Category Archives: education

The Thing About Teaching

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Barb Knowles

This is such a broad topic, and I have wildly strong opinions about education in general and specifically about teaching. But I’m going to focus here on the month of January. Whaaaat? What does January have to do with anything? … Continue reading →

Posted in education | Tagged assessments, critical thinking, Education, great teachers, knowledge, military inspections, observations, reading, students, teachers, TEACHING | 38 Comments

A Teaching Experience That Changed My Life

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Barb Knowles

One hopes, as a teacher, to affect a child’s life in a positive way. What most teachers really want is to make a lasting impression and find out later that something they did or said guided a student’s life trajectory. What … Continue reading →

Posted in education | Tagged bowling, college trips, college visits, Education, high school, life changes, Ossining High School, prepare for college, students, SUNY, SUNY Albany, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Delhi, teacher, TEACHING | 46 Comments

Poverty, Affluence And Technology In Schools

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Technology is awesome in so many ways. It has revolutionized teaching. But has increased the divide between the haves and have nots. I grew up in a very wealthy suburb of New York City. We were one of the haves. … Continue reading →

Posted in education | Tagged 21st century technology, adolescence, affuence, chrome books, cultural divide, Education, iPads, laptops, opinion, poverty, smart phones, students, TEACHING, Technology, teens, working poor | 32 Comments

Teaching is Like Bowling.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Barb Knowles

I’m not good with unscheduled time. I end up walking around my house during summer vacations aimlessly. I think that I should polish the furniture, but end up reading instead. I think that I should clean out the closet, but … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Uncategorized | Tagged blogging, bowling, Education, high school, motivation, opinion, school, school year, students, summer, teachers, TEACHING | 23 Comments

When did education become torture?

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Barb Knowles

For the first time in my teaching career, I saw high school students cry during the NYSESLAT exam. Unprecedented. If you are a student in New York State in 2015, you are subjected to a ridiculous number of assessments. I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Uncategorized | Tagged assessments, Education, esl, immigration, lifestyle, ny state, nyseslat, opinion, politics, TEACHING | 20 Comments

Elmendorf AFB + Pentagon+ Chappaqua,NY = Ecuadorian Kichwa

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Barb Knowles

A road less traveled. The only location I left out was my 4 years in Ohio for college. With the exception of Ohio, which wasn’t 100% my choice since my parents had to agree to foot the bill, I didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in education, humor, languages | Tagged Chappaqua, ecuador, Elmendorf AFB, Humor, kichwa, kichwa hatari, language, New York Times, ossining, Ossining UFSD, radio el tambo stero, TEACHING | 1 Comment

Or you’ll have to sleep in the garage…..

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Barb Knowles

For real my ex-husband threatened my then 4 year old daughter with that punishment. We all know that kids can drive us to distraction and occasionally we have an interaction where the child says “So, I don’t care” for each … Continue reading →

Posted in education, humor, parenting | Tagged high school, Humor, parenting, TEACHING, time-out | 2 Comments

The motivated high school student…huh?

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Barb Knowles

There is a special place in heaven for elementary teachers. And a REALLY special place in heaven for middle school teachers. But I can’t imagine teaching anyone other than high school kids. Definitely my niche. Not that they don’t frustrate … Continue reading →

Posted in education, ell, esl, humor | Tagged Education, esl, high school, Humor, motivation, spelling, teachers, TEACHING, twitter | 1 Comment

Autocorrectisms

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Barb Knowles

The paradox of autocorrect. SO much easier when texting. SO much more annoying when texting. Enraging, enraging, enraging. Easier, easier, easier. Funnier, funnier, funnier. What do you think? In which category/categories of autocorrect/predicted text reactions (hi to my European friends) … Continue reading →

Posted in education, humor, technology | Tagged autocorrect, blogs, cellphones, editing, Humor, iPhone, spelling, teachers, TEACHING, Technology, texting | 23 Comments

Assessments are Stupid

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Barb Knowles

There. I’ve said it. I’ve always thought it, but now I’ve said it. File this under posts-I-hope-my-supervisor-doesn’t-see. And because I think that assessments are stupid, I don’t give tests very often. Now it’s time to post my grades. Oops. It … Continue reading →

Posted in education, humor, students, teachers | Tagged assessments, esl, facebook, google communities | 14 Comments