That’s right, my first major assignment of the day today was killing a rather sizable spider stalking a coworker. Let’s not debate whether the spider could have been captured and released into the wild. I believe this big creepy-crawly had been born in captivity, as it were, a lifelong resident of the nooks and crannies…
Idea Center Gold
Are You Ready for Your Guest Host?
There’s a nasty late-winter cold making its way through the offices of The Mailbox right now. I hope I am one of the last ones to suffer from it, for it is surely insufferable. Somewhere along the line, this particular beast was dubbed The Crud. The Crud leaves you coughing, sniffling, achy, irritable, tired, and…
Worth Its Weight in Gold
Stop and think for a moment about what makes your job easier as a teacher. There are some things you can control, but there are plenty you cannot. And so you are left trying to do your best with the tools you are given. This got me thinking about all the teachers who stop me…
Ideas for Summer Math Reinforcement
At 9 am, a train leaves a seaside resort, heading inland, at 50 miles per hour. Seven hundred miles away, at 9:45 am, in the mountains near a wide blue lake, another train leaves an alpine resort, headed toward the ocean, at 45 miles per hour. The first train makes three stops, each lasting ten…
202 Ways to End the School Year
When big-name Hollywood entertainers talk about the ends of their careers, they often talk about “going out on top.” Of course, some movie stars see their careers terminated by foolish personal transgressions, and some television stars see their winning careers turn into losing propositions in the time it takes to appear on a third-rate radio…