Courtesy of The Fact Site, the number 2 is the first prime number, and it’s either the third or fourth number in the Fibonacci sequence–and that’s significant because math is beautiful and everywhere. Courtesy of Three Dog Night, “2 can be as bad as 1; it’s the loneliest number since the number 1,” followed byContinue reading “Who’s Counting? Two”
Tag Archives: English teachers
Who’s Counting? Four
Four Cardinal directions. Four gospels. Four horsemen. Four Beatles. Four Monkees. Four seasons. Four beats in a bar of 4/4. Four more days in the school year. Three days with students and a single work day for teachers, culminating awkwardly on a Tuesday. Four days until I count myself officially a “retiree.” First up onContinue reading “Who’s Counting? Four”
#348: On the Last Day of National Poetry Month, the American English Teacher Writes Several Minimalist Poems About Things He Finds in the Staff Lounge
Coffee Made a single cup; fuel needed after waking at 4 in the morning. Vinegar There’s a bottle of balsamic on the table, waiting to be drizzled over someone’s leftovers for lunch. 100 Hits Here’s a copy of Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits, a gift to the staff lounge from an intern of mine fromContinue reading “#348: On the Last Day of National Poetry Month, the American English Teacher Writes Several Minimalist Poems About Things He Finds in the Staff Lounge”
#185: The American English Teacher Crosses Off All The Items From His To-Do List
He does it. He crosses off all the items from his to-do list. Many of the things he crosses off were things he actually did, others, not so much. But he wants them off the list so he crosses them out. Some of those unfinished-crossed-off items will end up on other to-do lists. Some othersContinue reading “#185: The American English Teacher Crosses Off All The Items From His To-Do List”
#184: The American English Teacher Makes A To-Do List
The number and the analogy may have been different, but I swear I said to at least two of my colleagues today, “Do you ever feel like a web browser with 2,879 tabs open?” And both of these colleagues said the same thing: “All. The. Time.” If I could make a catalogue of allContinue reading “#184: The American English Teacher Makes A To-Do List”
#39: On the End of the School Year
On the End of the School Year It’s always a cluster, unnatural and awkward in every way, but mostly for teachers, or maybe just for teachers like yourself, English teachers with too many students, too much grading, not enough time to get it done, or, at least, to do it well, speeding through, losing sleep,Continue reading “#39: On the End of the School Year”
Why I Am Totally Bugged By This Video
http://www.upworthy.com/student-freaks-out-in-front-of-his-class-and-says-what-were-all-thinking-about-our-education-system-3 The video making the rounds Thursday on facebook was of a young man who stands up in the middle of his classroom and goes on a little tirade against his teacher, accusing her, essentially, of malpractice, of making no effort to teach, of handing the kids packet after packet, worksheet after worksheet. He imploresContinue reading “Why I Am Totally Bugged By This Video”
Of a Long Teacher Work Day on which Only a Third of the Work Gets Done
Today we were given a teacher work day on this last day before spring break. Awesome for students because they get an extra day off. Awesome for teachers, at least in our district, because the work day didn’t even fall at the end of a grading period, but rather, a couple of weeks before. SoContinue reading “Of a Long Teacher Work Day on which Only a Third of the Work Gets Done”
Of A Twelve Step Program for Young Cell Phone Addicts
I’m serious. There’s not a day that goes by any more when I don’t tell a student or several students, sometimes repeatedly in a single period, to put their cell phones away. And lately there hasn’t been a week that’s passed without a serious discussion around the lunch table about the need for some sortContinue reading “Of A Twelve Step Program for Young Cell Phone Addicts”
Of Furlough Days
I’ve been laid off today with all of the employees of my school district, and, by proxy, all of the students in my school district. The school doors are locked. Do not enter. Sorry, we are temporarily closed. We do not have enough money in the coffers to pay for a full school year, soContinue reading “Of Furlough Days”
michael jarmer 