Favorite New Teaching Mandate for Elected Officials

Teaching Mandate for Elected Officials Constitutional Change Required JCwire: Washington Momentum for a change to the U.S. Constitution gained ground today as legislators pitched their plan for a new requirement to elected office: teaching in K-12 classrooms. Supporters claimed that the skills required to broker debate and maintain order in … … more …

A Good Day

Enter Obi-wan My assignment was for a local elementary school where I had met the teacher.  He ran his class like a Jedi boot camp with posters and models to match.  He had taught his fifth graders to be fairly independent and I hoped this behavior would continue today. Arriving … … more …

A Good Second

Who’s on First? I like teaching first grade. The kids are still cute, like kindergartners, but also more capable. Most essentially, they can sit still long enough to do something. I arrived too late to do much prepping, as an accident on 580 had flooded the local streets with harried … … more …

A Good Sub

Forewarned I arrived at school early, having allowed for traffic hazards this time but encountering none.  As I waited for the school secretary to appear, a woman asked for whom I was subbing. I seldom remember a teacher’s name.  If I get to the right school with the right grade … … more …

A Flight of Bubbles

Unchecked Joy Today we experienced a moment of unchecked joy. Having found considerable interest in my Pustefix Rocket bubble blower during the AM recess at elementary school, I brought my Pustefix bear outside for the afternoon affair. First I let my little cadre blow some. This soon attracted other children. … … more …

Kindergarten Cop II

My substitute teaching had lately yielded to carpentry work. The latter paid twice as much and was half as tiring — this being a clear commentary on the state of education in California. My wife would laugh at me as I, returning from a day in the teaching trenches, collapsed … … more …