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Without Cause
I didn’t write a blog post last week, and that’s not because I didn’t think about it. All week long, a sort of anti-mantra repeated itself in my head: I hate this week… I hate this week… I hate this...
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#WhatCounts
My friend Kelly teaches a class called “Chemistry in the Community”. Today, Kelly taught a very successful lab plating pennies with other metals. It’s all very scientific, and the students loved it....
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Higher Callings
I did not become a teacher for the money. For their sake, I hope no one else did. I did not do it for the recognition or the glory. I sure as hell did not do it so that everyone I meet could have an...
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Spirit of the Law
Audrie Pott’s suicide has been all over the news recently following the arrest of three Saratoga High School boys who allegedly participated in her sexual assault last September. This case,...
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Stand Corrected
My Dear Colleagues, Today is California’s Day of the Teacher, a celebration of everything that you do and everything that you mean to the thousands of lives that you have benefitted. It is a day...
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A State of Acrimony
Recently, the San Jose Mercury News blamed “acrimony” for the Evergreen Teachers Association’s recent discussion with its members on the potential for calling a strike. While the relationship between...
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A Defense of Drudgery
One of the mighty idols of pedagogical conventional wisdom to which teachers are consistently compelled to genuflect is the icon of “student engagement.” There are definitions of student engagement...
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It’s About Time
It’s finally starting to feel like vacation for me. Well, sort of. A few weeks ago, I was working at Willow Glen along with around 70 other English teachers from 6th-12th grade on chaptering (you will...
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Welcome Back
Today’s blog comes from a speech I made on August 8th at the 2013-2014 opening meeting for all San Jose Unified employees. I was fortunate to have the chance, along with representatives of the...
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New Year, New Challenges
Maybe this is something we all do: We block the memories of our first few days of teaching. I was talking with a colleague who started teaching next door to me on the same day four years ago. We were...
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