Beat #2

One cannot call his journey sweet
When brothers fall and claim defeat
For we are words in a story grand
No tale no poetry a single word commands!

Term of Endearment

Early on my teaching career, I observed that the bulk of my young Hispanic middle-school students, when asked, "What do you think of the test?", responded in a peculiar way. 

They tilted their heads to the side, squinted their eyes, pouted their lips, showed me a rocking hand, and said, "mas o menos." More or less. 

Well, all these English language-challenged kids just wanted me to understand was that the test wasn't easy, and at the same time, it wasn't hard.

Light bulb! Got me an idea to coin a word!

If it's not easy, facil, but at the same time, it's not hard, deficil, then it's...

DEFACIL!     :D

After almost two decades, I still use the word, and each time I did, I saw grins.

Intrinsic Beauty

My mother, Genoveva, used to say, "If you put me in hell, I'd still choose to smile. I'd still look beautiful."

I believed her.

I Am!

There were numerous times that, as a young boy,  I resented the fact that my family was economically disadvantaged. Regretfully, many of those times I failed to keep my frustrations to myself and keep my actions in check.

During one of such unfortunate outbursts, Nanay (pronounced na-nigh, mother) listened with patience and understanding.

"I'm sorry that you resent that your parents are poor."

I sobbed harder.

"Your Tatay and I are the best parents for you."

I stomped on the wooden floor in protest while I continued to sob.

"If we're not the best parents for you and your three sisters, why did God allow me to conceive all four of you?"




Whenever appropriate, I'd tell my students, "If they're not the best parents FOR YOU, why did God allow you to be placed in their care?"

And at times that I found myself vulnerable, my message to my students has been the same: "I am the best math teacher FOR YOU. Why did God allow you to be placed in my class?"

Teaching is my vocation. "Trying to do my best" is not enough.

Who is the best math teacher FOR MY STUDENTS?

I AM!

My Lexical Crime

Ingenuity. Creativity. Or just plain eccentricity. I'm not sure what led me to mangle a perfectly fine expression.

So far, nothing bad has happened to me since I committed this verbal crime for the first time more than a decade ago. And I've been committing said crime over and over again without letup.

No rehab. No therapy. Nothing could ever cure me!

Here it is. Calm down. Instead of "Excuse me," I say "Squeeze me." :P

I say "Squeeze me" when I want my students to hush.
I say "Squeeze me" to remind preoccupied late-comers to sign my tardy log.
I say "Squeeze me" when my students talk to me using their "normal" voice.
I say "Squeeze me" when my students tell me their parents used their homework to start the barbecue fire.
I also say "Squeeze me" when I confiscate a student's cell phone that's in use while in class because the parent called from the mental hospital.

Am not sure what my students really think of me, but my mangled version seems to work just fine. Same two words. Two innocent words uttered with varying tones of voice or facial expressions.

The fact is it causes excitement that "Excuse me" couldn't draw.

There's magic in "Squeeze me."

It never fails to elicit knowing smiles.

It also disarms those who came to class loaded.

This has been a fixture in my classroom this school year.

Drawing by Samantha Roy Gutierrez.

Draw and Use a Gallon Square

Materials needed: small piece of paper ( a 3 in by 3 in Post-it note will do) and a pencil or pen

Draw a square. You do not need to do this step if you're using a Post-it note. (Are you sure what you drew is a square? :P) This square represents one GALLON.

Cut this square into 4 smaller squares. Write Q, for QUART, inside the top right square.

Horizontally cut the top left square into two small rectangles. Write P, for PINT, inside the top rectangle.

Now cut the second rectangle into two even smaller squares. Write C, for CUP, inside the one on the left.

Lastly, cut the second little square into 8 equal parts. Write O, for OUNCE, inside one of them.

You've just created your GALLON SQUARE!

Let's use it to convert between gallon, quart, pint, cup and ounces.

Fill in the blanks. Mentally!

___quarts =1 gallon
___pints = 1/2 gallon
3/4 gallon = ___pints
1 quart=___cups
1 pint = ___ounces
3 pints = ___ounces
1/2 gallon = ___cups
5 cups = ___ ounces
5 quarts = ___gallons
1 1/2 cups = ___ounces

Carry a mental picture of this gallon square with you. Amaze your friends with how quickly you convert between gallon, quart, pint, cup and ounce.

Proof of Joy

The tutoring period had already started. There were four students in the room who were already busy working collaboratively on exercise problems I have assigned to them.

I was erasing the doodlings Berenice and Leslie did on the dry-erase board during advisory period earlier when Danny came in. He was panting.

"Sir, I do not know how to do proofs, and I want you to help me." There was urgency in his voice.

I handed him the list of exercises we used in class earlier. "Choose any one that you think you could or want to do, and do it on the board."

"Okay."

As Danny copied his chosen problem on the board, he read aloud every word and symbol. He also said out loud what he was thinking about the problem.

"For my first step, I'm gonna write in the first given which is..."

He took a few steps away from the board, knelt on one leg, wrapped his left arm around his chest, and touched his chin with his right hand.

I took a quick check on the four students. Kari had a grin on her face. She had been watching Danny since he came in.

"You always say that it is a good thing to write the last step and just fill in the middle steps afterwards." He mumbled.

"Okay, I think the second step is..." He started writing again.

"Is it right, Mr. Jope?"

"No." I said. But before I had the chance to explain myself, he erased what he just wrote.

"No? Then it must be this... I must be right this time."

"Yes, you are."

He continued on his own while still talking to himself aloud. Occasionally, I made comments on what I was hearing.

"I'm done. Sir, did I do it right?

While I took a moment to review the two-column proof he had written on the board, I could tell he was intently studying my face for any trace of approval.

When I said yes, the young man threw his arms up, his face glowed like the neon orange shirt he was wearing.

"Oh, my God! I can do proofs now!"

I asked him to do two more problems, which he happily solved with minimal errors.

That afternoon, Kari and I had complimentary front row seats to the most entertaining geometric proof presentation we both have ever witnessed!

Daniel's joyful feet and Kari's beguiled face: priceless!