No More Pencils, No More Books

Well, Tuesday was the last day of summer school at South Pasadena High School. Not surprisingly, all of my students were a little out of control, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. The class I was teaching was part of a course that is intended for students transitioning from middle school to high school. The course is divided up into three sections: English, Math and History. As you may recall, I was teaching the math portion of the course. (Never mind that I am going to be a history teacher…one goes where the work is.) Part of the challenge involved in teaching this course was that all of the students were not necessarily at the same level in math. Some of them were actually going to be taking Honors Geometry in the fall, while others had barely passed Pre-Algebra. The principal and I agreed that the best thing to do would be to teach to the middle ground.

So, that's what I did...teaching them such fascinating things as how to graph linear equations. We more or less spent the entire month working on stuff related to linear equations in some manner or other. I taught them graphing, showed them how to find the equation of lines for which you know two points, taught them how to find the points at which lines intersect, and so on. That's all pretty simple stuff, but I was amazed at how many times I had to explain the concepts of the y-intercept and slope. Some students would learn it one day, and then completely forget it the next. These, of course, were the slower students. It's funny...on some of their homework and stuff they would be asked to graph a line based on a given equation. Some of them would just randomly indicate points on the graph. In some cases, these points were in fact on the line, thereby earning them partial credit. In some cases, however, the points were nowhere near the line.

Most students seemed to at least partially master the concepts by the end of the course. The few who didn't were among those who probably wouldn't be taking Algebra in high school anyway. So, overall, I think my first teaching assignment was a successful one. There were many students who learned a bunch of stuff they hadn't known before...I guess that's the definition of success in teaching.

At any rate, I feel pretty good about the job I did there. The principal really seemed to like me, and the other teachers I was teaching with didn't complain. I should have been a little more strict as far as discipline goes...that was one of my weakest areas. Part of the problem is that I'm kind of a people-pleaser. I have a hard time forcing somebody to come in for detention or calling their parents or telling somebody that I don't want to go to their stupid birthday party.

So tonight I had dinner with Shane Ross, Ryan Cox, John Lin and this other guy named John Carlo (that's all his first name...I can't remember his last name) at some Mexican restaurant on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. I can't recall the name of the restaurant, but it is right next door to Cliff's Books...the used bookstore of which I am deathly afraid. After dinner we walked over to a little coffee shop called Zona Rosa, where we stayed for a few hours.

Wedding number one for the month of August is happening this Saturday, as my friends Steve and Carol will be joined together in holy matrimony. Fortunately, they opted to exchange vows locally. Which is more than I can say for Ashwin and Charis, who have decided to get married in Victoria, British Columbia. This is shaping up to be quite the expensive trip...perhaps more than I can afford at this point in time. Fortunately, my flight up there was free, thanks to my numerous frequent flier miles. If not for those, I probably would not have been able to go.

So, that's all for July. The month of August will be filled with exciting events such as: Not one, but TWO weddings, a trip to Canada, my ten year high school reunion, and a visit from my parents. Stay tuned.