I know. I went dark. But that’s the prerogative of a teacher, right? To go dark in the summer. There is much to tell, and perhaps I might get around to telling some of it. But school has begun so for now, some things the kids said today… 1. Band I was talking to a […]
Yearly Archives: 2019
Not Nearly As
Wed, 28 Aug 2019, 08:26 PM (-06:00)
And so year two has begun… My throat hurt badly after the first day, although it didn’t hurt nearly as long as last year. My feet are sore again, although not nearly as bad as last year. I’m still one of the last teachers to leave my side of the building, although not nearly as […]
It Comes with Experience
Thu, 23 May 2019, 07:32 PM (-06:00)
Two grasshopper moments from this past week… 1. Sharpening Pencils He came to sharpen his pencil. There is an electric sharpener sitting on a low table by the wall just below the whiteboard, and the students know that they may come up at any time to sharpen their pencils. A student who wants an effective […]
Checking Her Answers
Tue, 21 May 2019, 08:24 PM (-06:00)
The period was over. Most of the students had turned in their tests. I scanned the room and saw a student closely examining hers — not rushing to get one more answers in but rather looking it over closely. She was done. She had answered every question. And yet, she didn’t just hop up and […]
So Happy Day
Mon, 20 May 2019, 08:14 PM (-06:00)
A student came into my classroom one day after school last week. She wanted help going over some problems. She found a spot to sit and took the chair down from the desk. We started working problems. I would help her a bit and then suggest that she see how far she could get while […]
Security
Sun, 19 May 2019, 06:04 PM (-06:00)
When I came out onto the patio, Miss Izzy was playing with some young girls, much to the glee of the fair and industrious Trudy who had her on a short leash. Nearby, two boys were at a small table horsing around. They were standing in the chairs, and one was shouting to a homeless […]
Rainy Day Pencils
Tue, 14 May 2019, 07:38 PM (-06:00)
It was a rainy day. On days like that, the ag classes which are in the portables stay inside, scrounging for space in rooms where teachers have a planning period (and so no students). This is why, during fifth period, they came into my room. One of the students was working on a project. She […]
The Last Lesson
Mon, 13 May 2019, 08:12 PM (-06:00)
At some point on Friday, my Algebra 2 colleague said to me, “Well, today’s the last day of notes for the students.” We both have them keep notes in composition notebooks. Sometimes they glue things in. Much of the time, they write notes and examples based on what I’m writing in my notebook. So the […]
Just Fine
Sun, 12 May 2019, 08:40 PM (-06:00)
Sometimes I get distracted. I will be talking about something like, I don’t know, something like direct variation. And then I will stop mid-sentence and look at the class. I will look at them and change gears — tell a story. When this happens, they set their pencils down. They have learned to see it […]