Update- July 10, 2013
...and the winner is: Gary in Gilroy, CA
Summer time is vacation from school and time for another giveaway adventure. If you're not into slaying giants you can still tag along and watch Jack do it.
Warner Bros. is proud to announce the arrival of Jack the
Giant Slayer released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 18 and they are allowing me to give away one DVD+BLU-RAY+ULTRAVIOLET combo pack. I'm not even sure what an "ultraviolet dvd" is but...
About Jack the Giant Slayer:
Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants
strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing Jack (Nicholas
Hoult), into the battle of this life to stop them. Fighting for a
kingdom and its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes
face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed
in legend... and gets the chance to become a legend himself!
Directed by Brian Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns)
Starring: Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy), Ewan McGregor (Star Wars,
Moulin Rouge!), and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones).
The question is... are you courageous enough to rescue the
princess? Are you brave like Jack? Take the quiz to find out!
Post
your findings in the comment section or email. Be sure to include a name and a way to contact you via email. If you are lucky enough to be chosen in the
random drawing to be held on July 10, 2013, I will need to contact you for a mailing address.
The prize will be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O. Boxes
please.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Odds are good! ...only 8 entries as of 7/1
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Friday, June 07, 2013
School's Out....
The 2012/13 school year is in the bag. I completed 105 subbing days out of the 180 possible school days. But that's no reason we can't have just one more lesson in geography...
Monday, June 03, 2013
Happy to See Me...
"Hi Mr. Homework!, YES, we have Mr. Perry! Hurray,
Grandpa!..."
I know kids will sometimes say things without really
thinking about it. In some cases it may be unintentional, ignorance or cultural
differences about what "is" and "is not" acceptable when
addressing adults. I even know of one substitute teacher who prefers to be
addressed as "grandpa" by his students.
The class must have realized from my body language that it
wasn't an acceptable nickname by me as the class went suddenly quite. I've been in this class several times this
year and I know it was not intentional.
I could have ignored the comment but the initial class
reaction was much the same as mine so I felt I had to address the issue. Without
singling out any particular individual, I addressed the class:
"There are only four people living on this planet that
can call me 'grandpa' and none of them are in this classroom. So let's get to
work and have a fun rest of the day"
As we finished the morning lessons and the kids filed out
for lunch, one boy came back into the room and apologized for his outburst. He
meant no disrespect but immediately realized it didn't come across that way. I thanked
him for coming back to apologize and sent him on his way.
It takes guts to face up to your own mistakes. I think this
kid will do 'ok' in the future.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Accused...
Student end-of-year evaluation reports are in progress and I
had just completed the last of four, half-day assignments in 1st
grade. Even though the kids can clearly see the teacher through the window of
the common central pod, it didn't seem to diminish the chaotic nature of
unfocused 1st graders already checked out for the summer.
I had been home for about an hour after class when the principal of the school called. This is odd, since no principal has ever called me at home before. We have crossed paths and had casual conversations over the last ten years I've been subbing. He has been the principal at three different schools I have subbed.
Dr. B: Hi, Mark. I know you were in for Ms. J's 1st
grade today. I need to ask if anything unusual happened today?
Me: I can't think of anything. Why?
Dr. B: One of the moms came in after school to report that her
daughter told her: "The sub shoved me into my desk and hurt my
arm!"
Me: What?? I have no idea why she would say that. It didn't happen! The kids were out of their desks a few times and the noise level was sometimes a bit chaotic but nothing like that happened.
Dr. B: Mark, we have known each other for many years and this just
didn't sound like something you'd do, but I had to call and ask. I'll do some further
investigating and get back to you.
Me: I definitely want to know what you find out. I've heard about
situations like this spinning out of control with other subs and causing some serious
problems. This is a serious deal, here.
Dr. B: I'll definitely call you tomorrow and let you know what I
find.
The call comes mid-afternoon as promised.
Dr. B: I re-interviewed the girl with her mom. I asked it she knew the name of the substitute teacher that pushed her. She said "no". I then asked her if Mr. Perry was in the classroom yesterday. She said "yes". "Was it Mr. Perry who pushed you?" She said "No, it was the other sub"
I understand from the teacher that some of the 6th graders who didn't go on the class field trip were sent to your class to do busy work?
Me: Two 6th grade boys and one girl came in for the rest of the day. The teacher and I discussed an idea to have them work as "tutors" and help with kids that needed help in class.
Dr. B: That's what I've been told also. I've got to do some additional work on this but I'm satisfied that you are not involved. So we're done, you are out of the equation. Have a good rest of the day.
Now that my blood pressure is back to normal, I guess I won't be quitting anytime soon. I will be seriously considering if I should restrict future assignments next year to 2nd grade and above.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Science Fair...
It is science fair season and it seems that every student in every grade in
every elementary school has an entry.
The lesson plan indicated the time to take the 4th graders to tour the science fair exhibits set up in the cafeteria. At the appointed time, I escorted the group over as instructed. I lead them up and down each isle so they could view the dozens and dozens of demonstrations of "science".
We had Solar System models constructed of Styrofoam, sticks and glue, the potato or lemon powered lamps, the flower sucking colored water demonstrations, tornado in a bottle, volcano models and....Something new I did not recognize. The exhibit indicated it was a model of something called a "Gaussian Gun".
Two wooden dowels glued together to make a track, magnets spaced and glued at three intervals and some steel marbles mounted along the track between the magnets. Like me, the kids were curious about what it was and how it worked.
Curious, I picked up one of the marbles to see how heavy it was and put it back on the rail. Before I could react fast enough, the marble rolled and accelerated down the track, hit the first magnet and before I knew what was happening, a chain reaction of steel marbles and magnets shot the last marble off the end and hit one of the boys in the leg!
Thankfully, the boy was unhurt but...really?
That thing is downright dangerous!
The lesson plan indicated the time to take the 4th graders to tour the science fair exhibits set up in the cafeteria. At the appointed time, I escorted the group over as instructed. I lead them up and down each isle so they could view the dozens and dozens of demonstrations of "science".
We had Solar System models constructed of Styrofoam, sticks and glue, the potato or lemon powered lamps, the flower sucking colored water demonstrations, tornado in a bottle, volcano models and....Something new I did not recognize. The exhibit indicated it was a model of something called a "Gaussian Gun".
Two wooden dowels glued together to make a track, magnets spaced and glued at three intervals and some steel marbles mounted along the track between the magnets. Like me, the kids were curious about what it was and how it worked.
Curious, I picked up one of the marbles to see how heavy it was and put it back on the rail. Before I could react fast enough, the marble rolled and accelerated down the track, hit the first magnet and before I knew what was happening, a chain reaction of steel marbles and magnets shot the last marble off the end and hit one of the boys in the leg!
Thankfully, the boy was unhurt but...really?
That thing is downright dangerous!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Tall Tales...
I had an assignment in a 2nd grade classroom at the country
club school. Of course, one of the first questions I get on a day when I come
is usually: "Where did Mr/Ms Teacher go and when will he/she be
back?"
This is my opening for an icebreaker and a demonstration
that I am not as scary as I look. I will usually respond with some outrageously
unbelievable retort like: "Ms Teacher had to attend race car driving
school this morning and it's her turn on the track. She'll be in tomorrow and you
can ask her all about it." Most kids "get" that I have made up an
obviously silly answer instead of the standard "I don't know" response.
(...Some of the teachers I have subbed for comment that they
look forward to hearing what they were supposedly doing while they were away.)
Students will sometimes try to "turn the tables"
and try one of their own on the substitute teacher. Second graders usually aren't
good enough to make it believable but it's fun to hear what they come up with.
Laura is an exception. The lesson plan says that she is a
recent arrival from a private school across town and might have difficulties
with some of the math they are currently doing in class.
While the rest of the kids are plowing through the
math pages on their own, I work with Laura. As we're working, Laura tells me
that she's new in this school as they just moved into the country club.
Yep, that sounds right. Even though this is a public school,
I know the developer donated the land and built the school with the
express stipulation that school enrollment be reserved primarily for the kids
of parents living in the country club. From what I can see, it pretty much is.
Laura tells me that her family bought the biggest house at
the top of the hill in the country club. They have a big pool and playground. Her
dad is a musician and she has three brothers.
Sounds plausible.
L: We're going to
see my grandma this weekend on the family farm.
Me: Sounds like a
nice drive.
...There are many farms and vineyards about an hour's drive
south of here.
L: No, it's too
far to drive. We're flying.
Me: Oh, so you
have to get up early to get to the airport?
...The grandparents must be out of state.
L: No, we have
our own plane. My dad's a pilot.
Me: Wow, that must
be fun.
...Six passenger private plane! Impressive!
L: It's a jet. It
used to belong to my grandparents but they passed it on to my Dad.
Hmmm...Lear jet? Ok, family money. Lots of it.
L: It's been in
our family for generations--since
WWII!!
Ok, she got me. Got me good.
At this point I suppose I should have pointed out that Germany
had the only jet powered aircraft in the world during WWII and it was dicey for
even the single seat pilot to land the thing.
The teacher came in at the end of the day to see how my day
went. I related how Laura had me going. The teacher laughed and then confided,
"Did she also tell you that she has seven toes on her left foot?"
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
I Made a 1st Grader Cry
I didn't do it on purpose, honest!
It was supposed to be an easy half-day afternoon assignment
in a 1st grade class.
The teacher had several math related worksheets
they were supposed to complete involving counting coins to equal a certain
value. The only materials required were red and green crayons to color the
correct coins. Most of the kids were busy starting the assignment when I heard
a disturbance on the other side of the room.
"He ripped my paper!!"
It seems that one boy could not find the right worksheet on
his desk and decided to take one from someone else's desk. Of course, that
resulted in a tugging match between the worksheet owner and the thief.
I gave the little girl an extra worksheet and escorted
"little thief" back to his desk where I pointed out that peeking out
from under three papers on his desk was the worksheet he couldn't find.
A bit later it was: "He took my red!!"
It seems that "LT" couldn't find his crayons, so
he was "borrowing" crayons without asking from inattentive
classmates. Returning the crayons to the rightful owners, I escorted "LT"
back to his desk and asked where his crayons
were.
LT: I lost them
Me: Did you look
in your desk?
LT: I looked,
they aren't in there.
I see that his desk it totally jammed with books, papers
bits of pencils, toys and junk.
Me: Maybe they
are way in the back under all that stuff in your desk
LT: I looked, they aren't in there. (a bit louder than I cared for)
Me: Let's check
again. Let's take everything out and put it on top of your desk to check.
LT: I did and they aren't in there!
Me: Let's do it
again.
LT is reluctant but since I not moving away, he doesn't have
a choice. Out comes all his hard books, all his soft cover practice books, some
small stuffed animals and...a large box of 48 crayons.
Me: Well, it looks like we found your crayons. Now you can start the coins worksheet.
LT: I don't have red.
Me: Open the box
and let's check, ok?
He opens the box and it contains at least three different
shades of red crayons.
Me: Pick one of
those and use it
LT: (In a loud
whiney voice) IT'S NOT RED!!
At this point, I have pretty much exhausted what patience remained.
I selected one of the reds and one of the greenish colored crayons, and
instructed LT to quit stalling.
"Sit down and get to work. No more delays and no more
taking stuff that isn't yours!"
A bit later while monitoring the rest of the class and
checking every now and then that LT was at least not bothering anyone else, one
little girl approaches to tell me that LT is crying.
I left a note for the
teacher that LT had a hard day today and some tears were shed.
I talked with the teacher a few days later and she told me that it happens a lot with LT.
I talked with the teacher a few days later and she told me that it happens a lot with LT.
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