Needy Students

This time of year is my absolute favorite....I get soooo into Holiday decorating, presents, family time, singing Christmas carols, watching Christmas movies, and of course pigging out on all the fudge and Christmas sweets my mother makes! However, this time of year is also one of the most depressing....people who do not have families to celebrate Christmas with, children who do not get toys from santa because their parents can't afford to do Santa, and people who go hungry on Christmas Day because they have no money for food. This year, it is having an extra dramatic effect on me because I see first hand students who I know won't have a present to open Christmas morning, won't have parents and grandparents to celebrate Christmas with, and many who will not have turkey or ham for Christmas dinner. We had a staff meeting this afternoon where our counselor shared stories of children who are in desperate need of everyday essentials and it brought tears to my eyes....hearing that so many of our students do not have underwear, socks, feminine products, coats, food, etc. It made me literally want to go out and spend every dime I have on those kids in need. Our school is now in the process of starting an organization where the teachers are donating any items that are sitting in our closets taking up space for our students to discretely take whatever they need. I really hope this is a sucessful program because there are so many children out there in need. I know I've got lots to donate! I'm just thankful that I have a loving family, food to eat, and am able to give my child toys on Christmas morning. So...I hope you all will take time to be thankful for the things you have not only this holiday season, but everyday because there are so many out there who are so less fortunate!

Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi

So the David Crowder Band is one of my favorite Christain bands. David Crowder is the lead singer of the band. He wrote a book called Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi, so I decided to read it. It was quite entertaining because Crowder is just so retro and comical. Anyways...the book gives an inside look at Crowder's life and his relationship with God. As the name implies, his main focus is how to find God everywhere and in everything. It deals with not just praising God by singing or attending Church on Sunday Morning, but praising him in everything we say and do. He teaches how to develop a continual habit of praise. He explains how Sunday mornings are like a big pep rally with everyone pumped for God, but come Monday morning, the pep rally is over and God is pushed aside until the next Sunday. This book is very uplifting, but yet convicting. I know, especially this year, I have been so busy with teaching and MAT stuff and family and the list goes on and on, and find myself not giving exceptional amounts of time to God. So...this book hit me pretty hard. However, it is excellent, entertaining and uplifting....just be ready to feel convicted after reading it!

The Notebook

A book I’ve recently read is The Notebook. I’ve seen the movie several times, but someone suggested I read the book. When I began reading the book, I absolutely could not put it down. The movie was awesome but the book is even better because it offers more detail in scences the movie omits. The Notebook is a story about a women who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and writes the story of her life for her husband to read to her in hopes of remembering the life she has lived. The husband remains faithful to his “sweetheart” throughout her battle with the disease, reading the story she wrote (of her life) daily to her.

The story begins with them finding each other over a summer, falling in love and then being torn apart by Allie’s (the woman) parents. Allie eventually becomes engaged to another man. After a coincidental reunion with Noah, Allie rekindles the romance with him and breaks off her engagement to the other man. Noah and Allie eventually marry and start a family of their own. After years of happiness, Allie is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and immediately begins writing her life story for her husband to read her. This is where the title The Notebook comes from-Allie’s notebook she composed full of stories from her life.

This book was absolutely one of the best I’ve ever read. At the end of the story, Allie loses her battle to Alzheimer’s and the last 10 pages of my book are wrinkled due to the tears I shed. This story is such a great symbol for what a marriage should be…staying with your spouse and loving them til death do you part. I recommend the reading of this story to anyone-even guys who despise “chick” books :)!

Thanksgiving Break

So...this week will be the first time I've had a break from school since Labor Day (we did not get out for AEA) and I'm really looking foward to sleeping in and relaxing for a few days! We only go for two days, so we are doing fun activities for those two days....a chemistry scavenger hunt and a video on the reactivity of sodium (which is very interesting). The video demonstrates explosions with the element sodium. My students have asked me all year if "we can blow something up" and of course my response is "no thank you," so I searched and found this video for them to watch things blow up safely! Anyways....I hope you all have a very awesome Thanksgiving and enjoy your break!

Halloween Slime

So Friday was Halloween and to celebrate it "educational" I had my students make slime. They absolutely loved it and they actually saw how making it was related to chemistry. We used the bunsen burners to boil our water, then added borax, water, glue and food coloring to make it slimey. I wish I had pictures to post of them creating it, but I forgot my camera that day :(! After we got all cleaned up from a slimey mess, we passed around different halloween treats and determined whether they were heterogeneous or homogeneous mixtures. I felt this was a great way to have fun for halloween, as well as, conduct a lesson relating to chemistry!

Crazy Week

So this week has byfar been the most stressful since beginning in August. I was in the hospital all weekend with-they think a parasite-but still havent gotten my culture back yet and then Monday afternoon we found out my dad had to have bypass surgery. Sooooo he had 4 bypass surgeries yesterday...but is doing great! I just feel bad for my students because I haven't been "all there" this week. I know they tell us to not mix our emotions with school, but thats hard to do. Especially when your a "blue" like me! Hopefully next week my life will get back to a little more normal!

Chemistry Lab Experiment

Last Friday my Chemistry classes did a lab experiment mixing different chemicals. They really enjoyed it! It was amazing to see my students faces when they added phenolthalien to sodium hydroxide and the color went from clear to pink. They were all, "oooooo Mrs. Howard why did it do that", "thats cool", etc. Not to mention they LOVED the oh so "sexy" goggles I made them wear....a few of them even decided to pose for me in them. So I decided to post some pictures from that lab.

Diversity in my classroom

Hey everyone here are some diverse students in my classroom. Hope you enjoy!

These 3 students are all white students, but they are diverse because of their different learning styles. The one to the left is an audible learner, the centered one is a visual learner, and the one to the right is a definite "hands-on" learner.

These two students are very diverse, even though they are both African American Students. The one to the left is very much an extrovert and the one to the right is very much an introvert.

This final group of students is a very diverse group...in this group we have a gay student, a teenage parent, and a student with a learning disability.

Some strategies I use to teach all types of learners are...for the lab experiments...I verbally give instructions (for the audible learners), then I give them a data sheet and written instructions (for the visual learners) and finally the actual lab itself is a hands on activity (for the hands-on learners). Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Whit

Sad Week

So this was quite possibly one of the saddest weeks I've ever experienced. As of today, 3 teenagers have been killed this week in southeast arkansas....2 in car wrecks and another committed suicide. Monday, a boy from our Church named Rooster was killed in a head-on collision right in front of Wal-Mart here in Monticello. Wednesday, an 8th grader from Warren Middle School shot herself. I teach at Warren High School and when the news came of Madison's death, somber covered the school. My students were asking why....why would this beautiful , popular,top student in her class girl, who never showed any signs of saddness or depression, end her life. Especially at the age of 14. As their teacher, I've struggled with words to say when such a tragedy has occured. It confuses me just as much as it does them. So this morning on my way to school, my husband calls me and says a teenager who attended UAM but from Camden (where my husband is from) was killed right beside our house in a wreck last night. Therefore, that makes 3 teenagers in one week lost. For those of you who believe in prayer, please pray for these families and the friends of those teens. I lost a classmate a few years ago and it is so difficult to lose someone your age...so I know this is hard on all the students affected by these deaths.

Big Rival Game

Sooooo....all week I've caught it from my students because Monticello (the high school i graduated from) and Warren (the school I'm teaching at) are facing off in a huge rival game tommorow night. Both teams look foward to this game every year. It has been definitely a challenge for me to root for the Lumberjacks this year, as throughout my life Monticello despises Warren in football. I swore up and down no one would catch me in orange (their color) this year, but sure enough last Friday I wore my orange shirt to support my football guys. Knowing that I'm a big Billie (Monticello) fan, my class made a deal with me. If they had a certain number of A's on their test Wednesday, then I would wear a Lumberjack jersey to school on tommorow. Needless to say they indeed met the number and now I will be sporting a Warren Lumberjack jersey to school tommorow. EEEKKK!! Anyways...I'm still loving teaching and loving the relationships I'm building with my students. This time a year ago, I wanted Warren to lose every single game they ever played, but now I find myself wearing the orange on Fridays, and cheering them on (as long as they don't play Monticello). Teaching is amazing because of all the relationships you build with the students. I have found my calling in life and I absolutely love it!

About Me

Hey Everyone!
I'm Whitney Howard, and I teach Chemistry at Warren High School. This is my first year to teach, and the first week was absolutely wonderful! I love teaching, I love the school, and I most definitely love the students! I was overwhelmed at times this week, but I have a wonderful support system of teachers around me who make my life so much easier. I'm extremely excited about this year and anticipate it to be tons of fun!