Crashing ISTE12 To Meet Friends – Not Teachers
A few weeks ago I crashed ISTE 2012 and got to meet many great people. I do not know if they are great teachers. I’m pretty sure they are, but how do I know? And I really do not care if they are great...
View ArticleNo Ice Breakers Please
Seriously, if you teach any grade above fifth or sixth, stop doing Ice Breakers! They are a waste of time! The new school year is about to begin and I have already cringed, having seen a few posts...
View ArticleA New Somebody-Wanted-But-So
The “Somebody-Wanted-But-So” activity is a classic in many middle school English classes. I tend to use it to help students with the classic Plot Triangle. I have students do this activity immediately...
View ArticleYou Ditched Your Desk…Is Your Classroom Next?
Why are so many teachers ditching their desks? Does not having a desk make you a great teacher? Are you somehow better than those of us who use their desks? Does a desk symbolize all that is wrong with...
View ArticleThe Common Core: New Rhythms
“Your so full of what is right, you can’t see what is….good.” Neil Peart. In chapter one of Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement, Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman...
View ArticleMy Top Apps of 2012
Yeah, I am addicted to looking at my phone. I know I do it way too much. Don’t judge me. Below is a list of my most frequently used iPhone apps of 2012. Apple has yet to allow an app that somehow keeps...
View ArticleStarbucks, Former Students, and Questions
Walking into Starbucks, you can hear my pre-coffee tiredness: shoes dragging on coffee stained cement, saying sorry to no one after opening the door and hitting my own head, and the “Mr. Davis!…Mr....
View ArticleSoundboards, Stories, and Picturebooks
So I was reading a book with my Casen – that means looking at two pages and the him running off – when his book sparked an idea for a project for my students. These books are super cool because they...
View ArticleHow I Hacked My Vanity
Today I knew that I was going to have six or nine teachers coming through my classroom all day as part of our school’s Learning Walks. To prepare for this, earlier in the week I added new information...
View ArticleThe Messiness of “Yet”
Yet is full of promise Yet is waiting to be filled Yet is a pause Yet is a change of direction Yet is nuance Yet has no antonym Yet is unknown Yet is full of posibility Yet is And Yet is With Yet is Why
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