There are a multitude of opinions on the topic of calculators, ranging from: “I learned math without a calculator” to “what happens if children are dependent on calculators and there isn’t one around” to “children should not move on to higher level math until they can do basic computations mentally.” I am going to explain why […]
Featured
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics
Top five reasons to go to the 2015 NCTM Annual Conference
I have attended the past eight NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) conferences. The event has become an annual highlight in both my academic and professional careers. For me, the conference has always been about learning. There were some years when I savored a walk through the exhibit hall to discover the newest software […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Social Studies
Irish & African American Struggles for Freedom: Day 2 at the Organization of American Historians Conference
On Saturday, April 12, I again attended the Organization of American Historians Conference 2014 in Atlanta. Saturday was a very busy day as there were more people there than on Friday. I arrived to the conference around 10:00 AM and explored the exhibition hall. Several of the publishers represented there were giving away their stock […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
Life Through the Lens of a Yearbook Advisor
My dad is a professional photographer so cameras have always been a part of my life. Perhaps that’s why being on one end of the camera or on the other makes very little difference to me…it’s all good! As a child I was taken in-tow from job to job with my father; I posed for this poster, that spread, this advertisement, […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
The Potential of Failure
This was it. I stood, sweaty and exhausted, as my band director walked over to the group of potential drum major candidates standing at the center of the field. Six of us had just endured a grueling tryout for the past hour and a half, but only one would be selected to be drum major […]
Posted inFeatured
How My Elementary School Community Saved My Life
I was born in 1951. A few months after my birth, it was discovered that I had a heart defect that would need surgery. Before I was old enough to have the surgery my father died. As there was no real safety net back then, my mother and I lived with three different families until […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured
4 Steps to a Happy Ending to the School Year
Spring break is behind you. One morning, some wisenheimer shouts “Only 25 days of school left!” Even though you have been secretly counting down, you know this is it: the beginning of the crazy year end behavior. The students’ attention begins to diminish, and noise and classroom chaos climb frantically. Here are four steps to […]
Posted inFeatured
Climbing Mt. Everest…Why Do We Do It?
Last week I received a CNN e-mail that stated that ten people were missing and presumed dead due to a major avalanche that occurred on Mt. Everest. My first thought was, “Why do people climb that mountain??!” I don’t get it! Why would people put their life in danger to climb a mountain? Do they do it for […]