When I started teaching, I had the misconception that my point of view was the most important thing in the classroom. But the longer I taught, the more I realized that my perspective was just one part of the classroom culture—not the driving force.…
Tag Archives: students
Hacking The World
Creating cybersecurity classes can be fraught with concerns, as schools and districts often harbor apprehensions about the potential for inadvertently fostering hackers or criminals. It’s essential that these programs incorporate a strong moral component. Fortunately, my experience has shown that many students self-select out once they realize that cybersecurity involves more than just breaching systems.…
Day 177 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.…
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
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Day 175 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 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 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 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 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.…
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 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.…
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.…
Day 99 January 31, 2023 – Opaque Projector
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.…
Week 21 Musical Interlude
Sexy 17 by the Stray Cats.
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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.…
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.…
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 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 77, December 12, 2022 My Grade
This is the start of finals week and it is time to let the begging and pleading commence. I like to give production tests where a student creates something. It can be anything from a program, a cybersecurity incident report on an image, or a part and drawing in engineering.…
Day 76 December 9, 2022 Student Assessment
Teachers feel judged daily by students, parents, administrators, district administrators, the state board of education, state legislatures, and society as a whole. Nothing about that system is going to change. Teachers who spend countless hours railing against this are doing themselves and their students a disservice.…
Day 72 December 5, 2022 Strouse
If I am going to be honest, there is one person that I have spent many hours with that has been a big influence. Tammy Strouse has been a steady force at Rangeview for the entire time I have been there.…
Week 16 Musical Interlude
We seem to hear this from kids daily. The funny thing is that I can say the same about my time in high school.
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THE DAY I WANTED TO QUIT TEACHING
We were given the question at an in-service about the day that we wanted to quit teaching. Every teacher has them and we were asked to keep this private and think about how that might also apply to students and how they feel about school.…