One's teaching career often goes through seasons. A young teacher year is often more like summer, filled with energy, fun ideas, and optimism. However, more experienced teachers may begin the school year recharged only to hit a wall by the end of Autumn, plunging into a winter-like rut for the remainder of a school year. [...]
Many of my current sophomores were not alive on the day the world stopped turning. Most of my students are fifteen-years-old — these adolescents are the post-911 generation. They know no other reality than the war on terror. And yet, they know so little about the events of that tragic day. For example, when asked, [...]
I am a bit of an eavesdropper. When I hear the word school uttered in a conversation near me, I perk up. Like a prairie dog popping out of its hole, my neck lengthens, and I turn my head towards the speaker. My nosey nature concerning talk of education has led me to two observations: A majority [...]
As the 2019-2020 school year commences, the calendar might as well read the year 1956--the year President Eisenhower included "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and the national motto declared: "In God We Trust." Although the futuristic year of 2020 is upon us, we continue to live in a time of anxiety [...]
Six in the morning is early for any faculty meeting, especially on the Monday after the July 4th holiday, but I was told to report to the library in a large high school I have only driven past. Hired over the phone, I wonder what kind of Gong Show I am attending. Is my employment [...]