Goats on top of things... that's where they like to be.

So, I am seriously talking to you about goats standing on things....


I heard a podcast a few years back about a guy who was driving along through the countryside.  At some point he glanced out the window saw a goat standing on top of a cow.

Wait, What?...
He pulled over to be sure of what he saw, because that is crazy, right?

As he gazed out into the field he was passing he saw, that's right, a goat standing on the back of a cow.  And in fact the cow was just happily grazing on the grass in the field.  he watched for a while longer and because nothing changed he decided he needed to get back in his car and just keep driving.

I LOVE this!!!!!!!

Because I love this so much, I have done my own "google image research" on this subject and here is what I have found:



GOATS love standing up on stuff:

So, I am seriously taking with you about homework in middle school:

I find this funny.  I am not sure everyone will find it as amazing as I do but, as a middle school math teacher, I have students ask me almost daily, "can I do extra credit to raise my grade?"

The answer is "NO"
But... there are options.

If you do not want to do the assignment I gave you, you can instead do any of the following for full credit on any assignment you choose:

• Master Kung Fu
• Switch religions for a week (and practice all parts of your new religion) and report back to me what it was like and how it did of did not change your perspective on the world.
• Wear a fake mustache, without mentioning it to anyone, for 24 hours (see above about reporting back on the results)
• End world hunger
• Find your nemesis, earn their trust, then turn them to your way of thinking
• Find the next unknown digit of Pi.
• *suggest something to equal caliber*

Thank you to the picture below for my inspiration :)

SO, I am seriously going to tell you the "Things I said this week":

"So you can remember that two angels are complimentary if they make a 90 degree angle because giving a compliment is the 'right' thing to do ;)"

"Of course you can put an invisible one in front of a variable or make a regular number into a fraction with an invisible one in the denominator:
         5/1 = 5
            x = 1x

"We don't often really write the one because it looks awkward, and it is like asking for one single pencil, people will know what you mean but they will think you don't speak Math as your first language."

"You can also add an invisible zero to anything you like... but once again:
         x = 5
1x + 0 = 5

"...it is kind of like saying "can I borrow one single pencil and nothing," sure the person will probably let you borrow a pencil but they might wonder what you are really planning to do with it."



"Please stop drawing on Sally's paper, she doesn't seem to like it."

So... it has been a while.

I teach middle school Mathematics, also called Maths.
What a crazy thing to decide to do with your life? I know right? (my students made me say that... they didn't but it is definitely their fault.  It is a catchy phrase....
"I know, Right?")

Teaching is rewarding (my upbringing made me say that)
Teaching is fulfilling (I think my grandmother told me that)
Teaching is hilarious (that one is all me)
Teaching is ridiculous (also all me)

I am positive that my readers have heard someone say those first two.  Teaching is a rewarding and fulfilling career.  Okay, that is true, however I am not sure I would have stuck with it so long if it were not for the hilarity and ridiculousness of my daily interactions.

<<Okay, okay, okay I know that I have no followers... that is just not nearly as funny if there is not someone out there reading>>>>  Sheesh*  talking to myself is funny in an entirely different way and .... I'm not going there.

So far this year i have made up the following terms and use them as official vocabulary:
Mathemagical
The invisible one
The invisible zero
Lonely numbers
Numbers with friends

So it has been a while...
I am seriously going to tell you about what I did not know:

I did not realize until recently what the "caucus race" in Alice in Wonderland was referring to... I love that they just run in circles until... wait, I don't know what happens next.  Hold on, I am going to look it up. (yay internets!)
*pause*

Huh... this seems to sum it up really well. :)
I have been to two caucuses and this is kind of how it felt.

“What IS a Caucus-race? said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that SOMEBODY ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.
Why, said the Dodo, the best way to explain it is to do it. (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.)”

~ Chapter 3 of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Juniper!

Perhaps the cutest hedgehog ever....  maybe not, I have not met that many hedgehogs, but to me she is truly the best pet ever!

 

The second picture  is a more recent picture, she is up to almost one pound! She seems kind of stunned but I think you can still see the cuteness lurking.

Oh Canadia

The other day a student asked me if I had been to Canada (I have a large picture of Banff National Park on the wall behind my desk.)

I told her that 'yes', I had been to Canada.

She then replied, "I want to go to Canada, it would be cool.... except canadian bacon is really just ham."  After this observation she happily wandered off without another word.

Note:(2017) I have never thought of an appropriate response to this comment.