Educators
Roots & Wings
Way back in December, a brochure made its way into my house advertising a summer kids’ camp at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Monkey read it hungrily and announced that he really wanted to take a computer programming class….
Hard Ass by Jessica Buttram #twits
He came to teach at my high school my junior year. The summer before school started, we received a letter in the mail from him with a list of reading material, as well as our first writing assignment, to be turned in on the first day. What? I had attended an academically advanced school since sixth grade, and, though we had summer reading lists, not once did I have to write a paper when I should have been working on my tan lines….
Spot Check
I’m kicking off Wednesday #TWITS: a fancy-schmancy acronym for Teachers Whom I Think Scored / Teachers Whom I think Sucked. It only took me six bajillion hours to think up that one. So here is my middle school memory about one very specific moment. Obviously, I have changed the teacher’s name….
Teachers Who Sucked vs. Teachers Who Scored
Back in May, I realized my fall 2011 semester was going to be hectic, so I asked a bunch of people to consider helping me out by writing about a memory of a favorite (or not so favorite) teacher who helped them learn something about themselves or the world. Because everyone has a favorite teacher, right? And, let’s face it, even the bad ones taught us something….
A Commencement Speech by Alec Jacobson
Recently, my super cool, crazy smart nephew was selected by his peers to deliver the commencement speech at his high school graduation which took place this past Sunday, June 25, 2011….
Locked and Partially Loaded for Fall 2011
I may be delusional, but (I think) most of my former students will tell you that I give off the vibe that I find them endlessly fascinating. Which, by the way, is true. They will probably tell you that I give them solid feedback and that I am willing to help them. Day or night. The reality is, I am good to them as long as they do not heckle me….
What Teachers Make
I can’t imagine that there is anyone in America who hasn’t seen Taylor Mali’s video rant.
But just in case, here it is again. In a different version….
A Word On Grades
Back when I was in graduate school, we learned that C meant “Average” — and guess what? Most students are average. (Not your kids, of course. Your kids are gifted and talented.)…
End of Semester Gratitude
The Fall-Winter 2010 semester is over for me. My grades have been reported. My unattractive yet functional wheelie bag has been dumped of its contents and placed with the rest of the luggage — in the nether regions of the basement. Today, I am getting my hair high-lighted. It has been fifteen weeks since my last highlight or cut. (The straightening thing doesn’t count.) Don’t even ask about the state of my fingernails at the moment. I have a way of letting certain things go during the semester. But now it is time to catch up….
Contemplating Quitting The Classroom
I have been thinking that this will be my last semester in the classroom. It’s been a hard year for a variety of reasons, but I have been thinking I just am not connecting with my students the way I used to. Part of it may be that I am getting older. I have somehow become an “old-fashioned teacher” who doesn’t show movies, rely on Smart Boards or Power Point presentations. In other words, I have always been able to “be my own show,” create my own bells and whistles, and that was enough. I was enough.
This year is different. I feel… old….