At the NCAE state convention this past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting some people for the first time face to face although I have "known" them for quite a while. Public school advocacy has helped me link with some of the best people, individuals whose passion for students is only matched by a … Continue reading Mark Jewell – Congratulations to the Leader We Need
Author: caffeinatedrage
Welcome to West, Coach West
I really look forward to next season that much more. Today it was reported that Howard West will become the next boys basketball coach for the Titans. From Jay Spivey of the Winston-Salem Journal: Howard West is back in the Central Piedmont Conference. West was named the new boys basketball coach at West Forsyth, Athletics … Continue reading Welcome to West, Coach West
An Open Letter From a Veteran North Carolina Teacher to Young Teachers – You Are Vital
Dear Fellow Educator, I first want to tell you that I admire what you have chosen to do as a career. Teaching in today’s public schools is not easy. I know as I am in my 20th year of teaching. I still love my job. I still love being with the students. Outside of my … Continue reading An Open Letter From a Veteran North Carolina Teacher to Young Teachers – You Are Vital
Big Win on the Road – Overcoming Adversity and Playing For Team
If you know anything about sports here in the Triad area, then you understand the high level of competition within the high school realm. Traditionally soccer games between the ladies of West Forsyth and East Forsyth are more than competitive - they are glimpses of potential playoff games. While I am certainly biased toward my … Continue reading Big Win on the Road – Overcoming Adversity and Playing For Team
Our Schools Should Be The Most Colorful of Places
Schools should be places that should show some of the greatest amounts of color. Imagine if you as a teacher had to visually represent the wide array of talents, learning styles, abilities, skills, interests, and intangibles that each student displayed just inside of your classroom in a given period. For many teachers, that is a … Continue reading Our Schools Should Be The Most Colorful of Places
“Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be” – What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Education Reform
400 years since he died. Four centuries. Multiple generations. New countries discovered. And we still read his work and revere it as a mirror of human nature. There is a bit of a revival taking place in some schools involving Shakespeare. The Common Core asks that student in each grade level come engage with Shakespeare … Continue reading “Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be” – What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Education Reform
Doughnuts for State Superintendent Mark Johnson
When I first stated teaching, I was at a school in the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County School System. Winston-Salem is the home of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and I used their doughnuts for fundraising ("Fun"raising). In fact, the club I sponsored was able to raise quite a bit of dough (pun intended). Odd that a company … Continue reading Doughnuts for State Superintendent Mark Johnson
A Letter to My Daughter – “Your Dad Is a Feminist”
McK, First, I want to let you know that you are the most important woman in my life. Always will be. Maybe society dictates that I should say your mother is the most important woman in my life, but she and I look at you and Malcolm as the most important woman and man in … Continue reading A Letter to My Daughter – “Your Dad Is a Feminist”
Every Student Walks Into School With “Baggage” – What the NCGA Could Help Do
When a teacher meets thirty students inside of a classroom and the bell rings, the entire sum of life experiences of all those people collides inside a confined space creating a rather complex dynamic where there is a need to be part of a collaborative community. Every situation, every stressor, every victory, every defeat, every … Continue reading Every Student Walks Into School With “Baggage” – What the NCGA Could Help Do
“Everybody Hurts” – Prioritizing Mental Health In High Schools With Some R.E.M.
Everybody hurts. Sometimes. Teach for twenty years in public high schools and you become entrenched in the lives of young people. Thousands of them. Literally thousands. If you take the avocation of being a teacher seriously, then that investment in young people is not confined to the four walls of a classroom and not restricted … Continue reading “Everybody Hurts” – Prioritizing Mental Health In High Schools With Some R.E.M.
caffeinated rage 