Transition
At the end of every school year I feel an ache of goodbye. After every season of teaching I mourn its passing as part of the ritual. The hardest part … Continue reading
Outlier
I’m on Spring Break, doing what I do – looking back, looking forward, sinking into introspection. I’m mostly alone this week, by choice, with few guardrails. I could exercise or … Continue reading
Why SF? Why?
I realize more each day that what I know is merely the result of aggregating information. While such a simple statement, it is powerful to recognize that I am nothing … Continue reading
La Ciudad de los Angeles
Sunday afternoon I was transfixed by a dazzling production by the Castilleja Upper School Theatre: City of Angels. From the moment I sat down in my seat I could tell … Continue reading
April 15th = 42
I wrote this post five years ago on the occasion of the release of the movie “42,” depicting the life of Jackie Robinson. Every April 15th I think about the … Continue reading
Just Poetry
Sometimes I write bad poetry – here are samples from the past few years Sub Duties Subbed a class today where I bribed the students with a vat of bacon … Continue reading
Opening Day 2017
April 2, 2017 The start of the baseball season is more important to me than most holidays. I try to get fired up for Valentine’s Day but it always feels … Continue reading
Welcome to the School Year!
You can’t imagine how excited get every year to start the school year. One of the unique joys of being a teacher is that I get to experience renewal every … Continue reading
The Tyranny of “Nice”
“Wait, how do you know Marta? She was never in your class?” This might be one of the most common questions I get when in conversation about my profession. I’d have … Continue reading
RPN Club – The New Woobie!
Woobie What type of relationship do you have with your calculator? Do you use it to do your bidding? Or is it smarter than you? Do you use it for … Continue reading
Happy 5th Birthday!
Five years ago I started my Pandora station [LINK] Seed Songs – There are 51 “seed” songs 1st song = “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus NOTE – only seed … Continue reading
Real Student-Teacher Conversations
Sometimes I try to imagine my job, my profession, as a series of conversations. Of course, this is actually true in a literal sense, as my entire professional worth (most … Continue reading
My Music
My students know that I play music in my classroom – it’s probably one of my defining characteristics as a high-school teacher. (I am a bit sad writing this…) I … Continue reading
Mel-Mel
On most days I feel as though I am a complete idiot. This is not because I don’t know “stuff” or because I don’t occasionally have success at my chosen … Continue reading
Hall of Fame
I remember the first chemistry class I ever taught. I remember so many details that it would shock my family, as I am regularly accused of forgetting almost any detail … Continue reading
42
Today marks the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut in Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947. The remembrance of this moment in baseball might be the single best decision made in … Continue reading
AP Chemistry: “The Deal”
Students, there is more debate about the objective of AP courses than you might imagine. That is to say, if you surveyed all of the teachers of AP courses at … Continue reading
Stuff Overheard
I am the captain of my data! Nothing is stopping you from being great! This stapler is my favorite object The more you tell me that you don’t understand this … Continue reading
Chemteacher 
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