This week's Student of the Week is Stefan A!

Stefan is another one of the students (well, to be more accurate, another one of the boys) in grade 12 that has, over his time at KG, sometimes run afoul of the rules of the school. I know there are some teachers who have had "run-ins" with Stefan, and I have to believe them when they relate these stories to me...

BUT THEY ARE HARD TO BELIEVE!!!

In the four years I have taught him, I honestly have never had to discipline Stefan in any way. Nothing! Not a single word. Maybe (MAYBE!!) I asked him to lower his voice on a couple of occasions but, c'mon, I've asked every ONE of you to lower your voices at least once.

So way to go Stefan! And thank-you very much!

Here's some other things about Stefan that I will not soon forget:

1. the tremendous determination and hard-work that he has displayed in math class. Every year, he has worked harder and harder. He has developed into a very dedicated and serious student. Well done, Sir!
2. the equal amount of hard-work that he displayed on the basketball court. Too bad there was no team this year S.A.! But it gave you more time to work on Math!! :)
3. the time someone claimed that Stefan and I looked like father and son. Although silly, I can KIND OF see what they are talking about. Slim, dark-haired, wickedly handsome (ok. ok. The last one only applies to "my son").
4. the couple of weeks when Stefan's abs became a KG sensation. I know that I should not admit to remembering this, but it was QUITE the sensation. Some people were literally in a tizzy over it / them (I will not mention any names here)

It's been fun, Stefan! Keep up your tremendous efforts. Thanks for always being so friendly and polite to me. You may not actually be my son, but I'm pretty darn proud of you anyway!!

Here's Hieu and Yanal teaching my Math 8 class.

Highlights included the following:

(1) having the day's topic - "Multplying Fractions" - misspelled on the board for the ENTIRE lesson (look closely in the photo and you can see it)

(2) Hieu revealing the puzzle answer before anyone had answered it... whoops!

(3) Yanal saying - without a trace of irony - to one student: "Put that away. NOBODY texts in MY class!"

(4) Hieu apologizing to me at the end of class for speaking a tad harshly to one student. Again, with no irony, "I'm sorry Mr. Wadge but that guy can be really annoying.

(5) Hieu telling a very quiet ESL student: "you're a really smart guy, you know that?". The boy had a big grin on his face.

(6) best of all - Yanal pointing at a very unconfident math student and saying "you come up and do the next one on the board". I literally flinched. Anyway, Yanal and Hieu were great with him. Urged / helped him through the problem and then started a round of applause when he finished. The boy returns to his desk, turns to the kid behind him and exclaims loudly (I'm not making this up): "I was literally shaking up there. But when you actually do the work it's not the bad. That was pretty fun".

Way to go guys! Proud of you! You are both naturals! You connected with some of those kids better than I have all year (Honestly!!). 

Hope you enjoyed it! Become teachers and we can hang out together on professional days!! :)

It's Ayla!... It's Shali!... It's Shayla!!!!

The plan was for Shali to be this week's S.O.W. But how could I NOT include Ayla with her? Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know... Ayla's not even taking math this year but c'mon - these two make an incredible pair.

I loved having Shali and Ayla in my class together the last few years. It was wonderful to see how hard they worked together, supported each other, laughed with (and at) each other. These two get along incredibly well. There is something special about seeing two people who are the very best of friends... people like Shali and Ayla.

Of course, Ayla is also an incredible athlete! She was kind enough to invite me out to one of her gymnastic competitions a couple years ago... WOW!! So talented!! I admire her for all the time and effort that she puts into her sport. Such commitment!!

Shali is another one of my extra-special "taught 5 times" students. In those five years, she has arrived each day with a warm smile, a kind word, and a willingness to work her hardest. She is the kind of student who makes my job fun and easy and rewarding.

Thanks to both of you - Shali and Ayla - for being such unique and special individuals. But thanks even more for inspiring me with your beautiful friendship. It's a truly wonderful thing to behold!

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
                -Muhammad Ali

This week's student of the week is a big one - it's Daniel G (all 7 feet of him... or however tall he is)! I've seen this guy grow - A LOT!! - over the past five years, both in height and as a student. I think he may have sat in the back right corner in each of the five years I've taught him. While this may have been a strategy in grade 8 to avoid detection, he now works away in the same back corner, diligently getting his math done.

Daniel is one of the (many) kids in the Class of 2014 who mystify me when I hear from other teachers that he can be a bit... uh... challenging. I honestly can not think of a single time that Daniel has caused a problem in my class (besides his unwillingness to pay for his workbook). In fact, one of the things I will always remember about Daniel is his gentle nature and friendliness. I will miss his giant smile and warm welcome ("Greetings Friends") next year.

One last thing about Daniel. Whenever my daughter tells me that she is going downtown and I ask: "who are you meeting down there?" and she answers: "[whoever] and [whoever] and Daniel G" I breathe a sigh of relief. With this guy by her side I can sleep peacefully knowing that she is safe and sound.

Thanks for protecting my daughter Daniel. And thanks for being a great guy. Everyone loves a gentle giant... and that describes you perfectly!! 

Here's this week's Student of the Week. It's Galena B!! 

The G.B. teaching (non-Flip) method is named after Galena. Why? Because she HATES the Flipped Classroom method. But - in my 5 wonderful years of teaching Galena - I have never seen anything else that Galena hates. She is a ray of sunshine in my classroom. Always kind. Always smiling. Always serious about her work. 

I remember when my daughter was going to come visit KG for the first time and I had this thought: "Sophia and Galena are kind of similar. I bet they'd get along great". So when Sophia arrived in my class I directed her to the back table where Galena would be sitting.

Galena arrived, class started... and I never saw them even look at each other (never mind saying a single word). Kind of awkward... or at least I thought. Turns out they connected (somehow) and have now spent quality time baking cookies, eating sushi, and doing (uh...) other stuff.

I have no idea what Galena's plans are for next year, after grade 12, but I do know two things with all certainty:

1. She will be successful with whatever she sets her mind to doing
2. I will miss her very much

Thank you Galena for being such a special student. I would have considered myself lucky to have taught you a single time. To teach you five times?!?!? I've been truly blessed...

Here's something new. It's my first ever Student of the Week. And here's something else: I never even asked the student for permission (hope he doesn't mind...)

Anyway, this is Moe G. and you gotta love this guy. Well, NOW you gotta love this guy. Grade 8 was a different story. I remember one time I had to go downstairs to get something in the middle of Moe's grade 8 class. This was probably the second week of school; you know, the time of year when grade 8's are supposed to still be quiet and respectful and a little fearful.

Well, I'm coming back from the office and I can hear Moe SCREAMING... and I'm still on the second floor. And you KNOW how much I hate screaming (#1 on Mr. Wadge's "Big Nose" list). I ran up the stairs in record time and took that guy outside the classroom. We had a short "discussion". I believe he experienced the fear that I mentioned earlier!

And now it's five years of math later. Moe has become one of my most dedicated, hard-working students. I am really proud of him for always trying to do his best, for getting involved with all the theatre productions (the guy is an amazing actor!) and for always being in such a friendly, light-hearted mood. I will really miss him next year. But now he can live forever on this incredible blog of mine!!

You are awesome Moe! Thanks for being in my class for the past 5 years! I won't forget you (blog or no blog)...

Well, that's it for the 2012 - 2013 year. Is it just me or did that go FAAAAASSSSST!?!?!

Thanks to you all for the great year! I appreciate all your hard work and the determination you displayed (some of you more than others) to be successful this year.

Sorry for my grumpy days and if I was ever unfair to you (in your eyes). What can I say... I'm only human.

I hope that you have a wonderful, relaxing Summer and I look forward to seeing you next year.

My courses next year: Math 8, PreCalculus 10, Workplace 11, Foundations 11, PreCalculus 12.

See you in September!! Be safe!!!

Well, it feels good to have made it to another long weekend (three cheers for Family Day!!)

But this week ended a little sadly. As most of you know, several KG students were "removed from our school" this week. While I don't want to get into names or details, I just want to express the fact that - though it may be completely understandable / justified - I find it sad that these students are - all of a sudden!! - no longer in my class. 

I guess what I am trying to say is the following: I think many of you believe that we teachers only like the "good students", the students who get A's, the well-behaved students. But - surprise! - we like all of you!! That why I - for one - got into teaching. Yeah, I DO love math but it's not math that brings me the great satisfaction I feel for my job. It's the students! And that includes all of you - the quiet ones, the loud ones, the serious ones, the immature ones, the angry ones, the sad ones... even the defiant ones. 

You are all worthy of great respect and affection. I won't lie: some of you are more challenging to teach than others. But that doesn't mean I don't still think you are amazing and interesting and inspiring.

So though you may think I am happy or relieved that a few of my more challenging students have left my class today, this is not at all the case. I will miss them and I wish them all the best! 

The holidays have begun! Although I am delighted (who DOESN'T like some well-earned time off?) I must admit that I don't feel like I NEED a break right now. Some years it's all I can do to make it to Christmas. The last few weeks are torturous. But I haven't experienced this the last few years. Why? Because of the great students that I get to spend my time with. So thank YOU for making my job so much fun. I honestly LOVE coming to work (most days... we all have "our days" don't we). I couldn't ask for a better Christmas present than that!

Have a great Holiday. Enjoy time with your family and your friends. Be safe. I look forward to seeing you in 2013!! By the way 2013 will be the first year to be denoted by four different digits in over 25 years! (what was the last year that this happened? Bonus mark to whoever sends me the answer first).

The first full week ends... and I am exhausted. Tired but happy. I had such a great week. I feel so lucky to get to spend my days with such wonderful people. My students are so willing to try new things (Flip classroom), to forgive me when I am disorganized, to share a laugh...

I even had one wonderfully sweet grade 8 student give me a spontaneous hug at the end of the day on Friday. I mean, this is not exactly a day-to-day occurrence for a high-school teacher. But come one - who doesn't love a hug? So thanks [unnamed] - you made my day! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for making my job so much fun!