joel In the Christmas break, I am looking back at this blog’s growth and development. I did this last year and it helped some of the newer readers to catch some of the things they missed out on. I know that since the year started with around 125 subscribers and is ending with around 600, many … Read more
This has very little to do with education, but the concept is brilliant and bears sharing. Foodista is a cookbook with a wiki approach. Some of the cool features include: User-generated and user-edited recipes Easily link to recipes from your blog Click on an ingredient, and find recipes that include that ingredient For instance, here … Read more
My Christmas concert came and went. No, I don’t have a “winter concert” or “holiday concert.” We don’t play winter music at the concert. We don’t play Easter or Halloween or Arbor Day music at the concert. We play Christmas music. So it’s a Christmas concert. Why is it so difficult for people to understand … Read more
Found these on the Yellow Board. Enjoy. If you’re a band director (especially in Texas) and you don’t read the Yellow Board, you should. Q: If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get? A: Missletoe! Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? A: Frostbite. Q: Why was Santa’s … Read more
I love competition. I thrive on competition. I love being able to get a group of kids to create a powerfully musical performance. These are tremendous things. But I have come to realize that this is not the most important thing we can do. If we lose sight of why we are in education and … Read more
Miss A writes about a student she has who is being tested for Asperger’s. She has had some difficulties with him lately. I responded: Just curious…how much do you know about Aspregers? It is similar to autism (both disabilities are different levels of Pervasive Development Disorders). While the student may be using the disability as … Read more
If you are going to be student teaching in the spring semester of this school year, I want you to contact me. Before the end of this month. I am beginning work on a major project that will benefit you (and other students) tremendously. Either comment or email.
I recently was reminded of some videos I’ve seen before, but that was over a year and a half ago. These numbers are awe-inspiring. It is also humbling to realize how fast things are progressing in the world. It’s amazing to realize that the world I knew when I was growing up in the 90s … Read more
I love the visual effects employed here. Note the extensive use of whitespace. Greatness! Oh yeah, the message is incredible too.
A comment was left recently that said, Joel, I really enjoy your blog. You have written some amazing articles that I have printed and put in my first year file. I am currently student teaching right now. I appreciate your honesty about how scary and hard it can be sometimes, but also the greatness in … Read more