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!