Education Blog
On day 33 I spoke of a poor role model. I want to now speak of a wonderful role model from the very same conference in Las Vegas. One of the speakers was Bob Villa who was on the show This Old House at the Read more
One of the most important lessons we can teach kids is how to act. I do not mean by constant reprimand but by example and mentoring. I saw something many years ago in Las Vegas that proves my point. I mentioned the trip to Las Read more
Teaching in an urban school presents challenges to teaching natural sciences. Luckily we were about 4 blocks from Bluff Natural Preserve. It was easy to take them those few blocks without a bus or any other transportation issues. There was one unique touch to our Read more
I had a cooperating teacher that was very savvy when it came to training me. Student teaching is always stressful but parent-teacher conferences can be the worst. Barb decided I needed to do some of them alone while she sat and watched. She picked my Read more
Presenting in large groups to other teachers is always fraught with danger. You have those in the room who are already experts and attend just to show up the speaker. Others attend who have no idea what they are getting into. The last group Read more
Get involved. I stress this to every new teacher. I also caution them about picking what to get involved with. Ask about time commitments and extra work. Sometimes working on school or district groups requires nothing except attending the meetings and some review work. I Read more
I believe that if you take yourself too seriously, others won't take you seriously at all. That is a bold statement to take about teachers. Many teachers suffer from the "too seriously" bug. They know that their job is pivotal to the success of a Read more
The importance of reading can never be under stated. Today I am going to talk about one of my most stressful and rewarding times as a student and seeing the same in my students. Book orders were one of the best memories I had as Read more
Bureaucracy and red tape fill every profession. My first encounter with it in education was as a candidate for a teaching license. I thought it would be pretty straightforward. That was my first mistake. I was toiling away at my classes, weekly observations, and working Read more
I have been blessed in my career to know some amazing and influential people. But as with anything, I also learned about the worst people can bring to our society. The most frustrating occurrence was surrounding science and getting students the tools we needed. In Read more
You may be looking askance at the graphic accompanying this post. Believe me that by time that I am finished you will understand why it is so important for me to tell this story. When I started teaching in the early 90s, it was still Read more
Working on 9/11 in a school was a difficult undertaking. All of the obvious questions swirled in our heads. Do we tell the children? Do you interrupt teaching to view it? Not every classroom had a projector or TV so do we show them anything? Read more