Yo Mista!

"Yo Mista, you got any brothas or sistas?" I haven’t seen my younger brother in a year.  As an only child for the first nine years of my life, I learned how to get lost in my imagination. My best friends were the Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and Superman toys now packed in boxes buried somewhere. I filled my life with comic book heroes because I wanted to protect people from harm; I wanted to be selfless. I was about to enter the fourth grade when my brother was born: one of the happiest days of my life. I remember I was sleeping over at a friend’s place while my mom and dad were in the hospital. When my brother and I first met, I promised myself to be his friend, mentor and father figure – everything I wanted and needed, I would give to him. I loved having pictures taken of him and me together. I wanted to carry him, play with him and teach him the alphabet when he was only a year old. I remember I wanted him to eat a lot of baby food with spinach because I watched Pop...

Thanks to Kevin for finding this video . I think what Dan Meyer is saying in this video is pretty obvious; however, what he's asking for can only be implemented in a perfect world without the constraints that exist today in the classroom. The Department of Education administers state exams which require students to cover X standards in Y school days, thereby limiting the amount of time students can spend messing around with fun concepts such as surface area, volume, etc. Given the sheer amount of "stuff" students are required to know by the end of the year, teachers usually (emphasis on usually) try to cram as much curriculum as possible while simultaneously trying to make it as fun/hands-on as possible. That all goes out the window though if they're behind schedule. God forbid we get behind schedule. With less than forty school days left before the Integrated Algebra Regents, I am beginning to feel this pressure and it's coming out of nowhere. But why? I...

My mother stopped talking to me after I told her I was in love and wanted to get married. It's easy to assume I was a dumb kid acting on my emotions, but we dated for years before I told my mom. I had to know that what we had was the real deal before growing a pair and telling her I was dead serious. Why were my panties in a bundle over this? Well, here are some reasons... My significant other does not come from a family that practices the same sect of Islam as my mother does. This matters because my mother has grown extremely conservative since moving to the United States. I suppose it might have a little to do with her friends and her missing home in Pakistan. She blames marrying an alcoholic (Hi Dad!) on the premise of, "I was young and in love, so I didn't know any better." As a result, "You won't get married to anyone unless I approve" was something I heard on a daily basis. All sons have close relationships with their mothers, especially the...

I teach at a transfer high school that wants to push students to pursue some form of secondary education (I say "wants" because it's our first year and building a culture of success is tough). Our dedicated staff of teachers and advisers talk about the benefits of college on an everyday basis it seems. And obviously, since college isn't for everyone we also talk about trade schools or any other sort of post-high school institution. I really think higher education is a major factor in breaking the cycle my students are in. As a result, the SAT comes up quite a bit. The SAT is arguably one of the most important exams a high school student will take. I would argue that as long as you have decent grades and a solid application (explaining why your grades were just "decent"), a good SAT score can carry you into any school. It's a number that follows you everywhere. In my opinion, you're either a good test taker or you're not. The SAT doesn't...

Students of mine will immediately know who I'm talking about in this post. For the sake of writing online, let's call this student Kevin. Kevin has been a problem child at my school since day one. Profanity is at the bottom of the list of concerns regarding Kevin. He frequently disrupts the learning process, uses stereotypes, has anger issues, talks about getting high 24/7 and quite frankly, exhibits behavior which would lead one to assume he does not want to be in school. For a majority of teachers, he's a royal pain in the ass, although we may not admit it. There are teachers that care about his small successes - personally, I haven't seen any in my classroom (but that's just my class). But since when is it acceptable to only show success with teachers that you can "connect" with? That sounds like a spoiled brat to me. Honestly, at first I didn't know where I stood with him. But now I do. I can see through the daily bullshit and I'm sick of ...

I'm back. I'm ready to hit the ground running, although I'm slightly fatter from slamming gumbo, jambalaya and a shit ton of crawfish without portion control (like a true American) for seven days straight. New Orleans was amazing. I expect even more crazy stories, ridiculous quotes and high school drama to come as there's no vacation now until summer break. In 72 days, my students will take the Integrated Algebra Regents Exam; I'll be finished with my first year as a New York City public high school teacher: I'll be done. Well, not really... but, you know.