Gossip, Rumors, those evil little ideas that get passed around… and in schools they are even more treacherous than normal. About a month ago, I had a student come up to my desk during worktime. “I have a question to ask you…” “Okay, what is it?” “Well, it’s something I heard, and I knew you [...]
Every time we review for tests I hear the title phrase. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. I am sure other teachers have the same problems with reviewing and tests. My general philosophy about tests is that they should be an assessment of the high/important points from the chapter. I try to make my [...]
I love my students dearly, but sometimes I have to ask them Really??? Our school, like many I have seen or heard about, has a no tolerance policy about electronic devices, specifically IPODs and cell phones. I love the rule. Students are here for school not to text to their friends or listen to music. Oh [...]
I find myself dodging the question of political affiliation many times in class and today was no exception. Students ask me either straight out or by beating around the bush “Are you a Democrat or Republican?” How do I answer? or do I? I think all teachers (at least teachers of high school social studies) run [...]
Does anyone remember the days when we drank milk from paper cartons and on the back there were pictures of missing children? I do and I want to add another category to the milk carton: missing teachers. During this school year, two teachers have been “let go” without so much as a word of warning [...]
I want to run you through my day today: 8-9am — gave a final to one student that took 20 minutes, then watched Shrek 9:05-10:10 – supervised study hall, then watched Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 10:15-11:45 — watched Elf (one of 4 movies the middle and high schoolers could choose to watch) 11:50-12:20 – ate lunch [...]
At my school, I am often treated as the curriculum head for social studies. That has led to some interesting question I would never have to answer at a large public high school. The biggest question has to do with Scope and Sequence. Background on the situation: My school is PK-12 with two social studies [...]
Does anyone else have those days when nothing seems to get done? Well I have those days often. Maybe it’s just the nature of teaching children (and yes, I am including seniors in high school in that children category) and maybe there is something more insidious going on. Take today for example: I had to [...]