Today was the last day of school for Forest Lake. Tomorrow is graduation. We (they?) started school in early August to make room for construction, and today, they get to be done. I have watched the school news and town news through social media posts from friends still living and teaching there, and I know … Continue reading May 23: Last Day of School
high school
May 18: emotional whiplash
Wow. I had a great week at school. My kids did excellent on their Romeo and Juliet quizzes today. We've had a great time reading it and playing with it, and they are doing so well. My 12th graders are doing some creative writing using the story lines and interview/narrative structure of the novel we've … Continue reading May 18: emotional whiplash
May 2: Great Things at School
Everyday is a rollercoaster as a teacher. Today, I'm focusing on the great. We started reading Romeo and Juliet today with my 9th graders. I had some kids who were totally scared of the language, but by the end of the first day, they wanted to read bigger parts. One boy opened the play and … Continue reading May 2: Great Things at School
April 24: Perfectionism
I don't think I'm a total perfectionist - I've seen way worse - but there are some things that I can't stand to leave uncorrected or unperfected. One of those things is design - I hate when fonts aren't quite right, or the edges don't quite line up correctly, or the space is uneven, or … Continue reading April 24: Perfectionism
April 17: It’s Tuesday again.
Today was super busy and it didn't help that my ear was plugged pretty much all day so I couldn't hear out of the right side of my head. This was disadvantageous, considering 9th graders want to talk to me all the time and I can barely hear them when they are all talking anyway, … Continue reading April 17: It’s Tuesday again.
April 4: Placeholder
I'm teaching some writing with my squirrelly 9th graders, and they can't seem to get the idea of skipping part that they aren't sure about yet. I tried to explain to them that writing an essay is not so much like running a race where you start at the beginning and end at the end, … Continue reading April 4: Placeholder
April 3: ACT day
Today was my first time helping out with the ACT at my new school and it was a different process than what I'd been doing up until now, which was kind of weird. The biggest thing was the lack of anything to engage my mind, aside from the weird things I noticed on the ceiling … Continue reading April 3: ACT day
March 29: It’s going to be okay
On the way to school today, I listened to "Keep Ya Head Up" by Tupac and it's been in my head all day. Regular readers of this craziness will know that having songs stuck in my head is typical, but today it was the same song all day, I think. Which is different. But it … Continue reading March 29: It’s going to be okay
March 28: Middle School? Really?
Life threw a curveball today: it looks like I'm going to be teaching at the middle school for half the day next year. I've never taught middle school during the school year. The most I've done is: a) coach 8th grade girls soccer; and b) teach 8th grade summer school where I got to make … Continue reading March 28: Middle School? Really?
March 16: Fun? At School?
Today, for the first time in a very long time, I had fun with every single one of my classes. My 9th graders are reading The House of the Scorpion and are getting into the creepy dystopian world, while my 12th graders just finished reading origin/creation stories from all over the world and comparing them, … Continue reading March 16: Fun? At School?
Adventures in Distraction 