http://www.herkimershideaway.org/writings/rudolph.htm
but the author there admits that this comes from an even older, unknown source.
As it's the last day of school before winter break, it's time for a special version of "A Day in the Life":
8:30 -- Second period arrives. This is the first of three Math I classes.
That's right -- three classes. Whereas many schools have three days of finals, our school has only two days, with three tests each day. Those three finals are squeezed into the four hours of the day. It follows a traditional block schedule -- that is, odd periods yesterday, even periods today. It means that I have all the freshman classes today, with no Math III classes.
And here's the other thing -- I don't really give any final exams today. That's because the other Math I teachers have decided to give the finals on Tuesday and Wednesday -- both of which were all-classes days, as was Monday as usual. They feared that there might be too many absences on finals days, and so they wanted to start the tests early to catch them.
Indeed, both my second and sixth periods have many absences every day. On top of that, this is a majority-Hispanic school. Many parents might not send their students to school during the celebration of Las Posadas, which run from today through Christmas Eve.
Let me say a little about the final exam. We decided upon having 19 questions on the test. Last year, at my school with traditional two-hour finals, I had 30 questions, or four minutes per question. This year, we have 76-minute finals blocks, so that works out to be 19 questions. Then again, we don't give it the test during finals blocks -- perhaps a longer test might have made sense since we're giving the final over two regular days. Oh well -- 19 questions was the decision the Math I teachers made. The test covers Chapters 1-3 of the CPM text.
So what do we do today, since I don't give finals today? The same thing happened at the long-term middle school two years ago -- Math 8 took their last test early, so the last day was for make-ups. A few students who were absent Tuesday or Wednesday still need today to make up the final. Meanwhile, other students ask me to check their notebooks or other late assignments.
I continue my tradition of passing out pencils and candy on special days and holidays. The kids get pencils and two small candy bars each (three for top-scoring students on the final).
Then I perform the song "Rudolph the Statistician." A few years ago, I was considering using "The Twelve Days of Christmath" (originally by Vi Hart, though I'd have a simplified version) as my holiday go-to song, but ever since the long-term position I switched to "Rudolph" instead. Once reason for choosing this song is that the first chapter of second semester, Chapter 4, is a Stats chapter. So we can think of today's song as the first song of Chapter 4.
9:50 -- Second period leaves and fourth period arrives. This is the second of three Math I classes.
Fourth period has become my best-behaved freshman class lately, and today's no exception. There are many more students using today to finish their finals or make up their assignments. And in fact, some of my Math III students come in during this period to turn in notebooks or ask about their grades.
This is also the class with the most juniors -- three. A junior in Math I figures to be behind in credits, and so two of the three juniors will be attending the continuation school for second semester. (I haven't heard yet whether the third will be back here or switching to there.) My other two Math I classes have one junior each, and they will be attending the continuation school as well.
An equal number of students will be returning to the flagship campus. These are students who are finally catching up, and so they're more likely to move into my Math III classes, not Math I.
At any rate, it means that this is the period when I'm spending the most time filling out transfer grades for the continuation school as well as grading make-up work for my Math I and III students.
11:10 -- Fourth period leaves and sixth period arrives. This is the third of three Math I classes.
I begin the class by handing out COVID tests -- as I explained in my post before Thanksgiving, the fear is that cases will surge during the holidays. The COVID tests should be taken in January, just before we return to school. But then one guy decides to open up the boxes and start throwing the COVID tests.
And the tossing doesn't stop there. I pass out the candy, and the kid throws it around the room.(I'm trying to recall whether he even throws the pencils as well -- I hope not.)
All along, I'm trying to grade missing work, but it's tough when I must try to stop the troublemaker. He asks me to sing a song, and I do wish to perform "Rudolph the Statistician" -- but it takes me so long to grade the make-up work that there are only a few minutes left in class. And by this time, he doesn't even want to hear a song (after urging me to sing all period).
12:30 -- Sixth period ends, but the troublemaker saves his worst act of the day for the final bell. I have some extra Red Vines that I want to get rid of as they'll become stale over winter break. So I tell the kids that anyone may have the Red Vines today. Anyway, the troublemaker takes most of them and spends the last few minutes of class tearing them up. Then when the bell rings, he tosses them around the room like confetti to celebrate the start of winter break. Then he leaves.
In these "A Day in the Life" posts, I want to focus on arguments and how to avoid them. I don't really argue much today -- except, of course, with the big troublemaker in sixth period.
Is there anything I could have done to avoid this? Of course, I could have handed out the COVID tests later in the period, so that no one would have had time to throw them. I would have done so if someone had thrown them before Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen, so it never occurred to me that anyone would open the boxes today. Then again, it's noteworthy that the troublemaker was absent on the last day before Thanksgiving. (How ironic -- the finals were given early in anticipation of absences, but today's trouble is all about the student who isn't absent today.)
Also, when considering his desire to hear a song until it was actual singing time, something similar happened back at the old charter school. The students there enjoyed many of my songs, but they were upset when, due to excessive talking, I delayed a song one day until the end of the period. They wanted to spend the last few minutes of class packing up early and didn't want to listen to anything I had to say, not even a song. So I assume that this is the same -- in general, I should perform near the start or middle of the class when there are plenty of minutes left in class, not at the end.
With all of that being said, a simple reordering of tasks today might have avoided today's argument. I should have started the class with "Rudolph the Statistician," and perhaps even added a few extra songs, such as the aforementioned "Twelve Days of Christmath." The troublemaker might have got a kick out of the "Gimme a high five!" line -- but only if it's still early in the class.
Then I could play some actual Square One TV videos and remind the students that many of my songs come from the show. (I actually do try to do so in all three classes today -- the problem is that my only device with a speaker is my laptop, which is quite hard for the students to hear.) This would be a good time for me to pass out the pencils and candy (but not the excess Red Vines, which are suited for a better-behaving class, such as fourth period).
Then about midway through class, I start grading the late work. Finally, near the end of class, I take advantage of that natural urge to pack up early and pass out the COVID tests, so that the students will just put those right into their backpacks.
Of course, the troublemaker isn't without blame. Indeed, he isn't absent today, but he was out on Tuesday, the first day of the Math I final. So he should have started the final on Wednesday (and perhaps finish today if he needed more time). Instead, he did no work on Wednesday. If he'd been at school on Tuesday and everyone else was busy, then he might have worked too. But sfter seeing so many classmates already done as Wednesday proceeded, he decided he'd rather join in the fun. And of course he does the same thing today, so his final score is zero.
This guy is also on the school soccer team. His percent grade going into the final was in the 50's, and so a strong performance on the exam might have given him a D- for the class. Instead, his grade dropped after earning a zero on the final, and so his eligibility for soccer will be in doubt. He's pointed out that he's missed several classes due to soccer matches. (For some reason, his soccer class is first period instead of sixth period. Team sports really should be sixth period only, but I admit that a winter sport like soccer -- as opposed to a fall or spring sport that lines up with the semesters -- is tricky.)
Anyway, that takes us into winter break. I haven't decided my winter break posting schedule yet. So far, Shelli has yet to announce any "Yule Blog" challenge.
But even without "Yule Blog," I think my first winter break post will still be tomorrow. That's because tomorrow is the seventeenth -- that's right, it's my monthly "A Day in the Life" day. I know, it's the weekend and vacation, but it's still posting day.
I might make my second post two days later, in anticipation of a "Yule Blog" announcement. But if there's no Yule Blog by then, I'll wait several days for my third post, since there will no longer be any reason to try to make twelve posts during winter break.
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