Ahhhhh, the favorite summertime activities y’all posted at “‘Eeee-zy’ First Friday Giveaway” sound relaxing, fun, and simply wonderful. Sleeping in, reading, spending time with family, shopping, sunning, traveling…fabulous! Y’all are so deserving! And now for the news you are waiting for—the winner of June’s First Friday Giveaway is Helena (comment 154) who is looking forward…
Vacation
What Day Is It?
When I taught, I couldn’t keep track of the days during summer vacation. Calendar time each morning during the school year is a vivid reminder of the current month, day, and year. So when you take away daily calendar time, I’m totally lost. I’m pretty good at keeping track of the days working in educational…
What You May Have Missed
I’m on vacation for a few days, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your fill of Todd’s blogs. Just Who Do You Think You Are? – Tell us about your teaching style. Are you student centered or teacher centered? There’s no wrong answer. Rate Your Tech Savvy – Every teacher has to face new…
I Bought Myself an e-Reader
At the beginning of the summer, I bought myself an eReader. It’s a popular one from an online retail powerhouse. And it’s okay. My reasons for buying it were simple: portability and an end to space- and paper-consuming physical books. This device was going to revolutionize my reading habits (which had suffered the last few…
End-of-June Randomness
It’s tough to write a blog for teachers in the final days of June. Some of you have been done with your 2012-2013 school year for almost a month. Some of you are looking at your last few days. Retailers are blatantly guilty of starting their back-to-school promotions. And we will not give you even…
How to Celebrate in Style?
How would you like to see a photo of all The Mailbox editors wearing aluminum foil hats? I’ll make it happen before the end of the school year. But you have to do me a favor. I need lots of ideas for how a teaching staff can wrap up its school year in style. In…
Making the Most of These Days
It is my belief that every day you have students in your classroom is a day to educate. That includes the very last days of school. As much as I yearned for the opportunity to slack off a little, maybe show a film adaptation of a novel we had read, I rarely gave my students…
A Quick Check-In
It’s time to do a seasonal check-in. Some of you have had your spring break. Others are still longing for it. Your students are either going stir-crazy from a long winter or they’re distracted by the onset of spring sports and warmer weather. (My apologies to any readers from the southern hemisphere who are enjoying…
Time Off. Time for What?
While the Mayans sure did a bang-up job creating a calendar that includes more cycles than last year’s Tour de France, they don’t seem to have been interested in clocks or predictions. What time will the world end, Mayans? Will the world end, Mayans? My feet are firmly planted in the Garden of Don’t Believe….
What Is the Shape of Your Summer?
You know what I always wanted to do? Teach summer school. Despite the trials, tribulations, triumphs, and trickery of teaching an entire, standard-length school year, there was a sizable chunk of my addled brain that wanted to teach summer school. In fact, a few times I had constructed entire designs for a special summer academy…