life beyond the well…

Category Archives: Teaching


by 2 Comments

Week Two: Complete

It’s crazy that I’ve completed two weeks at the job, but I have yet to teach a single class.  Yesterday marked the end of our in-service training, and on Monday, we’ll begin teaching classes.  Monday.  It’s coming so fast.

This week we went through a FranklinCovey training on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and it was AWESOME.  I’ve never read the book, but after the workshop, I’m definitely going to apply the principles to my life.  The book is also on my “Books to Buy/Read” list (which gets LONGER by the minute), and I would encourage you to check it out too.

So, my teaching career starts in about two days…and I think I’m feeling OKAY about it.  I might be fooling myself, because there’s SO. MUCH. TO. DO…but I definitely feel better than I felt before.  My middle school team is pretty cool, and one thing that I learned from the workshop is that teachers are the WORST students.  If you’ve ever been around a group of teachers, then you already know.  If there are any teachers reading this, just observe your faculty meetings.  I promise that you’ll see characteristics of your students that drive you crazy in your coworkers.  In a strange way it’s comforting, because you see that even with those characteristics that make you want to throw a textbook across the room, the person can still grow up and become a productive citizen that contributes to society.

Anyhow, I have a LOT more in my head, but I’ve got even more on my plate of things to do…so I’m going to tackle that.  Wish me luck!


by 3 Comments

What are we teaching about King’s Dream?

How much do we really know about Dr. King? Outside of knowing that he had a dream, what do we know? We know that he married Coretta, that he was assassinated in Memphis, and then what?

This article from the Washington Post says that a lot of students are unaware of Dr. King’s dream. I find that interesting because Martin Luther King is one of the premier subjects if/when black history is covered in social studies classes. Part of the argument is that curriculums are so rigid that there isn’t enough time to cover something that won’t be covered on their standardized tests.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“In a recent survey of college students on U.S. civic literacy, more than 81 percent knew that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing hope for “racial justice and brotherhood” in his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

That’s the good news.

Most of the rest surveyed thought King was advocating the abolition of slavery…

In many schools across the country, teachers say social studies has taken a back seat under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which stresses math and reading. Squeezing history into the curriculum can be difficult, educators say, and taking time out of a scheduled lesson to use a federal holiday — even King’s — as a teaching moment can be tough.”

Any insights? What did you learn about Dr. King in school?