Musings from a Not-So-Master Teacher

murals and tattoos

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:29:00 GMT

Murals are a lot like tattoos. Once you have one, you want to canvas the entire school with them. Here's the mural we just finished, as a thank you to all the people who make education happen. This one is in our class right now. We'll finish it when we...(read more)

why myspace is fading

jtspencer — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT

The media have begun to realize what I have noticed for the last few years: that myspace seems to be fading as a trendy site. Media critics are quick to point out that Facebook is a classier, trendier social networking site. However, I don't believe that...(read more)

should we teach kids to be patriotic?

jtspencer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:05:00 GMT

Sometime after 9-11, I lost all sense of patriotism. It might have been the way people used the American flag to sell beer (not unlike Jesus Breathmints and granola bars). Perhaps it was when I first heard a country singer telling me we should stick a...(read more)

so I'm writing a book

jtspencer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:21:00 GMT

I'm working on writing a book. It's surprisingly hard to say people, as if it's something I've been hiding for a long time. "Hey, there's something I've always kept hidden from you. I'm really a geek." I suppose it's a little like an intellectual coming-out....(read more)

Is it wrong for a teacher to be boring?

jtspencer — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:59:00 GMT

I walked into a language arts teacher's classroom and he vented about the lesson, "Kids just aren't at all engaged. It's just not motivating them." "What are you teaching?" I ask. "Well, it's folklore and lengend. We have to do the story of Paul Bunyan."...(read more)

church dating

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:30:00 GMT

My friend John calls it "beging a church jigalo," which I think has a catchier ring to it. The concept is this: finding a church is not at all like going shopping. Yet, people use the term,"church shopping," as if finding community is as simple as searching...(read more)

I do this every summer

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:07:00 GMT

Every summer I read two authors who help me regain my sanity. It's a cleansing process, really. It helps me to realize that there is more to life than word walls and academic vocabulary and lesson plans inside of boxes. I read Donald Miller, because he...(read more)

what happens in Vegas . . .

jtspencer — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:07:00 GMT

I wrote this while I was at a PLC Conference last week. They charged fourteen bucks for internet access (the equivalent of twenty-four tacos at Jack in the Box) so I waited until now to post it: In every era of American history, there is an archetypal...(read more)

the upside of procrastination

jtspencer — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:24:00 GMT

So, it's the end of week one for the summer vacation. I have all eight weeks planned out and subdivided within a bulleted list. The bullets have sub-bullets. After awhile, it begins to resemble a drive-by, with bullets strewn everywhere. I suppose "drive-by"...(read more)

does money equal success?

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:22:00 GMT

Right now, in Major League Baseball, some of the best teams have the lowest salaries. The D-backs rank first in their division and 23rd (out of 30) in salary. Meanwhile the Dodgers are 7th in salary and trail Arizona by four games (despite having a salary...(read more)

I changed my mind

jtspencer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:47:00 GMT

There's a secret game we play in the staff lounge called, "see how badass I really am." It's a place of machismo, where teachers boast about holding kids accountable and *** about angry parents. What happens is this: I say something like, "I can't believe...(read more)

my end of the year re-think

jtspencer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:49:00 GMT

When I first began teaching, I would start planning things for the next year. It was a simple way to soften the blow of losing 140 students and all the emotional baggage that goes with it - the guilt that some students were still mostly just a name, the...(read more)

it takes a village

jtspencer — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:57:00 GMT

Johnny passes by in his cap and gown as a flood of memories pass. I recall snippets of hard conversations, small arguments, difficult basketball games and the late nights where I was editing his papers. I thought of that first moment when he was a fourth...(read more)

the placebo effect

jtspencer — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:00:00 GMT

I read recently about a research study, where they created fake marketing for a painkiller. Researchers at MIT wanted to see how people responded to the placebo being offered. Surprisingly, participants reported a higher level of success when the retail...(read more)

yearning for community

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:50:00 GMT

Many of my colleagues have enormous desk calendars where they mark each passing day with a large red oversized Sharpie. I don't have a desk calendar. (Sometimes I think there must have been a teaching class I missed; perhaps when I was ditching the lesson...(read more)