This year, I have been working with my students to advocate for themselves. This is an example of that. I am so very proud of my students!

Hello,

My name is Kaelyn De Leon and I am a senior at Independence High School. I wanted to share this story about how my AP English Literature class is advocating learning in an unorthodox way. After hearing the song by Bruno Mars and Snoop Dog called "Young, Wild, and Free," which glorifies getting high and drunk to young people, primarily a teenage demographic, my teacher, Mrs. Kip Glazer decided that it would be an interesting idea to rewrite the lyrics to this popular song and create our own music video that promoted learning and studying in schools. It has already become a hit among our peers and faculty at our school and now we would like to share this with the community. We want people to know that we are taking what would be considered an "inappropriate" song and turning it into something with a whole new look on things for students. I hope you can help us get it out there as something fun that our class did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbITQAGfOl4&list=UUgCNLbDb3v3QkqG-BDnjOfg&index=2&feature=plcp

Thank you,

Kaelyn De Leon

As a result of this email, my students are about to be interviewed by a TV station. Yeah!

My students' video made it onto The Bakersfield Californian. I am so proud of them! 

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/bakosphere/x153380005/Independence-has-some-fun-nerd-style?utm_source=widget_64&utm_medium=latest_entries_widget&utm_campaign=synapse 

It's that time of the year. My 10th graders will be taking the CHASEE today. It has been an interesting year, and I hope that my students do well. We have been working hard to be prepared for it, and I feel ready. So here is my game plan. I have already informed them that I will be giving away a bunch of candies in the morning before the test. And we are going to w

Today I was very edgy during 6th period. I know these students are teenagers, and they are not as mature as I want them to be. But sometimes I forget! And the CAHSEE is on next Tuesday. I guess they are acting up, and I don't have as much patience - well, I usually don't have much to begin with - because I am also "stressed" about the test. 

I simply can't wait for the CAHSEE to be over! Crossing my fingers for my wonderful students.

My students have been presenting to class this past year. And when I saw the video that my students made on The Stranger, I realized how much they have improved. It was so satisfying to see how much my students have embraced what we are doing in class. I have always been proud of my students, but this year I have been extra proud of my students. I realized that I have always had great students, but now I can appreciate them more because I am getting older and perhaps wiser. It is wonderful to be reminded of how lucky I am as a teacher. I am blessed to have so many wonderful students in my classes. 

It is a teacher's hope to be able to read essays that her students wrote and be impressed.  And it finally happened this time. The stack of essays on George Orwell's 1984 has been the best that I have read this year. My AP students are finally getting how to write an analytical essay, it seems. Their ideas were innovative and thoughtful. I think it has a lot to do with how much they enjoy the book. Most of them were able to make a connection between the book and the real life. I am so very happy for them blossom as competent and college-ready writers. Now if only my 10th graders can do the same....

Truthfully, I was slightly "scared" to get back to work. I was at a conference for two days last week and then there was a 3-day weekend. If you are a teacher, you know how tough it is to get back to work after a long weekend. When a routine has been disrupted, lots can go wrong. However, my students were so fabulous. They were attentive. And many have said, "We missed you, Mrs. Glazer!"  Crossing my fingers that tomorrow will be just as peaceful and productive.

http://nymag.com/news/features/asian-americans-2011-5/ 

One of the toughest things about  blogging is keeping up. I began blogging this past August using another blog service. Having been discouraged by my lack of consistency, I began making all my posts private. I figured posting a few comments on Facebook and Twitter is sufficient. After all, my "friends" read I post. However, I was told that writing and reflecting can help my brain development. Since I teach my students to persevere even when they fail, I decided to follow my own advice. So here is my attempt at blogging once more. Let's see whether I can keep up this time.