Parent-Teacher Conferences

Even though it is not always the favorite time for educators, I actually really enjoy Parent-Teacher Conference time. Meeting parents is fun, you're able to play a little politics, and the meeting can sometimes shed light on the actions of their children both positively and negatively. By far the best conversation was with a dad who wanted to know what he could do to best help his daughter get into her dream school of Stanford. I hope that's me down the road (very very far down the road, but you know :) Also, I love the way he initiated the conversation, essentially saying that he just wanted to be supportive and based on his daughter's research, she really wants to go to Stanford and he wants to do whatever he can be make sure she's prepared and will excel there - i.e. how he could promote her earning a spot at the school and rising up through academic meritocracy. Great stuff)

In general, I apologize for not having a post up here recently, but as soon as the internet was functional again at the homestay (it's still very hit or miss, mostly miss, at school) it went back down for a while. I guess it's the inconsistency and having to cross my fingers every time I turn on my computer that is most frustrating. It has promoted a lot more reading of "Tender is the Night" and reflecting on my teaching - to be detailed in the next post.

Big game on the Plains today; I think I'm rooting for Auburn simply because Les Miles has been beyond lucky and it's unfair to the kids on the opposing squads to continually have LSU pull out games that they shouldn't be winning. Lastly, the end of the Dan Hawkins era in 'rado would be a good thing, especially as they transition to the Pac-12, and upgrading Troy Calhoun or Gary Patterson into an AQ spotlight would be a good thing as both of them have definitely proved themselves at the slightly lower echelon.

Internet Dependence

Since the lightening strike Sunday afternoon, the internet had been out at the homestay and the past few days at work the internet hasn't been working for the majority of the time. This has been both frustrating and humbling to realize how dependent upon an internet connection I've become. Granted, such connectivity has been essential for maintaining close ties with y'all, but I question things that I rely on so heavily (and honestly greatly increased my frustration level throughout the past few days) Tomorrow is the first day of fall Parent-Teacher Conferences. I'm very interested to compare these with past experiences, especially given the national and school-wide cultural differences. In general, I enjoy talking with the parents of my students and I'm excited to see how the next two days turn out! I hope everyone is doing well!

Lightening Strike

Yesterday afternoon we had another thunderstorm (the brief, but powerful storms that are typical in more tropical locations - i.e. the reasoning for the Tampa Bay Rays to play in a dome, protecting themselves from having too many rain outs), but the notable part of this storm was that there was a lightening strike extremely close to the homestay. It's probably the closest I've ever been to a strike of lightening because the flash of light and the crack of thunder were pretty much instantaneous. Additionally, the electricity in the air didn't make my computer too happy and knocked out the internet connection. Since I was safe inside a building with a lightening rod, it was a fascinating experience, but I'm not sure I would say that had I happened to have been outside at the time :) All is well over here and we've started with a FISH! philosophy conversation during homeroom (good old R.A. training at WaM!) :)

Outliers

Today was a very relaxing Saturday. I got to catch up on the new episodes of South Park (and thank goodness the town was able to stand up and protect themselves from becoming West Jersey lol), work on polishing up stuff (ie the 250s), use the wonders of Google video chat to catch up with Jillian, and finish Outliers. I thought Outliers was a very enjoyable book and, while some of Gladwell's points are untenable, the overall theme is right on and quite encouraging. I especially liked the section on mathematics education (for obvious reasons lol) and may use some ideas and quotes from that chapter in my classroom. Lastly, while I've been pleasantly surprised with how Syracuse has started the season, I have wary optimism for today's game against Pitt and am not looking forward to having to read the events of the game (via the ESPN.com play-by-play) instead of getting to watch it, but I suppose we do what we have to do. Orange out! (not exactly like 'Lemon out!' but you know...)

Staff Meeting and Transportation

Yesterday's staff meeting surrounded the Respect and Tolerance campaign that Cristina and I had been working on. One of the important factors of this that we had failed to address earlier was the importance of framing the campaign. First of all, we're looking to have it be a long-term, peer mentoring program, and so while it started off dealing with helping reduce the instances of bullying, it will encompass so much more. That being said, there were some great conversations and positivity over what we hope to accomplish all in all.

As I was riding on the ojek to school this morning, I realized how much I preferred my current morning commute. It's not that I don't have to take the subway to work anymore, I actually miss the N train and hope Joe is starting to realize how awesome it is now that he's in Brooklyn :), but more that I don't have to shlep up the hill from the Prospect Park subway stop to MS 88. Walking up these four avenues every morning subtly changed my mentality every morning whereas getting dropped off at the front door of the school maximizes morning efficiency (and as a Goddard boy, mornings are arguably :) not our favorite time of the day).

Lastly, I leave you with a comment from a kid who usually isn't associated as one of the more academic students at Mentari but who has shown solid progress throughout the year as he left my classroom today. "Wow, my brain hurts! We did a lot today...and I think I understand it all!"

250 Take 4 - Frat Boy

This is the roughest of the drafts, but it's been quite some time since I've written about my fraternity experience and thus struggled with how I wanted to present it. Additionally, I wanted to push myself to write about something that wasn't related to education.

[At nineteen, I led the third smallest business in a competitive market with a limited number of firms (14), relatively high barriers to entry, and strong brand loyalty. Despite these limiting factors, we became second largest in the industry in two years time. Not only had our firm grown, but our client-list had expanded substantially and we were able to build our corporate reputation through peer and national recognition. Much of this success was due to our internal re-focusing on the principles of our organization; fellowship, leadership, scholarship and service. This organization was the Nu Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at William and Mary and my experience as president highlights the importance, and even educational function, of fraternities. While they are labeled 'frats' with many negative stereotypes, social fraternities provide invaluable experiences not found within the classroom or other campus organizations. A fraternity is an incubator for management because of large membership rolls, constant and multi-faceted event planning, conflict and risk management, some of the largest budgets for student organizations, and routine reporting to regulatory bodies within the university and to the fraternity at large. Furthermore, through ad hoc and permanent committees, growth in organizational leadership is not limited to the executive boards of fraternities, but can be delegated and fostered throughout the members. This 'incubator' had led to such a high percentage of leaders in business and government with backgrounds of fraternal membership and overall I'm proud to be referred to as a 'frat boy.']

Word Count: 247

Day 1 of the campaign went extremely well. I'm so proud of the student leaders and the maturity that many of the students are showing throughout these discussions. My main concern is how to find useless products now that Billy Mays isn't telling me what to buy.

Anti-Bullying

Tomorrow we're starting the anti-bullying peer-to-peer campaign at Mentari. The older students decided that they preferred the teachers not be in the room while they were talking with the younger students and so this will truly be a test of their maturity and leadership but it's encouraging that they're so willing to step up to the plate. Take 4 is a little postponed because of internet issues throughout the day, both at school and home, thus I was unable to complete my Industrial Organization research yet. Other than that, keeping on trucking over here :) Lastly, Billy Mays and his fantastic new products, such as Chipotlaway, make the world go 'round.