Quote of the Day (parents)

"Psh, parents these days." - Comment from a high school student as he shook his head after telling me that his parents revoked his XBOX 360 access due to his poor grades. (2/20/13)

Quote of the Day (rummage)

"Because there's no scratch paper in the (scratch paper) box." - A high school student's answer after I asked her why she was looking through some of the papers on my desk. (2/19/13)

Quote of the Day (cross)

"They can't cross without crossing." - Part of a high school student's "proof" regarding intersecting lines during today's enrichment activity. (2/15/13)

Quote of the Day (100%)

"I think this is the only class where getting a hundred percent on a test actually lowered my grade." - Playful complaint from a student who had been doing so well in class after earning extra credit on the only time I offered it. (2/14/13)

Quote of the Day (rumors)

"Mister, somebody told me today's lesson is a beast." - Comment from a student as he entered the classroom. After a little inquiry, I learned that the "somebody" was a student who has turned in only one assignment since the beginning of January. Credibility gap? (2/13/13)

Quote of the Day (rangers)

"You're wearing green so you can be the Green (Power) Ranger. I'm wearing red so I'll be the Red Ranger...And Mister's wearing black so he can be the Black Ranger." - Overheard from a chatty high school student. When I teasingly accused him of being racist to change the subject and refocus the class, another student interjected to correct me, "But Mister, you're not even black." (2/12/13)

Quote of the Day (first)

"Because I wasn't the first one here (the classroom)." - Answer from a high school student after I asked her why she growled at me after I greeted her as she entered the classroom. (2/11/13)

Quote of the Day (draft)

"Hey Mister! If I take Algebra 2 next year can you pick me to be in your class?" - Greeting from a former student as I passed by on campus. I didn't know I could pick which students would be in my class. Does the draft work like fantasy football? (2/8/13)

Quote of the Day (school)

"I would rather have been here yesterday." - Response from a student after I teased him about missing class. Turns out he was at the dentist getting 4 fillings so it wasn't that high of a compliment. (2/7/13)

Quote of the Day (oranges)

"Someone's been leaving oranges in my bag; it's freaking me out." - Overshare from a student as he entered my classroom in the morning. He proceeded to feel the outside pockets of his backpack, opened one of them, and produced a ripe orange. He claims this has been going on for the last three days. (2/6/13)

Quote of the Day (college)

"You should teach Trig next year...and then Calculus the next year." - A student's riff that I heard after school on a common request from some of my Algebra 2 students. Then came the smile and the heart-melting compliment/quip: "And then college the next year!" (2/5/13)

Quote of the Day (Monday)

"Bye Mister! Have a good weekend." - Parting greeting from a clearly confused high school student on a Monday...or was it wishful thinking? (2/4/13)

Quote of the Day (reward)

"Mister, you got me a plate lunch!" - Joyful greeting from a student that was met with bewilderment on my part. The student proceeded to explain that because I called home to let his aunt know about his high test score, his aunt bought him his favorite meal and had it ready for him when he came home from school. (2/1/13)

Quote of the Day (email)

"Mister, I don't have an email; I only have gmail." - Comment from a high school student after I asked her if she had an email address that I could forward some assignments to. She then requested an explanation of what the differences between email and gmail were. She's lucky she didn't get the smart aleck response about amail, bmail, cmail, and dmail. (1/3/13)

Quote of the Day (regret)

"Mister, can you do me an even bigger favor?" - Request for a copy of a letter of recommendation from the student who practically demanded that I write her the letter within 6 hours and never showed up to claim it after school. She finally came to pick it up two days ago; her reason for requesting another copy was that the one I gave to her got wet. (1/30/13)

Quote of the Day (white flag)

"OK Mister, I surrender." - Comment from a student as he handed in his test after I asked him to turn it in. He had struggled through the majority of the problems over the last hour. (1/29/13)

Quote of the Day (granola bar)

"OOH! Hey Mister, do you have another one?" - Reaction from a student entering my room after school while I snacked on a granola bar. Knowing what the next question was going to be, I confess that I lied. (1/25/13)

Quote of the Day (faculty)

"Wait! Am I faculty? Can I go in there? Where is this place?" - Questions asked by a student in rapid fire succession after I told her that the only microwave on campus that I know of is in the faculty break room. (1/24/13)

Quote of the Day (recommendation)

"Can you get it done by today (after school)?" - Response from a student after I asked her when she needed to have the letter of recommendation that she requested this morning. What are some good synonyms for "demanding procrastinator"?  (1/23/13)

Quote of the Day (calculator)

"I'm not texting; it's the calculator." - Defensive quote from a high school student who refused to put her phone away instead of doing her work. When I began to list all the reasons why I knew it wasn't the calculator: two thumbed input, no paper in front of her, green speech bubbles on her screen, etc. She gasped and barked, "MISTER! Were you reading my texts?" Case closed. (1/22/13)