Where the freak have you been, Vo??? Don’t be mad. I know I’ve been absent from this blog for a while. Let me explain. In the future, monstrous aliens show up and start decimating humanity, so our descendants came back in time to draft me and thousands of others to travel 30 years forward and […]
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So You Want To Be A Good Teacher Are you an aspiring teacher? Maybe you’re a new educator? Perhaps you’re a veteran maestro? Regardless of which one you are, you may be wondering if you’ve got what it takes to have a long successful career in education. If this question is burning in your mind, […]
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So, I know it’s been a few weeks since I last posted something. I’ve been kind of busy. Feast your eyes on the list below of what’s been eating up my time. As you know, I’m at a new school site. I’m loving it, but I’m still learning the ins-and-outs and dos-and-don’ts of my new […]
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Is it just me, or do most phenomena suggested by NGSS experts SUCK??? Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the idea of using phenomena as overarching themes to pique the students’ interests, tie together as many topics as possible, prompt kids to ask questions, and drive them to seek answers (thus discovering the science themselves). I’m sold […]
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SCREW THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD (SM)! It’s all about the Engineering Design Process (EDP) now according to the NGSS. Despite having taught the SM for over a decade, I’m actually okay with this shift. The way I see it, the SM is the first half of the EDP. We use the scientific method to figure out the answer to […]
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Why & When From Fall of 2004 until Summer of 2018, I had spent my entire career at the same middle school. But, for the 2018-2019 year, I held my breath, took the plunge, and transferred to Colton Middle School (CMS). I was very sad to make the move. I didn’t want to leave my school. […]
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I kid you not, I really do sing this song to my 7th and 8th graders. Don’t even get me started on what I sing when the class phone rings. Getting my students to work well together in groups has always been hit-or-miss for me. When it’s time to collaborate and cooperate, many of the […]
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Back when I was a widdle boy starting my career in 2004, I spent my first day with students telling them a super ultra fast spiel on who I was (name, age, ethnicity, etc), what they’ll be learning, and how much fun we were going to have. Immediately afterwards, I spent the rest of the […]
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