Highlights of October 18th

I really enjoyed Saturday! It began by having to be at HW by 7:45 to meet a handful of students so that we could go and plant trees with Treepeople which is a nonprofit orginization in LA to beautify and save our planet. I, along with 15 other studetns, went to the Castle Heights neighborhood and met up with other volunteers in order to learn how to plant trees correctly, and then do it. I worked with some other volunteers to plant 3 1/2 trees in two hours! The best part of the tree planting experience was the naming ceremony after the tree is planted. All of the volunteers who helped plant that specific tree gather around the tree in a circle holding hands, and while swinging our arms back and forth say

"TREES NEED PEOPLE! PEOPLE NEED TREES! WELCOME ____(insert name)____!!!"

And then we all clap and marvel at our small contribution, pick up our tools and move to the next tree that is ready for planting. It was pretty awsome and I will probably go and do it again sometime.

The next community service event that I'm signed up for is to help out at National Adoption Day! If you know me, then you know that I'm totally stoked about this opportunity. It will take place on November 15th, so look for a post shortly afterwards.

Following tree planting, I came home, and got ready for the HW homecoming event, where we were able to literally "rub shoulders" with these people:

Now Ashton has been around for a while, but it is still fun to see him. The highlight though, especially for AJ, was almost running into Joe Torre! AJ has become a rather ecstatic Dodgers fan while we've lived out here and so he was totally excited when he was close to the first person we saw when walking into homecoming. As we were about to pass Joe, I looked up at AJ and I asked him if he was seeing what I was seeing. AJ just had this goofy, childish grin. After we were some distance, AJ expressed his excitement at seeing ol' Joe, but his disappointment that he had not worn his Dodgers hat. If he had, AJ reasoned, then it would have justified him being a crazed fan. Now he had to behave himself because he didn't want to be the loon that Ms Satterthwaite was married to. Joe was definitely the highlight of the evening for many as we continually heard his name being mentioned among the crowds. The word is, that his 7th grade daughter attends our school...not surprising, if it's true.

It was nice stepping out of that common rinse and repeat cycle yesterday.

Rinse and repeat

When I started this blog up again at the beginning of the summer, I did it knowing, from the previous year, that I hadn't been so successful at keeping it up to date when I began school. Now that school has once again begun, I find that I don't post as frequently as I did this summer. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not keeping it up to date....it just means that very little changes in our lives from day to day.

Typically I wake at 4:50 am, arrive at school around 7, teach a few classes, grade some more papers, come home, eat, clean, sleep and then rinse and repeat the next day. AJ has a rather similar routine with school, work then sleep. We're a model for the predicable.

A few things have been out of the ordinary lately:
1- AJ is spending the weekend in UT with his family. He went to a friend's wedding on Friday, and then froze while attending the BYU game on Saturday.

2- One of my co-worker's daughters just received her learning permit for driving, and my co-worker has asked me to teach his daughter to drive. That ought to be interesting.

3- I'm no longer sure that golf is couples therapy. I never really thought that it was, and while I still enjoy it, there will be days that AJ will have to go by himself.

So in three weeks, or so, since my last post those are the events that have been unusual in our lives.

One of the events that has become routine in my life is bowling with my co-workers on Friday afternoons. I believe we've gone 6 weeks in a row now. Afterwards, we generally go to some hamburger joint (which if you know me, you know that I hardly eat anything here) and then we go to our high school football games. I'm not sure what has been more entertaining at the football games...watching our players make amazing touchdowns (which some of them have been) or watching Ashton Kutcher pace up and down the side line. Some of the mother's at HW have been hilarious as they yell at anyone who is obstructing their view of Ashton. One of these days I'll get a picture of him to post on here. I just don't want to be one of those teenage girls who constantly ambush him with their cell phones for a picture as he is walking out of the locker room back onto the field. Maybe he likes though...I mean, he did sign on to be a football coach at a high school.

Till next time that something out of the ordinary happens....

Wordle.net

Courtesy of wordle.net

My mom told me about this and I've really enjoyed it. Try it out when you get a chance

First test of the year....

It's seventh period. There's about 20 minutes left... some are frantically writing and others are searching the air around them for answers. Hopefully they have thoughts about the properties of exponents, methods of factoring, real number subsets and rationalization of denominators dancing in their heads.

I'm nervous for them. I want them all to do well, but also realize the reality of it. I imagine, as usually is the case, that some will knock it out of the park, while others will feel that they have one leg hanging in the grave.

It's an interesting perspective to be on this side of it. I, like many of my colleagues, have come to believe that the grade doesn't really matter. And yet it does. (Heavens! Some school districts out there are giving 40% pay raises based on grades and standardized test results.)

And what will be the most interesting part of this test.....is when I will ask them to turn it in, and as they do so, they say "thank you." I find this astounding every time.

Where in the World is Ms. Satterthwaite From?

Ever since I began college at Weber State University when I was 17 years old, I have had new acquaintances say to me, rather frequently, something along these lines...

"I can hear a subtle accent when you speak....where are you from?"



When I attended Weber, I thought the people that asked me this were a little off there rockers, because, after all, I grew up only 30 minutes up the road. However, as I have lived in different places, the inquiries as to where I'm from have only continued. Now when people ask me where I'm from, I almost always ask them where they think I'm from before answering their question. The two most popular regions that my newly met acquaintances think I'm from are the Scandinavian region and the Scotland/Ireland region. Needless, to say, they are shocked/surprised/disappointed when I respond that I grew up in Utah.



In speaking with my co-workers who have now worked with me for a few years, many have said that they don't detect an accent, but they also say that I definitely don't sound American either. Is this a good thing? Bad thing? I'm not sure. But it sure does give me a good laugh.

Happy New Year!

The new school year began again this week- on Tuesday for AJ, and on Wednesday for me. I know by the look on his face that AJ is not thrilled about being back at school, but I can't seem to get much more out of him on the topic. I think he's just biting his toungue and trying to get through it.

I on the other hand have enjoyed school so far. While I'm not necessarily ecstatic to be back, I enjoy another year of opportunities and potential possibilities. I haven't gotten too much of a read on my classes thus far either. I teach all sophomores, so they're a little bit reserved right now while they're trying to get used to the new campus, schedule and daily regiment.

One activity that I added to all of my classes this year was a "show and tell" assignment. At our school, we have free periods and we expect students to take advantage of those periods to seek help when they need it. However, some of the sophomores are a little reluctant to do so. So, to break the ice, I am requiring every one of my students to set up a meeting with me in the first week and a half, so that they can come in and do a little show and tell for me. They can bring something in, or they can simply tell me what activities they are involved in at school. Some of the "show and tell" items/info that I've received so far is:

- Alexander told me about a scuba diving camp he attended this summer
- Riley G wants to be a chef and is a prep cook for a 2 star michelin restaurant in Beverly Hills
- Riley S has been rock climbing all over the western U.S.
- Alex took pictures of the drawings in her sketch book and brought them in for me to look at
- Olivia went to circus camp (this may speak volumes)

Anyways, it's been fun to hear about my students interests and I look forward to getting to know them better throughout the year. Cheering them on in their aspirations is the best part of teaching,- math is just small part of it.

Although I don't find the cartoon posted below particularly funny, I still enjoyed it. I'll tell you why in a future post, but in the meantime.... does anyone know what the answer is?