Two firsts this week, and it makes me very thankful we followed four days of classes with a four-day weekend. After four days to prep, the 2023-24 academic year began on Monday. I find it interesting that more than a few veterans found themselves nervous as we arrived. We’d already had freshmen orientation the previous […]
The fourth quarter end on May 31 and we swung right into finals, with makeups this past Tuesday. On Friday, we locked the grades and the academic year was over. So, what sort of year was it? Tiring and all-consuming it felt. My three sophomore classes, largely comprised of students I taught as freshmen, disappointed […]
Anyone who knows me is aware I like to keep busy. That said, the last month and a half or so has kept me exceptionally active (and, and just when I thought I’d be coming up for air, I find myself getting even busier in the coming months (and I thought it was busy to […]
Faculty and staff returned to school on August 23 and it was genuinely wonderful to see everyone again. There were laughs, hugs, high-fives, and more. We welcomed the unusually large number of new faces and got ready to welcome back the students. The good news was that enrollment was up for the freshmen class and […]
The first semester officially has closed. The mid-terms are graded and posted and the focus is on the second half of the school year. My four sections of freshmen arrived after a year and a half at home, effectively transitioning from seventh grade to ninth grade, entering high school somewhat unprepared for the expectations. They […]
I find it hard to believe that we are more than halfway through the first quarter. Our classes began August 26 and the quarter ends on Oct. 21, so it’s barreling along. I am relieved to see everyone from freshmen to seniors are happy to be back in the building. They mostly do not complain […]
Even though I spent most of a week prepping materials before returning to school, the actual return required a tremendous amount of mental recalibration. The shift from that of a writer to that of a teacher felt more profound this time. On Sunday, Deb helped me get the classroom ready. After everything was moved to […]
After extra time to prepare, the school year began in earnest on Thursday. Here’s how the in-class students see the online students. My desk got moved upfront to create more socially distant desk spaces for the students. I have five freshmen classes and it’s interesting as their personalities are starting to take shape. Overall, four […]
For whatever reason, unlike last school year, I have been exceedingly pressed for time. As a result, I have barely done any writing or editing, let alone blogging in ages. Here it is, the third day of my break, and I am finally getting back to the website. My freshmen wrote and performed skits showing […]
The Lecture Hall we used for the week-long Project-Based Learning class. Three weeks from today, I report back to St. Vincent Pallotti to begin my third year of teaching there. And yet, as this week began,I already began planning out lessons so the next few weeks will be a hybrid of relaxed summer time and […]