Today we started the film The Matrix and the kids are enthralled. What a great feeling to know they are learning the literary devices and analyzing while enjoying the process. Also, I introduced the double-entry journal, the Christ-like character attributes, and the heroic cycle. Everyone dove right in to the the work. While watching the film I ...

I’m biased on this one since the Good Samaritans upon whom this article centers are from my alma mater, but this is one of those stories that makes me feel wonderful about how athletics transcend competition and actually represent the best in people. In a dream-come-true scenario, a senior Western Oregon batter named Sara Tucholsky hit [...]

Some urban legends are quite popular such as: the man with a hook on Lover’s Lane who loses it on a couple’s door handle, the kids who drive without headlights until flashed by another car, and then they follow and beat the person, the percentages of HIV positive donated blood, babies born in-flight are given free flights forever, ...

I can’t recall where I heard this, and I’ve heard it a couple different ways, but I always liked this one. A Creative Writing teacher created a writing assignment for his students to complete over the weekend, and the tale he deemed the best would win a free pizza. He asked his students to compose a [...]

I turned the movie evening with my students into a hot dog feed. While they watched the movie (Minority Report because of reading Julius Caesar), I barbecued hot dogs and provided chips and pop. It was great! The best part was watching the kids figure out why I showed them this Tom Cruise action flick. Suddenly [...]

It’s state testing day number 6 today! Woo-hoo! I’m amazed how much time it takes to give our state test, the WASL. Just reading the scripted introduction and providing the instructions can take ten minutes. Then, the exam itself takes 2-3 hours per test. Yikes! Those poor kids. On the bright side, I love proctoring the WASL. ...

Everyone deserves a dance. And, everyone deserves a chance to dance. This story is one of those which reinforces why I love working with educators and why I have faith in our youth. Students, alongside teachers and parents, made an often overlooked group of young people feel as lucky as the Prom King and Queen. [...]

How about this allusion (scroll to the bottom) to the Last Supper? Not only do I love the allusion itself, but I love that sci-fi show. April 4 can’t get here soon enough for the final installments of Battlestar Galactica!

I work with the Academic Teams at my high school, and we had a semifinal match in a quiz bowl event today and we had a fortuitous coincidence today. Each day I put a “Useless Factoid” on the board for my students. Today’s was, “A slug is essentially a snail without a home.” This sounded better [...]

I use a lesson format I call the fish bowl. Really, it’s a modified Socratic Seminar except that every student is not required to be an active speaking participant. I have 8-9 students circle up in the middle of the room with their notebooks and texts while the rest of the students make a circle [...]