He's So Dreamy

After I taught a lesson this week my mentor teacher was going over some suggestions with me on how to improve my lesson. I told her I thought kids were a little bored and she disagreed with me. She said Tyeisha (names have not been changed in order to reveal cultural diversity) was looking a little distracted and so she asked her, "Tyeisha, what's going on here? Are you bored?" She said, "No. I am a little distracted though. I just can't stop staring at him. He's so cute."
I'm trying not to let my ego enlarge, and I don't think it will considering it came from a 14-year-old girl who probably also likes Justin Beiber (actually I'm betting she likes Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony; no Beiber fever at The Duke).
The Duke really is a fine place to work. It's uplifting and encouraging.

Life at the Duke

I have now been at my school for three weeks and still have not recorded a full week. Today was a snow day (Washingtonians are much less adept to snow than Bostonians or Utahns) so my streak continues. One of my reasons for wanting to be a high school teacher is that everyday is exciting and funny things happen and every day is different. Here is a sampling of elucidations to help you see why I enjoy my job so much:

• I have been affectionately titled 'The White Mr. Bennett' since there is another Mr. Bennett at the school who is, well, not white.
• I have students with names like Quadaja, Tyeisha, Aquil, Dominique, and twins Summer & Winter.
• I get to teach my kids that angles can't be parallel and that a polygon with thirteen sides is called a 13-gon, not a bagon, deseagon, tridecagon, or ? as they like to write on their tests.
• The only place to park in DC is on the sidewalk, so that's what everyone does at the school.
• A quote from one of my female students, a full decade younger than me: 'Mr. Bennett. I heard you have a girlfriend! I like your shirt today. And your hair. You have great hair Mr. Bennett. It's so long and smooth." Me: "Umm, thanks Marche. That's nice of you to say." 

My school is really fantastic. I love it a lot. You should come visit.

My New School

Me in front of my school. Er, rather, Mt. Vernon.
I have officially moved to Washington, District of Columbia and started my student teaching in mathematics. I will be teaching geometry to 10th graders.
Yes, I have to walk through a metal detector to get in the school in the morning.
By my observation, the school is 85% African-American.
Quote of the day: A student came up to my cooperating teacher and whispered something to her so that I wouldn't hear. When she left my cooperating teacher said to me, "She thinks you look like Jim from The Office. But you don't, she just thinks all white people look alike."
It's funny because A) It's just funny. B) I have been told by multiple sources that I look like Jim from The Office, so I don't necessarily think this girl thought all white people look alike...
Luckily my Thailand excursion gave me some experience being the only white person in the class.