An Unexpected Happy Dance

O.M.Goodness!  I was just flipping through the digital version of Scholastic's Winter 2011 edition of Instructor magazine... and I saw my name.  I was like, "Wait?!  Is that me, or is it another Amanda Nickerson?"  As it turns out, it's me!  I had responded to a prompt on Facebook a LONG time ago.  Someone asked, "What do I do when an 11-year old student complains an assignment is 'stupid'? She often says things like "Do we really have to do this?' Reminding her that assignments are graded isn't helpful."  I responded, "Make it relevant.  Help the student see why that skill is important and cite examples from the 'real world'.  Maybe explain a few careers that require that kind of knowledge."  Holy Batman!  I can't even place when it was.  It was literally MONTHS ago!   Apparently they decided to publish my advice, because there it was!  It was a big surprise, and because you are all teachers who will understand how excited I was about this, I had to share!  HAPPY DANCE!