The Odyssey of an Educator @mschewrocks - Tumblr Blog

C U L8R, calculator!

Wondering how you can help me and my students rock out this year? Consider donating to my new DonorsChoose.org project! Or anyone else's if you see something cooler ;) Any little bit helps!

Thanks to friends like you, in the past I've been able to get an LCD projector, ELMO document reader, AP Statistics study materials, and more! Thanks for being awesome supporters :D

https://www.donorschoose.org/pr…/c-u-l8r-calculator/2192764/

Today the SFUSD superintendent sent out an email that, in light of the recent anti-LGBT ruling, we as a district would be barring any state-funded staff or student trips to Indiana. I'm sure he's patting himself on the back for that one. (I mean, really, how many trips to IN are we actually talking about?) And before you say "But Chew, it's the principle!", I say "Nay, it's PR! NAY!!!"

OH in class: "Dude, what's wrong with your aglets? Why are they so small?"

I'm proud that they know what aglets are. I don't think I knew until I was like 24.

Everyone's favorite annual student questionnaire responses..

If you weren’t in school, what would you choose to do today? What are your hobbies or interests? What do you do to relax?

“If I weren’t in school, I would choose to be in a coma. I don’t really have any hobbies.”

If you could spend a day with anyone (living or dead), who would you choose and why?

“If I could spend a day with anyone, it would be Obama because he seems like a cool guy. And we would go to McDonalds.”

“If I could spend a day with my bicycle, I would be very happy.”

“I would choose no one because I like silence.”

“I would spend the day with Jesus because he is cool.”

“My mom because she born me out.”

Describe something you’ve seen in nature (for example, during a walk in the park or at the beach) that you would like to know more about.

“I wonder why people treat Earth so bad. It’s not like there is a second planet to go to.”

“Once, I saw a snake ate a bug then a bird eat the snake.”

“I saw a dog and I wanted to have it.”

“I wonder about how porcupines mate. I have seen some and I wonder how they mate with their spikes. Also how do the spikes affect in the mating process”

“I see people riding their bikes really fast and doesn’t get hit by other cars. I would like to know more about why bikers go hardcore.”

“I like to challenge the nature, because it’s sometime excited. One of the thing refer to challenging the nature was killing ants. I want know if I kill five or more ants each day, how long do I need to take include to kill all the ant in the world.”

What do you like most about school? Why?

“The thing I like most about school is learning new things, everyday you’ll learn something new in school not in the class but in the hallway”

What do you like least about school? Why?

“What I least like about school is teachers going off topic and telling their students about their personal lives instead of the daily learning lesson.”

Do you have any special learning, physical, or emotional needs you want me to know about?

“I don’t mind if you want to get into a informal friendship w/ me; just don’t get used to getting authoritative like yanking a collared dog.”

Do you have any questions for me, your teacher?

“no stay smooth”

For science!

I wonder how much of my life has been spent waiting for a boiled egg to squeeze back out of a bottle. #scienceteacherproblems

Reno does not have a good teeth to person ratio.

Another amusing work email

Just spent the last hour helping a parent with the CSU matriculation process, FAFSA, and scholarship applications. In Cantonese. BOOM!!

Pretty much sums up much of my career in education, both re. students and adults.

No joke, someone wrote an angry email and replied all to the entire district's counseling department. My favorite phrases: "Please tell your supervisors this is a bunch of crap." "Find someone else to do this. Train a dog or something like that." "If I do this inane chore, what part of my job will you do of mine?" What. What. WHAT. Way to advance the profession.

So I’m looking up students on Synergy to log who showed up at an event we held on wednesday and their photos pop up in the student info page. After a while I was like, man.. a lot of these kids have the same mole on their upper lip. Then I realized there was a speck on my monitor.

It seriously took me 70 students to figure that out. Sometimes I'm not a smart person.

Intruder alert drill day here at Bal. That this drill has become both necessary and accepted in the last decade or so upsets me profoundly.

Because of my age and my work in schools, I have the somewhat unique experience of knowing what it was like before and after these drills emerged in school plans. I was in high school when the Columbine shootings occured and vividly remember the ripple of fear that spread out across the nation as every community wondered--could that happen here? I was training to become a teacher at the time of the VA Tech shooting and questioned whether I could be as brave as the professors were to protect my students. I was in class teaching when news broke about the shooting at Sandy Hook, and as I looked around my classroom at the faces of my students I wondered again--could that happen here? And what would I do? What part of the story would I play?

So as I sit here in my office, reading personal statement drafts and listening to security bang on and test every door in the school, I can only hope that one day our students won't need this drill anymore. They won't even know what it is.

OH in the courtyard

"I don't want to live on this planet anymore."

"Go ahead, choose your destination."

"YOUR ANUS, KEVIN."

Former Coworker A: I'm looking at your picture in B's room.

Chew: creep

A: Haha... It's in the middle of the room!

Chew: stop looking at me

A: It's next to a sign that says school or rock.

Chew: i know where it is. i was actually wondering if he left it up. there's also one by his computer

A: Haha, oh yeah. It's like your looking at me. It's behind me! Creeper!

Chew: muahaha. i will never leave. i will haunt oc forever

"Every girl. Every girl. They all have a crush on me. Everywhere I go my light shines." This is why I love my profession. Teenagers are the best.

Another proud, proud moment. All comments from my former students.

Such a proud day.

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The Odyssey of an Educator