Your Chocolate Chips are Ashy

The title is a direct quote from a student after we used chocolate chips to model electrons (for a chemical bonding lesson) and, in the interest of full disclosure, this was completely true. It [Mr. K] puts the lotion on its skin, not its chocolate foodstuffs. This is one of many anecdotes I'll share as a running account, with the above serving as Anecdote #1.

Anecdote #2 - My student wished not one, not two, but seven birth defects on her classmate's hypothetical, unborn child. I wrote them down as diligently as I could, but they included having 6 toes (I prefer 10, but I'm not picky) and hair that was in a permanent cowlick (that's just wrong). Discipline sheets abounded.

I'm still pressing toward greater student achievement in Chemistry, and things are changing for the better in the classroom. Greater planning has led to less panic and more focus on the students, but we still must deal with the powerful externalities of the system, such as raucous milk fights (why wasn't I invited?) and dreadfully low attendance (38% in Period 7). It becomes cliche in our line of work, but masochism be damned, my students are too important for me to pack it in. Like it or not, each day is a reminder of the impossible stakes of the task at hand. The time to be strong is not just now; it is always.