Hedgetoad Teaching

I've alwaysys been very big on New Year's resolutions. The whole idea of starting a new year with all it's possibilities is fascinating. So many things could happen - and in a true optimist's view, they're all good. This year seems a little different. I think it's partially because of the near constant barrage of negativity from every corner. The war gets worse and deaths are closer to home. Students seem to know less but are responsible for more. The country is being run by people who are remote and seemly uncaring for the issues they must resolve and supported by people who believe that government has no place in their wallets but must sit in the middle of the bedroom. Driving home, I had about 6 hours of free time in my car. Thanks to various donations and radio transmitters, a person can listen to the exact same NPR programming while driving over several hundred mil...

Unlike many teachers across the nation, my holiday break started on Friday afternoon. I was so happy to see them go - and now, 2 days later, I'm missing the little buggers. This is probably a good thing as I am determined to plan out next semester much more closely than the previous. The past 4 months have been a bit crazy and I've felt like I've accomplished little besides going through the motions. Maybe I just haven't had enough time to reflect or really wanted to. I just feel like I haven't been doing enough to really get anyone engaged in actual learning or even had some authentic goals in mind when teaching (other than "please god, let them turn something in") I had an interesting chat with the Woodshop teacher at the "Ladies Ornament Party" (apparently, the whole town is stuck in 1971. This explains my apartment decor). She asked me if I wanted to know what the students though...