It’s no secret to regular Radical readers that I often get worn down by the grind of teaching. Wrap the public criticism piled on teachers at every turn up with the crappy policies that have stripped the joy out of the public school classroom and
Years ago, I was in my first season as the head coach of the boys basketball team at my middle school. The girls coach came to me just before the last game and told me that our school’s tradition was to call eighth grade players and their
As I sat around the lunch table laughing with the other teachers who work on the sixth grade hallway this afternoon, I realized that I’m a pretty darn lucky guy. Not only do I work with really good people who are genuinely committed to doing right by kids,
Did you get a chance to read my Teaching is a Grind post? In it, I shared the ugly truth that a career in education ain’t all sunshine and candycorn. The bit clearly resonated with readers, racking up more comments — both here and on the
A few years back, I started a new category of posts here on the Radical called TWIT — or THIS Is Why I Teach — designed to serve as a celebration of the simple joys that come along with being a classroom teacher and a
