My Moratorium is Over

Hello, friends!

I have had a long absence from the blog, as you probably have noted. The thing is that I don't think that anyone would care about my boring life unless something exciting happens. And since nothing exciting happens, I never post anything. At least Tim doesn't have this problem, so our blog isn't completely neglected.

So, still nothing exciting is happening, but the one neat thing I am doing is something that most high schools do not do. I work for a charter school, so we have a bit more freedom than traditional public schools that are part of a school district. One of the things that we do is a really neat program called Winterim.

Winterim is a three-week period right after Christmas break where normal classes are suspended. Yep, that's right. No normal school for an additional 3 weeks! Instead, each student participates in one class that is very hands-on and non-traditional. Some students can do an independent study where they choose what they will do (there are of course guidelines), but the majority of students participate in a class sponsored by a teacher. Each full-time teacher is expected to sponsor a Winterim course. We have all sorts of classes: Native American customs and traditions (where they make dream catchers and baskets, etc.), Law and Order (where they have a mock crime scene and follow the process through court), Service in Mexico, Ecosystems in California, Anatomy (where they do a lot of dissections and also read novels about humans and what make us human -- feelings, etc.), Aviation, and a few others.

The course that I am sponsoring is called Maeser Mythbusters. There is a television show called Mythbusters where they scientifically test common myths to see whether or not they're true. In our class, we have watched some episodes of Mythbusters (since we can't safely blow anything up at the school) but we have also done a lot of testing myths ourselves. We've had a really good time. We've tested whether a snowman melts faster with or without clothes, if buttered bread always falls butter-side down, if paper can be folded in half more than 7 times, if a pirate's eyepatch helped them to see better in the dark, and some others. This week, the students are in charge of testing their own myth. They have to go through the scientific process and then after experimenting they have to write a formal laboratory report.

It's been more stressful than normal teaching but more fun too. It's difficult to come up with 5 hours worth of things to do each day, especially when teenagers don't have the longest attention span! It's been very different from what I'm used to doing, but also a lot of fun. It's a very unique program, but I can see how the students are benefiting from it. They receive .5 credit for it, so they do get a grade.

So, that's really about it. But at least now you know that my life really is boring!