Before my 25th birthday, I thought to myself how much I’d like to have my own son. The closer I got to finishing my 2nd year of teaching, the more I wanted to have a little nugget to teach the ways of this Vilson. My son started appearing in my dreams in different...

A huge struggle I’m having in my class is kids coming in late. OK, it’s actually been a problem since I’ve started teaching. It’s been exacerbated by the fact that we no longer have homeroom, so students don’t feel attached to the teacher w...

To Teachers This May Concern, Pardon my candor, but there’s a reason why the kids just don’t like you. At first, I couldn’t understand the dynamics of certain teachers and classes, especially if they stick together and bond for a few months. The genera...

Today, after another long day at the grindhouse, I saw some of my former students, a pair of girls who haven’t grown in stature, but hopefully in status. Students who graduate from your nest are a great gauge for the effect you’ve had on present and future s...

It is with regret that I report about Jaime Escalante’s passing today. He was 79. He lived his life inspiring all types of people within the education system, but with little money left to treat his terminal bladder cancer. I am amongst that number of people who h...

I could have easily declared the following as a math teacher, but I’m being more demonstrative now: No. More. FOIL. Anyone who’s followed these posting in the last couple of years knows that I’m all for finding efficient ways of remembering how one wor...

She sits there, black marker in her left hand, pencil in her right, switching from one to the other like a pendulum, clocked to the rhythm of her observant teacher’s sustained looks in her general direction. Days after an extended conversation with her teacher abo...

This week, I’m writing a few more letters to different people, whose names shall be removed from the post, but who nonetheless are amalgamations of real characters. I won’t be mincing words this week, and in these letters, I hope to address some issues I find in educati...

Last week, at least officially, a great man and teacher retired from the NYC public school systems. I think about him, and the others who’ve retired from my school (at least the ones who we’ve celebrated), and even the one who died early last academic year, ...

Here’s my best attempt at putting a positive spin on a topic that’s probably irked anyone who’s had to help facilitate the growth of fellow colleagues or teachers who see the odds and punch a hole through that proverbial glass ceiling. While I’m ...