When it comes to preparation, so many quotes come to mind. There is “By failing to prepare, be prepared to fail,” “prior planning prevents poor performance,” and so many others.  Reflecting on my first year in the classroom I can easily recall the challenges I faced when I was not prepared because…

I remember this just like it was the other day.  I attended a relatively small private school, in which some of the classrooms contained more than one grade level.  I nearly saw my classmates seven days a week between class, church, and extracurricular programs that most of us were a part of.  My class specifically contained about four boys, including myself, and the rest were girls.  At that young age, we thought of each other almost as enemies…

Growing up there was something that always was instilled in me…respect!  There were levels of respect that I developed that I did not even know existed. I recall living with my grandparents, while our home was being constructed my High School Freshman year, and walking in the house getting…

If you were an eighth-grade student in my class over the years, you were bound to hear nine words leave my mouth frequently. “Before you know it, you’re going to high school!”  A few of my students have gone on to higher education and have sent me some form of correspondence that referred to my quote. It even reached the point that in my last few years I recorded my students chanting “before you know it, you’re going to high school” on the first day of school.