Reflections of an Educator

As you enter 7th grade Social Studies class, you will find that we will be doing a lot of thinking, including assignments where you are asked to compare and contrast...in fact, you may have to complete a Venn Diagram. One topic we will study is the Boston Massacre, which took place on March 5, 1770. In the Boston Massacre, British soldiers, who were patroling American colonists in Boston because tension was rising, mistakenly fired into a crowd. Rocks were thrown, both sides were aggressive, and in the end five American colonists were killed by the British. On August 21, 2006, another Boston Massacre occurred. During this Boston Massacre, the New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox at home at Fenway Park in a 5-game series. The Red Sox gave a valiant effort, but in the end, the Yankees' bullpen and hitting were too much for the Red Sox. If you would like to get a head start on practicing comparing and contrasting, then consider - what similarities and differences exist between th...

I've been wicked busy, lately (yes, I'm almost a New Englander because I used "wicked," I know, I know...)...almost a month ago, I finished my last class in a program I was doing to become certified by the state to move into administration in schools. It was a year-long program, and I completed it with a "cohort" of people - meaning a small group of people who took classes together. My friends and I ended our year together with a celebration of a golfing expedition (I did not do as well as I had hoped....), and promised to get togethe r soon. I'm certainly going to miss my friends! It's probably like missing your friends from summer camp, except all these people are teachers - your worst nightmare! The very next week, I took a class with some other teachers (there were 32 of us) in Brookline, at an organization called Facing History and Ourselves ("FHAO"). The organization helps teachers understand more about human atrocities around the wo...

Friday, July 7, 2006 Whoa, what a week it's been! This past week I spent my time in beautiful upstate New York. My sister, brother-in-law, mom, and dad all rendez-vous-ed in Saratoga Springs, NY. There, we relaxed, talked, went out to dinner, and played 54 holes of golf. It certainly was a lot of golf. When I get the pictures, I'll throw one up of me playing golf. I hadn't swung a golf club in 11 months, so I expected it to be pretty bad - but I actually did alright. And, the more I played, the better I got. By the end of the third day, I was hitting the ball well, outdriving my dad and brother-in-law (once in a while). I learned through this experience, that practice makes perfect (or at least better)...and that if you expect to improve at something, you have to keep working at it. From Saratoga, I drove with my sister to Ithaca, New York, where she and my brother-in-law live. Ithaca is home to two universities: Ithaca College and Cornell University. While out for some run...

While I was on the Cross Sound Ferry going to New York and back to New England, I had lots of time to read my book. It is called The Tipping Point , written by Malcolm Gladwell. It is simply an excellent book. It talks all about how certain things in society can become really popular (like an "epidemic"). For example, the TV show Sesame Street was not always popular. The author discusses the different factors that lead to an event, person, or fad becoming really popular...think about today's society. Ipods were not always so popular. It took certain factors for these products to become popular: cool people using them, lots of people using them, usefulness, convenience, etc. Once these factors occurred, Ipods became a "fad," where today so many people use them. In this book, I have learned that so many things around us in daily life - everything from DVD players to Ipods to Crocs (plastic shoes...maybe I will make them popular?) may or may not become very popul...

Welcome to installment number one to my summer blog. This summer will be great! - and filled with many adventures and learning. My first piece of learning was this past weekend. I needed to travel to Long Island to go to several cousins' high school graduations. Instead of traveling through New York City, I decided to take the Cross Sound Ferry. I called and made reservations on the ferry, and drove to New London, Connecticut, on the Thames River. The ferry was absolutely gigantic. In the picture to the left, you can see how huge it is. Believe it or not, I literally drove my car right onto the boat. I learned several things at this point...that ferries can carry a lot of weight (imagine 2 tons per car times a hundred cars, plus people) and that traveling by boat is much more relaxing than fighting traffic in New York City! The picture to the right is the car in front of me getting on the ferry. Notice how the back just opens up and in the car drives. Once I was on the ferry, thing...