Awards for Students

This week was a fun week being around students - specifically my students! I got caught up on all the things going on in their lives. And let me tell you, they have A LOT going on. Some are expecting babies, some are going sky-diving, some are moving out on their own, and some are wondering how they are going to get to school the next day because they got kicked out of their home. It is hard to listen without jumping in and trying to solve their problems. I often want to take them home with me to try making everything alright for them. Our lives are all complicated and seldom are there black and white answers....maybe that is why I like math so much?! I like absolute, undeniable, provable ANSWERS! Life isn't like that.

My Teachers Choice Awardee, Calley!

Enough philosophy...on to the AWARDS!!! Today was a great day as my high school had the annual Teacher Choice Awards. Each teacher gets to choose one student who exemplifies great character, self-discipline, outstanding work ethic, and respect. This is not based on grades - although many students have a 4.0 - but on my definition of "being a great person." When I was explaining it to a parent I told them, "I select a student that I would be honored to have as my own child." It is a hard decision and every year I have about 15 students that I would love to choose. We invite the family to come to school at 6:30 (yep-that is AM) to eat breakfast and follow a great meal with a short presentation of the medallion. We take pictures and do our best to let the students know how much they inspire us to do our best as instructors. It is a great program!
Today I also awarded a student a 4 year Teaching It Forward Scholarship from the University of Phoenix. Every state teacher of the year gets to pick a senior to give a free education to. It is amazing...it could literally be life changing for a student. I let my student know today. I hope he is as excited as I was to give this wonderful opportunity to him. I will write more about him when I "officially" present him the $40,000 scholarship! Ahhhh - not bad for a day's work! Plus I even managed to teach arithmetic sequences AND slope fields today.


My mind is pretty full but I put more good stuff in there after school at our Team Leaders meeting where I learned about Moodle! I don't understand it fully yet but I am sure I will (thanks to some great technology folks) and keep reminding myself "baby steps, Cindy." It seems like once I learn about something it starts appearing EVERYWHERE....I had never heard of Twitter and Moodle and now it feels like I turn around and see Twitter and Moodle all over the place. Was it there before and I just didn't know what it meant?
Hope everyone has a blessed Easter.