Letters, Words, Thoughts, Ideas, Stories...

Yesterday the boys woke up at 4:45. They were fussy all morning, feeding off my own nervous energy. We were visiting the elementary s...

Today my class was supposed to be going on a field trip that includes a nature hike and sploshing around in a river, picking up slippery roc...

In class last week, I showed the kiddos this video*. When it was over and the giggles subsided, I asked them why they thought I'd shown ...

Each year room 202 has a defining moment. It's the instant the kiddos change from a rag-tag group of individuals who happen to have the ...

I've been battling the End-of-the-Summer Plague (the doctor says it's a respiratory infection, I still think I'm allergic to the...

St. Matt came to school with me on Friday. It was the kiddos’ last day and emotions were running high as limits were being tested. St. Matt...

1) Hearing my class groan in unison when I pick up the bookmark during read aloud and then beg: “ One more page, please !” 2) The bucakaroo...

Confession: I will meet next year’s crop of kiddos on Thursday morning. I will spend an hour with them and smile and prattle. And I will h...

Field Day: n. A school event comprised of various non-traditional sporting competitions; designed to turn formerly angelic students into de...

Sixth graders are not stealthy. This isn’t news to me, but it was brought to my attention today –yet again – in a quite adorable way. Apri...

The high temp for Doylestown today was 86°. The lowest temperature my classroom managed today was 86° - and that was at 7:30 in the morning ...

Today’s blog isn’t going to be all hyped up with jellybean-inspired hyperness or toilet-tweezers antics. On the whole, it’ll be more seriou...

Today was dark and gloomy. And a half day for the kiddos. I decided that since Mother Nature was cooperating and it is Poetry Month, we’d st...

Today is April 1st. In the teaching world this is a day of greatness and a day of dread. Dread because it’s April Fools’ Day – and when you...

I was feeling optimistic as I brushed my teeth last night. I could do this. I could beat insomnia. I could sleep. I could – gulg, blurble . ...

And survival skills too. It was math class and my students were diligently working their way through some operations with positive and negat...

"July? Seriously?" he asked me. "Yes, bud, July," I answered. "Are you sure?" Because he’s an all-knowing sixt...

It’s Monday morning and I’m grinning and bouncing in the hallways waiting for my students to arrive. This is not my typical Monday-morning a...