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I was having a good morning yesterday. I slept well the night before, enjoyed a productive morning, and got to school earlier than usual. One of my colleagues saw me in the faculty room and asked me the whereabouts of my noticeably absent laptop bag that is usually slung over one shoulder in the mornings. Oh. Forgot that. Don't need it anyway. I'll be able to do my attendance and everything I need on the desktop computer in the back of my room. Good thing I took the time to set that up last week!

Then it dawned on me that I was showing a brief video clip from iTunes and two PowerPoint presentations as part of my lesson plans for the day. Panic set in. I began thinking of ways to modify my lesson plans. Would the PowerPoint presentations or video clips add that much more value to what I can ramble off the top of my head? Not really. Still, I wanted the comfort of my school provided laptop. My desk looked lonely without it. I do need that video and the presentations. Sure, I could go without, but I thought I'd give my wife a call to see if she would bring my laptop bag down to school for me.

She was surprised to hear from me so early in the morning. She was unpleasantly surprised when I made my request of her, but she obliged, and I gave her directions to my school (it's downtown, confusing if you're unfamiliar with the territory) and she told me she would get there in a little while, which was fine because I did not need the laptop for another two hours as my first two periods of the day did not require computerized doohickeys.

Halfway through second period, my phone rang, and I ran downstairs, grabbed my laptop bag, and thanked my wife profusely for bringing it to me. I also got to see my daughter for about 30 seconds as an added bonus. They were off to Music with Mar, a music class for preschoolers. I ran back inside, got up to my classroom, and was able to setup for the rest of the day and knock out my lesson plans as written.

It's times like these that remind me of how lucky I am to have such a great support system and best friend in my wonderful wife. Without her intervention, yesterday might have been a trainwreck.

I teach primarily African American students at an inner city charter school in a rusted, forgotten city.  Being that February is Black History Month (insert Chris Rock joke about February being the shortest month of the year), I try to inspire my students with two films that portray the struggles of African American scientists in the tumultuous segregation era America of the early twentieth century.  It's not always easy for science teachers to find good movies with relevant science content, and I thought I'd share with you two of my favorite films that I show to my students during Black History Month.

Something the Lord Made

Originally produced for and aired on HBO, Something the Lord Made tells the inspirational story of Vivien Thomas, a pioneer of open heart surgery who fought discrimination and persevered, finally receiving credit for his work years after its completion.  Hip hop star Mos Def plays Vivien Thomas in the film, which, in my opinion, was a pretty genius casting move considering that most of my kids pay attention to his time on screen as they recognize him as something more than just another Hollywood actor.  The story follows Thomas' adult life and his fortunate meeting of Dr. Alfred Blalock, played by Alan Rickman, who recognizes the talent in Vivien and trains him in routine surgical procedures.  Vivien Thomas improves upon Blalock's methods, and eventually, they perform the first open heart surgery to correct Tetralogy of Fallot, also known as Blue Baby Syndrome.  The movie details Thomas' struggle for equal rights and the recognition he deserved for his groundbreaking work with Dr. Blalock.

I show this movie a week or two after I wrap up the Circulatory System.  It's good to let that information sink in for a little while to familiarize the students with some of the vocabulary in the movie (aorta, vena cava, veins, arteries, etc.).

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Percy Julian - Forgotten Genius

This two-hour long NOVA special originally aired on PBS and is available on DVD.  It tells the life story of Dr. Percy Julian, an underappreciated giant in the field of Natural Products Chemistry.  Born in 1899 in Montgomery, Alabama, Percy Julian battled discrimination throughout his career and played an instrumental role in the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-twentieth century.  Dr. Julian synthesized organic compounds in his laboratory that were naturally produced by plants, widening the doors of the burgeoning American pharmaceutical industry.  Amongst his greatest achievemnts, Percy Julian mimicked the natural synthesis of cortisone, progesterone, alpha protein, physostigmine, and stigmasterol, driving down the cost of production and increasing the availability of these industrially and medically important compounds.  No stranger to discrimination as a young man growing up in the Jim Crow era South, Percy Julian's skin color prevented him from receiving the accolades, benefits, and prosperity reserved for the white men who followed his trailblazing path.  Unrecognized and unrewarded for his efforts, Julian set out on his own path, establishing his own company that eventually turned out to be the American Dream when he became a self-made millionaire.  His story of struggle and success is told in docudrama format, with Ruben Santiago-Hudson of Lackawanna Blues playing the role of Percy Julian in the cinematic sequences.

Though I do not get to organic chemistry until later in the year, I show this film and have the students take notes based on several categories.  They use their notes to construct a timeline of the events in the film and write a reflective essay on their movie watching experience.  It takes a few days to show the movie, and February usually provides a brief lull before I make the Big Push and accelerate my curriculum to its completion.  I use my lab periods to show the movie and the kids stay fairly engaged, though they start to lose interest toward the end as it is a two-hour documentary and they have the attention span of gnats.

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Get them from Netflix!

I went to school twice last week, having spent Monday-Wednesday fighting off a stomach bug.  I took it easy when I got back to school on Thursday, running through a few notes and light activities to get myself back in teaching mode.  I wrote up a bunch of kids on Friday for insubordination and dress code violations.  I feel better now and I am glad to put that week behind me.

I had high hopes for Monday.  I went in with a positive attitude and did my best.  The kids responded in kind.  It was a pretty good day until my 8th period Chemistry class showed up with their argumentative selves.

When I tried to speak, they interrupted me.  Nothing irritates me more than a child talking out of turn.  I have the floor, I am the authority.  I tell the kids," "it's my job to talk and your job to listen," but it seems to fall on deaf ears.  I was trying to get through my big push speech.  The big push inevitably comes around this time of the year when I lay out all of the units I have left to cover and see that I do not have enough time left to adequately cover them in full.  I trim the units down to the essential concepts and make a big push towards the Regents Exam, hoping to set aside two weeks for review before the test.  My timing improves slightly every year and I am on track to accomplish the goals of my curriculum ahead of schedule.  I get behind in my curriculum because I am saddled with low performing students at the beginning of the year who are removed from my class after the second semester on account of their poor performance.  I have brought it to the attention of the administration that if we cut out these kids from the outset, my job will be easier and my test scores will improve dramatically.  They are starting to listen to me, and I'm hoping we will get a major change in the enrollment alignment for next year.

Anyway, I'm talking my spiel on the Big Push.  "We have 16 weeks of school left and we're going to whip through a short unit every two weeks, meaning that you will have a unit test every two weeks.  Homework will increase.  Your accountability will increase.  We are making a Big Push to get these concepts in and preserve time for review before the exam."  My students object to everything I say, questioning the quickening of the curriculum and the compounding of their accountability.  I'm not exactly sure why these students feel the need to question my motives; I am the teacher, the authority, the final word, the curriculum planner, the assessment designer, the decider of grades.  I think part of the problem is that my school has a very young staff and that some teachers may be open to this sort of questioning.  I allow the kids to ask me anything they want, but I never let them question my authority.  I have plans for you, children.  I do not negotiate with tiny terrorists!  

One girl pipes up and says, "I don't want to sound rude or tell you how to do your job...", her preface coloring the undoubtedly rude comment she is about to make, trying to tell me how to do my job, "but you need to start coming in on Saturdays."  

My school offers Saturday tutoring from 9-12.  It is a totally voluntary decision to come in, teachers are not contractually obligated to attend Saturday school.  Teachers are paid for their time.  I go in occasionally, but infrequently.  Our school day ends at 3:15 every day and I am usually in the building until 4:15, Monday-Thursday.  On Fridays, we usually get to leave at 3:30.  Anyway, kids never come after school.  They always want teachers to come in on Saturday between 9-12.  

I tell the young lady that I don't work on the weekends.  I enjoy my time off with my family.  I'm in the building every day after school; stop by if you need extra help.  "But Mister I have to work after school."  Well, it sounds like you're making work your priority.  Make school your priority and see me after school.  You need to work with my schedule.  You don't need to see me for 3 hours on a Saturday.  I can reinforce concepts in 15 minutes after school if that's what you need.

Now I'm not totally inflexible on Saturday School.  I do like earning extra money for doing next to nothing.  After some back and forth with the girl, I acquiesced and said, sure I'll make myself more available on Saturdays, but it won't be every Saturday.