Motorcycle Museum



students checkin out the Model-T


Early in the semester, I accompanied the student on a trip to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.  Although I am not the biggest motorcycle fan, it was really interesting, and the students had a good time.  There was a race that day on the track directly behind the museum.  You could see them racing out of the window from the upper stories of the museum.  There were lots of old bikes and quite a few motorized bicycles that had pedals and a motor. The best part of the trip, however, was the drive there and back.  The students crack me up.

YB students watching the race.

Still waiting... Still...

Well, the scores weren't posted by the end of the day Friday, so I am still waiting. I hope they come in soon. I am really anxious to see how my students did on their final test of the year. Since I have no classes and don't have scores to report, I figured I would post some of the stuff I meant to post throughout the year that didn't make it on here for various reasons: fleas in comuter room, no internet for a month, computer crash, impromtu relocation of everything we own, and finally me being lazy.

Still Waiting.....

So... The kids took the GED last Sunday, and the scores are supposed to come in some time today. I am sitting here at work... waiting... I hope I have at least 1 more pass.

GED Results

So... I receved the actual test scores of my students today and they are really good. I already knew that 2 passed, but one of those students did so by coming up 90 points on math in a little over 1 month. Most of the other students raised their score at least a little bit, and a couple passed subjects for the first time. One student is only 30 points away from getting his diploma. Another made the highest score ever for a YouthBuild Greensboro student in a single subject with a 560 in reading. The lowest score he made on the 3 subjects he tested in was a 500. Now all he needs is to pass his math test. The next test is scheduled for this Friday (for most of the class) and Saturday (for the other 4). I will have at least 1 more student pass the test this go round, hopefully more.

Long time no post

Wow! It has been a long time since I put anything on here. Since my last post, I have battled a flea infestation (and lost), moved, had a sattelite installer bust a water pipe and never return to fix it, met my new nephew J.J., ate too much on Thanksgiving, crashed my computer, and had 2 students pass their GED. School is going really well right now. We told the students they passed this Friday after calling them in for a meeting and acting like they were in trouble. They were both really excited. We still haven't received the official scores, so I don't know what everyone else made yet. Hopefully this is just a preview of what will happen when the rest of the students take the GED later this month.

YouthBuild on Time Video

Poetry

I began teaching poetry this week.  I have been showing the students lots of different types of poems that I have found on YouTube. Tuesday, I played a profanity riddled rap song and printed out the lyrics. They had to look for similes and metaphors. Some of the students have expressed interest in writing some poetry in class while others seem terrified at the prospect. I tried to draw a parallel between rap music and poetry since they are all fans of hip-hop.  So far we have watched DMX, Saul Williams, Taylor Mali, Charles Bukowski, Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, Lord Byron, and Dave Chapelle poems.  I was surprised, but quite a few of them were really into the Lord Byron poem.  They also really liked Saul Williams performing Black Stacy. Tomorrow we are going to watch The Raven and another Saul William poem, Coded Language. Some of the students who have poetry are also going to share or perform (for my rapping students) their works for the rest of the class. I am thinking about downloading a nerd-core rap song to play for them.  I want to expand their horizons.

This week has been much more pleasant for the students than last week was.  They hated the 80 problem fraction test and complained the whole time, but I had one students that finished early and nailed nearly every problem. I had three students get suspended on Friday for various reasons, and another got dismissed from the program, but I also got a new student who only needs to pass the math portion to attain his GED.