Yesterday I spoke about thermofax machine. Today I will recycle a blog I did several years ago about the opaque projector. The connection to my current teaching is that we had a Social Studies teacher who was notorious for putting a text on the opaque projector and having students take notes on it.…
Monthly Archives: January 2023
Week 21 Musical Interlude
Sexy 17 by the Stray Cats.
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Day 98 January 30, 2023 – Thermofax Heist
If you have been teaching for a long time you will remember the thermofax machine. This made things for the modern invention, the overhead projector. There were three modern machines when I started teaching: the overhead projector, the opaque projector, and the thermofax machine.…
Day 97 January 27, 2023 – SRA Box
John Glover. Anyone who went to Lakewood Junior in the 70’s will remember that name. He was the person who found ways to get to me. Currently, there is a panic to get rid of the reading instruction I used when teaching elementary.…
Day 96 January 26, 2023 – Cake Apology
Kids are much more observant than we sometimes give them credit for. I have a short story but the picture tells the whole story. This was not one of my students. I happened to be walking by this young man during finals week on his way to class.…
Day 95 January 25, 2023 – Shout Key
This story happened to Ingrid from my department but it is too good not to include. When I first started at Rangeview we taught computer applications which was the Office Suite. We also taught keyboarding. At this time we also had a graduation requirement of Practical Arts and our department counted for that.…
Day 94 January 24, 2023 – Trash Homage
Today is my birthday post. With that in mind, let’s talk trash. One of the joys of teaching is seeing the artistic skills of some students. I casually was speaking of how the big new trash cans we got were bland.…
Day 93 January 23, 2023 – What Toaster?
Reverse engineering is an integral skill for my students in engineering class. We spend a few weeks on this task. We learn about the elements & principles of design. We do a visual analysis of a product and then do a functional analysis.…
Week 20 Musical Interlude
My last “bad” song. This is always a fear in schools. Many people really don’t know what the song is about until they see the video. Sting (Who was an English teacher) and the Police.
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Day 92 January 20, 2023 – Home Advantage
My daughter was a captain of the girl’s swim team in her junior and senior years. She was the one to greet the opposing team and captains before the meet. Her favorite story was to tell the other team that they were swimming in thirty-year-old water.…
Day 91, January 19, 2023 – Marching Band
The sights and sounds of a high school are sometimes the most amazing sounds you can hear. I live in the community where Rangeview is located. From my bathroom window, I can see the school. One of my most vivid memories during the summers was the Marching Band.…
Day 90 January 18, 2023 – Mile 342
342 is an important number to Rangeview and almost everyone who passes by the sign has no idea what it means. The number changed how the building and external amenities were placed on our site. Rangeview has one of the smallest land footprints in the state for a 5A high school.…
Day 89 January 17, 2023 – Little Dots
Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. holiday so I have a short week. One of the great mysteries at Rangeview is
the white dots on the walls on the first floor. Most people go through their entire 4 years as a student and don’t know they are even there.…
Week 19 Musical Interlude
Another fun school song and many of us had this experience in school. Van Halen at it’s best.
“I don’t feel tardy!”
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Day 88 January 13, 2023 – Fun with TSA
I did a story about TSA on day 87 so I might as well keep it rolling. We went to the Presidential Inauguration in 2009 and took a group of students. It was a fun time and a chance to witness history.…
Day 87 January 12, 2023 – Cheez Whiz
Airports became a serious matter after 9/11. Before that time you could have fun at the airport security lines without anyone going crazy. 9/11 changed that and made simple airport security much more of a serious gauntlet. Now we must know a bunch of rules and be on the right side of the law or things will be confiscated and destroyed if they do not meet the standards.…
Day 86 January 11, 2023 – Parking Lot Duty
I mentioned in my last post about being a class sponsor. There are several more stories about that role but I want to share a quick one. I did not realize that we were a little better off than the elementary school I started with.…
Day 85, January 10, 2023 – No ID?
Being a class sponsor for the freshmen and seniors over the years was a blessing and a curse. I loved working with the kids and doing big projects and making the school better for everyone. One experience was to be at all of the dances over the years.…
Week 18 Musical Interlude
I am now going to do some songs that are not the most wholesome. These are some fun songs but not the best influences but most of us have heard these and enjoy them. The first is a J. Geils Band song.…
Day 84 January 9, 2023 – Burgers Anyone?
A large part of my experience at Rangeview has involved travel. All over the country and Europe. One of my favorites was traveling to Disneyland with the student leadership group. Disneyland has a wonderful leadership academy and ran a good program that taught the fundamentals of leadership.…
Day 83 January 6, 2022 – My Flag
I am a strong believer in our commitment to diversity at Rangeview. We have been a No Place For Hate designated school by the ADL for many years. One of our added pieces is the Diversity Week we have every year.…
Day 82 January 5, 2022 – Quit Teaching
I am going to recycle a post I did several years ago. It is a post about tragedy but also about why I teach and accept the good and the bad.
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We were given the question at an in-service about the day that we wanted to quit teaching.
Day 81 January 4, 2023 – Flying Cars
The story for today isn’t about my time at Rangeview. It is about my time at Vivian Elementary in Lakewood growing up. As we pass into the year 2023 I am reminded of how far away the year 2000 is. It is as far from my high school graduation as the year 2000 and I remember thinking about how far off that was.…
Week 17 Musical Interlude
As a technology and computer science teacher, this song fits, and if you really listen some of the things have already come to pass. The added bonus is the old movie Metropolis.
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