I have some really nice students this year that are really working hard to be successful.  However, I have a few students...  well, let's just say they are less than motivated.  Some of them have even gone as far as saying, "That's it!  I give up!  I'm not even going to try anymore!"  May I mention that we haven't even been through nine weeks of school! 

One of the reasons these students want to give up is because their first test grade was poor...  Now, let's think about this for a minute...  If you were not happy with your first test grade, is giving up going to make your score better?  Will throwing up your hands and saying, "Forget it!" increase your grade?  Will giving up show Ms. Stein that you care about your performance in her class?  The answer to all of the above is NO!!!!

Some things in life are hard.  There will be times (in school and out) when you have to work your tail off just to get an inch closer to your goal -- and it may take years to actually reach that goal. 

You have to work hard in math class.  There are lots of problems to complete, and sometimes each problem has many steps.  That doesn't mean you should stop half way through or not do anything because the problems will take too long. You need to step up to the challenge!  Show those problems whose boss!  Kick and beat on those problems until they lay bloodied on the curb with all of their solutions found!

The bottom line is that I am concerned.  I feel bad that I have students who want to give up.  Please don't give up.  Come see me after school or before school or email me.  I want to help you.  They pay me to help you!  LET ME HELP YOU!!

Success is possible if you work hard.

This spring I applied for a program called, "TI-Nspire FastTrack," and I was accepted!  So, on July 27 I flew out of Norfolk Airport headed for Dallas, TX and the Texas Instruments Headquarters (which is where I am right now).

The point of this WEEK long program is to familiarize school district people (teachers, for instance) about their new calculator called TI-Nspire.  So, they have given us one of these calculators, and they keep us in class from 8:00-5:00 every day with homework every night.  Besides learning this cool new caclulator, TI will give me a class set of these calculators to use.

What does TI get out of this?  Well, I have to give presentations (a total of 200 people) by Feb. 28, 2009; I have to write an article for their newsletter thing, and I have to write four activities to submit to their website.  They hope after I present to all of these people how I have fallen in love with this calculator (yes, I'm a geek) that these people will also like the calculator enough to buy it. 

I share this with you because I wanted you to know that teachers go to school too, and it's summer vacation!  I also wanted you to know that we will be doing some really cool things this year with this new fancy pants calculator!  Welcome to Ms. Stein's world!

School has been out for a week now, and here I am doing school work!  Okay, so it's not REALLY school work, but it's a website for school, so I think it counts.  The good news is that this is fun!  So, check out my webseite, and enjoy YOUR summer!!