Go crazy? Don’t mind if I do! National board, national boards, national boards. National boards? National boards. National boards! AAAAAAHHHHH! (34 pages written, about six to go before Wednesday. I was tripped up by a major equipment malfunction last week, but I’m back on track now…)
read more »Overheard while I was walking through campus on Friday, carrying a large tripod for my next video session. “Wow … her last class must have made her REALLY mad.”
read more »In class, I always make my kids back up their claims with evidentiary support (“Prove it! Prove it!”, I write annoyingly in the margins). Here is my stab at it. Despite the continuing cold and gray weather, spring has oficially sprung. Evidentiary support:
read more »National Boards are taking over my life! For those of you who don’t know much/anything about National Boards, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independant, nonprofit, national organization that provides a certification program to teachers that goes above and beyond the usual coursework/ student teaching model. A National Board certification says…
read more »Today was the state writing test. Students were asked to (basically) write a letter to parents explaining the meaning of [respect] in a modern teen’s life. As I am walking around the room proctoring I glance at one of my lowest level students papers. The greeting at the beginning of his letter? “Dear Respect,” I…
read more »I read a fascinating article from the New York Times today called “Building a Better Teacher.” It basically focuses on the fact that, as most teachers would acknowledge, teacher training is largely ineffective and the efforts of a few individuals to nail down how you can teach teachers to be better at their job. It…
read more »So there’s a teacher at my school who always addresses the issue of staying later than we are required to after school and/or working on the weekends by exclaiming that he doesn’t “work for free.” This bugs the heck out of me. As far as I am concerned, teaching is a salaried job. I signed…
read more »(Two students in my 2nd block after a discussion of Civil War pensions). D: “Mrs. B., how much is an army pension these days?” Me: “I don’t know exactly. It depends on whether you served in combat, whether you were injured, that sort of thing.” “You get more if you are inured?” “Yeah.” “When I’m…
read more »"Donta what *are* you doing back here?" "Not much, Ms. W, just chillin."
