Mr. J.'s Journal

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of skills-based assessment when I first was told that my new school was making a shift to it... And...

It's time to return... back to work, back to blogging, but in a new home. Some things have changed.  New job, back to the work of his...

Understanding the political process is vital to becoming a well-rounded citizen, but it is so darn hard to explain to middle schoolers. ...

I'm back after a long first basketball season and can finally start to put my focus solely back in the classroom.  I've been busy, ...

I thought I would take the time to really lay out the nuts and bolts of what I call my "XP System."  With my long-awaited blog po...

So I remade my Jeopardy template and am loving it.  The kids do too.  We had a game settled by $100 the other day after the final clue.  I t...

8th graders turned in their trench projects last Friday!  They were fantastic, and I had to share some of them below.  I photographed some o...

I'm doing some work on the down-low, trying to figure out just exactly how I can nudge my district into the future. It's going to ...

All of my classes are taking a look at how to read in a different way.  We have worked in the past on finding themes in our reading, but bec...

It is no secret that I want to lead a school someday.  As I have labored through the struggles and frustrations of being a teacher, I have o...

Happy Thanksgiving to the assorted family, friends, Twitter associates, and complete strangers that read this... Rarely do I ride in a ca...

Well Education Universe, it's been awhile. Been busy on blog #2, but I thought I'd share a little something I'm working on.  W...

Education Universe- I have to figure this out. The common core is here.  As a social studies teacher, I'm still sorting out what tha...

Education Universe- If you teach social studies, and you are uneasy about the changes the Common Core is bringing, you're not alone.  ...

Hello Education Universe- I have been plugging away with my 7th graders using the inSPECt process I have blogged about previously.  I have t...

Education Universe- I did it.  I am a master of science in educational administration.  Fear me. Not really... to the fear part that is.  7t...

Hello Education Universe... So I just logged into our grading software to clean up a few things, and I ran a missing work report on my homer...

What a year Education Universe- A lot has changed.  A lot has happened. 2013 started off wonderful with the news that I would be a fathe...

Hello Education Universe- Well I did it... I think.  I'm done with my grad work.  Time to put some things to use.  I'm going to ...