Alan Sitomer's Blog (168)

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Hard to get an old dog... MY ASS!

Here's a story about one of my best friend's in the world.



He got a parking ticket. And didn't pay it. And then another. And didn't pay that either. And then a few more. Never paid any of them.



So the other day, he was in a rush -- had to get a package off to Fed Ex to meet a HUGE business deadline, the kind that causes cold sweats when big deals are on the line.



And he rushed to his car after getting the final documents notarized and poof! his… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 11, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Thank Goodness for "Bad" Teachers!

Before I lay me down to sleep this evening, I am going to say a prayer of gratitude for all the crappy teachers I've had and known. That's right -- for the really stinky ones. Why? Because, if you pay attention, you can learn as much from a poor teacher as you can from a strong one... at least in a few very specific ways.



Through being treated like a just another factory widget by some of my cynical, jaded, been at this job way-too-long type of teachers back when I was in… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 10, 2009 at 8:44am — No Comments

Before School Starts Up Again...

Before School Starts Up Again...



I want to make sure I take back with me a sense of optimism about the upcoming year. I know it's gonna be more challenging in many ways due to these absolutely BONKER budget cuts. However, just because we have less money to spend on our kids than ever (at least as long as I've been a teacher) does not mean that we automatically have to provide less of an education to our kids than ever.



And I believe they way to ensure that this… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 8, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

A Time of Educational Opposites

We are living and working in a time of educational opposites.



*Our class sizes are growing as our teacher ranks are shrinking.

*Our students' needs are expanding as our professional development time is diminishing.

*The public's confidence in our professional abilities is lessening while the public's distaste for supporting public education is broadening.



These opposites are not good. However, there's a bright side as well.



*Socioeconomic… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 7, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Like Mom always said: Why? Because I said so, that's why!

How in the world can we expect all students to show the same amount of enthusiasm for all subject areas on their schedule? I am not sure we can.



And if you agree we can't -- read on. (If you think we can, then this post is probably not for you.)



I think about my own experience in school. For me, science class was always something I endured more than I enjoyed whereas creative writing was an after school club for me that I choose to join which had me up til… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 6, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

School: when it comes to amassing great fortunes, it's so overrated

It is with great sadness that I must inform everyone that I will be retiring from the world of education. See, a few hours ago, I just learned that a dead 3rd aunt who moved to Senegal in the early 1900's just left me 67 million Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF) -- this is the official note of the Central Bank of the West African States -- which translates into about 32 million US dollars.



Of course, I couldn't begin to explain how ecstatic I was to receive the… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 5, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

It's more than just apparently suicidal tricks... it's an outlook on life.

I just witnessed a group of teens and young adults who said, with a straight face and all the seriousness in their heart that they could muster, that if they did not figure out a way to improve over their performance of last year, they'd be toast. They knew they needed to grow, adapt, change, evolve and break new ground... for if they didn't, they knew someone else, with more hunger in the belly, would come along and take from them their, well... everything. Their future, their… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 4, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Do our kids not have much to teach us about how to teach them?

Working on my listening skills has probably been one of the best pieces of PD advice I have ever tried to take to heart.



The fact is, we teachers, we kinda come to class to talk. To impart. To flow outwardly. And in the chaos that is a teaching day, with hundreds of students coming at you from hundreds of angles at a hundred miles an hour seeking hundreds of answers (from "May I go to the bathroom?" to "Do you think Shakespeare really wrote all those plays?" to "Can I bring… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 3, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Not Only Do I Not Know What I am Doing, Neither Does Anyone

TIME magazine just published this story called Morning the Death of Handwriting. It made me realize that the more deeply I think about my job as a teacher, the more acutley aware I become that I really can't say for sure that I am doing the right thing -- or teaching the right things -- in my classroom.



Sure, my state has standards -- and our nation is currently developing… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 1, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Thanks to All This Guidance, I Have No Idea What I am Doing in My Classroom

Basically, I have little idea what to do in the classroom. The more guidance I am provided, the less clearly I understand what I ought to do. And I have a feeling I am not alone.



Am I supposed to teach my kids how to properly punctuate an appositive phrase? Yep. And how do I know that? Because it says so right there in the English Language Arts standards.



So, am I supposed to teach a kid that they should live their life with a sense of passion and purpose? I'd… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 31, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Is it okay...

Is it okay to have limitations?



Is it okay not to be the most cutting edge, 21rst century tool wielding teacher on the planet without having aspersions cast on my professionalism?



Is it okay to not be the most phenomenal teacher of persuasive writing, expository writing, autobiographical writing, compare and contrast writing and creative writing ever to hold a dry erase marker?



Is it okay to feel hurt when my kids feel hurt by the budget cuts, impacted… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 30, 2009 at 10:31am — No Comments

What if we assess our schools/kids/teachers like Golf?

I love sports. I love hoops, football, baseball, boxing, soccer, hockey, tennis and so on. And when I mean "and so on", I mean, I can watch table tennis, badminton, lacrosse, rugby and golf.



Yep, I can watch golf.



But I only like to watch when there is level competition. If a game is a blowout, it's off. If a team has a 35 point lead heading into the 4rth quarter, a 3 goal lead late into the second half, an 11 run lead in the bottom of the seventh, I am usually… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 29, 2009 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

The Hero's Tale of Teenage-hood

As I write my next YA book right now, I am weighing some deep principles of story. And as I do, I realize that the reason these deep principles of story apply so well to the world of tales is because they apply so well to the real world -- to life, if you will.



For example, today I am probing the world of rich characters and what truly motivates them. Now most characters have some form of inner conflict going on in their lives -- especially when we meet them in the early… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 28, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Just Don't Throw Us Under the Bus

There is most certainly a very interesting tidal wave on the horizon. And in the mighty seas that are swirling these days in education, that's no small feat (to create a potential tsunami that is teacher evaluation, that is. See here for the Obama chides California article which this blog post references).



Now, I have no problem with accountability.… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 27, 2009 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

Good ol' fashioned "I Give a Damn-ness"

I just ate a hotel restaurant -- not a fancy hotel by any stretch, very much a burger and sandwich type of place -- and was stricken by what seems to be a far receding quality in our country today.



Good ol' fashioned "I Give a Damn-ness".



Our waiter had it. He was friendly, nice, attentive, jocular and genuinely affable. But not intrusive. Not heavy-handed. He was just a notably good waiter, which is not rare if you are eating at a 5 star restaurant, but… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 24, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Eat at Joe's... NOT!

An acquaintance (not a friend) of mine ate a local restaurant the other day -- at "Joe's" -- and had a bad experience. And then complained to me about it. The food, the service, the blah, blah, blah.



So, what is my opinion now of that restaurant? In an ideal world, I'd remain free of her input and go and judge it myself. However, all of us have so much going on in our lives that we often reply on the input of others to help us shape our own opinions of… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 23, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

The mysterious ways of the secret ninja teacher warrior

A part of my teaching life is paralyzed by feelings of perpetual professional inadequacy. And I feel like I am not alone.



I mean I finally get a grip on how to effectively teach theme and then I recognize the value that incorporating a classroom wiki could have. So I learn how to add this tool to my growing digital teaching arsenal but realize that there are some really high qualities insights to be gained by doing a bit more reading on using inquiry in the classroom. So I… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 22, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

I smell the future!!

In the war of digital vs. paper books, it looks like the paper tigers actually keep packing punches no one might have quite suspected they held in their arsenal. 8 tracks buckled like an accordion at the sight of cassette players. VHS tapes folded like a beach chair at the sight of DVD's. But paper books, what have they done as the digital enemy intruder sought to encroach upon their territory?



Simply fire back more shots across the bow than anyone might have expected they… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 21, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Facebook Makes Me Feel Like a Wee Bit of a Jerk

I can't say I am the biggest fan of Facebook. Maybe I am just from a different era, whatever. And not to sound like a snob (I know, too late for that, right?), but I can't say that I am all that into striking up really long social network conversations with people I only kind of knew as bare associates 20 years ago. But ever since I joined Facebook once upon a time ago, I get all these "remember me" notes that seem to require 15-20 minutes of thoughtful written response if I am going… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 20, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Score one for the Ol' Bugger: The Persuasive Composition Still Packs a Wallop!!

As Jim Burke has mentioned - quite brilliantly - writers today (and of the future) will require compositional skills in formats that consist of 3,000 words, 300 words, 30 words, 3 words and no words. (I am paraphrasing here; he's much more eloquent.) The point is, that literacy is increasingly more diverse than ever and the challenges we face preparing our kids to successfully tackle the demands behind placed upon them are both dynamic and shape shifting.



However,… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 17, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

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