the garrett blog

Just thought it was funny

College Entrance Examination

 

Here is a very good article about what all of our Chinese students have had to go through in order to get into college.  I look back to my senior year in high school and am very grateful for my English class, US History Class, Government class, Philharmonic Choir, Madrigal Choir, and study hall.  I(Josh) left school at 2:30 every day and did no homework all year long.

All-Nighter? For This Test, Some Chinese Cram All Year

Enjoy and let us know what you think of this.  Good, bad, better, worse?

A picture paints a thousand words

I recently gave my "Modern American Short Stories" students a test. This class is an elective and is open to all students at the University, not just English majors. The last bonus questions was:

Why did the South have "Jim Crow Laws"? Give one example of a Jim Crow Law. 

This is what one of my students answered:

She can be whatever you want to her be, baby!

Tonight Annabelle asked for a story. She said she wanted me to tell her the story of "Cinderella."

Me: Once upon a time there was a girl named...

AB: NO NO - Let's pretend your elephant (big stuffed animal that lives on my bed) is Cinderella.

Me: Okay. Once upon a time there was an elephant named Cinderella who...

AB: Wait! Can we pretend the elephant is wearing a pink dress?

Me: Sure, but Cinderella wears a blue dress.

AB: Can we pretend she wears a pink dress?

Me: Okay. Once upon a time there was an elephant named Cinderella in a pink dress who had a mean step-mom...

AB: Wait! Can we pretend there's no step mom and no step sisters?

Me: Okay. Once upon a time there was an elephant named Cinderella in a pink dress who went to the ball, danced all night with the prince, came home, fell asleep on a bed just like this one, and slept happily ever after.

AB: That's great, mom. Thanks! 

We need to wear our bras!

This morning Annabelle helped me make some french toast. While we were in the kitchen cracking eggs, she suddenly exclaimed:

"Momma!! We need to wear our BRAS!"

I looked at her puzzled. "Huh?"

Then she pointed over to where our cooking aprons (thanks Pat!) were hanging. She meant, we need to wear our aprons! 

He's down, hurt, bleeding, barely hanging on!

The strangest thing to me (Chana) about being a teacher is being the one who writes the tests. I don't know why that freaks me out so much. Lectures, homework, assignments - no problems. But tests... they can trap you up. I've written a couple of not so good ones this semester. On one of my tests, the class of almost 60 got about 50 As. Hmmm.... guess THAT one was too easy! On another one of my tests, I had so many ambiguities that EVEN I kept getting confused over what to accept as a right answer!

I think I'm starting to improve my test writing skills. But today, one funny thing happened on the test I gave my students. It was a reading comprehension test about several short passages - one being "The Parable of the Good Samaritan." I had previously told my students the story about how Josh was riding his bicycle to Wal-mart one day and hit a patch of sand in the road that caused his bike to fall over, him with it. He ended up with a slightly cut and bloody knee and was on the ground for almost a minute, with several people watching him but no one offering to help him.

On the test I asked "What true-life story did I tell in class that relates to the parable?" 

The answers are hilarious. It's like a game of "Telephone" gone very, very bad. My students wrote everything from Josh crashing his scooter to crashing his car, Josh AND me crashing our bikes into each other, Josh on the ground bleeding and bleeding, unable to get up... with crowds of people varying in number from one or two onlookers to twenty, thirty, or more!

Soooo funny. I give the same test tomorrow. Wonder if he'll end up in the Emergency Room. 

Random Thoughts: Bananas

Riding home from work tonight on my scooter (with my helmut on, mom!) I had many random thoughts. Here's one about bananas.

Bananas are certifiably the BEST fruit in the world. 

Bananas aren't my favorite fruit. They aren't the best tasting fruit. Think about it. On a hot summer day, sweat pouring down your face - which would you rather eat:

a perfectly sweet, juicy slice of watermelon or a banana?

a yummy, juicy peach or a banana?

an orange cold from the fridge with just the right mix of sweet and sour or a banana?

a crispy tangy apple or a banana?

a perfectly ripe mango or a banana?

a piece of pulpy, fresh sweet pineapple or a banana?

But the problem is... all the other fruits in the world (and I contemplated each one on my ride home) are unreliable. You get a great batch from the market or store, and when you go back to buy another one you get a lousy batch. You never know what it is you'll end up with. 

Not so with bananas. What you see is what you get. Sure, sometimes you'll eat a banana that tastes starchy because it isn't ripe enough - but that's YOUR fault for eating a green banana. And I HATE bananas that are too mushy and completely fall apart as you try to eat them - but again, the blame is not on the banana but on the person who decided they were hungry enough to eat a brown banana. 

Bananas are reliable. No hidden seeds. No wondering if this one will be sweet or sour. No opening the peel to find you bought the pink variety instead of the red one. What you see is what you get. 

I wish people were more like bananas.