Critical Teaching Question: What do you do if you see one (or more) of your 10th grade students inside of Victoria’s Secret while shopping for your wife’s birthday present? Response: I never thought I would have to answer the above listed critical teaching question until it happened to me. Student-teaching, discussions with peers, the induction process, …
Continue reading "A life lesson learned through a trip to Victoria’s Secret"Teaching can be a soul wrenching existence. Not the most positive way to start a blog post, but this 2021-2022 school year has been like a school yard see-saw. On one side sits the plethora of blissful moments and on the other, the dark abyss of negative interactions. The negative parent and student interactions seem …
Continue reading "A Teacher’s socio-emotional journey"Background: For the past year, we have been contemplating buying a Tesla. Our needs have fluctuated based on children growing up, not needing a large SUV or “family car”, gas prices are steadily rising, California has tax breaks for owning an EV (electric vehicle), Biden’s administration seems poised to reenact further Federal tax incentives, we …
Continue reading "Tesla Experience"I think the idea of family has taken on a new identity during the pandemic. Maybe I should clarify a bit before moving on; what I meant to say is I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time reflecting on family because we spend more time together as a result of quarantining and trying to figure …
Continue reading "“I’m a real person”–a 21st Birthday memory"I spent this past weekend in Santa Cruz, CA visiting with my Dad who lives alone in a modest three-bedroom beach house approximately two blocks from 26th Avenue Beach. For the better part of my teenage years, I lived in this beach house along with my two younger brothers, mom, and dad. My parents eventually divorced …
Continue reading "Poet Dad"I started teaching in the classroom again. There is a caveat; it’s two days a week, but it’s better than nothing. The process began with my supervisor asking if I was willing to teach a small cohort of 10 to 12 English Language Development students. I also teach 9th grade and 10th grade English Language …
Continue reading "Back Teaching"It’s very hard to put into words what I am feeling right now watching the Capitol building be stormed by protesters. To be an active spectator in the erosion of our democratic institutions is unnerving, unprecedented, and without historical context. I guess the time has come for me to begin looking at other countries’ past …
Continue reading "Under Siege"On the eve of a smoldering year, it is difficult to put into context what has occurred over the past 365 days. Most of the time I try to keep to a rigid daily routine in an attempt to make sense of the cultural shift happening locally, nationally, and on a global scale. On the …
Continue reading "Smoldering Embers of 2020"Another California style lockdown has been implemented, but is it necessary? In the last 24 hours, Governor Newsom has divided California into five regions. If ICU hospital capacity within each region falls below 15%, then that region will be under a strict stay-at-home order for three weeks. The region containing Los Angeles County has already …
Continue reading "Lockdown Cali Style"Rising from COVID-19’s complex infrastructure Thanksgiving 2020 appeared as a monolithic superstructure compared to any other holiday this year. Approximately one month prior, our family contracted the virus and one by one the multiple families that had reserved a spot at our Thanksgiving table decided to cancel. Even though their reasons were logically valid, I …
Continue reading "Giving Thanks"