One piece of advice conveyed to me as a student in high school has never really helped. It went something like this: When in trouble When in doubt Run in circles Scream and shout. While my ability to confront and manage stressful situations has never found me resorting to this worrying piece of advice, my…
Teacher Appreciation
Perfection Is Boring
In The LEGO Movie, they sing that “everything is awesome” because, in the little brick world in which the movie begins, everything about life operates in such a way that even mistakes seem wonderful in the rare instances when they occur. And by rare, of course, they mean almost never. The real world in which…
Just Who Do You Think You Are?
How full does your lesson plan book need to be? Lesson plan books vary as widely as the teachers using them. I remember some teachers who crafted plan books detailed with the precision and flourish of a Rembrandt crossed with a Seurat, complete with stickers, inserts, overlays, and of course, about eight different colors of ink,…
Small Victories and Delicious Canned Luncheon Meat
We do a fair amount of rationalizing in our day-to-day lives. You know, I may have forgotten to stop at the grocery store on my way home, but when else were we going to eat that Spam? It’s a great way to turn small triumphs into large victories. We may have lost to that team…
Snow Gridlock
Here in the south, a teeny bit of snow can throw a wrench into things. It’s not that we’re wimps or that our blood is thinner than Minnesotans—well, honestly, I can’t verify either of those things. What comes to my mind are words like inexperienced and unprepared. And really, when Mother Nature decides to shake…
Jimmy Dislikes Eggs
While you learn something new every day, you may not learn something new every day that changes your life. For example, you don’t learn addition every day. You don’t learn the first law of physics every day. You don’t learn Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs every day. Some days you learn something simple, like Jimmy dislikes…
Quick Poll on Clean Off Your Desk Day
Welcome to Clean Off Your Desk Day 2014. In a previous life, my desk was not a very tidy area. It often had more in common with the Leaning Tower of Pisa than a so-called work surface. Yet, while it is not exactly spotless or clutter free in 2014, I’ve come a long way, baby….
Sell Me on Teaching
“You should be a teacher.” I heard that quite a bit from people in the ten years before I switched careers and became a teacher. Most of those people were rational, arguably sane individuals. However, none of those people were teachers, so their advice and enthusiasm should have been suspect. When the time came, I…
Talk to the Parents
November 18–22, 2013, is American Education Week. This blog is posting on the second day, which is Parents Day, when participating schools invite parents into the classroom to witness a typical day of learning. Of course, by now most of you have had parent-teacher conferences, open houses, curriculum nights, and various after-school activities during which…
Teachers’ Pets
Did your nose wrinkle as you read the title of this blog? If it did—unwrinkle it! This blog is not about the notion that teachers show favoritism to select students. Ugh! We know better! Nope, this blog is about our furry, feathery, and scaly companions who are sooooo happy to see us after a long…