Happy Mothers Day to my wife, my Mom, my mother-in-law who is in heaven and to all the moms and other people who have been moms to us. Happy Mothers Day to the Blessed Mother who continues to bless and protect us. St. Francis always spoke of Lady Poverty and I hope to embody that … Read more
I haven’t blogged here much in the past several years. I was busy earning a degree at St. Bonaventure University which I finished a couple of years ago. Then after earning my administrative credentials in New York State I began to seek employment elsewhere. I continue to feel like Thomas Merton and not know where … Read more
Recently I attended a formation workshop on “Servant Leadership” sponsored by the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Region of the Secular Franciscan Order. I’ve been a member of the Secular Franciscan Order since 2000 and professed since April 2002. I was once fraternity minister of the St. Irenaeus OFS Fraternity in West Clarksville, New York. At our … Read more
I wanted to prepare a lesson for class today that provided a capstone or bigger picture experience for the students of concepts we have covered in the last two weeks. I also wanted to provide differentiated instruction and an opportunity for reflection on the part of the students. I found exactly what I was looking … Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the high stakes testing environment that most schools across the country and especially those in New York State have had to endure. I’ve been thinking too about the new teacher evaluations which use results of those tests to evaluate teachers. I’ve also been thinking a lot about my … Read more
In the past five months I have incorporated a daily practice of mindfulness. Along with this I’ve incorporated Yoga and I’ve been reading everything I can about both topics. K-12 schools are in chaos around the country due to a number of reasons that include high stakes testing, teacher & principal evaluations and shrinking budgets. … Read more
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh Just what I needed to read today. Another did make me suffer at least for awhile and then … Read more
I use technology every day. Who doesn’t? We all flip on electric lights, Many of us drive cars. Others ride buses. Some of us have cell phones. Some of those phones are “smart” phones and others are “feature phones. Some people have PCs and some have Macs. There’s an emphasis on 21st century tools and … Read more
Conferences are great and this years NYSCATE was no exception. Opportunities to meet other professionals eager to educate children. Educators are an overwhelmingly idealistic community. That’s what makes me glad to be one. These are challenging days in education as educators everywhere seek to implement the Common Core. There is a great deal of stress … Read more
It’s been 20 years since my first NYSCATE Conference. The changes in that time have been remarkable. I’ve attended a number of sessions and most have been very interesting. Although I’ve seen no presentations on open source per se but I have seen a number of presentations where the applications are on the web and … Read more
