“A student urinated on my floor when I was out in the hallway. On a day I was absent, students jettisoned textbooks and graded papers out my second-story classroom window. A computer monitor was smashed on my floor after a rage-filled overhead toss. I witnessed a basketball player punch another student in the face before school, stay in class all day, and then suit up for the afternoon’s game. No consequences.” When I reread the following essay I wrote over eight years ago about my first-year teaching in 2004-2005, I’m… Read more Nothing Compares to Being a First-Year Teacher →
I’ve decided to post narrative e-mails from my first few years of teaching middle school. It was my way of journaling and reflecting on my craft, student behaviors, and experiences–both… Read more A Seventh Grader Said “Poetry is Gay” →
This past year, I heard–and saw–many students shift from using Facebook regularly to embracing Twitter. I caught students constantly checking their accounts, sending mostly inane and sometimes shockingly inappropriate messages… Read more Notes from a Twitter Newbie →
Do you have readily accessible writing from years past? Journals, old MS Word files, e-mail archives? How often you do sift through old material that has either gathered cobwebs or… Read more Socks, Sandals, and Tapping into the Archives →
Many American educators–myself included–often remind ourselves and others that we didn’t enter education for the money. I certainly don’t teach to become wealthy, but as I see outstanding educator colleagues… Read more Why $100,000 Teacher Salaries Make Sense →
It is only when the routines break down, when the guidelines are unclear, when no one can tell us what to do, that we make real choices and become the… Read more Thriving Online with Unclear Guidelines →
The value of living abroad. Awesome reflection on travel, education, culture, and perspective!
Is there a formula to bringing big ideas to life?
As I left my morning session on brain-based learning strategies at the SREB High School That Work Conference, I had trouble exiting–hoards of educators flocked into room 353 at the… Read more Reckless Technology Adoption? →
Paul Barnwell 