Is there really a teacher shortage? When I looked up the word shortage this is what I found: it is a state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts, and its synonyms are scarcity, dearth, paucity,
Read More
The Little Things
As I’ve gotten into my groove as a returning rookie teacher, I’ve rediscovered the joys of finding success in the little things. When I say “little,” I mean things that measure students’ success in ways that are not analyzed as
Read MoreBegin With the End in Mind
I’ll be honest there are days and weeks that simply kick my butt. The past weeks are evident of that. The lines are blurred and Monday flows into Tuesday, into Wednesday, into Thursday and Friday. That leaves me thinking and
Read More
High School Redesign will Never Be Enough
This past Wednesday, the Obama Administration announced $375 million in support for what he is calling “Next Generation High Schools”. These schools, according to the press release, will more effectively engage and empower students to meet the demands of today’s economy.
Read More
Arguing With Students: It’s All About the Toothpaste
Two classroom management challenges came up recently in my engineering classes. In the first, two friends were horsing around and did some minor, easy to fix damage to their projects. Each claimed the other had started it. In the second,
Read More
Take a Lesson from the Ants
Have you ever terrorized ants? I’m not talking about being malicious or cruel—I just think that ants are fun to mess with sometimes. When it comes to Mother Nature, ants are one of those tiny creatures that really amaze me.
Read MoreLessons From My Version of MacGyver
As I was dropping my students off at music, I spotted our plant manager, known as Miss Shannon, who was walking a comically tiny bike across the courtyard. As I ran to open the door to the main building, I
Read More