Promiscuous Girl

I once knew a man who sat on the toilet reading the dictionary. He picked out words & made a point of expanding his vocabulary. Some of the stuff he said (spoken with a fake accent) was annoying, ridiculous and often incorrectly used. Today, a female immigrant student with a real British accent reminded me of him. No exaggeration, she knocks off a novel per day & also spends extra time reading non-fiction so her word bank is quite extensive. Imagine how a little p-word mix up can turn plain simple English into a near cat fight.


Girl #1 (the reader): You are a very promiscuous girl.

Girl #2 looks confused because she doesn't know the meaning of the word.

Girl #3 (eavesdropping): Do you know what that means?

Girl #1: Promising.

Girl #3: No, it's sexual like in that song. "Wherever you are, I'm alone. It's you that I want. Promiscuous girl, you're teasing me. You know what I want and you got what I need."

Girl #2 (being talked about): Whoa!

Obviously upset, her head drops & she walks away from the other girls.

Girl #2: Mrs. L, what does promiscuous mean? Girl#1 called me that word.

Me: I think she means very precocious. Don't worry, it's a compliment. She's trying to tell you that you're really smart for your age.

Now a group of girls are in the background singing the promiscuous song & laughing about Girl #3 who is at this point completely devastated.

Bad Climate in U.S. Science Classrooms

Why did the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) turn down 50,000 FREE copies of the movie An Inconvenient Truth, a film endorsed by climate scientists worldwide, to be used as an educational tool in the classroom?


I'm incredibly irked!! I guess NSTA thinks our kids are better off reading outdated books & using education materials from Exxon Mobil. Think I'll write the movie makers and ask them to donate every copy to NYC public schools.

Climate change is a hot topic & very relevant to our students. Most have seen The Day After Tomorrow and come into the classroom with all kinds of misconceptions and inaccurate information. So when given the chance to expose students to an understandable, concise, accurate compilation of climate research through a medium they like (watching a movie in school), the response is "No thank you."

Read about it in the Washington Post or @ http://www.thedemocraticdaily.com/

How Inconvenient- Science a la Joe Camel, by Laurie David

Cosmic Collisions

Class 714 is in big trouble. Apparently, while I was away, they just couldn't control themselves-- especially the boys who thought it was a good idea to "play fight" & touch each other in unusual ways. I've been known to make students walk down & back up three flights of stairs & form two perfect lines with everybody positioned like a soldier-- head straight, feet forward, shoulders back, & no leaning on the wall. And if anyone makes even the slightest sound and I mean even a whisper, we all walk back down the steps until this task is accomplished. Yes, I am aware of the fact that corporal punishment is illegal. No, this is a lesson on following instructions & how to walk in a school hallway. Teaching doesn't happen without these basic skills. Say what you wish, but first spend a day at an urban school.

I've been told that teachers shouldn't single kids out because it can scar them for life. Please! You better believe I point out negative behavior. "Ok class, we have to try this again because Kenny can't keep his MOUTH SHUT!" Then I glare at this daring pre-teen for what must seem like an eternity. In this moment of silence, each & ever face drops as if to say, "I can't believe Kenny did that. He's on his way to hell (aka, the worst possible high school in NYC)!" In the softest audible voice I can utter, the most horrible things roll from my lips in a very sweet chirpy tone. "This is not even a lesson plan. I'm trying to teach you about gravity so be quiet, form a line, and grow up! You're not getting away with anything in this class so get it right, right now!" I'm not trying to be mean, but guess what, this shock treatment get the desired response (i.e., refocused on being in school to learn) and reminds kids that there are consequences for their actions.  And, of course, my students get more positive reinforcement than anything else on most days.

I'm a midwest girl who started teaching six years ago in Crown Heights, Brooklyn & those kids learned science. I shocked the shit out of them. "Yo man, this white bitch is crazy. She so ghetto she eats chalk & made Jamel smell her armpit!" But everyday when they walked into science, big brown eyes were bulging & eager to find out what was goin' down. In the end, 98% passed the Biology regents exam.

So, there are bad days and then there are good days. I really love my students. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be spending so much energy contemplating their actions & insisting on positive change. Recently, we took a trip to the planetary at the American Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, we had to leave behind a troubled foursome from class 714. At the museum, students saw the space show 'Cosmic Collisions', studied in the Hall of Planet Earth & ate lunch in Central Park. Fifty little seventh grade angels packed into one subway car to make the great journey to Manhattan. When Kevin received his ticket stub, he noticed how much the trip cost. "Mrs. L, you paid $330 for us? It better be worth it!" After the space show, we were all in awe. What a wonderful lesson on gravity!

*AMNH class trip pictures coming soon. The picture above is from last years city-wide science fair. To the right is Mrs. O who is now carrying the the torch for the 8th grade Honors Program & was my student teacher. Students thought we were sisters because of our blonde hair & complementary personalities (good memories). Zhaona, Samoy, Kazi & Amanda presented data from controlled experiments & suggested possible solutions for environmental problems for an aquatic pest & an endangered plant species. Also pictured is Puff Daddy at the 8th grade prom.

Archimedes, Newton & Ben Franklin

Who came up with that anyway? What is left to be discovered? How are all great thinkers alike? Could you be the next great scientist? What does it take? Well, in class, we discussed Archimedes' moment of eureka & Newton's observations of apples. However, I embellished the stories quite a bit. According to my retelling, Archimedes bathed with his rubber ducky. Only a few kids pointed out the fact that they didn't have rubber duckies in Ancient Greece.


I asked if anyone could name a person who made past contributions to the betterment of life and science. I heard OVERWHELMINGLY, Benjamin Franklin!

"Yeah, he's on the hundred dollar bill!"

"The guy with the kite experiment. Can we do that?"

"The dude with electricity."

"I love that show Liberties Kids."

"Benjamin Franklin created a secret code for communication during the revolutionary war."

"Miss, who came up with invisible ink?"

"In National Treasure, they used Benjamin Franklin's glasses to read hidden messages."

I couldn't believe my ears! I was gearing up for a lesson on Newton's Laws & these kids were EXTREMELY interested in a topic related to the GRAPHIC NOVEL my husband has been working on for over a year. I gave them a quick lesson on some of the lesser-known facts about this witty, self-made man. They seemed shocked that their science teacher was giving such a thorough history lesson.
To find out more, check out the website.
http://www.thesonsoflibertybook.com/