Happy Fourth Birthday
Four years ago today, my wife and I began an amazing trip across the country to hold our twin boys and start a new chapter in our lives. I'm still not sure exactly how we were able to do it. Everytime...
View ArticleAccountability
I've recently found myself in a position as a dad that I'm questioning just how I can hold the educators of my own kids accountable for my kids' learning. This is a strange dilemma to be in since I am...
View ArticleThe Teacher Dad: Time for Better Gun Control
I hate guns. They make me totally and completely uncomfortable. I've held a gun only once, and it was some sort of military grade weapon and scared the you know what out of me. I couldn't for the life...
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Summer School Lessons
When I accepted the position at this high school, I agreed to also teach Geometry over the summer. Apparently, the school hadn't ever had a summer school geometry option before, so I'm blazing a new...
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Project Semicolon #semicolonEDU
Over the last week, I've seen several posts on twitter with the hashtag semicolonEDU. At first, I'll admit, I glossed over the posts having had no prior knowledge of what #semicolonEDU was about. But...
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Green Smoothie Family
About 5 years ago, my wife and I were pretty unhappy with our weight. We're not big people, but we just didn't feel we were the healthiest. I had made a goal to never be over 200 pounds, and I was...
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Two Weddings & My Family
Weddings are the best! Over the past 8 months, our crew has been to 2 wonderful weddings. There is just something so wonderful in having family together to celebrate love. And I've especially enjoyed...
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Twists and Turns Can't Break Us
Just over a year ago, my family and I completed our 2400 mile move to Washington. The decision to leave our home and lives in Alaska was hard to make, but opportunity called me to Washington. The...
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Talking about death with my 7yo
"Daddy, my friend's mom died." This was my oldest daughter's reason for not being able to sleep tonight. She's been having a hard time going to bed a lot lately. Most of her reasons involve her fear of...
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Our #travelingfamilyof7
It has taken me over a week to process the adventure that my tired family survived since mid-July. From road trips to being a part of a family wedding, to the two week work-cation back in Fairbanks,...
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They deserve to be Safe and Sound
Schools are tricky places. Some are super small, and all the kids know each other. Others have hundreds to thousands of kids trying to make it through each day. All schools in turn need teachers. We're...
View ArticleCharter schools.. they're not bad
I'm a teacher and I like charter schools. I know that I'm often in the minority regarding this feeling, especially in my new home here in Washington. Recently, the state supreme court declared that...
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So.. why not teach?
Shopping for a family of 7 presents many challenges. There's of course the financial aspect of it all:7 mouths to feed + 5 of the 7 are growing kids + keeping it healthy = big % of paycheck bye-byeAnd...
View ArticleInspire and protect through kindness and love
My oldest loves history and reading. So, naturally when he recently came across a book from the I Survived series about the a Nazi Invasion he was all in. If you're not familiar with the books, they...
View ArticleStress, Common Core, and young learners
I've recently found myself in several conversations about the strain that is falling onto elementary school teachers. Specifically, on the lower elementary teachers that have been handed a TON of...
View ArticleThe Suspended Reality for students
This past Monday, I found myself in one of those "made for tv moments" when I stepped between a group of boys that were amping themselves up for a bit of a throw-down. That's right.. on a Monday!You...
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It's a Test!! A push for Project Based Learning.
Thanks MemeGenerator.net!I'm writing this post at the end of a long day of testing my algebra 2 students. Topic? Quadratics.. graphing and solving. Yup, it's a rough one. I have the responsibility of...
View ArticleOne year means so much
Our baby turns one today. Yeah.. I don't know how that happened either. A year moves so quickly, especially that first year of a baby's life. The last two years have been nothing short of a whirlwind....
View ArticleIt's over!! THANK the MAKER!
As a kid Christmas was an amazing part of every year. It had everything I looked forward to, from gifts, to food, to family, and entertainment. I remember doing my homework in the living room listening...
View ArticleIt's a Preschool time of year!
For those of us parents with kids older than 5, we know that January and February are cutthroat months! It's Preschool registration season or if not yet, it's coming! The intense battle for getting THE...
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