Late Night Reflections...

It is late. I am tired. Tomorrow is the last day of summer school and institute. I am ecstatics, or would be. But right now my emotion is fatigue. I am waiting as my printer finishes printing the stories my students wrote that i promised foolishly to "publish" and not just staple together. They look pretty cool, but have taken all night and I still have about an hour left. But tomorrow is the last day so I know I can survive just fine. It just means tomorrow night I will only need to have like one beer at happy hour and i will be buzzed. That is nice (note to self: now that I am a teacher i certainly do sound more mature...).

For all those I Love and haven't talked to enough (pretty much anyone that reads this page) I wanted to give you all insight into my classroom. As part of one of my assessments (for TFA's checking my progress as a teacher) on of my CS's transcribed 10 minutes of my class: here is a copy of that class. Now you know what it is like to be in my room for a science lesson:

( Warning note to readers- I have told my students that I am from Alaska. I make up stories and steal them from people that actually have them (in or out of Alaska) to give lessons a practical and personal note. In the teaching profession this is not considered lieing. It is considered investment. Don't judge :) )

Observation Start Time: 12:30
Observation End Time: 12:40

Teacher: Matt Brossart

Teacher	Student
This is something I know you’re all familiar with (shows graph) – how ice can turn into water and can turn into steam. Has anyone here ever burnt themselves on steam?	No!
OK, good. Just making sure.
So when I lived in Alaska, the first place I lived in was like from here to…here. (shows students about a 10 foot by 5 foot square)	Ohhh.
So what made this place so nice is that there was a sink in it. One night I was sleeping, and it was about -50 degrees. One night I heard a noise, and I woke up, and there was water spraying all over my room. I didn’t know what to do – I’m not a plumber – so I made the wise decision to go back to bed.	Kids laugh
So I woke up, and my boots were frozen to the floor…water is amazing. Amazingly powerful. We can use it to power steam engines, to push whole trains, to freeze all of our stuff to the ground…so it’s the same material, and it can come in all of these forms or phrases. We’re going to look at a quick experiment that shows us how powerful it can be.	Experiment!
Directs kids to computer.
Stops computer Does anyone know what liquid nitrogen is?	I can’t really see. I can’t hear that well. AH
Liquid nitrogen is about -300 degrees. It is VERY cold. It’s used with thermometers; it’s a fantastic tool for scientists. Yes, Nicole?	If you stick your finger in it, it’d be filled with be ice in a minute, right?
Less than minute. If you were to dip your hand in it and hit your hand against something, your hand would explode, and you wouldn’t have your hand anymore.
You do not mess around with liquid nitrogen, and you’re going to see why.
Did you all see what they were wearing on their eyes?	Safety goggles!
And is that one of our tools we use as scientists?	Yes!
OK, just checking.
What would we use to measure how thick an inch and a half is?	The…balance.
Would you use the balance to measure that? Look up here. What would you use?	Student in spanglish: ruler
That is exactly right. And an inch and a half of metal – is that strong?	Yes!
Could you bend an inch and a half of metal, Wendy? You could? Wow. That’s really strong. Generally NFL football players aren’t that strong.
Continue watching experiment	Kids laugh; enthralled.
So that just gives you a picture in your head of how powerful ice can be.

So, there it is. That is what it is like. Confusing, low on actual content, but engaging. So, maybe there is hope that in the end I will be more than an educated babysitter with a penchant for hyperbole. Maybe.