related question at the end of each test. The latest one was, "What is love? Give an example." and I got quite a few great answers and I thought I'd share some of them with you all.

Love is like a fat kid and food.

A four letter word

Love is finding happiness. It is unexplainable, but still it exists. Although it is not perfect, it can be healing or painful. The joy of a loved one around you is also different from the pain of losing a loved one. It can be found in the hardest places, but still it is there. It can be love for friends or family, each love has a different meaning. People say it is hard to find, but it is everywhere. The pain of losing your beloved dog is so terrifyingly hard to forget, while cuddling on a couch during the cold winter is very warm. It is different in every situation and person. It is undefined.

What is love? Baby, don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more.

Love is where people are willing to care for one another. To love someone that is not blood related to you is the most difficult and magnificent of all. If two people are willing to set aside their differences and are willing to protect one another. The couple must feel comfortable around each other and not let anything stop them from loving each other. This is love, the way it should be.

...sorry, I got nothing...

Backward it would spell Evol (Evil) Coincidence?

1. I believe there is a song with that title.
2. Scientifically, it is the urge in animals to reproduce. That's all.

God is love; He sent His only son to die for us.


    And that, my friends, is why I teach.

Loving Literature and Teaching Literature are Not the Same Thing

I love books. I love to read them and share them and talk about them. I love to analyze them and hear what other people think of them. When I was given the opportunity to teach a before school literature class once a week for an academic competition coming up, I jumped at the chance. I think I am a pretty good teacher and I really love teaching these academic team classes because there's no homework and everyone wants to be there. It's just learning for the sake of learning and it's fun.

  I read the book we were assigned to read, The Wanderer, and I really enjoyed it. Like all good literature, it was boring until it wasn't. There was a great twist eight chapters in and the ending made me cry. That's always a great sign. It has tons of symbolism that's really easy to see and the themes and tone are also easy to identify.  I even asked an English teacher friend of mine for advice on how to teach the novel. In addition to the novel, we were given three poems to discuss. I really liked the poems and couldn't wait to share them with my kids.

  I had visions of my kids sitting at my feet drinking in my literary wisdom and becoming deep thinkers themselves in the process. I could envision the lively conversations with kids shouting back and forth about their opinions, maybe even passionately debating a point or two.

  This was my vision, and it's sorta coming true but not really. They are doing a great job and trying really hard, but I feel like I keep saying, "So what does that mean?" waiting for a few kids to respond and then saying, "Yeah, here's what I think." I realized that loving something and being good at teaching it are two different things. I love math. I am good at teaching it. So it seemed like the natural chain of events. But I came to realize that my love for math is not what makes me good at teaching it. It is the fact that math never came naturally to me that makes me good at teaching it. Math was always a harder subject for me than English or history. So to help myself learn it, I made up weird stories or tricks. Integers aren't integers, they are warriors facing a battle of good vs. evil. And as far as trig goes, Sine is a girl and Cosine is a boy. They are siblings who both depend on their father figure, Tangent (don't make me explain that one to you, it only really makes sense to me.) So I teach math in this unconventional way and that helps my students enjoy it and understand it.

  I have trouble helping my kids see Literature in a more exciting way, because to me it is just by itself lovely and exciting. The beautiful flow of words in Byron's poem, "Solitude" just make me smile, while my kids get lost among the e'en's and 'tis' and 'twixt's. The good news is they are so smart and so willing to learn that as soon as the language is cleared up, they dive right in and analyze the poem for all it's worth. They didn't cry as they read the last few chapters of the book ("Is that Sophie, my Sophie?") but they certainly got a kick out of it when I cried as I read it to them. We knocked out some good vocab words (Kid 1:"What does 'smite the sounding furrows' mean again?" Kid 2: "Remember how God smote Ms. Dempsey's ipod touch because she was addicted to that cake game?" Kid 1:"Oh, yeah!") and they are better at identifying tone and simile.

  I just know that any success they have in literature will have more to do with their skills, than with mine. But even though I am faced with a weekly challenge of how to teach critical literary thinking and I feel totally not prepared for the task, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I certainly have even more respect for all of you English teachers out there and if you have any good teaching tips, I'll take 'em.

An Interesting Day in Paradise: POs and Henna Tattoos

         Today was one of those days I both wished I had a film crew following me and was thankful that I did not. I feel like today was a perfect core sample of the full spectrum of things teachers deal with. I had brilliant and honest students come in at lunch to finish their tests, but they refused to get their own tests because they were nervous about seeing other student's answers and possibly cheating - not kidding.

       So that group left and my fifth period entered with engines roaring and little desire to do anything but torment each other. Actually it was just three kids who were really excited about making the other one's mad. I was aware of the taunting, but unaware of the actual words being tossed around. I corrected it with a little prompting and not much more than that, but I could feel the tension in one of my kids. I could see the daggers in his eyes as he stared back at the student behind him who had gone too far. After class, the drama broke out into full blown threats and tears and kids running to and from me. I still didn't get the whole story, but I had to call the office to make sure a fight didn't break out.

     It turns out that one of the kids started telling heinous 'your mama' jokes to the kid he hates the most (after the fat jokes weren't getting enough of a reaction). Well, the other student's mom is going through some really difficult stuff right now and it's probably the most sensitive issue this kid has in his life, so the comments caused this tough kid to cry. His friend wanted to retaliate, but my strong little man didn't let him and he was so courteous to me when all he wanted to do was punch this kid for his rudeness. There will be consequences tomorrow and I guess I have some seating charts to change...

   Sixth period was ok. I did, in my frustration from fifth, tell them, "If you don't want to be here, that's fine. Just go outside and don't bother those of us who want to learn..." Not the most gracious of responses to the two kids who were messing around all period, but they packed up their stuff and chose to spend the period outside. I hope they were disappointed when they heard the class laughing and having a good time without them - because, yes, I am that petty.

   After school was a mad house. I had kids asking for help, finishing tests, correcting homework, and needing to know how they could raise their grades. One of the other math teachers was out today, so her students came to my room for clarification of the lesson. Another student was patiently waiting to give me a gift from Pakistan - a henna tattoo. So after I ran math class triage and got everyone to a point where they could work independently, I sat down for my tattoo.

  My student is a fabulous artist and I now have a very pretty tattoo on my palm and wrist. Other girls were in awe of this art form they had never seen before. So this student used the extra henna to do their palms too. I felt a little silly when a dad came to pick up his daughter. I tried to hide my arm as I explained to him what work she still needed to do at home.

   After my office hour, two students from three years ago stopped by to tell me about their lives. They didn't make grades to do sports, one had been arrested once for stealing headphones regularly from Target and selling them for profit to his classmates. He only had to pay a fine and he served no time. I suppose I can at least be grateful that his entrepreneurial attitude was partly inspired by the classroom economy we had in my class. The other student was arrested twice: once for vandalism and the other time for accessory to a theft. The arrests were a week apart.

   I am sometimes shocked at the ease with which I can now say the words, "So, is your PO a good guy? Does he get on your case about school?" I lectured them about not wasting their lives and never being so stupid again. We reminisced about how their lying and stealing had manifested itself in my class and how they had been caught. These were my parting words as they left to serve some community service time, "Don't get arrested again! No more! I don't want to hear any more about you guys doing something so stupid. Oh, and say hi to Alex."

    *Sigh*, sometimes I wish I could just hide under the covers and pretend that the world isn't broken... I suppose I can just look at my tattoo or grade my tests taken with integrity and realize that there is hope for some of my kids and if there is not hope there is at least a large amount of chocolate.