summer school

I've been teaching summer school at DVHS for the last 3 1/2 weeks. I've found a way to fit an entire semester's worth of material in that amount of time: craziness. I had 17 students to start, one found out she'd passed the class, so she left, and two more dropped for absences. 14 students for the past week: not bad. All of these students were given the shot to retake this class after they just failed it this past semester during the normal schedule. I think this set up works better for these students, though: less time from lesson to quiz, from quiz to test, and so on. I do four things each day: any mixture of lessons, reviews, quizzes, and tests. For instance, the first day of summer school, the students had 4 lessons in the same day, but yesterday they had a test first thing, and then three lessons after that. It was a lot of material in a short amount of time, but these students seemed to enjoy it and did well. Other than the two that dropped for absences (they were allowed 2 at most, they both had three and then were dropped), I now have no students with Fs in the class as they enter the final exam (which they are taking right now). I have liked this setup, as it was more like college. We had four hour sessions each day, each with two 15 minute breaks evenly spaced in the day. It gave a sense of trust and freedom that the students normally don't get throughout the regular semester. I am now really looking forward to possibly teaching at a community college one day. We'll see what the LORD brings our way.

great evening

Tonight was great. The poker games were fun, but it was the fellowship of believers that made it even better. We got to just mess around, poke fun at each other, and enjoy getting taunted. It was a blast. Chris Blackford, Matthew du Mée, Michael Withem, Gethsemane (Sam, Chris' friend, and now mine), and I were the only ones who made it, but, boy, did we make it! I had so much fun. I got to talk with Gethsemane after everyone else left (he was waiting for his wife and step-daughter to pick him up). We talked about music and people who we know in common (JJ - the tenor section leader from DVHS when I was a freshman; he made All-State Jazz along with Gethsemane; they both went to Grand Canyon University for college on full-ride scholarships for vocal music). Gethsemane is also a Tenor 1 (same range as JJ and I; but with a little more range at the bottom than I - but that's true for almost any man) and plays the piano and guitar. He'd led worship at his previous church (now trying out NCC) and he had led the youth there, as well. He is 26...quite accomplished. He loves recording and computers. We had a great time laughing and getting to know each other tonight. Amy said his great laugh reminds her of someone she knows. She can’t remember who that is right now, but she had good feelings hit her when she heard the laughter (I bet it hurt). I look forward to getting to be around Gethsemane and his wife more. They’ll be trying to make it to our Saturday night Bible study, too, and we’ll see them on Sunday at church. Good times. Good times.

from http://vanliew.myteacher.dvusd.com

The following is the "about me" page from my teacher website that I keep up. Just thought I might post it for my friends and family to see, as well. Just in case anyone out there cares.

A Personal Note

Hi there. My name is Vaughn Adam Van Liew II: if you're a student, you can call me Mr. Van Liew, and if a parent, you can call me Adam.

I go by Adam because Vaughn is also my dad's name. My parents decided to call me Adam to cut the confusion. Much good that did! I went by Vaughn in 2nd grade, junior high, during college, and at my first teaching job.

I was born February 28th, 1983, in Columbia, South Carolina, where my father was in seminary studying for his Masters in Christian Studies. Ten months later, we moved back to where my parents had both been born and raised: back to Phoenix, Arizona. My sister, Bethany, was born in Phoenix. Then when four years old, we moved to Boulder City, Nevada. Three weeks into my third grade year, we moved to Birmingham, Alabama. When going into sixth grade, we moved back to Phoenix, where I've been living since. My parents and sister moved to Senegal, West Africa, to teach at a missionary kids' school in Dakar called Dakar Academy. After a year, Bethany moved to Alabama, where she currently lives. She is married to a great guy, Joseph Dumas, and they now have a son, my nephew, Jonathan David. My parents left Africa after two years, and now currently reside in Alabama, as well. They work at a boys' ranch called Big Oak Ranch, where they are house parents to up to 8 boys at a time, ranging in age from 5-18 years old.

I graduated Deer Valley High School in 2001, 5th of 405 students. I went on to Southwestern Bible College in Phoenix. During my sophomore year there, on Saturday, December 28, 2002, I married my beautiful and wonderful wife, Amy Michelle (Ogle). We'd known each other since junior high, but nothing had really happened between us until college. She is the love of my life. I graduated Southwestern summa cum laude (with highest honor) with a 4.0 in my major's studies. I earned a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education, with two minors: Bible and Math. On Friday, March 31, 2006, Amy gave birth to our first child, a boy, whom we named Vaughn Aidan Van Liew III. (He was 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 3/4 in. long.) We also just found out (on 9/10/06) that Amy is again pregnant! Woohoo! The due date should be around May 14th or so. I'll keep you posted. If you'd like to hear more of my musings and thoughts, you can visit my personal blog at http://dutchroyalty.blogspot.com. Be forewarned that this blog has nothing to do with DVUSD or DVHS in any official sense. It is clearly a personal blog.

I student taught with Mrs. Kathy Mauser in the Timberwolf Core at Desert Sky Middle School. That was an incredible experience: learning from an amazing teacher and enjoying getting to know some great students. After student teaching, I then went to work for Cornerstone Charter School, Phoenix, AZ. I finished out the school year with them. It is a great school for at-risk students, and I enjoyed learning and growing through the student population there instructing me on how to live out grace while still retaining control of the classroom and an atmosphere of learning. In the 2005-6 school year, I taught Algebra 1/2 and Algebra 3/4 at Boulder Creek High School. I had a great time being a Jaguar for a year, but decided that working closer to home would be of great benefit. I now get to call my high school alma mater my teaching home, as well. GO SKYHAWKS!

freshman fifteen

I read an article lately that said the so-called "Freshman 15" is now down to the "Freshman 5." Thought that was interesting, but I've got that beat! When I was a freshman in college, I had a cyst in my mouth that required some pretty severe surgery. Because of the impact of the surgery, and lack of solid foods I was able to eat, I ended up losing 30 lbs. instead of gaining any.

Surgery on the mouth: the best diet ever!