Drunk in Class

Not me!
I had a student puke all over the room in class last week. Talking to the other students, I found out that he was drinking before school.
Anyway, after he threw up, he kept his head down like he was sleeping. The rest of the class is laughing hysterically, of course. They are also opening [...]

Walking into a Lawsuit?

A parent of a student who is homeschooled has just emailed me about her son coming into my classroom after school to get help from me in geometry. Why should I? I have 174 other students who don’t get enough of my time.
Our school district is getting sued by a home schooled kid because we [...]

I’d give you an "F" just for asking

I’ve just gotten an email from a college student in El Paso, TX which asked me this:
I got 81 answers correct out of 120 questions. What is my grade/score?
This is a student trying to get her teacher certification. My God, who makes it through college and can’t figure this out?

It is not my fault, but it is my problem

I gave an exam on Friday. One student of my 138 IB kids was gone for three days prior to practice for a play. I have no idea why the school gave her (or her teacher) permission to miss math class three days in a row in order to practice for a play. Anyhow, she [...]

Compulsive Liar Kid

At the beginning of the year when kids come into my senior math class (basically it is a makeup credit class for the unmotivated), it is usually easy for me to tell why the kids are in there. They look unmotivated; they are loud; they aren’t very friendly; they didn’t come until the second or [...]

Being Treated Professionally

From a (Minneapolis) Star Tribune article:
St. Paul teachers who plug in told to pay upFearing high energy costs, the St. Paul schools want to charge workers with personal appliances $25 a year. The idea is fueling some opposition.
OK, so you bring a small coffee maker you have to pay $25 a year. Bad enough. But [...]