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I didn't learn to have school spirit until I was an upperclassman in college. School gear wasn't my thing, identifying with a school mascot wasn't, and the last thing I wanted to do was be associated with the cheerleaders, pep club squad, and athletes Read More...
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"These N*ggas betta give me some points! I wanna hook up my Avatar!" These were the words uttered by one of my miscreant Germans last week when he was showing interest in learning the language for the first time in months. Earlier this year I spoke about Read More...
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One way I try to engage students in my classroom is to create simulations that will help them better understand concepts in history. Sometimes the simulations flop, while other times they succeed better than I'd expected. An example of one that worked Read More...
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An article written by Paul Farhi went up on the Washington Post's website on the May 20th that caught my eye. It outlines five assumptions commonly made about public education. The five myths are listed as: Our schools are failing Unions defend bad teachers Read More...
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On Saturday, it has been predicted, the world will end . One thing I can say is that I am not too worried about it, though I cannot say the same about my eighth graders. The students in the South Bronx, while just as gullible as any group of fourteen Read More...
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A couple of weeks ago my principal forwarded an email about a professional development (PD) opportunity that was to be hosted by a private school connected and staffed by one of the more prestigious universities in the city. Our school is completely on Read More...
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I think that most Americans believe schools should be better-funded. Most may also agree that the dollars being spent should be spent more wisely, but of all the conversations I've had about public education, very, very few people have said anything contrary Read More...
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Well folks, we're headed into the home stretch of the school year. The posts on this blog have been a bit less frequent as of late due to the tenacious hammering I've received on the job. Mind you, I've readily invited it. Something an old mentor told Read More...
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Spring break is here (and has been). At one point I was certainly looking forward to the seven weeks of uninterrupted class time that ended last Friday, but recently added responsibilities and my desire to determine whether or not I can teach two extra Read More...
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Lately we've been having a real pants problem at our school. Basically, some of our students seem to have forgotten how to put pants on or have lost them altogether. Either way, the lack of adequate pants or the lack of ability to properly wear the pants Read More...
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In the past few days I've really enjoyed reading English. I'm reading a book written by a former dean of Yale Law School who switched over to the humanities, presumably to write deep thoughts with very complex language just for the heck of it, called Read More...
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In the past four years I've worked in two very different settings where the term "transfer student" has meant extremely different things. When I taught for a spring on a U.S. military base, transfer students were extremely normal. There were systems in Read More...
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The plunging level of respect for classroom teachers in the past few decades seems to me to be one of, if not the , biggest problem we face in American public schools. There are a number of reasons why this has happened, but regardless, we have to address Read More...
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While keeping up to date on all of the banter about teachers stemming from the debate between governors and teachers' unions, I thought I'd post again about my schedule, as it has changed. While some politicians have done the politically correct thing Read More...
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If there is one thing that can motivate even our most difficult students, it is usually basketball. Many of our students on the court are extremely difficult to work with in the classroom. It strikes me as a basic question of where they're comfortable. Read More...
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