Alternate Solutions: 31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 14
This entry is part 14 of 14 in the series 31 QuestionsOn April 11, 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13 which was intended to be the third manned-landing on the moon. Two days into the flight, an oxygen tank...
View ArticleMath Is
Try this. Google “math is”. See what pops up automatically. For me, the words immediately below were “math is fun” and “math is cool”. Was Google just reading my mind? The interesting thing is that...
View ArticleLessons Learned From Dreams
On September 8, 2012, I posted a blog about Diana Nyad and her fourth attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. At that time, Diana said, “Maybe somebody else is gonna get lucky…Maybe it can’t be done.”...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 13: Assessments
This entry is part 13 of 13 in the series 31 QuestionsGrades: The bane of a teacher’s existence. In a perfect world no one would need grades. All students would do their best at all times to learn as...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 12: Partial Credit
This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series 31 QuestionsWhat happens when the construction of a bridge is off by a teeny weeny calculation? What happens when the space shuttle is off a fraction of a...
View ArticleCounting UP
Working out at the gym today, I was assigned a series of exercises with a certain number of repetitions to be completed at each station. I took a deep breath and attacked the first set of push ups…. 1,...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 11: Grades
This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series 31 Questions We’ve all seen them: Bumper stickers on the back of mini-vans which read “My child is an honor student at Great Middle School.” We’ve all heard...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 10: Judgments
This entry is part 10 of 11 in the series 31 Questions We make hundreds of them every day. Some are simple. Smooth peanut butter is better than crunchy. Mayonnaise is disgusting. Some of them are...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 9: Goals
This entry is part 9 of 11 in the series 31 Questions “A goal without a plan is just a wish. ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 8: Enrichment
This entry is part 8 of 11 in the series 31 Questions So your child always brings home A’s. It’s a cause for celebration….ice cream, a special dinner, or maybe some extra television time….maybe a new...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 7: Expectations
This entry is part 7 of 11 in the series 31 Questions It is our policy that nothing can be returned without a receipt. We prefer that an original sales receipt accompany your return. It is our policy...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 6: Technology
This entry is part 6 of 11 in the series 31 Questions I can remember when an overhead projector was considered the greatest technological asset in my classroom. Every year there was a mad dash during...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 5: Keeping Up
This entry is part 5 of 11 in the series 31 Questions If a student wants to see a teacher cringe, all they have to do is walk into the classroom the day after they have been absent and ask, “Did I...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 4: Communication
This entry is part 4 of 11 in the series 31 Questions “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate!” If you have ever seen the Paul Newman movie Cool Hand Luke, you will never forget that line....
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 3
This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series 31 Questions Registration day at school can bring a lot of anxiety for students and parents alike as they discover who their teachers will be for the next...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 2
This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series 31 QuestionsI was sitting on a plane recently next to a lady talking on the phone to her child asking him if he had completed all his homework. Being duly...
View Article31 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher: Part 1
Summer vacation has arrived for some students and is quickly approaching for others. It is a time to prepare for the next school year in order to ensure that students begin on solid ground. Among...
View ArticleHow Will You Spend Your Summer Vacation?
As the school year closes out, parents, teachers, and students are all breathing a collective sigh of relief. ”IT’S OVER” , they proclaim as they run joyously toward summer and a “well deserved”...
View ArticleAppreciating Teaching
Depending upon your source, this week or next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. This is the week to thank a teacher. We have all seen the Facebook posts and the Tweets which say things like, “If you...
View ArticleWhat Should a Grade in a Course Represent?
One of the most important tasks a teacher is assigned is that of “giving” a grade to a student. It is at this time of the year that students and parents start to panic that graduation is in peril or...
View Article