classroom management
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Without People: Reprise
As the semester draws to a close, I have more and more days like this one, which happened back in 2010. Few turn out this well, however. * Yesterday, when I left school, I wanted to live in a world without people in it for just a little while. My classes that morning had gone… Continue reading
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Arrows into Blossoms: Reprise
My meditation practice has fallen to the wayside these days. It would be wise for me to return to it. In November 2009, I was tired of a lot of things, and some Buddhist reflections were helpful. In particular, I spent time thinking about the writings of Pema Chodron, a tattoo of the Buddha under… Continue reading
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One Minute of Solitude: Reprise
We are six weeks into the semester, and I’m starting to pinpoint small classroom management issues and think about appropriate responses. Nothing major has arisen so far (fingers crossed), but whenever I am confronted with hints of passive-aggressiveness, defiance or rudeness, I start evaluating what I need to do: ignore? Confront? Defuse in some other… Continue reading
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When You Are Uncool: Reprise
As promised, today I begin a Thursday series of posts from the archives – posts that have long since disappeared from view but that I still like. New readers may be encountering them for the first time; if you’ve been reading this blog since the beginning, maybe you’ll see something new in the post this… Continue reading
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Ready…Set…Ugh.
Today is the first day of the new school year. I am absolutely, unequivocally uninterested in being here. I feel no excitement about meeting my classes, no anticipation of good things that may unfold. Granted, I also feel no dread. I’m simply unable to connect with the reality of it all. The arrival of the… Continue reading
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What’s In a Name?
What do your students call you? Would you rather they called you something else? A couple of years ago, a reader named “Viceroy” left this baffling comment on a post that had nothing to do with his observation. I notice that your students, who appear to be 17 & 18 years old, are required to… Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 6: Meditate
This is the seventh post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. I have a confession to make. I’m a bad meditator. Meditation is incredibly boring. Everything in me resists doing it, and I can avoid it for months. If… Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 4: Face Your Fears
This is the fifth post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. When I first started teaching, I was scared. Terrified, in fact. I’d taken a job as a Second Language Monitor – a sort of assistant language teacher –… Continue reading
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I Like Teaching You
Today is the first day of the new semester. I’m not exactly pumped. I’ve been working all weekend to find a motivator, or an inspiration, or a visualization to turn to when I feel it’s all too much. What’s my objective for the next fifteen weeks? What mantra will I repeat to myself on the… Continue reading
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Bloggers Anonymous
As is usual this time of year, I’m dealing with a trying student. Yesterday, as a cathartic measure, I prepared a post in which I collated our email exchange since the beginning of the semester. If you are not me, this exchange is no doubt extremely entertaining. (If you are me, you spent most of… Continue reading
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 