Remembering a Teacher/ Being Appreciative

I haven't seen my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Krause in over 20 years, but I still remember some things vividly about her teaching style and the kind of woman she was to her students.


One of my fondest memories of this great teacher harkens back to the last day of school, believe it or not. Instead of handing out candy to us students, something we would forget about in 5 minutes, she showed us how much she cared for us by giving us a personalized present — a certificate — to show how much we meant to her.


For more information on the story of one of my favorite teachers, and of how you can create your own certificate of appreciation for your students, check out the SchoolBox Blog.

My 5th grade class picture

Creative Craft Corraling

Sure, you LOVE your child, and her artwork is PRECIOUS but you don't want it strewn around the house. I've been there. I understand. With my children currently ages 8, 7 and 5 1/2 I "get" it. So when my daughter presented me with yet another masterpiece (she's really into a coloring phase) I decided I had to come up with some creative ways to keep all the papers together. Check out the article I wrote for the retail store "The School Box" on their blog "A Learning Experience" entitled "Creative Ways to Organize Children's Artwork".

Photo from: Phaitoon

Like LEGO?

Do you like LEGO bricks? (Okay, really who doesn't?) When our family received a postcard in the mail about an upcoming LEGO event we were SOOOOO excited (and yes, we just couldn't hide it).  This coming weekend the LEGO store at Discovery Mills Mall is hosting a master model building event where children can help create a larger-than-life SpongeBob Square Pants.  Check out THIS ARTICLE for more information on this event and more LEGO store offerings.

Here's my son posing w/ a "mini" Bob, the larger one is in the background.

Book Report Helps

So your child has been assigned a book report for school. Don't freak out about the complexity of a book report, they're as easy as pie, or rather ICE CREAM. 


Check out THIS fun (and short) article for tips on how to remember what to include on a book report — HINT— think of an ice cream cone and you (and your child) won't forget a single thing on the report. And once your child scores an "A" on the report, be sure to reward him or her with a tasty treat, to help remind her what it took to get the grade.

What's Your Agenda?

What's your teaching style? Photo by Arvind Balaraman

All teachers have an agenda in their teaching, it's inevitable. There is no such thing as a "neutral curriculum" since everyone has a slant or viewpoint towards subjects.


So what's your agenda, what's your reason for teaching? What's your viewpoint? Visit "Is There Any Such Thing as Neutral Curriculum" for more insights on the subject.