Official quotations from students over the past few months written on the "Over Heard Wall" in the teacher's room:
"If I am the POTUS, I would close down all the schools."--Ariel
"Ms, hurry! I have to apply for the AT & T exam." (aka SAT)--Brayan
[observations on a teacher's illness]
"Ms. W., no offense but seriously you look like you just got out of rehab."--Adrian
"Yes! I'm not ESL anymore! I'm American! ...Wait. So do I still get to use a dictionary on the Regents? No?! Why did I have to pass that stupid test ?!"--Joseph
"Mr. Ho., Kiara says you should marry Ms. Hu."--Yanvier
"Ms, when I get married, will you go to Kosovo for my wedding?"--Vatan
"It's okay for men to suffer but not women..."--Maisha
"I studied so hard last night I'm 60% more confident!"--Stacy
Monday, June 16, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Tsk, Tsk, Tsk
It was great sitting with a Responsibility Team in action this morning in 11C U.S. History. I was pleasantly surprised to find the WHOLE Team sitting together, as this particular team has had some difficulty in getting one or two members to participate with the others regularly this week. They were not sitting idly either. In fact, Rubel was very professionally reprimanding Bella for not having a checklist, which students should have picked up on Monday. "I'm very disappointed with you," he told her.
Bella responded by telling Rubel how she was sitting with Principal Nariman during our last class, therefore she was in fact completing other work. Rubel then turned to Zaman and asked him why he also did not have a checklist. "What have you been doing this week? When you go home?"
Zaman: "I don't need to tell you what I do when I go home."
Lisjan, sitting nearby, looking down: "Tsk, tsk, tsk (shaking head)."
But it was all said respectfully.
Zaman, meanwhile was holding a paper of Lisjan's in his hand. Lisjan's nicely annotated document paper had been left in their Team folder, where it should be. Lisjan to Zaman: "Why do you have my paper, man? Give that to me [takes paper from Zaman's hand]."
At that point, I could not contain some mild laughter at the situation. I was very proud of how this group, very multicultural with multiple language groups and ethnicities represented (Bangladesh, Albania, Dominican Republic, and Mali) was handling itself.
Bella responded by telling Rubel how she was sitting with Principal Nariman during our last class, therefore she was in fact completing other work. Rubel then turned to Zaman and asked him why he also did not have a checklist. "What have you been doing this week? When you go home?"
Zaman: "I don't need to tell you what I do when I go home."
Lisjan, sitting nearby, looking down: "Tsk, tsk, tsk (shaking head)."
But it was all said respectfully.
Zaman, meanwhile was holding a paper of Lisjan's in his hand. Lisjan's nicely annotated document paper had been left in their Team folder, where it should be. Lisjan to Zaman: "Why do you have my paper, man? Give that to me [takes paper from Zaman's hand]."
At that point, I could not contain some mild laughter at the situation. I was very proud of how this group, very multicultural with multiple language groups and ethnicities represented (Bangladesh, Albania, Dominican Republic, and Mali) was handling itself.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Snow Days
HSLI has demolished the competition!
In last Wednesday's ice/snow storm, when many other high schools had 20-35% attendance, HSLI was at 50.3%. When other schools in our building (7 in total) had numerous teachers absent, we had 95% teacher attendance (only 1 absence).
Again yesterday, with over half a foot of snow falling during morning rush hour, we had 95% teacher attendance. Our student attendance dropped a lot yesterday--to 35.6%--but it was still higher than many high schools. Remarkably, students were still engaged and working. In my tenth grade global class, there were only 8 of 24 students present, but these students--a couple of whom regularly get very distracted and distract others--were working assiduously. Others were assisting them and helping to improve the classroom environment.
All in all, a great prelude to (yet another) break. We are off to our mid-winter break, beginning, well, NOW.
Most folks have already left, except for the half dozen or more HSLI teachers who are still here a full 45 minutes after their work day is over on a Friday before a long break. This is typical of our staff; not that I want to brag too much or anything.
Enjoy your February,
Mr. Hall
In last Wednesday's ice/snow storm, when many other high schools had 20-35% attendance, HSLI was at 50.3%. When other schools in our building (7 in total) had numerous teachers absent, we had 95% teacher attendance (only 1 absence).
Again yesterday, with over half a foot of snow falling during morning rush hour, we had 95% teacher attendance. Our student attendance dropped a lot yesterday--to 35.6%--but it was still higher than many high schools. Remarkably, students were still engaged and working. In my tenth grade global class, there were only 8 of 24 students present, but these students--a couple of whom regularly get very distracted and distract others--were working assiduously. Others were assisting them and helping to improve the classroom environment.
All in all, a great prelude to (yet another) break. We are off to our mid-winter break, beginning, well, NOW.
Most folks have already left, except for the half dozen or more HSLI teachers who are still here a full 45 minutes after their work day is over on a Friday before a long break. This is typical of our staff; not that I want to brag too much or anything.
Enjoy your February,
Mr. Hall
Friday, December 20, 2013
We Have Arrived
Winter Break. Christmas time. Just past Hanukah. Kwanzaa.
Yes, we have arrived. It is only a matter of hours now: 5 to be precise.
A small, and I do mean small, sheaf of papers is in my bag to travel home with me to Kentucky.
A little work over a long break usually helps smooth over any of the anxiety which invariably hangs just before the return. In this case the return means Thursday, January 2nd.
Meanwhile, a couple anecdotes from this week...
Wilis may not hate me anymore. This week my U.S. History classes began working in responsibility team formations. Wilis was paired as a team leader with Mahmudul, one of our most ambitious students (among many).
It was fascinating to watch the two of them truly working as a team, for 20-25 minutes at a time. With an atlas and review books before them, they discussed constitutional matters. At the end of class on Monday, Wilis came up to me:
"Mister, this (the team system) was much better. Everyone was working."
On Wednesday, Wilis shared his work time stories with the class after he and I conferenced.
Brayan, an evangelical Christian not shy about his proselytizing, wrote on a white board in class two days ago: "Go to hell."
I have no idea who that was directed toward but I told Brayan that is a horrible thing to say to someone. He seemed surprised. His English skills are still lacking but he has been known to tell his science teacher fairly recently, "Miss, Jesus doesn't like you."
But he then pulled out a Bible tract from his backpack and there was a graphic depiction of a soul caught between heaven and hell. A statement to the effect of don't go to hell was written.
Perhaps a "don't" was simply omitted from Brayan's white board message.
That would seem to soften the blow.
__________________________________________________________________
"Happy holidays," from HSLI!
Yes, we have arrived. It is only a matter of hours now: 5 to be precise.
A small, and I do mean small, sheaf of papers is in my bag to travel home with me to Kentucky.
A little work over a long break usually helps smooth over any of the anxiety which invariably hangs just before the return. In this case the return means Thursday, January 2nd.
Meanwhile, a couple anecdotes from this week...
Wilis may not hate me anymore. This week my U.S. History classes began working in responsibility team formations. Wilis was paired as a team leader with Mahmudul, one of our most ambitious students (among many).
It was fascinating to watch the two of them truly working as a team, for 20-25 minutes at a time. With an atlas and review books before them, they discussed constitutional matters. At the end of class on Monday, Wilis came up to me:
"Mister, this (the team system) was much better. Everyone was working."
On Wednesday, Wilis shared his work time stories with the class after he and I conferenced.
Brayan, an evangelical Christian not shy about his proselytizing, wrote on a white board in class two days ago: "Go to hell."
I have no idea who that was directed toward but I told Brayan that is a horrible thing to say to someone. He seemed surprised. His English skills are still lacking but he has been known to tell his science teacher fairly recently, "Miss, Jesus doesn't like you."
But he then pulled out a Bible tract from his backpack and there was a graphic depiction of a soul caught between heaven and hell. A statement to the effect of don't go to hell was written.
Perhaps a "don't" was simply omitted from Brayan's white board message.
That would seem to soften the blow.
__________________________________________________________________
"Happy holidays," from HSLI!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
We should be like the whales
It is sad, this recent story in the news regarding a pod of pilot whales in Florida. Some inadvertently beached themselves, dying as humans we're trying to steer them back out to sea. But it seems that they did not want to leave their companions who were not able to move.
"Rescuers had difficulty on Wednesday trying to persuade the surviving whales to leave their dead podmates and head out to sea. In most cases, highly cohesive species such as pilot whales refuse to leave their kind, no matter the risk to themselves."
Lori Marino, a professor of neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University states: "They seem to feel for each other. Their whole sense of self is distributed across the group. They take social bonding to a new level. They don't abandon each other."
We need to learn to be more like these whales...
"Rescuers had difficulty on Wednesday trying to persuade the surviving whales to leave their dead podmates and head out to sea. In most cases, highly cohesive species such as pilot whales refuse to leave their kind, no matter the risk to themselves."
Lori Marino, a professor of neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University states: "They seem to feel for each other. Their whole sense of self is distributed across the group. They take social bonding to a new level. They don't abandon each other."
We need to learn to be more like these whales...
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Student Anecdotes
A few things overheard or seen in the past few days...
1. Enroute to school yesterday morning, I passed two elementary school students. I overheard one telling the other in a very serious manner: "Even if I was dying, I'd still have to go to school."
2. Yesterday was my colleague Mr. Berk's birthday. He did not want people to know this. Everyone found out. He walked through my class to grab a folder and a student immediately began singing "happy birthday." I stopped her as we were all in our Unison Reading groups. I wanted all students to remain on task within their groups.
I told her: "Let's stay in Unison," meaning in the groups.
Instead, she then led the entire class in singing "happy birthday--" in complete and perfect unison.
3. An endearing thing: I checked my mailbox for work turned in this past Friday. We were out of the required checklists that day, which students staple to work that is handed in. Two Bengali girls, Naz. and Sum., had taken it upon themselves to create very nicely handwritten checklists in lieu of the printed ones. They modeled it after the ones we usually have available.
I told them later that I appreciated the extra effort.
1. Enroute to school yesterday morning, I passed two elementary school students. I overheard one telling the other in a very serious manner: "Even if I was dying, I'd still have to go to school."
2. Yesterday was my colleague Mr. Berk's birthday. He did not want people to know this. Everyone found out. He walked through my class to grab a folder and a student immediately began singing "happy birthday." I stopped her as we were all in our Unison Reading groups. I wanted all students to remain on task within their groups.
I told her: "Let's stay in Unison," meaning in the groups.
Instead, she then led the entire class in singing "happy birthday--" in complete and perfect unison.
3. An endearing thing: I checked my mailbox for work turned in this past Friday. We were out of the required checklists that day, which students staple to work that is handed in. Two Bengali girls, Naz. and Sum., had taken it upon themselves to create very nicely handwritten checklists in lieu of the printed ones. They modeled it after the ones we usually have available.
I told them later that I appreciated the extra effort.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Just a few recent highlights
The High School of Language & Innovation has been up to a lot lately. Here are just a few highlights:
~A couple weeks ago, 51 juniors spent the school day at Columbia University's Lerner Hall at a college and jobs expo. Students learned about important things such as resume writing, interview skills, workplace attire, and questions to consider when choosing the right college or university.
~Students attended an in-school information session with folks from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
~About thirty students attended an after school information session with John Jay College.
Many more exciting opportunities are being planned for the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more!
~A couple weeks ago, 51 juniors spent the school day at Columbia University's Lerner Hall at a college and jobs expo. Students learned about important things such as resume writing, interview skills, workplace attire, and questions to consider when choosing the right college or university.
~Students attended an in-school information session with folks from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
~About thirty students attended an after school information session with John Jay College.
Many more exciting opportunities are being planned for the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more!
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