Voting Begins

I'm supposed to tell you that voting starts today started yesterday for Most Fascinating Teacher Blog of 2011. There are 100 nominated blogs! Wow! (Especially surprising since I got a $25 gift certificate for being nominated.) Out of the 100 blogs I only recognized one on the list (besides mine). Definitely out of the teacher blogger loop these days.

Hello, Anyone Out There?

It's been quite a while since I've written here as it's been over a year and a half since I moved to Beirut to teach at an international school (and subsequently started a new blog about my life there). Imagine my surprise then when I received an email this week saying:

"An article you wrote in 2009 titled Field Trips, Good and Bad has earned your blog a nomination for a Fascination Award: 2011's Most Fascinating Teaching blog."

I reread the email carefully again and yes, they did realize that I wrote this "fascinating post" back in 2009, and a follow up email even mentioned the new blog about Beirut. Huh. Well, I've accepted my nomination, so there you have it. I am nominated for "Most Fascinating Teaching Blog of 2011" for a blog that hasn't been updated in a year and a half. Very fascinating indeed. (My apologies to those who have currently fascinating blogs on the subject of teaching who weren't nominated.)

While I'm over here in the world of Teaching in NYC, I will make this comment: I just saw this video about P.S. 19 in Brooklyn (very close to home, I must add) and it just makes me breath a sigh of relief that I am not in this type of teaching environment anymore. My school may not be perfect but watching this just reminds me of how peaceful it is teaching overseas without all of this talk and threat of testing, school closures, unions, merit pay, accountability, teacher evaluations, progress reports, and on, and on. That is all.