Little Mr. Sunshine

I'm honored to receive some rays from the sunshine of Shauna Hedgepeth and John Stevens. Like Christopher Danielson, I don't forward those silly emails of inspirational PowerPoints, cats in meadows, Bigfoot sightings, and other pyramid emails. However, I am compelled to do my part (or some of it) and respond to the two math tweeps who threw sunshine my way. If you're not familiar with sunshine, click on any of the three links above and read their posts so I don't have to retype it.

Act 1: Acknowledge the nominating blogger(s)
Hedge is totally awesome! She loves her students. Don't even argue that. Email her some thoughts, ideas, and/or jokes and her replies have a sincere, lovable vibe to them. She makes me laugh with all her A.D.D. talk, but I'm not sure how true that is. Wait, yes, I do. Just read one of her blog posts. They're awesomely funny. Where she might be intimidated by my height, I think I would be equally intimidated (if not more) by her love and knowledge of stats. Stats is definitely one of my shortcomings as a math person. I look forward to meeting her at NCSM in April 2014.

John Stevens reminds me of a professional juggler. Not necessarily a clown juggler. However, recently he did dress up in a chef's outfit during a presentation. This guy juggles and contributes to many cool parts of math education.  Check out his blog for iPad resources, his CUE Rockstar status, presentations, #CAedchat and his up and coming Would You Rather site. When you meet him in person, he's a very personable and interested guy. Sit down and have a beer with him. Keep rocking John!

Act 2: Eleven Facts
1) I've never broken a bone (knock on wood). Never.
2) I don't drink coffee. However, I love iced tea.
3) I'm a philosophy major.
4) I've only used my passport once and that was to Canada. I hope to travel to other countries in the future.
5) I enjoy doing yard work.
6) I can't remember the last time I've slept passed 6:30 a.m.
7) My iTunes library would take 36 days, 22 hours, 55 minutes, and 5 seconds to play from start to finish.
8) I'm actually terrible at estimation (just kidding).
9) My In-N-Out order is:
1 Protein-style Cheeseburger with grilled onions
1 Animal-style Double-Double
1 light-well french fries
1water cup (with water in it)
10) I love/have the board game Othello, but I have no one to play against.
11) Newcastle and Rogue

Act 3: Answer questions from the people in Act 1
Hedge's Q's:
1) If you had to pick one area/concept of math that is your "jam", what would it be?
Spatial reasoning.

2) True, but there's at least one student that sticks out in my mind that I feel I failed. Do you have one?
Yes. Actually, many students from my 2012-2013 school year. See this recent post for a visual. I went overboard with too many questions, not enough validation and too little direct instruction. Avoid this cocktail.

3) Twenty years from now, what's something kids will probably remember about you (phrase, moment, habit, characteristic, etc.)?
That guy sure took a lot of pictures standing in front of stuff so we could estimate its height. He worked hard and expected us to work hard.

4) What's something that you'd like to "fix" about yourself in your current job?
I'd like to learn more Spanish.

5) Name a movie title that describes you and why.
Tommy Boy. I don't need to explain.

6) Which tweep would you love to have a conversation with over a beverage?
My top 3 tweeps I haven't done this with are Hedge, Christopher Danielson, and Steve Leinwand. By the way, just one beverage? What kind of nonsense is that? I'm excited as it looks like I'll meet Hedge and Triangleman at NCSM this year! WOOOOOHOOOOO!

7) If you couldn't teach your specific subject, what else would you teach?
Home economics and culinary. I'd learn how to be a better cook and I could eat.

8) Everybody has a song they can dance/jam out to. What's yours?
Venice Queen by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

9) Who would you love to see karaoke at TMC14 and why?
Steve Leinwand. First he, wouldn't need a microphone. Second, he can probably rap faster than any rap artist, alive or dead. Third, what jam would he pick? Definitely NOT a ballad.

10) What's one thing (item, app, software, etc.) that you love so much that you can't imagine doing your job without it?
Apple's Keynote or Pages. Don't even ask me to use PowerPoint.

11) If you could job shadow one tweep for a week, who would it be and why?
Michael Pershan. Having met Michael and been intimidated by his fountain of intellectual curiosity, I'd love to see how he facilitates a classroom. Runner-up: Fawn Nguyen. Maybe I could steal her Brad Fulton books when she's not looking.

John's Q's:
1) Why do you teach?
Am I supposed to be teaching? I'm still learning and I expect my students to learn with me. This might help explain.

2) If you didn't teach, what would you do for a living instead?
Playing music in crappy bars while making guitars at a guitar factory.

3) Money being no obstacle, where would you like to visit? Why?
Europe. Most of it. See my passport comment above.

4) Kids always ask who your favorite student is.  Describe the characteristics of yours.
My favorite student is the one who perseveres, is open to making mistakes, takes responsibility along with the risks, and can see that math isn't about printed number on a paper.

5) What is your favorite board game and why?
See fact #10 above.

6) What is the most frustrating component of education right now?
Grades.

7) Would you rather buy a Mac or a PC?
See the answer to Hedge's question #10. Mac!
John, you had to sneak in a "Would you rather?"

8) What is your favorite book?
Early John Grisham stuff.

9) If you had to choose blogging with no way to share it (ex. via twitter) or tweeting with no way to elaborate (ex. via a blog), which would you choose?
Blogging.

10) Who is your hero?  Why?
Wow! Too many to name. My grandfather (hero for being a role model of a man). My sister (a family and best friend hero). Dan Meyer (a math hero who saved me from ruining my teaching career).

11) What is the most exciting part about your job?
I get to make mistakes. I get to create my own lessons. I get to explore number sense and logic with non-adults. My job doesn't define who I am.

The Sunshine stops here. Thanks for reading. I'm not torturing 11 other tweeps. It was fun.

Sunshine,
243