R.I.P. Gumby & Pokey

Creator of Gumby returns to the great clayball in the sky.

includes Gumby videos and links

iPods and Education

iPods and Education

Forgotten But Not Gone

Ah, my blogs, I have neglected you.  I thought I would post notes/comments/questions about my various substitute jobs, as well as updates on the permanent position search, but  between work, football, 3 boys and life in general, I obviously ain't been doin' it.

I have been using my "Inspired? Or..." to discuss and debate with myself the merits of 5 decades of popular music and the "Best' thereof, stop by and add your suggestions, so maybe that will re-spark the blogger activity...

But for now, I'm supposed to be doing Christmas cards -- we won't get coal in our stockings if we don't send any out, will we?

read all Van Gogh's letters!

Vincent van Gogh The Letters

includes sketches!

posted this using "ScribeFire" which I think is part of Firefox? Just switched so still figgering it out...

still waiting on that check...

Just when I'm getting into the flow, keeping better track of where the bathrooms are at all the various school sites I've been to (they probably look out the office window and say "hey, 'The Wandering Sub' is here today!"), my favorite district takes a 2 week Fall Vacation and the other districts are suddenly 100% healthy...

I have noticed my name recall skills are rapidly improving as I've repeated in several classes at different schools.  I was worried I'd be calling them all "Dude" and "The girl in the pink/red/yellow/fill in appropriate color Hannah Montana or Jonas Bros shirt"...  The one thing I tend to forget is which grade I'm in, unless it's the jump from 1st to 5th when I need to focus on the proper tone of voice and amount of sing-song cuteness I say the spelling words with.

Long time no paycheck...

Dang, been a while since I've posted anything.  Back to school and football season tend to rearrange and readjust our schedules quite a bit.  I'm coaching for 2 teams, the 5-7 yr old flag football and the 10-13 yr old Jr Midget boys, so evenings and Saturdays are full. Thanks to my wonderful hairdresser wife and her teacher clients, I've been kept fairly busy subbing, mostly 1st (oh, the nose picking! the thumb sucking! and yes, the nose picking and thumb sucking at the same time with the same hand!) and 3rd grade.  Love it. Like the material better in 3rd, but the little ones are so small and cute!

"A Record of Life" video

A Record Of Life from Owen Gatley on Vimeo.

You never know when you'll get to teach evolution...

courtesy of Drawn! Illustration and Cartooning Blog

A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like

A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like -- good article on students being able to choose their own reading material.  I think I lean towards the balanced approach: teach kids the same book for that "shared culture" and also let them choose something they like.  But be prepared, if you pick "Captain Underpants" or "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" you're going to be held to the same high standards of comprehension and analysis as the Harry Potter readers...

ok, the picture on their home page is scary, but this would be cool to do early in the year with a class photo -- could print b&w and have students color each square? Cheap, easy to change to match various units throughout the year...

Create your own Block Posters

Online Resume?

It's not finished, and it's not perfect, but I think it's my resume/eFolio and maybe quite possibly youneverknow it may help me get a job.

Will Teach for Food

When I was looking for work many years ago, in between retail gigs, I thought I should do something different. I didn't really want to work in retail anymore, I wanted something more exciting, challenging, rewarding, and I was fed up with the traditional help wanted ads/resume job search also. I thought why not market myself, take out an ad that says "Hey, I'm wonderful, I work hard, never out sick, creative and polite and enjoy helping others. Please hire me."

I didn't, and I worked in retail another decade, but now it's time to find another paycheck. Thank goodness I found Education, teaching is definitely, decidedly, 100%-edly what I want to do with the rest of my life. And this time I'm going to try to do things a little different (no, not delivering resumes in a gorilla suit or attached to balloons) to ensure prospective employers know who I am, what I stand for, and why I believe I will be (not yet but some day) a great teacher.

Please check it out, props to LiveBinders, and as always I welcome comments and suggestions (is it to amateur looking? too wordy? hard to navigate, especially if you are a non-tech savvy Principal? are my kids too ugly?)

LiveBinders -- Your Online 3-Ring Binder! (and haven't we all said "if only I had...")

Just started playing with this, looks cool so far -- share recommended (and previously viewed and tested) websites with students and parents. It's like your Favorites list but expanded and more detailedly (?) organized, and publicly shareable. Need to find out if each page/tab must be a website? How about PDF or...?

3rd grade Math sample: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1619

the first day of school!

School's IN for summer! At least for one local district...

Woke up with the sun, showered and shaved, ate my Cheerios by the phone with a tinge of anticipation, although I really doubted any teacher would need a sub on the first day of school. Still, you never know, I'm sure some teachers do play the lottery on Sunday nights...