2008

In June, I finished 7 years of teaching in high school. I enjoyed most of it, especially the interactions with students and fellow teachers. I have also met with many officials in county and local school system. I was wrongfully accused of doing some things I did not do, however.

I went back to Taiwan and stayed with mom. This time, she lost her steam most of the days. She did not sit with us much and did not watch TV or movies. She was tired a lot. (She did pass away at 88). My first uncle and fourth both died recently. Only third uncle is alive.

During October, my brother and family visited me from Taiwan for two weeks. We had a great time. Children got to meet and talk.

I have been more involved with "closing the gap". I am trying few things to help minority students to stay in school, learn, and graduate. Many pople are helping me. (Yea)

Jessica moved back in. We finished watching all seasons of "One tree hill" and are in the middle of watching "Gilmore Girls". We watched Monk, Hero, and few others but we like drama.

I ride bicycle to many places now. I do not use the car when I am off. I also picked up pingpong alone with yoga and martial arts.

Foodwise, I am eating a lot of brown rice and beans. I also steam whole wheat buns. I do not eat red meat. I rarely eat anything from any animal.

ADD-ADHD students

How to prevent minority students from learning

A teacher, usually a strict one, may not like minority students since they are not as obedient (Research has shown that minority students do not do well in strict environment).

One of those teacher came to my room while a black student was there doing work. The teacher taught the student before and the experience was not so good. The teacher went to the student and ask her why she was there and demanding a pass. Student refused to answer.

The teacher proceeded to write a referral for, "Failing to answer to a teacher".

mom's teeth

Her teeth were good. They were so good that she chewed anything with them including bones, nuts,... Later, she had a bad dentist. Many teeth were not fixed but extracted so she could not chew well any more.

Mom's back

Her back was really hurting when she was in her 60's and an operation was in the works. Brother researched and found that stat. is against an operation. He built a pulling system on her bed and she got better.

mom's mom

Mom's mom did not like mom. Mom said that that her mom often hit her. Mom would not cry. She was just thinking, "If you can beat me to death, do it". She did not go to her mom when the mom was at her final days of fighting liver cancer in Shanghai.

Mom and her age

Mom changed her age to be older to get her first job in nursing. She then changed it to younger to work more years when she was around 65 and had to retire.

Mom and cig.

One time, we were saying the mom did not smoke. She immediately grabbed a cig. and started smoking. (Around 1960)

mom and apricot

Mom said that there was a very fragrant fruit at home (HoBei, China) called 香白杏. It was a large fruit and one bite would not reach the nut. The entire room will be filled with the fragrant if there is one of them in the room.

How government scares people

Romsfeld scared the public by saying, "If you say anything, you are not patriotic. If you say anything, you are not helping" People kept quiet.

How math acceleration hurts poor kids

Acceleration in math usually means either skipping parts of the curriculum or hurrying through them.

Rich students have parents, tutors, and computers to bridge the gap. Poorer students may not have any assistance so they fall behind.

mom;s ideal mate

She likes men with hats.

Her ideal husband is a police or a soldier.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the '3' steps, STR .

Anyone can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: S *Ask the individual to SMILE. T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. It is sunny out today). R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other,that is also an indication of a stroke.