FedEx Store at 7457 SW Fwy

“In addition to a battery, I’ll need to get some printer paper from you (I forgot to order some along with the printer) and to print copies of my updated resume. Three things.

“Just now I went to the FedEx store to pick up the copies of my resume. There was a hog of a customer and a complicit clerk holding up the front of the line while a long line of customers waited. There was something wrong with the clerk, why she didn’t care about the line.

“It was going to take 45 minutes to do something that should have taken 5 seconds. After one man left, and the hog and the clerk made snide comments about him, I left too.

“I won’t give that store my business anymore.”

Yin-Yang Problem

Period 1: Olivia and Rediet

Period 2: Truc, Ethan, and Matthew

Period 3: A’mari, Leonel, and Jeremy

Period 4: Emma

100%

Showing me her notebook, Mia said, “Ms. Kao, thank you for teaching. I got a 100.”

At the day’s end and exiting the classroom, she said again, “Bye, Ms. Kao. Thank you for the lesson.”

Hola

Today in Period 3 just as a small group of students began to work math problems with me, from the front row the normally reticent Thiago looked up at me and said, “Hola.” He smiled slightly and elaborated, “‘Hola’ is the same as ‘Hello’ in English.”

A Mismatch at a Job Fair

Their first and only question was “How is your classroom management?”

A Greeting Twice

Both of us walking home from school and I hearing her footsteps rustling leaves as she approached from behind, Hannah said as she passed me, “Hi, Ms. Kao!”

Immediately she made a right turn in front of me and said, “Bye, Ms. Kao!”

Entirety

The entirety of Period 4 cheered upon learning that I, when stepping to the front of the classroom midway through a lesson, would lead them through a few slides.

Getting a Job

Private video: A Special Lesson

Hannah

Today a student named Hannah said to me, “Hi/Hello, Ms. Kao.”

Impromptu, today at the beginning of the third period, I taught the class into the first story problem, covering for my mentor.

Physical Strength

I just talked to my dad, and he encouraged me to start walking to build up physical strength. I am going to try to walk to school, as my aunt and I said today. He suggested that I buy a backpack with rollers so that I don’t have to carry heavy weight on my back.

Everyday he walks one hour. His strength is such such that he can walk for 5-6 hours at flower exhibitions, he sitting down only for an hour for lunch.

Why Not?

During the third period, a student named Marjorie asked me, “Ms. Kao, why aren’t you teaching today?” Fridays do not have a main lesson.

During the fourth period, a student named Wesley asked me, “Ms. Kao, why didn’t you teach LSAE today?” Fridays do not have regular LSAE’s.

Hermela

During the first period, a student named Hermela wanted to work with me, saying, “I want to be a teacher. To be a teacher, you have to go to four years of college.”

I will use the third period to practice presenting during the main lesson, but today my mentor gave me an opportunity to present a slide also to the fourth period. This class is rowdy, but the students applauded me when I finished. I acknowledged the students by saying, “Good job.”

Test to Skip 7th Grade Math

Text message: “Yes, it was very hard, but I think i did good” (thumbs up) - SWM

A Formal Observation Rescheduled

Today I team-taught with my mentor, impromptu, during the main lesson of Period 3. I presented 3 quick slides and 2 longer slides, the latter alternating with her. It was fun! I had to project my voice and command the situation, both feelings that I knew once from long ago. I asked to practice everyday.

Last Day

Two students asked me today, “Ms. Kao, when is your last day in May?” When I answered the 29th, one of the students, named Aubree, exclaimed (if I heard her correctly), “Oh, I want to go where you are next year!”

Marjorie

A student named Majorie said to me during recess today, “We think that you can be the best teacher.”

May I?

There are kids who ask, “Ms. Kao, may I work with you?”

Lecture

Today I “lectured” for the first time in 18 years. I did it twice for 10-15 minutes to 4-6 kids. Two students asked me, “Ms. Kao, are you nervous?”

Power Outage

GT: “It’s like kids can smell blood in water.”

I just talked to my dad on FaceTime (he is in Taiwan), and he had a great idea of how to manage the talking of young students during a power outage or other scenario requiring a low volume. The teacher could talk to all of the students together. This may result in a volume lower than all kids talking with each other.

Yes!

This afternoon my mentor-teacher let me lead the fourth period while she went to the bathroom. The class was working on a problem that asked, “Which expression below does NOT equal 24?” I was unprepared for my task, not even knowing how to operate the clicker, and my voice was hoarse from a cold. But as instructed, after a one-minute timer ran out, I stepped to a front corner of the room and said, “Talk with your shoulder partner.” The students obeyed me! After another minute, I winged what to do next.

The class settled down, I raised my right hand, and I asked, “Who got (answer) A?” Nearly all of the students raised their hands. I gave a thumbs up. I said, “Why?” The class said loudly, “Because the answer is 132!” I waited in particular for an insightful boy to get out the word “132”, he seated in the back and for whom English is a nonnative language.