Up the Down Staircase, Volume 2

...or really, Volume 8. I just never wrote down the first 6.

Today was the last day of classes. Another humid scorcher, and I'm really gonna have to do something different to get through the first few weeks next year. I made it all the way to the last class with some semblance of order and even ran review games all day. In the last class, after about 15 minutes of review games, I gave up. I'm OK with that. It was just too darn hot, and most of them tested out of their final anyway. Whaddya gonna do?

I was up so late last night having multiple heart attacks from the Cavs DOUBLE OVERTIME VICTORY, and I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO can't wait to head downtown for the insanity surrounding Game 6 tomorrow night. Kid Z must be a Cavs fan, because after midnight when I was trying to lay down and sleep, it was going BONKERS. I actually turned the light on to watch.

Nothing in the world is more surreal than watching something inside your stomach apparantly doing some kind of kick-line celebration of a Cavs victory.

Anyway, last year I posted my students replies to my "exit survey" I give every year. It's always quite entertaining and informational. I told the kids that I always know what they DON'T like...they make that abundantly clear. "THIS SUCKS" and "I HATE THIS" or various groans are pretty hard to misinterpret. But we rarely hear what they actually LIKE at this stage of the game. So this is the opportunity for them to anonymously say it, without being mortified for looking like an "overachiever." (To them, that's the worst name you can call someone in class)

So here goes: All spelling is the way THEY have written it. Nothing is changed. I've put a few of my favorites here for your reading pleasure. Welcome to my world.

1. What was your favorite activity we did in class and why?

• the island--it was fun (sidenote: we did a simulation for the Enlightenment where they have "crashed on an island" and have to create a government)
• island
• island thing
• stock market game
• island--human sacrifice!
• decades project--it was fun and I learned alot about my time period
• island game! I liked to make my own decisions.
• hmmm..I really like the island thing, but I'm sure everyone said that so I also liked the Marie Antoinette and King Louis role playing thingy
• Decades Project. It let me know new things.
• reinacting/having debates--> HANDS ON!
• American Revolution Trial/Jefferson Davis Trial It was so fun, and enriching
• the newer stuff
• IDK it was all good

2. What activity helped you learn the most and why?

• the decades project
• les mis because it was a good movie
• island was sweet made me most involved
• probably the role playing with the French Revolution thing
• powerpoints, they gave the information well
• Africa project--learned a lot
• AIDS and Darfur posters. I had no idea about Darfur.
• soldiers coming to talk about Nam
• fly swatter (side note: this is a review game we play with 2 fly swatters and for some reason they LOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEE it)
• flyswater and lecture and your baby named Kyle
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• I knew it all already
• games, they were exciting and it helped out 2.
• IDK
• trials; you could be a person and understand why he thought what he thought
• stock market project--> it was really fun
• acting out things. lets you experience things
• the ones were we have alot of notes
• taking notes and doing timelines
• dont remember
• notes--I just sit there and memorize stuff
• about Somalia and Africa
• news broadcasts about fall of communism

3. What activity did you feel really didn't help you learn and why?

• notes b/c boreing
• speaking in front of class
• when we filled out those packets using those folders
• WWI
• role playing
• the thing where you have to walk around and collect information
• don't know--I liked alot of what we did
• all the projects and group work
• when you yelled at us
• acting out events/notes
• everything
• notes so boring
• reanacting trials
• I hated political cartoons, because they sucked
• the review games, people fool around too much
• The hard ones
• I hated when we worked in groups almost everyday. Its nice to do individual work sometimes
• hated notes
• the england stuff from really long ago
• I did not enjoy having so many projects to do all the time.
• notes...ew
• ?
• I did not enjoy the projects that we did every week. (sidenote: We did?! News to me. They think anything that's not notes is a "project." Makes my buddy Susan and I chuckle.)

4. Any other general comments?

• Rwanda was funnest
• cool
• good teacher
• not bad
• this year was a great year
• this class has a good set up but is honestly kind of boring most of time
• less notes--more movies like Hotel Rwanda!
• nothing
• I had fun messing around
• WWII is the best
• I think some people need punishment for being MEAN TO ME
• Have a great summer; I know that you were my favorite teacher this year. I HOPE IT'S A GIRL
• Name your kid Kyle. Your my fave teacher.
• I loved the reinactments of the courts and league of nations
• very fun! ur a good teacher
• name your kid Dickey
• take good notes, pay close attention, and class was easy.
• your a really nice teacher but class was just too boring
• I loved this class! You made it interesting. Good luck with the new baby! Thanks for a great year.
• SUMMER!
• I liked US history a lot better than World History
• I liked the Rock Hall...it was fun.
• great class! Love it, will miss it.
• We did the most work in this class but for whatever reason time didn't drag on and it wasn't boring
• you're a sweet teacher and I liked having you for 2 years guess who I am--I'm goofy and just got a haircut
• Mrs. Ziemnik I'm lucky to have you as a teacher, your enthusiasm really showed and made the class enjoying
• Hi
• It was a good year. but I don't like doing that many activities w/a partner. no offense to my partner.
• the stuff that is fun to learn about is the stuff in the last 20 years or less
• I think that we could learn more if you tried to teach the things on the test instead of going off on many tangents. I felt unprepared for many tests because some of the questions (that we never talked about) were so specific. However, I really enjoyed playing with the clickers. (sidenote: pretty sure that's from one of my consistently highest-scoring test takers.)
• no more school!
• you need to give more free time
• your a really nice + good teacher :)
• wasn't that bad learning about the U.S.A's history
• more fly swater
• congrats on the baby, have a great summer. This was a fun two years.
• You are a really good teacher--you make everything more interesting to learn than other teachers do.
• I don't like the 50% of late work :(
• Forrest is annoying
• Justin is annoying
• Just the way you teach and structure the class room and just who you are really helped me learn and helped me figure out what I want to do with my future. P.S. Good luck with Little Bitty Z
• I heart Mrs. Z and Baby Tom
• To much projects
• lots of notes but they helped :)
• im bad at history
• Love the Teacher. Hate the subject.
• The room is hot.
• Keep up with the good projects and awesome teaching skills.
• I like history.
• I wish you were our American History teacher too.
• Mrs. Z was probably the best history teacher I've ever had. Seriously
• I can't stand all the mini projects, If you cut the number of projects in 1/2, i't be better. I feel like I didn't learn much. And I love history, I knew most of it before from the History Channel. You are a very nice teacher though.
• your class was my faviorite, you can take old and make it relateable. I loved it.