Hired, Fired, Inspired

Have you ever waited so long to reply in a situation that it is easier to not reply at all because the statute of limitations on a response has expired? Yep – that’s how I have felt about returning to posting on this site for the last year. During that time I’ve had countless ideas…

I just found out this morning that a former student of mine has passed away. This news was met with an unexpected flow of emotion and so this post is a chance for me to sort through those thoughts. My emotional response was somewhat surprising. The student graduated early in my career, but he was…

You can tell a lot about people from their social media presence. Lisa Taddeo’s Twitter account started in 2016 and in 111 tweets/retweets, 90 percent are dedicated to promoting her current book, “Three Women.” Here are two of her most recent promotional tweets as of this publication date: (Author’s note: Within minutes of posting about…

I remember first hearing about a possible book years ago. I might have even received an email from the author, but disregarded it with the same naivety that accompanied my first responses to questions from an investigator. It would be preposterous for any self-respecting writer to further embellish encounters already proven inaccurate by authorities, or…

The only word I have left to sum it up is…”defeated”. It’s been three years in the making, so let me explain: In 2014, I reevaluated my role as a traditional English teacher. In the text “Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era”, authors Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith discuss the…

After reflecting on the reporting process of a local reporter regarding a story of a teacher’s social media comments, I am still uneasy. I still have a hard time comprehending the rationale for publishing this story about a teacher’s tweets. The reporter provided a few possible reasons in his previous responses on social media: 1.…

Disclaimer: This post evaluates a local media professional’s reporting practices with regard to a story on an area teacher. The teacher who is the subject of the reporting works in the same school district as me; however, I have never met this teacher. This is more a reflection on the disappointing reporting approach and should…

Given my history, readers can assume I am a strong believer in free speech and expression. In order to achieve growth and progress in education, there needs to be a balance between professional responsibility among teachers and educational policy. Unfortunately, in my district it seems as though the scales are increasingly becoming tipped toward personnel policy management.…

I have always been a firm believer in transparency. That’s probably what drew me to journalism early in my career. I believe in the role of the press to keep public entities accountable and always respected those organizations that operated with true transparency. This is why scholastic journalism plays such an important role in today’s…

Yesterday I was visiting with my wife, an instructional coach in the same district, about the difficult days leading up to the school year. Our three daughters are adjusting to different schedules, we are trying to prepare professionally all while trying to soak up the last summer days together. My wife, Tamara, eloquently calls it “the…