Closet Clean-out

So, I’ve been thinking about what is in my closet. My school closet-not my clothes closet. There are clearly too many shoes in the one, and a lot of work from previous students in the other. I rearranged my classroom, again, just a minor change this time. That means that I have  a spare small [...]

Can I really say that?

So, I’ve been thinking lately, but as my lack of posting here shows, I have not been writing about it. I could and have come up with all sorts of reasons, which I will not bore you with here.  Anyway, I decided to make a list of topics I would like to write about, if [...]

Global Read Aloud, Week 2

So, I’m thinking some more about Edmodo and the Global Read Aloud project with Tuck Everlasting. I know I just wrote about it yesterday, but I’m on a roll here. 1. Today we used Edmodo in a new way. While I read aloud, the students did some “live-blogging” on Edmodo. I made a separate group [...]

What kind of a teacher am I?

So, I’ve been thinking about what kind of teacher I am. There are lots of option here. Some folks go for the grandmother or avuncular role. Others do the absent-minded professor thing. There are the mean/scary teachers and the cool teachers. The thing is, what if the way you see yourself is different from the [...]

To Note or Not to Note, That is the Question.

So, I’ve been thinking about note taking. Not note taking by students. I think about that too sometimes, but at the moment I’m thinking about note taking in meetings by adults. I am a note taker, generally speaking. I’m also a list maker. It’s just what I do. I don’t always look back at either [...]

My New Colleagues

So, I’ve been thinking about what I call my class as a group. I know some teachers do the “friends” thing. My personal kids go to a Quaker school so their teachers certainly do that. And, I hear lots of teachers, usually of younger children, use “friends” at my school as well. I wasn’t sure [...]

When the Golden Rule Isn’t Enough

So, I’ve been thinking about parent-teacher conferences lately. I’ve been doing this for a while so I’ve given my fair share of both good and not-so-good ones. In reflecting on what I do well and not so well, I have been thinking that I give the kind of conference that I want to get as [...]

Bringing in the Experts

So, I’ve been thinking and writing about seating arrangement a lot this year. Just on the off-chance that you didn’t catch those earlier posts, I’ll summarize quickly. I did some reading over the summer about seating and then bought tables from IKEA that were not only inexpensive, but easily move around the room. Then, even [...]

What Makes a Good Conference Session?

So, I’ve been thinking about EduCon again and sessions in general. What makes a workshop, session, speaker good? I recall reading a description of one reviewer’s process of reviewing cookbooks. This reviewer and cook was going to be on a panel discussion about several cookbooks. He described a conversation he had with another panelist in [...]

EduCon, the morning after

So, I’ve been thinking about Educon, or trying to think about it anyway. I saw this tweet on Monday morning: kjarrett (@kjarrett) 1/31/11 10:59 AM Back at school. Doing everything the way I always have. Dealing with massive guilt as a result. #educonshame When I saw it, it was already a retweet, and I retweeted [...]