Tag: teaching

  • MONOPOLY: HIGH SCHOOL EDITION

    Four years. One diploma. Endless drama. Absolutely no refunds. Ages: 14–18, or anyone still emotionally recovering from high school. Players: 2–8, plus one person who insists they weren’t invited but shows up anyway. Playing time: Four academic years, approximately 3 hours of actual gameplay, or what feels like an eternity in third-period algebra. Objective: Survive…

  • The Eight Words We Probably Use Too Much

    There are certain words that seem to find their way into conversations about students who are struggling academically. They show up in meetings. They appear in emails. They make their way into progress reports and parent conferences. Words like apathy, indifference, resignation, disillusionment, detachment, disengagement, listlessness, and disinterest. Eight perfectly respectable words. Eight words that…

  • Dear God, the Comments Section

    I hate election season. I really do. Not elections, mind you. Elections are important. Voting is important. Participating in the process is important. All that good civic responsibility stuff they taught us back when civics was something we actually talked about without somebody throwing a chair. No, I hate election season. There’s a difference. Election…

  • I Can’t… Maybe

    There is no “I can’t.” Well… almost. Can “I can’t” be a valid answer?  Absolutely. In the proper context, sometimes you genuinely can’t. There are real limitations, real circumstances, and things beyond your control. Pretending otherwise would be foolish. But too often, “I can’t” is just the lamest and laziest of all excuses. And after…

  • FROSH ISLAND: The Musical

    A Magical Tale of Hope, Courage, and Absolutely No One Putting Their Phone Away 7:42 A.M. — Opening Number: “A Whole New Day” The sun rises over campus. Birds chirp. Students arrive. Our ADMIN stands majestically at the front gate, coffee in hand. ADMIN: 🎵 A brand-new day, a brand-new start, Young minds to shape,…

  • Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and a Shitload of Coffee

    I remember having to teach these to freshmen in high school years ago. As I was visiting classrooms this year, I saw them again in the AVID classes, written up on the board like three old friends I hadn’t seen in years. Or maybe three old enemies. And just like that, I was transported back…

  • Wait… What Was I Doing?

    Being hyper-focused and completely distracted at the same time. It is possible. I know. I sometimes live that reality. If I am being honest? I always live this reality. It’s that magical state where your brain is laser-focused on seventeen things simultaneously… while accomplishing none of the things you originally sat down to do. And…

  • My Two Cents

    I saw this posted online today: “If you haven’t taught in a classroom post-COVID, you don’t know what it is like to teach the modern student. The students have changed. Teaching has changed. You have to be in the classroom daily to understand what I mean.” Well… That got the brain monkeys stirred up. At…

  • Congratulations. See You Monday

    I saw a meme that said, “If you’re feeling bad, just remember this: teachers go to school from age 5 until they retire!” Honestly, I have so much I can say about this, I don’t even know where to start. Because that meme has way more material hiding inside it than it has any right…

  • We Were Here

    There are far too many people taking selfies, but there are also far too few people taking selfies. I know. You’re probably thinking, What the heck does that mean? Bear with me. First, you need to understand the basic premise of the selfie. At its worst, the selfie is an act of selfishness and vanity.…

  • When the Words Leave the Page

    I am a career educator. Eleven years in the classroom. Two years as a resource teacher. Thirteen years as an administrator. Along the way, I’ve been an athletic director, ASB advisor, journalism instructor, tech lead teacher, and advisor for technology and photography clubs. I’ve coached pretty much every sport at one point or another—and probably…

  • About Your Son, Connor…

    Some thoughts on kids, consequences, parents, schools…and the questionable decision-making abilities of developing humans Your kid messed up; Welcome to the club. Nobody enjoys getting that phone call from school. You know the one. “Hi, this is the school. Do you have a minute to talk about something that happened today?” There is almost no…

  • Oh, God… Not That Kid!

    There are burdens that come with being a career educator. You carry a lot of kids with you. Not literally, of course. Although after enough years in education, your back probably hurts enough that it feels like you have. You carry their stories. Their struggles. Their successes. Their bad decisions. The ones you worried about.…

  • The Secret Lives of Monkey Mitty

    There’s something wonderfully undignified about a nap. You can be a fully grown, functioning adult with responsibilities, obligations, and a perfectly reasonable schedule, and yet the moment your body decides it’s had enough, all of that gets overruled. The body calls the meeting, declares an emergency, and sends you to bed without consulting management. Some…

  • I Like Caramels, But I Digress

    Someone recently asked me my opinion about something. And that got me thinking. Not necessarily about the thing I was asked about, but about this whole business of opinions in general. Because these days, it seems like everyone has one. About everything. And apparently, I’m no exception. In fact, there was a time when that…