It’s the Saturday after the last day of school for teachers. I am turning 58 today. I just completed my 34th year as a social studies teacher. Tomorrow is Father’s Day. Looking back over the past year and over the arch of my career, I want to write about the struggles and successes of my […]
From the Front Lines
Posted inHow to Fix Education
The High Expectations Myth
The high expectations myth is a pernicious, insidious mantra. It is the notion that if I, as a teacher, say and believe I hold high expectations, it is magically true. Examining actual teaching practices is neither necessary nor worthwhile. I have better things to do. Change or growth or flexibility aren’t needed. It is the […]
Posted inOpinion
Rat Infestations, Permanent Voice Damage, & Grieving In the Classroom : Reflections on the Absolute WORST YEAR of My Teaching Career
This has been the absolute worst year of my teaching career. By far . . . It started too early—much too early. Our teacher meetings began on August 14th. Whatever, you may ask fellow teachers, ever happened to the Tuesday after Labor Day serving as the year’s genesis? Anyone who has spent any time in […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Turning The Page on Tragedy
My close friend and long-time colleague, Michelle, died three weeks ago. She was only forty years old. We shared thousands and thousands of students together over the past eighteen years. Her classroom is on the same floor as mine, just around the corner. We coached speech and debate together in our early twenties, created an […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Legalizing Marijuana – How does it Effect Schools?
Pot. Grass. Herb. Bud. Cheeba. 420. Mary Jane. You’ve probably smoked it. You’ve at least been around people who have smoked it. If not, you’ve seen it smoked on TV or the movies and thought those scenes were hilarious, it’s okay, you can admit it. In 2018 there are now eight states who have legalized […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Teaching in a Polarized Society: Reaching Across the Political Divide
“And the Oscar Goes To…” Teaching Civics in today’s hyperpartisan atmosphere is a dangerous occupation. The issues that make up the dialogue of American politics seem to have separated the American electorate to a higher degree today than in years past. Americans were always able to agree on their common heritage as the greatest democracy […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
More Transgender Students are coming forward than ever before, are teachers prepared?
When I first started teaching it was 2004. The term “transgender” was rarely used. It was a term I may have heard in passing, but I never used it to describe any of the students in my school. As far as I knew, there were no students in my classes who identified as being transgender. […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Facets of Personality and Successful Teaching
Anyone who has ever been a cooperating teacher for an up-and-coming student teacher knows how difficult it can be to evaluate one’s protege negatively. As I observed my student teacher. I am inspired to evaluate my own teaching style and the elements of my personality that go into my efforts to be a master teacher. […]