Poetic justice

Well, my mind is now made up. I want to teach math in middle school. I visited my old junior high school last Friday. From the insightful conversations I had with administrators, teachers and students and after observing four math classes there, I believe I can make the biggest impact in a middle school. I would focus on giving my students as strong a foundation in math as possible, including memorizing the dang multiplication table, which some elementary schools have stopped compelling!

I look forward to staying after school to tutor anyone who needs extra help, whether they're my student or not. I want to introduce computer games that help drill math facts in a fun way. I hope my family gets me Rock Band 2 Special Edition for the Wii for Father's Day or my birthday so that I could start an afterschool club for kids to rock out, find their voice and perform. Not that I'm any good, but I loved playing it at my office's last holiday party, especially the vocals :-).

Alas I am keenly aware of the unique challenges that await dealing with children transitioning into adolescence. Heh, I myself wasn't the most well-behaved student at JHS 157 Queens nearly 30 years ago. More on that later...