Monthly Archives: May 2016

Cell phones are everywhere – but educators are just tired of hearing about them and pointlessly trying to hide them, silence them, and even utilize them. But it just doesn’t work. Short of drowing the cell phones in a communial aquarium in front of the class, they are a given of modern teenhood. Read more →

I just could never understand the tradition of giving your teachers an apple. It seemed so odd to give a piece of fruit to someone who was going to lead you through a bit of learning. I did a bit of research on the web and found that this a uniquely American custom. Read more →

This blog has caused me to a much more reflective person, especially in regards to my teaching. I always thought that I was, unashamedly, a damn good teacher. When it came time for my annual review or when visitors from the district or “donators” came by, I could turn on the charm and the teacher-talk to really sell the idea of how terrific I am. Read more →

I have a new solution – likely not for this year – but one to test drive next year to nip senioritis as it stands. As stated in last night’s blog, is mighty damn difficult to get seniors to buy into the coming to school for the month of May. Nothing seems to work. What I propose next year is that I take all of the best of the original plays from the sophomore class and hand them over to the senior performance majors to create a staged reading. My hope is that although they are no longer interested in performing for my input/approval they will still love the attention that younger students will give them as they read through thier work. Read more →

It is an age old problem to combat senoritis. Once May gets here and the non-stop testing begins it is near impossible to get seniors to come inside much less focus on anything of significance in the classroom. We have tried to create many different activities to keep them connected to thier work to the time they walk down the aisle – all with questionable results. Read more →