student quote

Directed to a student of mine, M.A. (Period 3):

"My first mistake was listening to you instead of Van Liew."
~C.K. (Period 3)

student quote

Background: there is the picture of a cartoon bee in the bottom of the new urinals here at DV. Some of the guys have said to "aim for the bee while you pee." This was a female student's response:

"I wish I was a guy. That sounds like fun."
~A.M. (Period 3)

student quote

Background: I was telling my students they can't add "x" and "x squared" together because they're not like terms. I used the example that I can't add up my scrambled eggs and all my chickens to say that I then have more chickens then I did before (even though the eggs that I scramble do come from chickens originally). After the students on their own discussed chickens, eggs, and the like, a student seriously asked:

"Are chickens reptiles?"
~M.E. (Period 4)

student quote

"Do you talk to a tornado before it eats you?"
~P.M. (Period 3)

student quote

"I wasn't slapping him. I was high-fiving his face!"
~ B.C. (Period 3)

student quote

Okay, this one's purely an inside joke. I don't expect anyone to get it.

"Arrrrrrse...where's me booty?"
~L.H. (Period 2)

school about to begin

Yes, it is that time of year again: monsoon weather in phoenix, heat still there, sun still rising early, and children about to head back to school. DVHS is where I call home for my teaching career at this stage. I do love it there. I am looking forward to another good year. I am teaching 3 classes of freshman level algebra and 3 classes of junior level algebra. My schedule is as follows:

Per 1 - Algebra 3-4
Per 2 - Algebra 1-2
Per 3 - Algebra 3-4
Per 4 - Algebra 3-4
Per 5 - Lunch
Per 6 - Algebra 1-2
Per 7 - Algebra 1-2

I can already tell you that my second hour is going to be the most challenging. LORD give me grace! Oh how at times like these I wish I was more merciful and understanding of others. Pray for Deer Valley's population, would you? Pray the LORD would reveal Himself in ways that could only be explained as that He showed up. Pray for CCC (Christian Club on Campus). Pray for CCC's leadership. Pray for Diedrich Wasserbauer and I as we sponsor CCC. Pray that it will have an impact for the Kingdom of our LORD, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory!

summer

Yesterday was my last day of summer school.  I am now official experiencing my summer break.  It's amazing, but there are always things to fill a day.  As for summer school, I had only eight students, all passed, and we had a pretty good time of it.  I won't say that I will remember this time as fondly as I do my first summer school teaching experience, but it was still quite a bit better than the normal semester was.  I love that I had every quiz and test graded just minutes after the class was done and it was handed back to them immediately with immediate feedback, as well.  I love that I knew exactly where each student was on the worksheets.  I love that I didn't have to take anything home, and I didn't have to make them do homework, either.  I love that they had no other subjects to worry about other than this one.  I love that we only worked for four hours at most per school day.  I love that a full semester's worth of material was completed in less than four weeks time.  I love that I've been able to be home with my family more.  I really love that summer has now started and I can be here to help Amy with tons more (like potty training Aidan: next week!).  I'm sure I'll have much more to post over the next few weeks.

six posts for the price of one

Yep...this has truly been a crazy year. I am proud to say that I have now successfully made it through school year 2007-2008. Graduation was this morning, and what a day for a graduation! It was about 110 degrees F just five days ago, but today it was stormy and topped out around 70. What gorgeous weather. Enough weather talk, though, because I want to simply give an update on life...

I was not accepted for the MSTF program through ASU this summer. There were over 40 teachers who received an invitation to the fellowship, and none rejected it. Another over 100 teachers were outright rejected right away, but then I fell in a third category, a category of suspense and torturous waiting. I knew all of the other teacher's who'd applied at DVHS were either accepted or rejected, but I received no word from ASU at all. It left me hanging and wondering if I should be doing the summer school gig or if I should plan on doing the MSTF. I wrote in and got a response a couple days later. I was told I was in the third category and I would know by last Friday whether I was in or not. I did not receive any word Friday. I didn't receive any word at all that weekend. I decided to wait until Monday morning to write and email asking whether or not I was in, and there was still no word. I wrote in and received a response in a couple hours: I was not in. So, I was bummed, but what could I do? Therefore, I will be teaching summer school starting this Tuesday. I get three days off in between second semester and summer school, and I plan on using them to the fullest.

The Van Liews in Phoenix will be getting together for the couple of birthday celebrations all rolled into one this Sunday at 4pm AZ time. Charles and Allison will be in town, and I am looking forward to being with family. It has been awhile since we've all be together out here. If you've not heard, Chuck Van Liew, Charles' father, just quit his job and is in limbo right now, but at complete peace because of his faith in the LORD Jesus Christ, and will be looking for a new job. He's been in the same employ for the last 25 years or so, so this is a major change for his family. It is a good move, so no worries there, but it still would have been a huge decision, though the right one. Aren't the hard ones normally the right ones? The whole family is proud of him and wish (pray, actually) for the best.

Amy, as of yesterday, is 3cm dilated and lost the rest of her mucus plug (gross). She had her membranes stripped at the Dr. appointment. She has been having contractions every 10 min or so this evening. We are hopeful that Isaiah Cole Van Liew, our third child (in three years), will be joining us this weekend. This is perfect timing as I am off from work right now and have a three day weekend. As mentioned before, I want to use this weekend to the fullest! Amy is looking forward to being finished with pregnancy for at least a couple years here, though she's said she's still willing to have more. God gave me the perfect woman for me, I'm tellin' ya!

Kate just had a check up this afternoon. She is now 17lbs. 14oz. That's a pound and a half since the February appointment. She is a lean one still, but she is about perfect on the ten percentile curve. We are extremely happy with that report. We weren't sure if she was gaining enough, but that gives us relief and comfort. The LORD has been good to us. Kate's had her struggles in life already, but she is bouncing back well, and she's one of the happiest babies you'll meet to boot. She just had her first birthday a week ago. Aidan turned 2 a month and a half ago, so we have a 2 year old, a 1 year old, and an about to be born (year old). I don't say anything with tongue-in-cheek. And that last sentence wasn't in the least bit sarcastic. Or that one. :)

Aidan's a stud and continuously gains new vocabulary daily now. I love watching him love his sister. I love hearing them laugh together, seeing them play together. Their interaction makes me wonder about Bethany and me: did we act like that when young? I hope so. It's brought Amy and I so much joy and enjoyment that I hope that was given to my parents for their joy and enjoyment. I am in complete wonder. I am so proud to be Aidan's daddy. It is amazing to watch human development and how intelligent such a small child can be. God created some incredible beings, I must say. Too bad we screwed it all up with our stupidity in pride and now that same intelligent child is also an evil, wicked sinner (a.k.a. "sack-o-sin").

Speaking of pride, I got to counsel a student who used to be a CCC leader until midway through last semester (Fall 07). She's had issues with her self-view and has hated her body and it's affected her entire life. Now, I'm not one to go for self-esteem as being key, but a believer needs to view him/herself in the light of God's holiness as well as His grace. We need to see the sinner part, but we also need to see the beauty. The phrase I was given (thank you LORD) during our conversation that brought the first true smile to her face that I've seen in months was: "you're the most beautiful thing He's ever seen." Let me explain. When the LORD looks at us, He sees His Son covering us, and, therefore, He sees the most beautiful thing He's ever seen. True, we have our issues, but we're covered by the blood of the Lamb, people. how incredible is that? Yes, we have our responsibility to live rightly in the LORD's sight, but we have His grace, as well. "Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase? May it never be!" But, on the same token, we are not to beat ourselves up and hold on to guilt for something He's already paid for and taken care of completely! How beautiful the blood! And it's all for His glory. Hey, don't forget...

You're the most beautiful thing He's ever seen!

graduation

I get to lead the seniors in their graduation processional down to their seats again this year. And with graduation being next week (a week from tomorrow), I thought this picture was appropriate to display in remembrance of the student population with which I now teach.

nerd day

Yeah, so today was nerd day during spirit week.

These are a few of my students who decided to dress up.

Yes...I got made fun of all day.

This is one of my TAs.  She even put underwear on the outside of her pants.  Weird.

This was just too cool.

student quote

Background: a TA wrote me a note and was trying to remind me to be loving toward my students even when I am getting frustrated (btw, I never get frustrated...ever).

"Love pactient, love is kind, we are called to love" (emphasis mine). Yes, pactient is a great word.
~P.M. (TA Period 3)

picketing

The teacher's union in our district (DVUSD #97) is rallying the teachers to picket for good faith salary bargaining. We will be picketing tonight at the DVUSD Board meeting (I have CCC or I'd be there), and tomorrow morning before school, and again after school, with schools rotating days from then on out until issues are resolved. The district has hidden numbers in the budget for next year, won't reveal them to the IBN team (the bargaining counsel of classified, certified, and district administration), and tells us there is not enough money but for a 1% raise. Other districts, mind you, have a salary schedule (where there is an incremental raise per year of experience and per specified amount of post bacheloriate education) and a percentage pay increase (normally another 1-5%) on top of that. We don't have a salary schedule anymore, and we are being told there isn't enough money but to give us all 1% as an increase. The teachers complained, some voices were heard, and the district upped that to 1.5%. This is still not enough of a raise, since there's no guaranteed salary schedule increase, and it's not ethical to withhold budgeting numbers from good faith negotiations. Not only this, but the state of Arizona overwhelmingly passed a measure a few years back titled Prop 301. Those in AZ at the time of the voting should know of it. Prop 301 was a proposition to give teachers a pay increase based on some performance hoops to jump through, but it was welcomed money as far as teachers were concerned. The only problem is the money first goes to the district to be dispersed from there. The district then gets to decide on how to distribute that amount. Our district has decided to give it's teachers only about 43% of that money (that was my latest update) when other districts are divvying out closer to 85% of that money to teachers. How is this reasonable? Would the general public, who overwhelmingly voted for this money to go to teachers, be satisfied with how DVUSD #97 is mishandling (and then misrepresenting) those monies and numbers? To top this all off (I know, that's a lot already), the district just built for itself a new building at the DO (district office) which cost over a million dollars to construct. We are a top-heavy district in need of some major oversight changes. The monies meant for teachers are being used to construct buildings and hire more administration to a district that says it honors its educators. There is too much money being used in this district for things that don't touch the lives of our students or affect their educational process in any way. Don't we even exist as an educational establishment because we are here to educate the generations to come? Aren't the students why we do what we do in the first place? Sure, those becoming teachers aren't in it for the money, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be reasonably compensated for the professional duties that we perform. In a profession mostly made up of women, should we pay teachers less because, more than likely in some minds, this is the family's second income? Just because we get holidays and the summer off from school, does that mean that we work any less during those times? Is this going to be the only profession where someone must hold an outside job just to pay the bills for the family? What do you think?

story my dad would be proud of

So, if you know my food preferences at all, you'll be surprised by this story (maybe not if you know my personality at all, though). Yesterday, a student in my fourth hour (the class right before my lunch) brought in a bag of home-grown habeñeros. He was giving them to other students to watch them squirm from the heat. He then asked me to make a deal with him. If I ate one, he said, he would then be quiet the entire hour (he normally is a talker). I told him that I would reverse the order: if he was quiet I would eat one. He was quiet, so I took the one he selected for me, I bit it in half, and then bit off the other half from the stem. I now know that most people would simply swallow it at that point, but not I. I proceeded to chew it up in my mouth. FIRE! I have never experienced such a flame of spice in my life (and hope to never again). The power of the wallop was so intense, it cause a gag reflex in me and I almost threw up. I held it in, happened to have some Gatorade, washed it all down (yes, I did swallow it), and then proceeded to put more Gatorade in my mouth in order to take down some of the residual heat. It didn't work that well. Thankfully, lunch was just a couple minutes after I chewed it up, so I was able to get some relief while at lunch (temperature-wise, heat makes the burning flame up worse). What helped it calm down most? Just some iced tea. Yeah, I was surprised. So, I made a deal, lived up to it, paid for it, but at least the student was quiet all hour, right?

the pledge

The pledge of allegiance went like this today at DV:

I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America,
And to the republic for which it stands,
One nation,
Indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all.

Noticing the blatant omission of "Under God," I quickly shot an email to the one who had done the announcements. I said, and I quote (myself),

I don't want this to be a big deal, but I just wanted to ask if, during the pledge of allegiance, if the omission of "under God" was simply a mistake. Again, I don't want to make an issue here, I just desired clarification. Thank you.

The response I got was another break into class with the pledge being redone by the same person and an apology that she had accidently omitted some of the pledge. We then proceeded to say the pledge in its entirety. I was so blown away, and so were my students, that I could not help but laugh at the outcome of (possibly) my email. I then decided to write the one who did the announcements again. I said,

I truly did not expect there to be another pledge. I really did not mean for you to have to do so, either. I do appreciate that you went ahead and did do it, and I wanted you to hear that from me. Kim, I do hope that you know that I really was not trying to cause a fuss but just wanted to inquire. Maybe I just shouldn't have said anything, but I do thank you for your response. I have a high respect for you in that.

She wrote an email, then, to the entire DV staff which said,

I sincerely apologize for the pledge miscue this morning. I forgot that Heidi had asked me to do announcements and as I ran to the mike , I took a breathe at obviously the wrong time and fell behind the office ladies. If discussions arise among your students regarding this pledge miscue, please assure them that it was a human error and was not in any way on purpose. Those who know me, know that is the last thing I would have wanted portrayed. I have fired myself from announcements:)

I did appreciate the response and how quick it was.

student drawings

I had some students leave me some wonderful drawings.

Van Liew is BOMB!

I guess I have a halo.

This was actually drawn on the side of my podium.  I told the one responsible to erase it, but not until after I'd taken a picture.  It is a pretty good likeness...maybe just a bit too round of face?

being santa

Tonight, I dressed as Santa Claus. The christmas choir concert was tonight at DVHS in the performing arts building where I spent a lot of my time as a high school student. This time I got to play the big man in red. I think this first picture should be more of a plug for the Apple iPhone than simply a picture of how I looked in the suit.

You even get to have a picture of my girth (with added pillow in the mix).

Gotta love a close-up.

I got to go out on stage, answer a question about how long it took to get down here, and then pass out candy to the crowd. It was a lot of fun. I answered how long it took me to get down here with, "Well, the reindeer are on strike right now." Scott Sims (the DVHS choir director, husband of my first choir teacher back at NCCS, and father of a friend of mine - whom I've not seen since early high school) asked me why that was, and I responded, "This time of year they always want more hay!" I got plenty of groans for that one. Woo doggie! The elf pictured above is actually one of my math students at DVHS. We nicknamed him "Elmer the Elf," and he said he had to have been sniffing glue to think this was a good idea. While funny, it just wasn't as "school-appropriate" as would have been allowable. Good thing he only said it to me backstage. Heh heh.

my students love me

You know you have adoring students when you are losing your voice and they take the time to write you a get-well letter for you to hang on your wall and show off to all the rest of your classes.

homecoming carnival

Alright, so I do some crazy things. Like, when I was at Boulder Creek, they asked me to stand behind a board with a hole cut in the top for someone's face to fit in so that students could through whipped cream pies at my face...and I did it. And again, at Deer Valley this time, I was asked to let students throw whipped cream pies in my face for the Best Buddies club (where general education students pair up with special needs students for the school year and are friends together). I said, "Sign me up!" This is what then ensued...

"Okay, that wasn't nice."

"Double? And over my ears? What are you thinking?!"
(I couldn't hear after that one for a while.)

"Can you believe these students?"

"And there's another one."

"I'm outta here."
(Dang bag didn't do me any good at all.)

fortunes

My 4th hour TA brought me some fortune cookies from Panda Express today. They tasted good, I have to say. The fortunes inside were quite good. Just read them below; I think you should.

"You will step onthe soil of many countries" in the bathroom. Too true,
too true.

"Now is the time to set your sights high and 'go for it'"
in the bathroom. Just not too high, you might miss, if you know what I
mean. ;-)

Yes, you may say, this man is crude. You may well be right, and that's not rude. But, please, don't be put off. It is simply to get you to laugh. (FYI: you have to use an "ah" sound in laugh to make it work.)

Thank you.