Recently in Education Category

Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense back in the 18th century. It made a brilliant case for revolution and if for a brief moment, personified common sense. As time has gone on, common sense has been fading like the gene pool in the Bush family. Today's tale brings us to the lonestar state where our state legislature has become educational experts in much the same way as that new vibrating ab cruncher gets us in shape:...

Burnout is a relatively new term. I can't be too sure, but I think it may have orginated "as a term" when Dick Vermeil resigned as the Philadelphia Eagles coach in the early 1980s. Vermeil returned later and ended up winning a Superbowl with the Chiefs. When he resigned he was still a very young man and no one could really explain why. Naturally, burnout has occured before and in a lot less famous circles....

Baton Rouge, LaI throw that little tidbit to let you know I am away for the holidays. So, I do what I can, but I felt compelled to share this latest idea in education with you folks. Consider it a chuckle before the holidays as I hope no one takes this seriously. Friday was our last day of school in 2009. Academy had been generous enough to donate about 50 bikes to the cause. We...

It's been awhile since I've been on to comment or post and there is good reason. I'm drowning in paperwork. Our district is clamping down on student retention. This is part of a statewide effort to retain fewer students. This was a major topic in my book but it seems things are moving onto the next step since the book was published. Different districts have different alphabet soups, but they all mean the same thing....

It's been awhile folks and today's entry is not going to be very long. See, I'm drowning in paperwork and have about ten things to do and enough time to do five. Somehow writing a daily blog suddenly goes down to the bottom. Since education is on the mind I will talk about one simple thing we have talked about before, but I will say it in simpler terms and dispense with the flowery language....

Give thanks today if any of the following pertain to you:You have your health.Your children are healthy and happy, and getting an education.You've shared a meal with family or friends today.You have someone in your life who loves you and thinks you are special.You have a roof over your head.You have clothes on your back.You have a job.You have something to look forward to tomorrow.You have the right to vote, and you've actually done it.Everything...

I know it's Friday and I'm supposed to do another installment of my funnies, but I have a beef. It's the Friday before our thanksgiving break, but all I can think about right now are management issues in education. Since I'm sure these issues are mirrored in industry I will simply label them as management issues in the general sense. However, I will speak from particular perspective that is education. I had a group of...

Yes, I know, "dumbening" is not a word. However, given the current climate of politics it seems somehow apropos. I can't take credit for the "word" dumbening actually. It came from a Simpson's episode where Lisa (the smart child in the family) thinks she is somehow losing her intelligence because all of the Simpsons did. The problem was that it was only the Simpson males that lost their intelligence. Well, a look at the last 18...

Last week I came out with my Friday funnies on the subject of professional development for teachers, While I could go on for days talking about bad professional development, I thought I would switch gears and talk about the funny things you hear kids say in the classroom. As you hear all of these stories keep in mind that these are coming from the mouths of high school students. Most people have seen email chains of...

Since it's Friday I thought I would do a little self-advertising and tell some humorous stories that are in my book. I'm certain every professional person can agree that so-called professional development is the bane of our existence. In education it is the same and probably worse. Professional development occurs throughout the year, but it is concentrated in the days before school starts. When you think about it, this is the worst possible time for...