Mister Porter - Porter Has Class

What We Do When We Fail

Post published:October 13, 2019
Post category:Blog Student Work

What we do when we fail is completely different from person to person. Some quit. Some continue doing the same thing. Others try to learn and get better. While my blog has not felt like a failure, it certainly has not met my expectations. So, I'm trying new things. “You never know what you can do until you try, and very few try unless they have to.” – C.S. Lewis So, What's Coming? In the coming weeks, I will be posting examples of student writing. Why would I do this? Kelly Gallagher, as well as many other notable educators, advocate using…

Where Have You Been?

Post published:September 1, 2019
Post category:Blog

“Where have you been, young man?” A phrase many of us fellas have probably heard in a lifetime. I have not posted in quite a while for various reasons (any of which I’m not sure is a good reason). If you have followed my blog, then you know that I haven’t posted since slightly before the end of the last school year. Things got busy as they often do with teachers at the close of a school year. In fact, it was so hectic that I actually thought I had already posted on my blog the good news, but as…

The Secret Lives of Teachers: Part III

Post published:April 7, 2019
Post category:Blog

It’s April. We are near the end of the school year. Kids have spring fever and teachers have less hair with standardized testing bearing down on them. And, that’s just what is going on at school. If you’ve been following this series, you know there is more than that going on in teacher’s lives. My Secret Life The Secret Lives of Teachers: Part I explains the beginning of my and my wife’s infertility discovery and The Secret Lives of Teachers: Part II gives the beginning details of our process through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). If you haven’t already, I ask that…

Caught with Pants Down: Where’s the TP?

Post published:March 31, 2019
Post category:Stories

Every good classroom management plan has procedures for going to the restroom. There is no ONE answer. Whatever the procedure, it has to work for your classroom, school, and teaching personality. With all of that being said, sometimes you just have to “wing it.” A former colleague sent this funny story for each of you to enjoy. Little Susie raised her hand and asked if she could go to restroom,that “it was an emergency.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that. My former colleague uses bathroom passes in her classroom management procedures. She informed the student…