2nd Quarter Starts

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Lets start with a general update as to what happened during fall break.  First and foremost, a third fourth grade teacher was hired.  This new teacher, AdditionalT4, will run a fourth grade classroom that is totally self contained and that means that AdditionalT4's scholar will not rotate to T4's classroom for math.  As a result of this change the size of T4's fourth grade class shrunk down to eighteen scholars and I believe OtherT4's classroom is similar in size.  So, with this change, thirty-six or so scholars will still rotate through T4's classroom for math.

After spending six years plus one quarter of a school year in this school you would think that watching scholars come and go would be like water off a ducks back.  Well, T4 lost a scholar over fall break due to a relocation and this one was not like water off a ducks back for me.  This one stung a little.  You've met this scholar, T4-F, in the last blog post.  This is the scholar that correctly answered twenty seven multiplication problems in fifty-three seconds and just like that she is gone, on to another school.  God, this is job can be so frustrating and like I said earlier, this one stung a little.

My first encounter with T4-F was very early in the school year when she was returning from a specials class.  As she walked into the classroom she was having an animated conversation with another female scholar that eventually resulted in a pushing incident.  When I stepped in between the two scholars I look at T4-F and said, "there is no reason to push another scholar."  T4-F's immediate response was, "I didn't push anyone."  My response was, "I'm old but I'm not blind and I just watched you push that scholar."  My response resulted in what I will label as a dead cold, unblinking, you can't intimidate me stare, from T4-F.

Fast forwarding to the end of the first quarter of the school year and the dead cold, unblinking, you can't intimidate me stare is gone.  Now I see a scholar that can smile, sometimes even laugh, that is excited about math because I pulled out my stop watch and challenger her to answer some multiplication problems and then, just like that, she is gone, her parental unit decided to move again.

One the first day back in the classroom after fall break I talked to T4 about T4-F and my disappointment that she was gone.  T4 responded, paraphrasing, "Schultz, you need to harden yourself when situations like this happen.  I've hardened myself and you need to do the same and move on."  T4 is correct about hardening yourself and I know it as I've seen it happen so many times.  But, you know what.  Just once I'd like to get the chance to speak to the parental unit about relocation and this is what I would say.  "Dear parental unit.  I'm not sure why you're moving, although I can probably guess with a great deal of certainty as to why, but do you realize the damage you are causing your scholar.  You just jerked your scholar out of a school where she was having a good deal of success doing math and now she has to start all over at another school.  So, parental unit, the next time you decide to move, and I'm certain that you will do it again, why don't you move but stay in the boundaries of the same school so you can stop screwing up your scholars education.
   
With fall break over and the formula for calculating area and perimeter almost forgotten T4 is moving on to the next lesson.  So what is next on the math agenda?  Simple, we are going to study a natural number greater than one that cannot be formed by multiplying two smaller natural numbers.  And why are we doing this?  Most modern computer cryptography works by using these numbers. These numbers are also of the utmost importance to number theorists because they are the building blocks of whole numbers, and important to the world because their odd mathematical properties make them perfect for current uses.

Ok, you got that?  Maybe you should read the last paragraph again so that you can clearly understand what the next math lesson is about.  After all, I'm certain that everyone can handle fourth grade math.  Still don't get it.  I'll simplify, the scholars are being introduced to prime numbers and the difference between a prime number and a composite number.  And why is it important for a fourth grade scholar to know the prime numbers?  Who the hell knows.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

For the record, I know the difference between a prime number and a composite number.  What I was waiting to see was how T4 was going to demonstrate to the scholars how they could determine the difference between the two types of numbers.  It didn't take long as T4 told the scholars that they were going to make rainbows to determine if a number was prime or composite.  "Rainbows," I thought to myself, "I made sixty copies of the math worksheet for this lesson and I didn't recall seeing any rainbows being drawn."  When T4 continued she told the scholars that the worksheet in front of them shows them how to determine if a number is prime or composite but the worksheet's way was too boring so they were going to be drawing rainbows.  "After all," T4 said to the scholars, "who doesn't like drawing rainbows."  T4 just turned a boring worksheet on prime and composite numbers into a fun assignment drawing rainbows.  This is one of the many reasons why I enjoy sitting in the back of a classroom where a have a real nice view of how an excellent teacher goes about her day teaching math and keeping the scholars engaged.

It was either day two or day three of prime and composite numbers when I heard this, "Schultz, I need sixty copies of this hundred count sheet as I going to use it to identify the prime and composite numbers that are between one and one hundred with our scholars.  By the way, I need them right now."  The copies are made, I hand them over to T4, she assigns a scholar to pass out the hundred count worksheets and then reaches to turn on her document camera.  The big screen in front of the classroom is pulled down.  I can see T4 placing the hundred count worksheet on the document camera, the document looks too small on the big screen in the front of the classroom so T4 reaches for the zoom in button on the document camera.  As she is doing so, her forearm comes into view of the document camera and she said, "look how hairy my arm is." As a reminder, I don't make this stuff up.

The scholars are laughing and T4 is making the final adjustments to the document camera when I pulled out my cellphone.  Just as T4 was going to start her lesson using the hundred count sheet I got her attention and showed her my cellphone and started laughing.  I pretty certain she knew, as soon as she saw my cellphone, that the comment about the hairy arm would be in the blog.  As you can see, she was correct.

I've been sitting here at my kitchen table thinking for a couple minutes now.  There was one more event that took place in the classroom but I couldn't decide if I want to bring it up.  Oh well, it's a bit of a frustrating story, but it happened so I guess I'll tell you about it.

I was sitting at the half round table in the hallway grading the quizzes on prime and composite numbers when OH walked up to my table.  OH placed a large green sheet of poster paper on my table and then asked me if I knew the dimensions of the piece of paper that she was holding in her hand.  I told OH the paper was 8 1/2 x 11.  OH then picked up all of her papers and walked across the hallway to OtherT4's classroom.  Shortly after she departed I finished grading all of the quizzes, stood up, walked into the classroom, and place the quiz results on T4's desk.

When I returned to the half round table in the hallway T4 was sitting at the table with the large green poster paper, the white paper, a medium sized paper cutter, and some liquid glue. "Schultz, these posters need to be completed today so I'm helping OH with the project.  As soon as I'm done I need you to laminate them and bring them right back to me."  "Sure," I said, "no problem."

As I'm walking to the laminator, that is in the library, I'm looking at the poster paper and thinking to myself, "I've never laminated anything this big, the corners of the white paper that T4 glue onto the green poster paper are sticking up, so how am I going to run this through the laminator without damaging the paper."  When I arrived in the library the laminator wasn't turned on so I turned it on.  It takes about ten minutes for the laminator to warm up so I stood in front of the laminator with one of the posters in my hand trying to determine the best way to run it through the laminator.

When the green light turned on I knew the laminator was hot enough so I stuck a poster onto the front tray of the laminator face up with the wide side of the poster being the leading edge.  I then hit the run button on the laminator and watched the poster slowly enter the laminator while thinking, "please don't catch a corner of that white paper."  When the poster exited the back side of the laminator I looked at it and thought, "perfect, no folder over pieces, and no wrinkles in the laminate."  I then ran the other seven pieces of poster paper through the laminator.

I then spread out the laminated posters on a long book shelf in the library and slowly cut away the excess laminate from the posters.  When I finish cutting I stacked up the seven posters on their edge to see if I had to do any final trimming to be sure they were all the same size.  I made a couple cutting adjustments to the laminate and then returned to the classroom.

Ok, here is where I need to be careful, after all, I am getting old and maybe my hearing is failing me a little.  Because I'm a little concerned about what I heard I'll be paraphrasing.  When I walked into the classroom I handed the posters to T4.  T4 then handed the posters to OH.  When OH had the posters in her hand I'm fairly certain this is what I heard, "I hope they are not messed up."  T4 responded immediately, "you don't have to worry about Schultz.  He has an Army background and is very careful about details."

Until right now I know T4 does not know how much I appreciate what she said to OH about the posters.  I knew from the beginning how important these posters were.  I took my time laminating them.  I took even more time trimming the excess laminate off of them so they would all be exactly the same size and what do I get, "I hope they are not messed up."  I didn't like that comment at all and fortunately for OH, T4 spoke before I had a chance to speak.

That's it for this week.  Thanks for following along.  Next up is long division and maybe, if I feel that the consequences aren't too severe, a story about a 15oz tin can of chocolatey caramel crunch that was made by a company called Trail's End.