What Do I Really Want To Do In My Classroom?

Mamacita says:  Finally.  Someone has finally asked me a question I’ve wished for years someone would ask.  It’s a question that’s right up there with Ed McMahon asking if he could come inside and give me a surprise. (Shut up, … Continue reading

Some End-of Semester Thoughts

Mamacita says:  I teach in a community college, and I have found that my hardest-working students are, for the most part, the older ones, the ones who have been out of school for many years, the ones who have been … Continue reading

April is Poetry Month: William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley Invictus Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor … Continue reading

Rules Kids Won't Learn In School

Oh, I know, I know; this list is everywhere and you’ve all seen it a zillion times. Well, make that a zillion and one. For some reason, it just hit me in a good place today. == Rules Kids Won’t … Continue reading

April is Poetry Month: Oscar Hammerstein, Jr.

Oscar Hammerstein, Jr. You’ve Got To Be Taught You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear, You’ve got to be taught from year to year, It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear, You’ve got to be … Continue reading

Standardization, Administration, & Other Bollocky Things

Mamacita says:  Beethoven and Rodin would never make it in an American public school these days. Neither would Lincoln, or Clara Barton, or Thomas Jefferson. Nor Einstein. Or Edison. Administrators have forgotten that ultimately, our culture will be judged on … Continue reading