Half of the students in my 3rd period crew found themselves taking the PSATs today. Which meant I had eleven students in my classroom rockin’ and rollin’ in the CAD courses. It doesn’t seem like much, I know, but when you have a 45 min “plan” and you end up with twice the time andContinue reading “Funny Moments in the Classroom…”
Category Archives: Education
The First Week In Pictures
My first week stuck in a traditional classroom looked something like this. Not every picture belongs to my work, not every picture reflects my lessons, just the stuff going on around me:
(Re-)Planting Salt Marsh Grass: Galveston Bay Foundation
In Feburary, fifteen of my students ripped up some two-hundred salt marsh grass stalks. After a few months of careful husbandry, we re-planted the stalks in the middle of Trinity Bay. I’ll let the Galveston Bay Foundation take it from here… We got muddy and wet and smiles on our faces. Replanting the salt grassContinue reading “(Re-)Planting Salt Marsh Grass: Galveston Bay Foundation”
(School) Year in Review: Art Car 2011
As I gear up for summer program, I will be taking a little time to reflect on my past year. My bosses at work have kept me on as a teacher, although I smell the terrifying and exciting smell of change in the air. On May 22nd, my students (and I) participated in the 2011Continue reading “(School) Year in Review: Art Car 2011”
Weather Stations, Web 2.0 Tools and John Merrow
This week, my colleague shanghaied one of my chalkboards for a weather station. While the chalkboard & wind unit may not seem like much, The hand-held reader really catches a teacher’s eye. This type of scientific information begs to be utilized in the classroom. Daily, nay, hourly temperatures can be recorded and used to findContinue reading “Weather Stations, Web 2.0 Tools and John Merrow”
Teacher Tip: Use Pilot Holes for Hammering!
When installing finishing brads and nails, I usually chuck the nail into the bit and punch a hole through the lumber. This results in a minimal hole (the length of the nail minus the depth of my drill’s chuck jaws) which prevents most splitting. I recently “discovered” a secret – the deeper the pilot holeContinue reading “Teacher Tip: Use Pilot Holes for Hammering!”
A Quick Reminder – Keep Safe Today
This article from Makezine.com hit my inbox recently. Woodshop, machine shop, handsaws and chisels can all cause injury and at times, death. Constant vigilance and evaluation of our skills is the only way to reduce the our chances, and our students chances, of injury. Take a moment today to evaluate your own practices and routinesContinue reading “A Quick Reminder – Keep Safe Today”
Why I Sometimes Read Business Books (The Teacher As a Manager)
By kindle recently bit the dust and as I reloaded the half-read novels into the new one’s memory, I came acroos a book for business managers. In many business books, I’ve found lots of semi-coherent and applicable advice (and soemtimes incoherant and inexplicable advice) for teachers. For example, in “The Truth About Managing People”, StephenContinue reading “Why I Sometimes Read Business Books (The Teacher As a Manager)”
This Week in the Classroom: Setting Up the Classroom in Stations
Success in the classroom begins before the students even set foot in the workshop. Yesterday saw the re-opening of school after a long Spring Break. My “classroom” looked like this: Let’s take a closer look. First, a young man has been building and designing a bookshelf over the past quarter. He’s just getting started sizing stock. Continue reading “This Week in the Classroom: Setting Up the Classroom in Stations”
This Week in the Classroom: What Do Plants Eat? And How Does It Grow Leaves? And Other Teaching Errors
What exactly, is a plant’s food? And where do the raw elements that make up a tree trunk come from? Take a moment and think up two answers. I had a student ask these questions on a recent field trip. The answer given by the speaking biologist to the second question was wrong. In fact,Continue reading “This Week in the Classroom: What Do Plants Eat? And How Does It Grow Leaves? And Other Teaching Errors”
WSC Designs 