About a year ago, I wrote a post about how I had all these big plans for summer, but none of them happened. This summer was basically the same. I haven't even posted anything here since the end of May. It doesn't help that I spent the first week of June in Kansas City grading … Continue reading Into The Unknown
I'm a planner by nature. And when I don't have a plan, not much gets done. I overthink things to the point that I won't actually accomplish anything. Since I'm a teacher, I have a nice chunk of time each summer when I COULD get quite a bit done. I'll have these thoughts every year … Continue reading Unproductive Summer: Confessions of a Teacher
As our last project for the school year, my Dual Credit US History students were placed in groups of three or four and assigned a music genre to research. The final project that they turned in was a video history (a documentary of sorts) for their given genre. The History of American Music. Because it … Continue reading Classic Rock
As I've mentioned a few times already, I signed up for a six week online creative writing class a few months ago. Our original instructor quit halfway through (red flag?), and the new instructor was less...well...she was just less. I didn't actually finish the last few lessons, but as a whole, the course was at … Continue reading Elaborate
Last school year, I was asked to teach AP Seminar. It's a relatively new course (less than ten years old) that requires students to analyze others' arguments and create their own arguments through research papers and presentations. Teaching AP Seminar was a big change for me after more than two decades in the classroom since … Continue reading Shades of Gray
For the creative writing class that I took a couple of months ago, we were asked to write a short bio to introduce ourselves. I decided I didn't want to just start with "My name is Mike, and I teach high school social studies." That's too normal. But what I did write surprised me a … Continue reading A Short Bio
I had a student this year who is originally from Columbia. One of the nicest kids I've had in a long time. Smart too. But since he'd only been in the country for a handful of years, he had some issues with comprehension, especially when it came to interpreting old primary source texts. That's mostly … Continue reading English is Hard
(Just a quick note...I wrote this in November of 2021 for my Medium account, which I have now closed. I'm posting it again here...because...well...I like this piece. It's kinda long and a little wonkish at times, but not much has changed in the past year. I did make one update about halfway through.) A few … Continue reading Dealing With Changing Trends in Social Studies Curriculum
I'm not much of a baseball fan. I know it's "America's Pastime" and all, but I've always been more of a football guy. Baseball is fun to watch in person, but I'll only watch it on TV if I'm also doing something else or if I need a nap. That said, one of my favorite … Continue reading Focus
It was tempting when school ended last week to write about how relieved I was and how much I was really looking forward to the end of the school year...more so than most years. Most years I look forward to summer without necessarily looking forward to the end of the school year. I know that sounds contradictory, but it really isn't if you think about it.
Reflections Of A Middle Aged Nobody 