While teaching 7th Grade Special Education at Henry County Middle School (2-05)
No matter the place, middle school students never cease to amaze—and even disturb—me with their actions and tales. Fred is an awkwardly large 12 year old. He’s a 7th grader in my special ed. science class, a young man who clearly isn’t […]
While teaching 8th Grade Language Arts at Southern Leadership Academy (10-19-04)
The beginning of a very tough week. Monday was a professional development day. Parent-teacher conferences. And how many groups of parents did we see in 6 hours? 5-6. None of the parents that we really needed to see. The large bottles […]
ESS has (finally) ended, and today Drama Club began. First, let me just say playing acting games with a group of 12 enthusiastic 6th and 7th graders until 4:00 makes those literacy classes until 5:00 seem comparable to gouging out my eyes with a plastic spoon. Suffice it to say, ESS is a long haul. […]
Today I received an email from a woman named Laura Blum, founder of a program called Bookclub4Boys, which seeks to make literacy fun and engaging for younger boys who struggle in their early years. Given the gender acheivement gap, I think this cite looks at the very least notworthy and would no doubt be worth checking out […]
My burn out briefly subsided today when I had what felt like my first true success handeling a bullying situation.
This morning I received an email from the Assistant Principal (who I really respect for his decorum, integrity, and moderation), which described a possible “harrassment” situation between two girls, both my 5th period students. I hadn’t seen […]
Hey all,
I’ve decided to post some material to add to Sarah’s poignant musings…As some of you know, I have sent out narrative e-mails to friends and family once every month over the course of my teaching life. I will search the archives for some notes that, I believe, shed light on our profession and post […]
Although our brief, fleeting little Fall Break will be missed, I think we (the students and I) actually missed each other a fair amount. Today was fabulous. Not as in one of those overpoweringly inspirational days, but as in one of those in-sync, perfectly fluid, calm, and well-ordered days. Such days are […]
We had our school sponsored Fall Festival for the community last night. I volunteered for the facepainting booth - so much fun! The kids were adorable, with their hair falling all over their sweaty faces, turning up pink and brown cheeks a little warily to my unfamiliar hand. Lots of snakes, flowers, balloons, hearts, sports teams, and […]
My friend and fellow teacher Jessie Gerson once said that teaching was like an abusive relationship: you feel like everything is going well, you’re totally infatuated with it, and then it knocks you down. Inevitably, you will go back to it, and hope will be restored - only to be knocked down again.
Today I felt […]
What really amazes me is how hidden bullying can be - to everyone except the victim. It really irks me when I find out it’s been going on in my classroom, and I haven’t even been aware of it. Especially because I strive to be constantly aware of what my students’ needs are so that I […]
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