Monthly Archives: February 2023

Day 117 February 28, 2023 My Overseas Office

As an American teacher, I am used to having an office for my job. I loved my desk in the business office and it was a place to relax and not be stressed for a short time. It was very important until it was taken from us a couple of years ago.…

Day 116 February 27, 2023 My Best Friend

The relationships you develop over the course of an exchange are lasting. Dawn and I have developed a relationship with our German counterparts over fifteen years. It is a bond that goes beyond just partners for academic activity. We have spent a great deal of time with many teachers over the years but we have a family that we are especially close to and have contact with until this day.…

115 February 24, 2023 Exchange Hosting

The Greman Exchange program has been a highlight of my teaching career. Your first question might be if I know the language. The simple answer is no. It is much more complicated than a simple answer. I could survive but not for too long.…

Day 114 February 23, 2023 Kazakhstan

I am going to start doing some stories from our part of exchanges at Rangeview. Bud Blauer & Patrice Dovas-Hudson had very strong programs. Bud had a school in Kazakhstan to support the Russian language program. I loved having the students in my classroom every year and as a result, I received one of the most prized souvenirs of my teaching career.…

Day 113 February 22, 2023 Bouncing Laptop

I was listening to the Barry McGuire song, The Eve of Destruction, and thinking about anger as a part of teaching. I have over the years had moments of frustration but I only think I was angry at a student a couple of times in my career.…

Day 112 February 21, 2023 Everybody Does It

Teaching tools make our lives easier. If it is the EZ-Grader that gives percentages based on the number of questions to interactive whiteboards These tools can be very handy and I started with the Apple Network Administrator Toolkit (ANAT.) It allowed me to monitor students and when students started the machine, it cleared everything from before and gave them a clean image.…

Week 24 Musical Interlude

1984 saw the release date of the movie Teachers. If you haven’t seen it, I relate well to the character played by Richard Mulligan.

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Day 111 February 16, 2023 Cheaters Sometimes Prosper

When I talk to some of my CybperPatriot competitors about the National Finals, they only think of one school. I think one of the hardest things to do as a teacher is to instill a sense of values and the importance of fair play and have it proven that sometimes cheaters get ahead.…

Day 110 February 15, 2023 – Multimedia

I have the had the pleasure of being on the forefront of technology in schools. I did several posts early about the technology I was using in elementary school. In high school we had the chance to explore and create. I started when the multimedia class was PowerPoint and all of the things you could do with it.…

Day 109 February 14, 2014 Valentines Day

St. Valentines Day. A day of love, fun, and romance. The single most important romantic advice I give to students is: “Your future spouse is not currently attending Rangeview!” The hope was that students understand that the vast majority of high school romances end and that there is more out in the world other than Rangeview.…

Week 23 Musical Interlude

This song doesn’t talk about school specifically but does talk about the joy of September when school started. It also speaks to aging and I know that in the December of my career I am enjoying the return to earlier times.…

Day 108 February 13, 2023 – War Games

The title for today is a slight throwback to my elementary days but it is worth the story. In 1999 long before 9/11 changed how the government and secure sites handled things, I got to attend a 4-day workshop. The workshop was sponsored by NASA and held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.…

Day 107 February 10, 2023 – CyberPatriot 2010

CyberPatriot changed my career in many ways. That first group was an amazing year. None of us knew what we were doing. The students, mentor, and I were not sure how to train. We did it every Wednesday afternoon for a couple of hours.…

Day 106 February 9, 2023 – New Adventures

I tell my students that high school is a time to try a lot of different things. In my own high school days I was involved with sports, theatre, vocal music, and the speech team. As I look at my friends from over the years they encompass all of those groups and more.…

Day 105 February 8, 2023 I See You

During the Presidential Inaugural in 2009, there were millions of people on the National Mall and the surrounding areas. At this same time, our DECA chapter was starting some new businesses as a part of the class. They had all kinds of clothing, scarves, and jackets.…

Day 104 February 7, 2023 Inaugural Parade

With the crowds at the 2009 Presidential Inaugural, It was important to plan, scout, and choose wisely.  I don’t want to hear any argument about crowd sizes but I know I was in a big crowd. Me and 2 million of my closest friends.…

Day 103 February 6, 2023 – Bad Fish

I have been lucky in my career to travel to Washington DC several times with students. I started the stories last week of the 2009 Inauguration trip. Today I tell the story of what can go wrong on a trip. From the title you can probably guess where this is headed, We are still not sure if it was the fish but I am a believer.…

Day 101 February 2, 2023 – RHS Rattlers

Rangeview has been good to me for over 20 years and I live by the motto “Once a Raider, Always a Raider.” We are a Raider family. Dawn, my wife, works in the Special Ed. department and my daughter graduated from here in 2010.…

Day 100 February 1, 2023 – Student Activism

It is fitting that the students sometimes are our best leaders. One of my memorable experiences is student activism. I was happy to be a part of the Black Lives Matter Protest a few years ago. It is also fitting that the date was 2 days before the Juneteenth celebration.…