The Teacher Geek

Behold The Conference Crown

The Teacher Geek — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:31:44 PST

What do you wear when you conference with students and don’t want to be disturbed? A crown…a Conference Crown, to be exact. As I wrote in a past post, I had used a sign to deter students from interrupting small-group conferences. But now, thanks to a discarded Halloween costume, I have a tiara! A [...]

Word(s) Up!

The Teacher Geek — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:48:17 PST

I just got some string hung up from the ceiling in my classroom. I’m so excited, because now I can HANG STUFF. The facilities guy that installed it did a cross-cross design, corner to corner, for maximum coverage. Then, channeling MacGyver, he rigged two of the corners into a little pulley system, so that I [...]

Be a Ninja Hallway Walker

The Teacher Geek — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:33:07 PST

A couple of months ago, I solicited hallway walking tips on Facebook. Finally, here’s that blogpost! Thanks for being so patient, Teacher Geeks. A few years ago, I ran into a parent in the hallway while my class was on its way to a special. My class was (mostly) walking in quiet, straight line. That [...]

I’m Leaving Networked Blogs, Please Re-subscribe

The Teacher Geek — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:59:52 PST

Hello Teacher Geeks, If you subscribe to my blog via the NetworkedBlogs syndication service for Facebook, I’m kindly asking you to resubscribe through a different route. I’ve not been happy with the feeds they’ve pulled for me onto Facebook. Many of the issues cannot be resolved without endless hours of troubleshooting, which I just don’t [...]

The Wish Penny: Saying Goodbye To a Student

The Teacher Geek — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:54:53 PST

I’m bummed this week for two reasons. One is that I have to do report cards. I want to do them thoughtfully and correctly, but I don’t care what anyone says, (you could be the Mary Poppins of teachers), report cards are not fun. Especially when they are a series of a ho-jillion pull-down menus. I [...]

Sunday Night Dose Of Joy: Aung San Suu Kyi as Guest Professor

The Teacher Geek — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:01:59 PST

When you think of a college lecture hall, excitement and goosebumps are the not first things that come to mind. I think that’s because I haven’t had the privilege of sitting in a lecture from Professor John Boyer at Virginia Tech. On December 5, 2011, Professor Boyle and his 3000 World Regions class students SKYPED [...]

Sunday Night Dose Of Joy: Alan November’s “Purpose”

The Teacher Geek — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:15:10 PST

It’s Sunday night…do you know where your teacher bag is? If you’re like me, you’re probably doing the split-personality dance of revving down from the weekend and revving up for the week. While this blog is mostly about Best Practices in the Classroom, every Sunday I’m going to try and bring you a Sunday Night [...]

The June Box

The Teacher Geek — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:39:42 PST

There are few things I remember from my own Kindergarten experience in the mid 70′s. I remember Mrs. Goff was very nice and smiley. I remember the Yellow Triangle Station where we listened to books on cassette with the humongous earphones. I remember cutting my bangs myself the day or two before school photos. And [...]

Dropbox Will Change Your Life

The Teacher Geek — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:31:38 PDT

Have you ever lost your flash drive? Have you ever thought about what would happen if you lost it? Fear, panic, mayhem, not necessarily in that order. For the first few years of my teaching career, I lived in daily fear of losing my beloved USB flash drive. I did not have any way of accessing [...]

3 Ways To Beat Fall Laryngitis For Teachers

The Teacher Geek — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:35:29 PDT

Does anyone else get what I call “September Laryngitis’? HOLLA!! Wait, cancel that. Just squeak. When will my vocal chords ever get used to the sudden upswing of talking ALL DAY? My mother, a School Speech-Language Pathologist, once told me that teachers have the second-highest incidence of vocal chord damage, second only to professional singers. [...]