Wow. I made it.

Today is the LAST teaching day of the school year. It's all review, which means I'm trying to remind all my students what they've learned this year. We'll see how that goes. Usually, review day is fun; I'm generally surprised to learn that they really were paying attention.

Tomorrow is an EASY day for me, as is Wednesday; because I taught Seniors this year and they're already gone, I only have one final exam to give on each day. Then I get to grade it quickly (thank the NINE!).

This feels good. :)

Congratulations

I'd like to congratulate cedyeus for navigating his way through the often-byzantine halls of UC Davis to finally obtain his BA in Political Science.

Taylor Mali

Taylor Mali is a former teacher and current poet/performer. You've probably seen the following as an email, but he's the original writer, and it is far, far better to see the poem performed than it is to read it.

My kids thought they hated poetry until I showed them how it can be when performed by people with passion. Mali is one of those they saw.

Here's another of my favorite Mali poems, but this one is print only on his site

Watch on YouTube

DO NOT WATCH THE FOLLOWING AT WORK. It's full of the n-word, because the poem is about how evil that word is, and how nobody should use it. It's a powerful piece, but not something your bosses will like hearing. When my kids heard it, a few of them vowed to stop using the word or any derivative.

Watch on YouTube