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Which is the more noble task? Generating the idea or carrying it out?  Action without thought is ineffective, but thought without action is useless.  The dichotomy reminds me of James' warning in the Christian Bible's New Testament.  He reminded early Christians that ''faith without works is dead.'' For two millennia, Christians have debated the ...

I am a teacher.  Everybody loves me. I became a teacher so I wouldn't have to work that hard and would get ''summers off''.  I always wanted to become a teacher so I could promote my own personal agenda and indoctrinate the students who are trapped in my classroom. I vote democratic and only support candidates that raise taxes.  Once I got a job ...

Today was a good day, to quote the title of a previous post and quite an excellent piece of music by Ice Cube.  It was the first day of school.  My seventeenth first day of school as a teacher.  People asked all week ''are you ready?''  I replied honestly to some that while I looked forward to a new school year, I wasn't looking forward to the ...

I have been incredibly busy the last couple of weeks, and between moving two hours away to a new city, transitioning to a new, very exciting and amazing job, and finishing projects at my current job, I’m a little swamped. I found this post from August, 2011, that I just had to repost because I still mean every word I wrote.  Best of luck to all ...

First, let me complain. I just read the comment on our last post.  ''It took all of 10 mins for our meetings to suck the joy of being back right out of me.''  I know what you mean.  My co-author told me about having his e-mail password expire this summer.  After talking to several different people at different locations, he finally resolved the ...

Photo from Teaching English  I stumbled on an article at Edutopia about six outstanding teachers in California who were honored by their former students.  The article ended with the following ''Keys to Success''.  What I find most interesting is that the qualities that the students valued were not about entertainment or easiness - but rather that ...

1) You only work nine months out of the year and you get paid all year. Most teachers are on a two-hundred day contract.  They may accept payment over a ten month period or opt to spread the ten month pay over twelve months.  The option is either a smaller monthly paycheck or two months a year without pay. 2) Teachers are ...

Educational Leadership:Supporting Beginning Teachers:Stop the Exodus. I thought this article was fantastic–simple tips to keeping great teachers in the classroom.  Help them get acclimated (don’t overlook them during testing weeks); help them figure out how to manage time and work/life balance; give them leadership and clout in decision making ...