Pictures from field day are available here.

We continued our unit on public speaking with a mini-lesson on filler words (um, uh, like, so…) and some practice becoming more self-aware of when we use them. Students gave short, one-minute mini-speeches at their tables, but their audience members had very…

As we move into the last quarter of this inaugural GPA year, the students in my class are embarking on one of the most challenging topics of the year: public speaking. We’ll be working toward a straightforward (but certainly not simple) goal: a five-minute speech….

Some days every class seems to go so perfectly that teachers wish they could have videoed that day for posterity. Everything seems to click. 
Every student seems to be focused and hardworking. Every class seems to take a noticeable step forward. Today was such a day….

It’s been a while since I updated this site. Apologies for the neglect. I’ve been spending every waking school-based hour trying to get through 150 journals and give meaningful feedback. Today we began a new, small communication unit about 21st-century communication:…

I was speaking last week with Ms. Hart, the ELA teacher, about what they’re covering in English class. As a former English teacher myself, I’m keen to keep up with them. When she said they’ll soon be going over the Schaffer Model, I perked up: Schaffer is one of my…