Spring Break 2k13

We are currently en route to Charleston, SC for a five-day adventure that also includes a stop in Savannah, Georgia.

"We" is my three best friends from work - Ashley, Annie, and Erin. We have grown close through a shared opinion of our workplace...I'll leave it at that.

Our trip began with a 7 am departure time, and for the first hour or so we were driving through some unexpected and unwelcome March snow. Lucky for us, we were getting out just in time.

We had our first adventure somewhere in Georgia when we realized that, as a result of singing our lungs out to the Pitch Perfect soundtrack, we neglected to pay attention to the gas gauge, which read "40 miles to empty". The nearest gas station was 15 miles away. No worries - until the gauge mysteriously dropped to 15 miles, 8 miles, and eventually....3 miles, with another mile still to go until the exit. I was laughing and reassuring Ashley that we would be fine, but I was flipping out on the inside.

All that drama to say we made it with 2 miles left, and we're quickly back on the road.

We are currently about 80 miles outside of Charleston, and very ready to be out of the car. The sun is shining deceptively bright for such a chilly day, but it beats snow in Nashville. I'm excited to return to the charm of Charleston and experience Savannah for the first time, and even more excited to do it with an incredibly entertaining group.

Taking the south by storm!

Starstruck

I've seen my fair share of famous people since moving to Nashville. I go to church with one of my all-time favorite singers (he is a lesser known artist, but still famous to me). I even talked to Connie Britton briefly on a plane. But today was by far one of the coolest "celebrity moments" I've had since moving here, for two reasons. One, it was more of an "experience" than just a brief moment. And two, because I got to experience it with my kids, and they were absolutely in heaven.

The best part? I didn't even know who the guy was until yesterday afternoon.

(You probably won't know who it is either, but humor me here.)

One of our PE/Social Studies teachers has done some really awesome things for our school revolving around technology, including piloting an internet-based fitness program called Go Noodle. Drawing from systems like Wii, Go Noodle is a program that is meant to provide students with quick "brain break" physical activities to help "move the body, invigorate the mind". Each individual training program is "coached" by an Olympic athlete, who pops up on the screen, teaches you a few stretches and techniques, and then coaches you through an athletic competition. (You can see what I mean here.) One of the coaches is Olympic Gold Medalist track & field star Shawn Crawford.

"Shawn who?", you say? But that's besides the point. I said Olympic Gold Medalist. He won a gold at the 2004 Olympics and a silver at the 2008 Olympics, although he recently retired. Below is a screen shot from the Go Noodle website.

Go Noodle is a new company, and somehow we had been chosen as one of very few schools to pilot the program. After several months of using it as a random P.E. activity, the company decided to send representatives to our school to see the program in action - and one of those representatives was Shawn Crawford himself!

Lucky for me, it all happened during my morning planning period, so I got to watch my homeroom babies' star-struck faces as an Olympic athlete walked into our room, then run in place while both the virtual and the real Shawn Crawford coached them through "running" a 200 meter race. He was very charismatic, cracking jokes and acting silly, and the kids absolutely loved it. I have to say, even though I had no idea who the man was, I was impressed with his presence and his confidence, and it was hilarious to watch 28 middle school kids running in place with shy smiles on their faces, awestruck by having a celebrity an arm's length away. He even passed out sweatbands (which they wore proudly the rest of the day) and autographed cards to each kid.

With Spring Break only a few days away, it feels like this week is just creeping along. This was a great pick-me-up in the middle of a really long week. Two days of practice TCAP testing, and then freedom. It can't come too soon.

Pi Day

I had an irrational excitement for Pi Day this year (see what I did there?). It was the first time I was sure that my students knew what pi was, and I felt confident that they would appreciate whatever punny madness I came up with to celebrate. I had visions of pies - apple, cherry, pecan, pizza - being passed around the classroom, with students enjoying the irony of their complimentary treat. And somehow, they would all magically understand that pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, a concept I had previously tried (in vain) to prove using yarn and various sizes of circles.

Then all of a sudden, it was happy hour night, 3/13, and I hadn’t made any moves to organize pi day activities. And of course we all know what took priority that night - happy hour, obviously. So there I was, the morning of 3/14, with nothing but a lame YouTube video called “Pi Day” (a spoof on Rebecca Black’s annoying song, “Friday”), an even lamer joke that I made up on the spot, and a less-than-enthusiastic homeroom class. It was only 8:04 and pi day was already a wash.

I was also two minutes late to my first class, which is practically a crime at a school where time is of the essence. It was a rough start to the day, and as I made my way into the classroom, I was already feeling defeated. I was expecting the homeroom teacher who was waiting for me to relieve her to be annoyed, so I avoided eye contact with her and immediately faced the kids, who were standing eerily silently as they waited for the cue.

“Good morning, Marquette 6.”

“Happy Pi Day, Miss Hiltunen.”

I can only imagine the look on my face as those sweet babies startled me with the modified version of the morning greeting. My jaw dropped, my heart stopped, and I almost cried. The kids looked so excited to surprise me, and the homeroom teacher that had practiced the greeting with them looked ridiculously proud and equally as excited. I don’t know why it affected me the way it did. Pi Day’s only importance is that the date shares its digits with the infamous irrational symbol (and the added bonus of Albert Einstein’s birthday). I have no personal connection to the day; in fact, I can’t even remember my teachers making a big deal out of it when I was in school. But that little bit of enthusiasm was well-placed after an epic failure of a homeroom activity. It was such a small thing, but it was exactly what I needed.

It’s little moments like this that remind me why I love my job, that propel me forward even when I’m in a slump or experiencing hundreds of other frustrating moments. More on that to come.

Generation Z

I have an ambitious goal of writing at least 2 blogs this weekend to update on recent events as well as my current state of mind. Fingers crossed that my goal is realized.

In the meantime, a quick story that had me laughing out loud as I g-chatted it to the other 3 teachers who are also currently proctoring comprehensive exams (oh what our kids would do if they knew what we were ACTUALLY doing on our computers right now).

In our morning homeroom, we gave our kids some "frame games" to get their brains flowing for their exams. Even if you've never heard the name, I guarantee you've seen them before. They are some of my favorite puzzles, and my kids had a field day with them last year. But I was once again reminded of the generational gap between my students and myself when I posted this one on the board:

I walked them through how to solve the puzzle, explaining that it's not only the words you see, but HOW you see them. In this example, the word "play" is written twice. What's another word for twice? Times two. Double. Ah! Does it sound like a common phrase you've heard before? Several kids arrived at the answer - double play. Then I went for the extension question: "What is a 'double play'? Where have you heard it before?" Since my mind first went to baseball, I immediately looked to one of my boys who I knew was an athlete to explain the term. I suppose my reasoning was flawed; he very innocently replied:

"It has to do with Direct TV."

One point for commercial marketing. And one point for Generation Z.

Happy Friday!