Justin Bieber, Miley and Kim Kardashian read this blog!

Okay, not actually true but again, a clever way to get more hits to this page!

The REAL title should have been, "But Mister, How Can I Have a D?"  This year I have many 10th and 11th graders, with maybe less than 10% freshman and 10% seniors but they all have 4th grade math skills when it comes to grading.

Most of our assignments are in the 15 - 25 point range.  About 3 weeks ago we had an assignment that was worth 60 points, we had a week to turn it in and about 4 days in class to work on it.  Sixty points.

Now a month later our progress reports have come out and I get "what happened to my grade?  How did I go from an A to a D" (or B to an F).  I turned everything in!   


Well , it looks like in the grade book that you did turn in everything except the biggest assignment of the year .  Taking a zero out of 60 is like taking four zeros on smaller 15 point assignments. Looks like your percentage went from 92 to 64%.

Basic math.  Percentages.  I am no scholar but a little middle school math will help you in many ways. And guess what?  Some of these students who never turned in their assignment and wonder why their grade plummeted are in trigonometry or calculus.  I guess they don't teach common sense in those advanced classes.

Breaking Bad... Habits!

Ha!  Maybe I will get a few extra hits (pages views) from people searching that wildly popular TV program about making crystal meth.

But that isn't what this blog is about today, though I am showing a National Geographic special on meth amphetamine.  Yesterday I shared with them this story from Sports Illustrated about Katie Spotz. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1208630/index.htm. 


What we discussed the day after finishing the film 28 Days (about alcoholism and rehab) was about processing FEELINGS.  In that film there was a large emphasis on identifying your feelings.  We figured this was because addicts as soon as they begin to experience anxiety, they go to their drug almost immediately. So the ideas is to stop, process what you are feeling, and then make a better choice (than using drugs).

 Great.  Now what does that have to do with Katie rowing this boat from 3000+ miles Africa to South America?  If you click on that link above you will see in the 4th paragraph that she says:  "At times I felt overwhelmed and wanted to quit," she says. "But you learn to say, 'Yes, I'm feeling this, but I don't need to act on it.'

We discussed what THIS might be in the above sentence. "This" being a negative thought, like fear, confusion, anxiety, etc.  And my next question to the class was:  How many negative thoughts are you going to have over the next 10, 20 or 70 years?  Yeah... tens of thousands.  What Katie's BIG IDEA is that you don't have to ACT on that idea.  That was a very freeing moment for me when I read it and I sense that some of my students "got it" too.  So instead of that knee-jerk reaction to having a bad day and ACTING OUT with emotional overeating, playing video games as an escape, going on-line for porn, drinking alcohol, (ad infinitum), you can make a healthier choice.

Are those bad habits changeable?  Sure.  By taking a new mental approach to your worries?  Maybe.  But I will use every thing I can- the LA Times, Sports Illustrated, a scene from a movie, anything I can to get the point across.