Quote of the Day (check)

"Mister, can I do the same problem using any of the other methods to check my work?" - A high school student asking permission to do extra work on a test. Permission granted! FYI, he scored 100% because he checked all of his answers. (10/3/13)

Quote of the Day (service)

"We brought our own trash to make it look like we picked up a lot of trash." - Confession from a high school student regarding his civic action service project of cleaning a local hiking trail. (10/2/13)

Quote of the Day (wager)

"Mister, how about if I score less than 80 on the test I'll bring you cookies and if I score more than 80 you bring me cookies?" - Wager from a student who was feeling a new confidence about her skills after completing today's review. I'm going to be SO nitpicky when I grade her paper on Thursday. (10/1/13)

Quote of the Day (persecution)

"Mister! [Student name] is bullying me!" - Call for assistance from a high school student. When I got near to investigate the situation before taking any action, she continued, "He's making fun of my crocs." (9/27/13)

Quote of the Day (calculator)

"Mister, can you show me how to do a graph on my calculator?" - Honest question from a high school student during my lesson on how to use the classroom set of graphing calculators. It took me every ounce of restraint not to say something I would later regret after I saw her holding up a calculator similar to the one pictured. (9/27/13)

Quote of the Day (Asian)

"So Mister, how Asian are you?' - Question from a high school student while everyone else was doing their work. When I shot him a puzzled/annoyed look he quickly backtracked asking, "I mean, like, what's your first name?" I answered the question courteously but succinctly to which another student chimed in, "So, you're half white?" (9/26/13)

Quote of the Day (change of heart)

"Look! It's really easy. All you have to do is..." - A comment from a high school student to his friend who was struggling with the day's assignment after coming to class late. Just minutes earlier, the helpful student was the most vocal detractor of the work due to how difficult it looked. (9/25/13)

Quote of the Day (help)

"I do not get ANY of this. Can you help me?" - Request from a student who had her head down and her phone out for the entire time I was showing students how to do the work. I literally addressed the class for 10 minutes out of the 75 minute period. (9/24/13)

Quote of the Day (drill)

"Aw. Why can't they have it during one of my junk classes?" - Reaction from a high school student after I informed him that our class would be participating in a fire drill tomorrow. (9/23/13)

Quote of the Day (panic)

"I'm...kinda...freaking...out." - Anxious comment from a high school student after she learned that the phone she accidentally left in class was not where she left it. After nearly passing out from hyper ventilation, her friend came running up the stairs, tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the phone that she had picked up after she realized it had been left behind. (9/20/13)

Quote of the Day (secret)

"Please don't tell anyone I did that." - Plea from a student after I showed her where to look for her mistake in her work. She had accidentally written that 5 times 0 was 5 causing all kinds of problems in the subsequent steps. (9/19/13)

Quote of the Day (retake)

"Ugh. Here Mister. I'll just come in for the retake." - Comment from a student as he tried to hand his test in with about 4 questions out of 18 completed. I don't offer any retakes, but to his credit, when I handed it back to him refusing to let him give up, he was able to finish three more problems. (9/18/13)

Quote of the Day (proof)

"Mister, can  I have my test back? I want to take a picture of it." - Gleeful request from a high school student who wanted to instagram his test score. (9/17/13)

Quote of the Day (never)

"Aw Mister, how come you never call on me?" - A student's reaction after I picked one of his peers to answer a question for the class. The aforementioned student had just finished blurting out the answer for four consecutive questions where I had called on some of the quieter students to share their answers. This all happened AFTER he was chosen to share his answer on the very first question of the day. (9/16/13)

Quote of the Day (effort)

"My calculator? It's in my bag." - Response from a high school student who was pestering me about some simple multiplication after I asked him where his calculator was. He continued, "I just thought you would know it off the top of your head, and it's too hard to look for it [the calculator]." (9/12/13)

Quote of the Day (9/11)

"Hey Mister, do you know what day it is today?" - Question from a high school student that I anticipated would revolve around the horrific incidents 12 years ago. I was readying my reasons in my head for why we shouldn't get the day off when he answered his own question in a loud voice, "HUMP DAY!!!" (9/11/13)

Quote of the Day (recommendation)

"Mister, can you please write me a letter of recommendation?" - Polite request from a former student that I happily agreed to do until she added, "Yeah...I'm gonna need that ASAP." (9/10/13)

Quote of the Day (0, 0)

"So do we start graphing from the Oregon?" - Question from a high school student that brought a very perplexed reaction from me until I read the word that she was pointing to: "origin". (9/5/13)

Quote of the Day (fishes)

"Of course I can! There's Nemo and Dory. See? Easy." - A high school student's misguided response to his peer's challenge to name a fish without an A in its name. (9/6/13)

Quote of the Day (age)

"Psh! Kids these days." - Comment from a high school senior accompanied by a shaking of her head  immediately after a 9th grader did something silly in front of our classroom. (9/4/13)