This is the completion of my official retirement blog. I did exactly what I said I would do. I have a story for every student contact day. I will be branching out a little bit because I still have many stories to share.…
Category Archives: Retirement Journal
Day 176 May 23, 2023 Zip Ties
We started moving toward one-to-one Chromebooks several years ago. We started with carts in classrooms of 20 to 25 each. I sometimes have moments of OCD and I like everything neatly done. My interns and I set up the carts in the rooms.…
Day 175 May 22, 2023 No PDA’s Allowed
One of the hallmarks of my business classes was bringing them real-world situations. I told a lot of stories about me and my friends and so I had a series of law stories based on Lakewood. This was not my idea.…
Week 37 Musical Interlude
The Beach Boys’ song Graduation Day is fitting for the last week of the school year.
Another good song: Graduation by Vitamin C
My wish for the kids by Lee Ann Womack
…
Day 174 May 19, 2023 Self Esteem Monitor
Sometimes we need to serve as monitors for our students. I had a teacher in high school who refused to use my nickname, and his reasoning always made sense. He felt that it was important to honor the student, and using their name instead of a nickname reinforced that idea.…
Day 173 May 18, 2023 Swimming Pool Jeep
If you know my daughter, please don’t tell her I wrote this story about her in high school. All children lie to their parents a little. No matter how virtuous they are there is a fib here and there. My child is no different.…
Day 172 May 17, 2023 Clubhouse
People need refuge on occasion. I am an introvert at heart and can spend hours just in quiet or with my music. I know my facade is as an extrovert but that is what I do to teach and be in the world.…
Day 171 May 16, 2023 Unfinished Business
We are in our last week of instruction. This is a time I reflect on what went well and what needs changing for next year. This year I don’t have to plan for next year so I will take time to reflect on thirty years.…
Day 170 May 15, 2023 Shawshank Redemption
Another story about Amanda from my elementary days. It was my first week of teaching and I had the principal come into my classroom and ask if I wanted a gifted student. I don’t know of any teacher that doesn’t want to work with the best and the brightest.…
Week 36 Musical Interlude
These 2 songs were important during my years of high school. We always looked to be free and so we sang Freebird a lot. The other one for this week is the song played by every high school student sing its release in 1972.…
Day 169 May 12, 2023 Kids Say The Funniest Things
I saved some of the juicy things for last because I didn’t want to get in trouble. These are two stories that happened in this last quarter. Kids are entertaining me to the end and I appreciate it. The first story was a simple comment made by a student that caught me off-guard but was one of the greatest things I have heard related to technology.…
Day 168 May 11, 2023 Club Fifty
The is nothing more sacred to a teacher than the opportunity to use the restroom. We hold it dear and do not want anything disturbing our routines. When I got to Rangeview I was in my early 40s and was one of the younger people in our area.…
Day 167 May 10, 2023 OCD
This is a quick story but still one of my favorites. Nate was a teacher in Social Studies. He had a weird sense of humor and if you put us both in the same room we were dangerous. Standardized State Testing is a horrible waste of time and energy but even worse for the teachers who have to sit and watch kids take the test.…
Day 166 May 9, 2023 I Saw You in Albertsons
We have very short speeches during graduation. The reason is that the event is about the graduates and not the adults. In APS we have a special reason for not letting school board members speak. It is not because of all of them but one specific incident at an RHS graduation.…
Day 166 May 9, 2023 It’s Our Field
I saved this story because it is one that still embarrasses me. With our upper baseball field, we were not able to have a fence around it and so we struggled to keep people off of the field. We were lucky and had people in the neighborhood that would call us when someone was on the field.…
Week 35 Musical Interlude
When I look at my last year of high school for the second time, I get nostalgic about my life. I tend to remember the things from my first trip through high school. It was not the joyous romp that is often portrayed.…
Day 165 May 8, 2023 Catchphrase
Bantering with students is a way that teachers make connections with students. I think I have used many catchphrases over the years and some take on a life of their own. It culminated years ago in one of my students creating a poster of things I was not allowed to say anymore.…
Day 164 May 5, 2023 Brenna or Brunnen?
When learning a language people find helpful ways to remember words. Patrice who was our German teacher was very good at finding those connections. Another key factor is the repetition of words and language. Patrice understood this and was always reminding kids of words and phrases and their connections.…
Day 163 May 4, 2023 French Monkeys
I promised stories about French Monkeys all the way back on day 131 of the blog. Here goes… In Germany, we travel around the region for fun and history. One of the lesser-known attractions is a Monkey Park called La Montagne des Singes.…
Day 162 May 3, 2023 Panhandling
Panhandling seems to be a problem everywhere. While we were in Strasbourg, France we saw the in the tourist areas. Along with people walking around selling junk for exorbitant prices. You just had to pay attention. The teachers were having a cup of coffee while students explored the La Petit France area of town.…
Day 161 May 2, 2023 Problems Abroad
Our goal of the German Exchange was to explore history as well as modern life in Germany. It was to support our German language program at Rangeview. We always spent time traveling the region and extended into France. Our trips to Strasbourg were always an education of history and modern times.…
Day 160 May 1, 2023 Hike On The Beach
This is a story that I haven’t told often. It is in keeping with my goal to not appear on the six o’clock news as a teacher. The exchange that my daughter was a part of had many different adventures. You have already heard a couple but now the one that could get me fired.…
Day 159 April 28, 2023 Berlin
I had a post about our first trip to Berlin earlier but I want to add a couple of details I didn’t include in the first post. The unexploded bomb that delayed the train was just the beginning. We got to see the era of capitalism that has exploded worldwide.…
Day 158 April 27, 2023 WordPerfect 9.1
I have spent my career being at the forefront of technology I have used some great products over the years. PowerPoint is a case in point. I started using PowerPoint for MAC in the early 90s. It didn’t start out as a Microsoft product but they were bought in the late 80s.…
Day 157 April 26, 2023 Leadership
Leadership matters. For my CyberPatriot trip to the National Finals, we had a leader that had emerged three years earlier. Lucas Nicodemus was our leader on the team and ran a tight ship! Our goal from 2010 was to return and Lucas spent the next three years making that goal a reality. …
Day 156 April 25, 2023 Promises Promises
I try to avoid making promises because I don’t like the idea of breaking them. Every now and then I make a promise and wait and hope that I can deliver. Our first year with CyberPatriot was successful because we made nationals.…
Week 33 Musical Interlude
A couple of songs for this week. The first is a Rod Stewart song, Forever Young. It really speaks to how I view students. They will always be 17 in my classroom. No matter what they do I will always be there for them.…
Day 155 April 21, 2023 National Finals 1
Our first year in CyberPatriot saw us push all of the rules. The competition started as an added piece for ROTC. It really hadn’t considered the open division, so when they made it available to all schools, the rules had to be challenged.…
Day 154 April 20, 2023 CyberPatriot
Emails have become extra work in this modern day of education. There was a time when the principal got all of the information from the district and anyone else and synthesize what we needed to know. They would make a weekly or daily bulletin that we all read.…
Day 153 April 19, 2023 30-Second Haircut
The escapades with my hair continue. A few years after the leg waxing incident, I decided to do another homecoming hair challenge. I knew that the legs were off-limits this time and so I went with shaving my head bald. The good news is that after every time I have done this, it has grown back.…
Day 152 April 18, 2023 Hairless Teacher
One of the fun activities in high school is the annual homecoming. As a teacher, I felt it was my responsibility to participate and show the students the value of school spirit. I mentioned the dress-up days previously but I want to highlight getting deeply into the spirit.…
Day 151 April 17, 2023 Hairspray
I have been asked what are some of the crazy things I have done as a teacher. I will explore the pathway that hair has held for me over the years. You may ask what my hair has to do with the crazy things I have done as a teacher.…
Week 32 Musical Interlude
Last week was about lost youth but I think this week is the best description for students leaving us at the end of high school. It speaks about a loss of innocence and facing adulthood. Fore those of you who think it has drug references are wrong.…
Day 150 April 14, 2023 Dress Up
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about high school dress-up days. I have just added three pictures. One of the fun parts of being a part of high school is the dress up games. I am just going to let you bask in the glory of the Blues Brothers, The original Uncle Fester, and the Incredibles.…
Day 149 April 13, 2023 Beginnings & Destinations
I think we have a responsibility to give our students a sense of themselves and where they can go. High school is often the beginning for many students but it is their destination that is the most glorious. Theatre was a place for many students to find themselves.…
Day 148 April 12, 2023 Lunatics
It has been said too many times in my career that I have to be a little crazy to be a teacher. With that idea, I decided to direct One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Upon reflection, I might have been crazy.…
Day 147 April 11, 2023 Drinking Blood
Actors always think they are the best and most creative to ever take the stage. That is why they are good actors but sometimes they take it too far. Sandy Scott, Tammy Strouse, and I had different styles of directing. One of the hallmarks of my technique was freedom on stage.…
Day 146 April 10, 2023 Jumping Off A Bridge
Les Miserables was one of my favorite productions we did at Rangeview. The show we did in 2003 still ranks as one of the best high school productions I have been a part of or seen. We had exceptional actors and the set was a thing of wonder.…
Week 31 Musical Interlude
I am going to have to double up on some songs since I have so many. I have always loved folk music and so I have a couple that talks about the passing of time and youth. They are beautiful songs but mourn the loss of youth and I loved them when I was young but not I understand them.…
Day 145 April 7, 2023 Talking to God
Actors are sometimes hard to convince about playing a part. I had one example as I was directing Fiddler on the Roof. The actor who played Tevye had to be loose and free in his personality and his actions. Robert was picked for the part because he had a great audition.…
Day 144 April 6, 2023 Casting Mistakes
Every director has made casting mistakes. Steven Spielberg to a second-grade teacher doing “The Magic Schoolbus.” I have made my share. In my defense, I have made some brilliant choices. Every now and then there is a monumental mistake that haunts you.…
Day 143 April 5, 2023 Turn Off The Lights
This story is reported from my perspective and memory. I know people have had other experiences so I am speaking just for myself. There are students that have a huge impact on their teachers but not many transcend as much as our theatre spirit.…
Day 142 April 4, 2023 Re-Imagining Shakespeare
Every director that is worth their salt, does a Shakespeare play. It was my turn and I picked Romeo & Juliet for my run at Shakespeare. I want to say this with a little pride. A few of the kids that were in the production have done well in the performing arts as a career.…
Week 30 Musical Interlude
This is the second Billy Joel song. I heard him describe this song and he was adamant that it was not a political song but just a history of what has happened in his lifetime up until then. I also am amazed at the history I have witnessed and love to share it with my students.…
Day 141 April 3, 2023 It Didn’t Seem Important!
I want to take some time and do some stories from my years in theatre and performing arts. I mentioned very early in this blog that I got into the Theatre Department because the principal in my interview talked about the activities I did in high school.…
Day 140 March 31, 2023 Clean Uniforms
The graphic for today should say everything. Mothers have always hated white baseball pants. I have told my players to have a practice pair of pants and then game pants. It just made it easier. We played on a field that was rough on uniforms.…
Day 139 March 30, 2023 Under The Base
Field conditions in high school run the gambit from perfect to perfectly horrible. One game where I was able to make the umpire laugh so hard that he forgot to yell at me. We were playing a game against Bruce Randolph in Denver.…
Day 138 March 29, 2023 I’m Outta Here!
Working with umpires is a delicate balance between diplomacy and losing your mind. I need to say that the overwhelming majority of the umpires we have had were outstanding and did their job well. There were times that I didn’t agree with them but that is to be expected in a game.…
Day 137 March 28, 2023 Access-a-Ride
One of the challenging parts of coaching a high school sport is working with umpires or other officials. Before I get too deep into a couple of stories I need to preface my comments with the fact that I was only tossed from a game once in all of my years of coaching.…
Day 136 March 27, 2023 Hat Direction
Successful coaches often have things that are non-negotiable in their program. Mine was the direction of the hat. I am a believer that the athlete represents his team, his program, his school, his family, his community, and himself. Respect for all of those folks is paramount for me.…