Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Tuesday

It is dreary, wet and cold today. It's also a holiday of sorts (I can't figure out what is running and what isn't today. The college is in, but the schools are not? No mail or library but the gov't employees at the plant have to work? Who makes all the rules and why are they falling down on the job?) and one would think we could take the day off schoolwork and do something holiday-ish, but that's not how it's going to work. We didn't get nearly enough done yesterday, and Nate is about to take his final-final-last-ever Key to... end-of-book test. I don't want him to break right before a test, for obvious reasons, even though no one but me will ever see the score. And even though Teaching Textbooks Math 7, which he is also working through, is about to review the same subject matter.

Fortunately, Nate and I found a Geometry book that will last him a couple months, since the thought of doing only one math program at a time is a bit foreign to him, and he keeps saying he needs more challenge. This Geometry book is very hands-on, no proofs or anything, just fun with shapes. I want that for him before he goes on to in-depth Geometry. He is considering doing TT Algebra and TT Geometry at the same time, and Mr. Pevensie, who was once a PS math teacher, said that is perfectly acceptable. Nate will begin TT Algebra in Feb. according to our current schedule. I already have that program, since we used it with Brandon, so I would only have to buy Geometry with tax refund money.

I loved Geometry when I was in high school. My teacher, Mr. Presto (is that a cool name or what?), had a great policy. You could choose to be graded in one of two ways: 100% of your grade from the test scores, or 50% from test scores and 50% from homework. Quite a progressive PS teacher, IMO. Since I thought homework was basically useless and I always got good test grades, I went with the first option. Mr. Presto stuck me in the back corner of the room with the following year's math book and left me to myself. He was a really thoughtful guy. We had an assignment to draw a pictures using only a straight edge and a compass. I still think it was the best piece of art I ever produced. He hung all the pictures on the wall without names and had the class line up and go from picture to picture rating them on a 1 to 10 scale. I got a 10. I would NEVER have been given a 10 if the kids had known whose picture it was, but he did it in a way that mostly avoided popularity as a grade.

Mr. Presto also let my mom sit in on his Alg. 1 class when she decided to go back to college. I thought that was a very brave thing for her to do. Only two problems--my boyfriend at the time was in the same class (and boy did I give him strict instructions to behave!) and Mr. Presto called me by my mom's name for the rest of the year.

So, I think schoolwork, hot cocoa, and maybe a movie is on the list for today. And maybe I will grab Nate's straight edge, compass and box of colored pencils and make some memories.

5 comments:

Cynthia said...

Jennifer,
Some of us are interested in knowing how you are. Could you let us know more information about your next position?
Cynthia

Jenny-Fair said...

It's difficult to share more without telling the world exactly where I work, lol. But I shall try!

I will be working in a building full of employees wearing sweatsuits, pajamas, ratty blue jeans, or whatever they found on top of the laundry pile that morning. We help customers who have ordered something through our company, but we help them primarily online, with some phone support. We don't sell things--it's all problem-solving. And, I have personally ordered something from this company in the last month.

All in all, it's a fun place to work. They have statistics you have to keep up with regarding time spent on certain activities, but I am not concerned about that. When I stopped by today someone was delivering 10 pizzas, lol. People wear ball caps. It's really relaxed.

Christina said...

Wow, I wish I would have had Mr. Presto for every class.....I would have gotten all As and Bs!

Anonymous said...

I know where she works!!! (Helps that she told me...LOL)

So you have a math lover, huh? I also took algebra and geometry at the same time with no trouble. :)

Jenny-Fair said...

Donna, that helps to know! As it is, I was wondering if he was even cognatively ready for Algebra. However, these fears have been dispelled (largely due to Nate's yelling out the answers to Brandon's problems, which Nate would do in his head when he was supposed to be working on HIS math).

I wish his writing were as advanced as his math is...or not even that advanced, lol.

Oh, and as for the new job--it really is just as fun as it seemed. If I could talk to Nate during work hours, and it paid better, it would be the perfect job. They even wheel around a snack cart during each shift, and let everyone take an item.