Greetings Visitors, This year I am trying to take this website to the next level by utilizing it to share some of my favorite lessons/ideas with teachers trying to save the world one child at a time.  Please be patient.  Hopefully, by 2010-2011 this page will be everything I want it to be. While my site is under construction, might I suggest you visit this awesome teacher site. http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/ I am not claiming credit for all the ideas contained in this section.  Like any good teacher, I see something I like and adapt it to my students' needs.  Is this site for you?  If you are looking for ideas, maybe a creative inspiration or two, or if you love the poem below, then I suggest you take a few moments to browse around.  This poem sums up how I feel about teaching, and I use it to inspire my class to do their Personal Best each and everyday.  It's a competitive world out there! Successful people do what unsuccessful people don't. -- Our class motto (and great quick write topic)

Pretty Good By: Charles Osgood There once was a pretty good student Who sat in a pretty good class And was taught by a pretty good teacher Who always let pretty good pass. He wasn’t terrific at reading, He wasn’t a whiz-bang at math, But for him, education was leading Straight down a pretty good path. He didn’t find school too exciting, But he wanted to do pretty well, And he did have some trouble with writing Since nobody taught him to spell. When doing arithmetic problems, Pretty good was regarded as fine. 5+5 needn’t always add up to be 10; A pretty good answer was 9. The pretty good class that he sat in Was part of a pretty good school, And the student was not an exception: On the contrary, he was the rule. The pretty good school that he went to Was there in a pretty good town, And nobody there seemed to notice He could not tell a verb from a noun. The pretty good student in fact was Part of a pretty good mob. And the first time he knew what he lacked was When he looked for a pretty good job. It was then, when he sought a position, He discovered that life could be tough, And he soon had a sneaking suspicion Pretty good might not be good enough. The pretty good town in our story Was part of a pretty good state Which had pretty good aspirations And prayed for a pretty good fate. There once was a pretty good nation Pretty proud of the greatness it had, Which learned much too late, If you want to be great, Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.

 

Visited times since 9/3/07.