Brick by brick, the brick and mortar world - and the world of print - is being disassembled, reconfigured, re-imagined, re-constituted and re-discombulated right in front of our astonished eyes.
(But go ahead and keep doing things "same as it ever was" as David Byrne of th…

It's well reported that the gateway drug to harder drugs is the (ostensibly) less dangerous drug marijuana.
Weed, as anti-drug crusaders, like to say, is the siren seductress which leads unwitting tokers towards the rocky shores of shipwrecked doom. And though they oversimplify matters a bi…

"How can I better support you?" When is the last time an admin walked into your room and actually uttered those words with nothing more than their "listening ears" on?
I mean really, how dysfunctional are our teacher/admin relationships these days?
I don't even…

Why do I choose the books I choose for my class? Me, I always spent a lot of time thinking about the choices of text for my students because, well, for one... I could.
Unfortunately, teachers today are seeing more and more and more micro-management of their curriculums/books/texts by people…

As you know, being a high school English teacher at Lynwood has been my life for years and years and years now. And truly, I love it.

Which is why I am taking a leave of absence from my classroom. Simply put, the demands of my professional life have outstripped the ability for me to meet all of th…

When I think about one of the most important ingredients a professional must bring to the table, I inevitably come back to passion.
To caring.
To giving a damn.
For me it is the epoxy that holds work wh …

Have you ever noticed that some teachers think the work of being an educator would be absolutely awesome if it wasn't for the damn kids?
Or those stinkin' parents?
Or those silly administrators?
Or those reprehensible peers?…

I clearly remember a few years ago when my wife said (proudly), "I don't text."
That was when she had a phone without a keypad. Now, she loves texting. We communicate/coordinate/touch base with one another through texting. The fact is, texting is a convenient, concise and very use…

Ellen Hopkins has written some ferocious books. Brave, gritty, hard-hitting and read by lots and lots and LOTS of teens. I am a big fan of her work.
Interestingly, a brouhaha has recently surfaced about Ellen's "dis-invitation" to speak at a Teen Lit Fest in Texas.
…

There's a thing called the Adams Equity Theory. It was named for John Stacey Adams, a workplace and behavioral psychologist, who cooked up a job motivation theory almost 50 years ago.

Essentially it states (as taken from the Mindtools website):
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So many educators at all ends of the spectrum are trippin’ out these days because of technology. Literally, people are buggin’ out everywhere.

I just heard about a district that purchased Smart Boards for every classroom in the school and MANDATED that all edu

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On August 24, 2010 a very big day will be upon us. And if you do not know what I am talking about, you probably aren't following all that closely the work of Suzanne Collins.
That's right,…

Considering the fact that we are always trying to re-think things in education that do not seem to be working, I wonder if we do not need to re-think the means by which schools are financed.
Forgetting the politics of any of this - if that is even possible - I wonder how long the federal go…

I took a yoga class the other day (gotta try to take care of the ol' body as hard as I burn the candles at both ends) and the teacher said something which really got me thinking.
"Alan," she said. I paused and waited. "You stink at yoga!"
Just kidding. (Actually,…

With Back-to-School season upon us, I ask myself, what is it that we should really want for all our nation's students this year?
Less bullying? Heightened meaningfulness in the classroom? Better cafeteria food?
I think one co…

The following questions were in last year's GED examination These are
genuine answers (from 16 year olds)............and they WILL breed & Vote.

Q. Name the four seasons
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink

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Today we gather for a solemn event, to pronounce the death of a beloved and loyal friend throughout the years.

It is time to announce the passing of Mr. Computer Mouse. Wonderful as it was, bury it we now must.

Of course, you will see this object for quite some time appearing as the walkin…

So here’s a funny story that I just heard as I was travelling across the country doing PD for some schools on the east coast.

Airplane seats on bigger planes typically come 3 to a row. And really, who wants to be in the middle seat? Diminutive people, we all a

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My iPad still keeps revealing its potential to me. For example, right now I am on a cross country speaking trip doing PD in Missouri then Georgia... then North Carolina next week. Indeed, it's been busy busy.
And when you are gonna be on so many airplanes, in so many hotels, in so many place…