Two days ago, I wrote a draft of an entry that described, in excruciating detail, the many circumstances (both school- and non-school-related) that have made the past two weeks the most exhausting two weeks of my life. Around the same time, I also uncharacteristically updated my Facebook status with a sampling of those circumstances. Upon further reflection, I realize that nobody likes to read a rant, least of all fellow teachers, many of whom are going through end-of-year struggles and crises of their own. So suffice it to say that it’s been a tough May, but I’m finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My friend commented with Joshua 1:9 on the aforementioned status update, and I think it’s a stunningly appropriate piece of encouragement for teachers who are currently in the trenches: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,…
read more »Questions that I hate getting from students: “Can I go to the library to finish my homework for another class?” [Um, seriously? No.] “Why do we have to do math today? Can’t we just watch a movie?” [I’m so sorry that I’m making you do math in a math class. I must be a terrible…
read more »Two stories, both from my M-4 block today: ————— First, a story of laughter. During today’s intro to new material, R (the same R about whom I wrote a month ago) volunteered to read a word problem. The final sentence of the problem was, “Who was driving at a higher average speed?” Inexplicably, R read this…
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I’ve been woefully negligent in updating this blog recently, which is unfortunate, since the April has been one of the most eventful months this year. Even now, I don’t have time for a full-fledged post, but here’s a list of some of the highlights from the past few weeks. My Math Lab kids scored an…
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I’ve had Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” bookmarked for months now, but I finally got around to watching the 20-minute TED talk this past week. In it, Adichie describes her childhood in Nigeria, her college experience in the United States, and, as one might imagine from the title, the potency and potential…
read more »“Mister, you always wear Air Forces on casual Friday. You should get those new Jordans.” “Yeah? Do you think they’d go well with this outfit?” “Naww mister, you gotta dress more like a middle schooler.” ————— “Mister, you know that you’re the best from all my teachers?” “What do you mean?” “My other teachers, when…
read more »Overheard during a lesson on arithmetic sequences R: “Oh my gawddd, this stuff is so awesome.” There is a remarkable disconnect between how much stuff has been happening in my classroom, school, life, etc., and how little I feel like blogging about it. Maybe my desire to write is directly proportional to the amount of…
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“By perseverance the snail reached the ark.” – Charles Spurgeon
read more »I’ve been reading a lot of interesting dialogue and debate regarding TFA and other “corporate” reform measures (not my favorite term, but unfortunately the most widely understood). It started back in January when an ed student and TFA naysayer posted a rather spiteful comment on Wess’s post “Bang for your buck”, and I ended up…
read more »And just like that, February break is over. Apparently, only Rhode Island has a week of vacation in the middle of February, which probably contributes to our relatively late ending date, but I’m not complaining—by the end of school last Friday, I barely had the energy and mental wherewithal to wish my kids (and secretly,…
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