13th (Days 108-109)

Today in Ethnostats, we officially begin the thirteenth chapter of our textbook. And I decide to launch the new chapter by showing a documentary -- 13th. The title refers to the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that slavery has been abolished in the United States -- except for those who have been convicted of a crime.

The film is listed in the official Ethnostats syllabus (along with Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed) and my predecessor from two years ago assigned it to her class around this time of year. But of course, I intentionally play the movie today for several reasons. First, it's February -- Black History Month. Moreover, the title 13th and the number 13 have some significance. As I wrote earlier, we're just about to start Chapter 13 in the text. I have the students take notes in their Stats Scrapbooks (13 notes, of course), and they must write down a few more facts about the film for their next assignment -- due on Google Classroom this Sunday, the 13th. In fact, that HW was supposed to be Assignment #13, but then I fell behind by two numbered assignments due to COVID. (The first was when the second semester started two days late, and the other was when I tested positive myself.) So it's only Assignment #11 -- but my predecessor spent several days discussing 13th, so there's still a chance for me to tie next week's Assignment #13 to the film.

Yesterday in Calculus, we began Chapter 5 of the text, on integral calculus. I played Michael Starbird's Lecture 3, "Another Car, Another Crime," and Section 5.1 was also on area and distance as an introduction to the second main idea of Calculus. In Trig class we continued Section 2.1, with the trig values of special angles such as 30, 45, and 60 degrees.

Today I know that other teachers are out and that there are no subs, so it goes without saying that I must work during my conference period. But as it turns out, there are three teachers out -- and only two teachers to cover those classes (the other being the other math teacher, my partner teacher). Thus I'm forced to cover two classes simultaneously -- a junior English class and a senior Econ class (both of which I've covered separately in the past). With so many students to watch (almost 40), we decide to hold the class outside -- yes, it's February. But yes, it's Southern California, where the temperature is over 80 degrees -- this heat wave is expected to last through Super Bowl Sunday. Notice that the Big Game will be played in Southern California, with a team based in SoCal, the Rams, hosting the Cincinnatti Bengals.

Today is Sevenday on the Eleven Calendar:

Resolution #7: We earn our grades through hard work and dedication.

And the students are definitely working hard to earn their grades today. I collect the Stats Scrapbooks and will count everything from Chapter 11 up to the 13th movie notes as the first 100-point project. And this Monday is Lincoln's Birthday (as well as Valentine's Day, so I pass out V-Day pencils today). This year begins a stretch where the day after Super Bowl Sunday is Lincoln's Birthday, meaning that I (unlike most other workers) will get the day after the Big Game off. My next post will be Wednesday.

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