Oh, boy! This year is set to be very different than any previous year for school. I have two students headed back to college classes and one who I thought was going to be entering as a college freshman but decided in early June that he was going to pursue a different path despite getting…
Today, tonight actually, I am going to repost a leadership topic on which I have written before; it is that of transparency. Strangely enough, this post was written in February of 2019, less than a month into starting a new job. It is a topic that has interested me for years and is very apropos…
Today is supposed to be 93 degrees. It is going to be hot by anyone’s standard. I was outside by 8 a.m. to water my newly planted flowers and foliage. I knew I had to do it early or risk their demise in the heat of the day. Lots of work goes into planting our…
It’s Easter Sunday, April 12th 2020. We’ve been relegated to our homes for schooling since March 16th. The Governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, proclaimed a Safer at Home Order on March 23rd, to last at least until April 26th of 2020. Did I mention it’s April 12th? It’s been a month and we still have…
Why would a student or family CHOOSE to learn or take classes digitally? The answer is easy – because there are benefits for students that exist on this learning platform! In the late winter of 2011, our family made the researched and conscious decision to allow our oldest son to finish high school online through…
My post today will not be too long. I spent time over the last three to four days, and much of this morning, putting together a FREE mini Phenology & Citizen Science lesson on Spring Bulbs. Last year, when I made presentations it was suggested to me more than once that instead of PowerPoint I…
Today, it felt like we were beginning a “new normal.” Our school district started online classes. Our youngest is a senior in his last semester of high school. Since our district also employs a block schedule, he luckily has only a few classes. Here, I will admit that I do not do well with transitions…
The sun is out and I am itching to get my hands dirty. One of the advantages of having a garden club for students for over 15 years is that during the winter, I was still playing with worms, planting bulbs, and planning for spring. Missing an Activity This is the first winter since 2004…
As I have a student who will be graduating from high school this spring, I am interested in knowing the thoughts of others regarding the direction students will be headed after their graduation in 2020. My soon to be graduate is strong in mathematics and art, obviously using both sides of his brain. His propensity…
This morning I am wondering how many of our high school students are feeling. The school is instituting a new (changed) policy on cell phone usage. As I understand it, although there were guidelines before, cell phone usage in the classroom was left up to each individual teacher. Now, each department was charged with coming…