Here’s an interesting NY Times article on outspoken teachers losing their jobs over Facebook posts, which has sparked a debate over professional responsibility vs. freedom of speech outside the classroom. I think we in the teaching profession hold the added responsibility of always being on the job.  We are not only teachers but role models,…

After a year abroad as a public school EFL teacher, the time has almost arrived for me to say “再見 Asia” and “Hola, Miami.” In preparation for the 2-year roller coaster ride that I’m about to embark upon, I saved up my vacation days for a 4-day weekend and am now enjoying the sweet, sweet fruits…

To do work in Homestead is to have my heart broken again and again, even when nothing sad happens. I picked up R- this morning to mow the lawn.  Nothing sad happened, besides the blade falling off the mower.  We laughed, we joked, we got breakfast.  It was a great time – hanging out with…

I figured this would happen but hoped it didn’t.  Once things got better I stopped writing.  I really wanted to continue to write because there are still teachers who are struggling, people who are interested in what is going on in our schools, and new CMs who are wondering what the world of teaching is…

It’s December! Time really flies by these days, so I thought I’d come here and update because it will be 2010 before we know it. I just started coaching softball on Monday and I’m having a blast.  I always played sports growing up and now it’s really cool to be on the coaching end.  It’s…

I have been angry about this for a while but I am going to officially rant here.  Maybe one day this will all change. So when you teach in a school with a poor grade (we grade schools A-F here in Florida) you are subject to mutiple visits from the region, district, and state.  This…

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to keep up. First of all, I have to say how amazing Teach for America the organization is.  They are so supportive and so helpful, even when I feel like I’m doing my worst the…

At least this week!  I don’t know if it is because I had such an amazing weekend or what but I came back to school yesterday NOT dreading it for the first time in a couple of weeks.  On top of that the day actually went smoothly and I even had the class that drives…

I know I haven’t written in awhile.  Perhaps I’ll try to write once a week.  In the meantime, an email to my Ohio home… ************************ M-, My apologies for not writing to you sooner; the first time I opened your email, I was only able to skim the email but now, reading it again, I…