Category: Teaching

Colosseum in Rome

Teaching

You’ll Never Guess What a Student Sent Me Today

I was at a diocesan technology meeting this afternoon when I received an alert on my Edmodo app. That was a bit unusual, because school is out, but I thought maybe a teacher somewhere was trying to connect with me. To my great surprise, it was a direct message from a student who had just graduated. She sent me the following picture of the Colosseum in Rome where she and her family are on vacation. It made my day. Why? Because this year we read Quo Vadis? by...

Old Classroom

Teaching / Technology

Is There an Interior Decorator in the House?

This weekend I moved out of my classroom: I also moved out of the vice principal desk I used to occupy in the school office, so I’m currently homeless at school. All of my files and books are on a counter in the school library, awaiting my new space. Like most schools, we don’t have a lot of unused space, so we have to be a bit creative to come up with something new. We settled on re-purposing a storage room, which also doubles as the server room:...

Gandalf in the Classroom

Teaching / Technology

A New Start

After twenty-plus years teaching language arts in Catholic schools, I’m moving into a brand new position as Director of Technology. As vice principal, I’ve been the unofficial technology director for a number of years in addition to my teaching load. Next year, however, I’ll be leaving the classroom in order to have the time to focus on technology. One of my main tasks will be designing and implementing a technology curriculum, and I’ll also be supporting and mentoring classroom teachers in their use of technology. Though this school...

Empty Classroom

Homily / Teaching

Where Do I Sit? Homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Here we are on the brink of another school year. What an exciting time! So many new things to celebrate. Jefferson Elementary has a brand new building, the Ferris campus is looking fantastic, and Gonzaga Prep students are getting their new iPads ready. Here at All Saints we’ve got some new teachers, some new families, and I’m excited to meet my new eighth graders. When I was in college to learning how to be a teacher, we were taught that on the first day of school students want...

Student Boot

Catholic Education / Music / Teaching / Technology

Sights and Sounds from NCEA 2013 in Houston

As my time at the NCEA Convention is coming to an end, I see that I didn’t really get to post as much as I wanted to. I still want to share some of the sights and sounds of the convention however, so I’ve put together a few things in this final post. First, I’ve attached a recording from the second Eucharistic liturgy of the conference. This is a performance of “Be Still, My Soul” by the Houston Catholic Schools Choir. It’s a tragedy that my recording is...

8th Grade Conclave

Catholic Education / Teaching

Our 8th Grade Conclave Makes the News

I didn’t get a chance to post about this earlier, but before Pope Francis was elected we held our own conclave in the eighth grade. Two local media outlets covered the story, and unlike the conclave in Rome, we let them in for a peek. Here’s an excerpt from the story in our local paper, along with video coverage: Before Jorge Bergoglio was selected as the new pope Wednesday, students at All Saints Catholic School held their own conclave. They came dressed in red capes. Some were made...

Bishop Cupich receives a gift from Pope Benedict

Catholic Education / Teaching

Learning about Church from Bishop Cupich on Facebook

Our bishop, Bishop Blase Cupich, is visiting Rome this week for an ad limina visit. In a first for the Diocese of Spokane, he’s using Facebook to share his journey with the rest of us. It’s been a great learning experience for me and for my students. Each morning I wake up and check Facebook to see what I can share with the 8th graders  during Religion class. After morning prayer and attendance, I bring up the diocesan Facebook page on the screen and we see what’s new...

Books and Reading / Teaching

Mortimer Adler: The Forgotten Educational Reformer

I firmly believe that Mortimer Adler is one of the most misunderstood and neglected thinkers of the last one hundred years. Often labeled elitist and Eurocentric, people often confuse his views on education with people like Allen Bloom and Ed Hirsch, who advocate a kind of cultural literacy as a key component of education. On the contrary, I believe Adler’s views on educational reform are deeply democratic and innovative. He was recommending changes to the educational system decades before other more trendy names were found for them. The...

Kids and apps

Teaching / Technology

Catholic School Students Combat Epilepsy with Science

As the father of a child with epilepsy and a teacher in a Catholic school, the following story really touches my heart. Some sixth grade students from a Catholic school in Lake Mary, Florida, are hoping to help people with seizure disorders with their new invention: a seizure detector. Check out the following video for details: There are few things more gut-wrenching than watching your child experience a seizure. Thanks be to God, we haven’t had to live through that horror for quite a few years now. Maybe...

Adora Svitak

Spirituality / Teaching

Unless You Become Like Children…

Matthew 8: 1-6 At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who...

Catholic Education / Prayer / Teaching / Technology

Using Technology to Get Teens to Pray

How can we use cell phones, mp3 players and social networks as tools to get kids into prayer?  That was the question I addressed yesterday in my presentation at our annual diocesan inservice for Catholic teachers. I began with a quote from Jean-Pierre de Caussade: Today God still speaks to us as he used to speak to our ancestors at a time when there were neither spiritual directors nor any systems of spirituality…Religious devotion had not become a science crammed with precepts and detailed instructions.  Nowadays, no doubt,...

Jonathan Sullivan Screenshot

Catholic Education / Teaching / Technology

Free Webinars for Catechists and Teachers

Jonathan Sullivan, the Director of Catechetical Ministries for the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, has posted this excellent introduction to social networks and their implications for catechists. After you watch it, be sure to head over to his valuable website at JonathanFSullivan.com to register for his next free webinar, Catechizing Digital Natives. Thanks to Jared Dees for the tip!