The choice is yours

I miss cootie catchers. Fortune tellers, paper 8-balls, whatever. They went by different names, but those of us treated to the American public elementary school experience most likely came across the little origami decision machines at some point. It seems silly in retrospect that I spent so much time obsessing over an 8×8 folded square, but by golly did they make life simpler. “What should I … Continue reading The choice is yours

It’s happening… part two

Our grandparents built things to last. They bought ties with heavy coins and hid bills in mattresses. Cabinets full of thick paper folders were kept behind locked doors in brick buildings and schoolhouses. Mortar held the bricks together, strong enough to withstand anything short of a bomb’s blast. Our grandparents would take their time, waiting to get home before unwrapping the newspaper and shaking their … Continue reading It’s happening… part two

Teaching: the ultimate sacrifice

If there was a study done that gave every profession in America an overall score based on combined difficulty, barriers to entry, importance, scarcity and how underappreciated  it is, there is no doubt in my mind that being a K-12 public school teacher would beat out all others by a wide margin. Think about it. You have to go to college, oftentimes to grad school, … Continue reading Teaching: the ultimate sacrifice

Gamble your troubles away

Ah, November. Dark, gray and cold. Reading Days are but a distant dream and Halloween candy has somehow already transformed into a pile of wrappers. Leaves are long gone, pumpkins lay rotting on the pavement and groundskeeping has removed the campus foliage, which means that all signs of life other than the alarmingly brazen St. Peter squirrels have disappeared. Seriously, those guys are so bold … Continue reading Gamble your troubles away

‘Tis (not quite) the season

On your marks. Get set. BANG! That’s not the roar of a cheering crowd of fanatics you hear, unless you happen to be reading the paper at a hockey game, in which case, you really need to sort out your priorities. No, that’s the sound of the collective student body’s mental gears pushing into overtime. It’s that time of year: everyone’s running the Post-Midterm Six-Week … Continue reading ‘Tis (not quite) the season