Lessons Learned: 1- Kids canbe impressed. 2- Kids can be dumber than dirt. 3- Kids can be cute. Even teenagers!

Well, lots has gone in since I last blogged. We finished STAR testing and I'm still standing. Now all I have to do is count EVERY FRIKKIN'THING...pphhhht.

During last week's lecture, I mentioned how profuse sweat could alter the body's pH. I told the kids that this only applies to professional atheletes and people who do marathons, etc. One kid plays bball and football, so his ego inflates at this (since he's determined to be some sort of pro-sport-star), and I mention that I'm an athelete, too. Of course, he looks at me strangely and scoffs. I mention that I jog and will do a 10k on Saturday and flex while stating all this. Boy, the light from the overhead must've hit me just right because he gasped and said, "Miss Aranda, do that again!" Which I did, and he commented on my "guns". He also mentioned that I must be fast since he heard a story that I caught another student who had tried to run away from me after school! :o) (Sad, but true. OK-silly, too!)

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On Friday I had my kids do a pH lab. You remember, the one where you have a bunch of test tubes with various solutions and some pH paper, and you have to figure out what the solutions are? Remember? Yeah, I didn't do that lab, either. But the kids loved it. Since we were using ammonia and HCl, the kids had to wear goggles and I also made them use latex gloves. Boy, with that get-up and all the test tubes the kids all felt like mad scientists. One girl said that this was her favorite lab of the whole year. They were so cute, comparing the color of the paper to the chart, doing the "chemistry wave" to smell the solutions. One boy dripped the control solution on himself and totally freaked!! (Of course, it was water.)

On that same Friday, I noticed that one student was not in class. Normally, this isn't a big deal but I had already seen her that day and she was listed as "present" on the computer. Being what I am, I called the office and told them of her absence. They scoured the normal hiding places on campus before calling me back to be sure she hadn't returned, and then the ball got rolling! Parents were called, the sheriff's dept. was notified. I guess that's all normal stuff. Well, during the next class one of the girls called a friend on their cell phones and asked to speak to a teacher (luckily for them, it wasn't in my class). They were way off campus. Why did they call in? I don't know. Who calls the teacher and tells her where they are while ditching? Long story short, these girls ended up in Los Angeles...can you believe it?? They were at an aunt's house who called the mom to see if the girl had permission to visit alone. I think the area police drove down to pick them up. Geez, kid. If they had just hung out at home, it wouldn't have been as big a deal as it ended up being. Well, the principal thanked me (several times)for notifying the office as soon as it happened; other teachers congratulated me for a job well done. I must be some kind of hero! :o) Of course, one of the mothers wants to sue the school because we "let" her daughter leave, call an adult the mother works with to pick them up and drop them off in LA, and we just sat around doing nothing. Is it the parent's fault for having a crappy kid? Of course not! The Governator needs to be made aware of families like this! What is his solution to this problem? Go ahead Arnie, how would you handle this? Tell me!!!