Not The Best Day Ever Revisited

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an experience I had where a student left my classroom crying and went to talk with the counselor. Read about it here. Be sure to read the comments below the article also! Since then, I apologized. I also made the commitment to slow down my teaching style. I … Read more

New Horizons Looming…Feedback Requested

I will begin setting up and writing in a Music Education blog soon. The idea was to include Music Education content on this blog, but I think that might alienate a handful of the readers and that is the last thing I want to do. So when it gets up and running, I will link … Read more

Double Your FeedBurner RSS Numbers Overnight

This article is part of a Group Writing Project about Building RSS Numbers. I recently achieved the milestone of having 150 subscribers (I’m still hanging out in that area). In reaching that, I realize that many bloggers use Blogger to host their blogs and FeedBurner for their RSS syndication. That’s a good combination (I much … Read more

The Overlooked Articles of 2007

In continuing my review of the year, I am looking today at some of the articles that I wish were more popular. They may have received a handful of comments, or they may not have received any. The most common cause for their relative obscurity is that they are older articles and have gotten lost. … Read more

Less Stress: Only Work At Work

Each morning when I come into the band hall, there are always a handful of students who come to drop off their instruments before school. Often they will come in and stand around talking. Because our custodian runs the vacuum each day and doesn’t fix the chairs after he finishes, the entire classroom has to … Read more

Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Coworkers

I touched on this topic before in Deepen Your Relationships With Friends, but I want to get even more involved here. I want to look at specific ways that you can collaborate with coworkers. More experienced teachers These people are the lifeblood of education. We’ve all had at least a small handful of teachers who … Read more

Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Students

Wow. I love my students. I am amazed that I haven’t written more on my blog about this fact. As I search through my blog, I have come to the realization that I probably come across as some heartless disciplinarian who expects nothing more from his students than that they be quiet all the time. … Read more

Anxiety Sets In As The New School Year Looms Ominously Close

The new school year is two weeks and two days away. This time last year, our week of inservices was well under way. Thanks to the Texas legislature, we will not begin staff development until August 20th and are not allowed to begin school before August 27th. That’s fine with me, but I am ready … Read more