Tomorrow is the TAKS English Language Arts test for all high-school grade levels.

We will be testing from 8:30 am until 12:30 pm, if all goes well. If all does not go well, then we will go longer than that ( Read more... )

I forgot to make my annual "first cicada!" post. It was early this week - Monday, I think. Rather late in the year, but then so was the first spiral in the Gulf, which is the other yearly sign that mighty Summer's power is beginning to ebb ( Read more... )

So my department head asked if I'd be interested in piloting the new math course next year ( Read more... )

Aaaaaah the kids come back tomorrow and I'm so totally not ready! About two-thirds of my classroom stuff is still on the floor of my study! Fortunately, I did manage to sort out the box that had all of my old Precal and Stats stuff, so that's all in one place (although not in order yet). I also shelved two small boxes of educational books in the ( Read more... )

Okay, so the workshop I went to today was called "Motivating Students Who Don't Care." That, by the way, is one of the two Big Problems of public education in a district like mine. If we can get the students to care about their own achievement, even somewhat, the vast majority of our full-time problems evaporate and we can worry about other ( Read more... )

I had the Spouse drop me off at the Downtown Transit Center train station at 9 am and took the train, and then the bus, out to the school. I got off the bus at 10:50 am. Not sure why the outbound journey should be shorter than the inbound, except for thickness of traffic, which didn't seem all that different to me. Maybe I'm missing something ( Read more... )

. . . Oh, dear, that was too obscure for words. Ah, well. (Derivative with respect to what? Distance, or time? Time, probably. How probable? Oh, dear, again ( Read more... )

So I'm slogging through a district G/T workshop on Differentiated Instruction, which is Educational Buzzword for "giving the kids who already know this shit more advanced material, not just extra problems, you idiot." Unfortunately, the district has adopted Dr. Tomlinson's approach to differentiation, which reduces it, ultimately, to a "you should ( Read more... )

So that week was . . . not entirely unlike having to run a marathon while up to one's ankles in blackstrap molasses. Exhausting, frustrating, sticky, and vaguely unpleasant-smelling, but at least it was different.

( The week that was behind the cut )

The Mu Alpha Theta group is having an induction ceremony for new members, for the first time since I've been at this school, much less a sponsor. Unfortunately for me, the school calendar fell such that it had to be on a Thursday. And the night before, I need to pick up candles and snacks. So gaming Wednesday has been postponed by one week, and ( Read more... )