As a recovering junior high teacher, I have a vast collection of kids jokes I can use on demand, mostly whenever I had lost control of the class or the lesson was terrible or I was having a bad day,... Continue Reading →
I started my unexpected teaching career with nothing: I didn't know Latin, I'd never taught, never even been in a private school, wasn't affiliated with the church...In my interview, I literally told the principal "I don't know why you'd hire... Continue Reading →
Kummerspeck (German) Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon. As a brain break a few days ago, I showed my students a list of words from a Mental Floss article about words that exist in languages except English... Continue Reading →
Today in Spanish class, one of the activities asked where one could learn Spanish in our community, and what were some reasons why one would want to study Spanish. One student, who is definitely smart, funny, and mature, answered "well, all... Continue Reading →
As a teacher, many images come to mind when I think of things that may "define" me. You can probably think of them, too. Meetings, emails, grading papers, ink all over my hand, students, brown bag lunches, the copy machine,... Continue Reading →
Easily the most fun I've had this year as a teacher was in looking over this "assignment" I created when I had a sub come in. I asked the students to create "Missing" posters for me, and with a description,... Continue Reading →
I've kept a diary most of my life, the last few year's have been a public one on this blog and others. I don't know if it's the new Pinterest habit that's gotten me thinking so craftily, but I thought... Continue Reading →
There is a great moment in "A League of Their Own" (watch it here), when Dottie is planning on going back to Oregon with her husband Bob, and her manager confronts her about her choice: Jimmy Dugan: Shit, Dottie, if... Continue Reading →
It's funny to think that man made up time. The way we organize it makes no sense - 60 seconds in a minute, 60 of those in an hour, 24 of those in a day, 7 of those in a... Continue Reading →
So I was trying a new vocabulary exercise today in my 8th grade Latin class. We rolled a die (actually it was a virtual die I pressed on my smartboard) and there was a different activity assigned for each number... Continue Reading →
I like lists. I like lists a lot. I like making them and checking things off on them. I like Top Anything lists, too. And something about the end of the year makes us look back on the last 360... Continue Reading →
You know the scene - it's Christmas time (or "holiday tree time) and you want to show appreciation to your child's teacher. You want it to involve your child, be meaningful, maybe even fun. You want it to be cheap.... Continue Reading →
Sunglasses Always Fit 