I’ve been thinking about the concept of grief a lot over the past year, and have even seen myself go through grieving processes for different things. I recognized this weekend that I was also exhibiting signs of the grieving process when I was coming to terms with the fact that my entire weekend was tanked Read More
Well, I’m more OCD worker than hippie. Okay, a LOT more. I actually told Josh the other day that I wished I was a little more hippie and he looked at me like I was crazy. I countered by saying that there’s something comforting about being chilled out in a van down by the river Read More
I was reading Abby’s Blog and it made me realize that I never blogged about The Great Termite Invasion of ’05. What a day. So, it was early Spring in 2005, and I was going about my regular business teaching art to my middle school students. While I was teaching, one of my student aides Read More
Image based on Nachosan’s Flickr site. When I was in first grade, I took the CAT test and did really well on it, and continued to test well throughout my academic career. This was apparently a big deal, and I was then listed as “High Potential” (today it’s known as Gifted and Talented Education, or Read More
Well, just a couple of days after winning Teacher or the Year, I was told that I need to get another credential to be able to have English language learners in my classroom. The one I got in Minnesota doesn’t count for beans. I need a new one and they could suspend my pay if Read More
I just found out on Friday that I am Teacher of the Year. I’ve been nominated the last several years, but this is the first time I’ve won. It’s kind of nice given how hard I work and how I’m constantly doing something related to teaching or improving my school or professional development or whatnot. Read More
In my classroom, I have these pink papers in a folder & kids fill them out if they have any issues or concerns about projects or life etc. It’s great, because I don’t have groups of students whining or telling me things I’ll forget anyway. So, if a kid has an issue, I tell them Read More
Today was the first time in my entire teaching career when I collected an assignment, started grading it, and went, “Oh my gosh… these are terrible.” I mean, usually I’ll have at least a few that stand out. This one… zippo. So, I had to reel back and ask myself some important questions. What did Read More
This year, Macworld had the K-12 Education Symposium back and I was SO THERE! It was a very inspirational conference for me as I was able to hear from many people who are utilizing technology in ways that actually further student learning. Many people around me have a tendency to use technology for the sake Read More
Okay, maybe the word whore is a bit strong, but that’s essentially what I’ve become. You see, in education, the only way you can get a raise is by getting something called Continuing Education Units (CEU), or by accomplishing a higher degree. It’s basically me paying so I can continue teaching so others can get Read More