Student: Mr. Munoz, after drama practice, I went to Walmart.  The people there thought I was an employee.

Mr. Munoz: Why?

Student: Because I was still in my school uniform.

My endless supply of movies and videos that I’ve watched over the break has ended with a video that I really enjoyed.  It’s called “Chalk“.

It’s a mockumentary that I found on Netflix.  I had my wife and my friend watch it with and both walked away from it.  I’m sure they didn’t like it because they aren’t teachers, but I felt like it was perfect timing.

I’ve been planning my butt off for the spring semester and can’t help but notice that I need to take a step back just enjoy the moment.  I’ve got a good job and I love the group of kids.  The red-tape and bureaucracy is annoying and I follow threw… let’s just say I barely make the grade when it comes to admin items.

Regardless, I love my job and there’s not much more I can say about it.  At times, I like planning. At times, I like grading.  At times, I like getting to school early enough that I’m the only teacher there and I get to enjoy the moment of “Wow! I’m a teacher! How did I get this job!?”

Anywayz… check out the movie… the end will surprise you and the movie will make you laugh… especially if you’re a teacher.

Mr. Munoz: Is it past, present, or future tense?

Student: Is it “the”?

Mr. Munoz: How do you feel about all this?

Student: I feel like chocolate.

Mr. Munoz, you forgot to give a 50% on this test.

Mr. Munoz: What can I do to help you with your homework?

Student: Give less….

Mr. Munoz, after we learn about the American Revolution, what else is there for History class? I mean, what’s the rest of our book going to talk about?

Right now, my twitter account has been the central place for most of my postings.  I’m going to be moving away from that and dispersing my political writings towards that site , design and personal work here at Ericdmunoz.com, and finally finish Mr-Munoz.com, which will have school info and curriculum.

These changes all require more work on my part, both initially and in the long run.

I’ll keep you updated…

I’ve realized that “backwards planning” for school is really the only way to go.  This last week I’ve struggled with a few of my classes.  The backwards design for my Lit blocks are difficult to plan for.  It’s a block for SSR, but I find it be a block that is hard to find actual meaningful readings that will better the kid’s reading skills. But, I know this will change within the next few weeks.

As for designing, I’m pretty close to being done coding Deer Hill Expeditions.

The blog took forever to design (above are pictures of the blog).  The functionality is great.  On the blog index page I have the thumbnails which I stole from another theme. The inserting of the thumbnail is tricky and not user friendly for the user who will be using the blog.  I found a few plugins, but none of them fit the thumbnail size.

My mind is up in the air… maybe it’s because of medicine.

The district is working hard and we’re planning on going for a smaller bond this year. Only $30 million.

The building I work in needs improvements.  Money is coming, thanks to the stimulus, but until then we’ll survive.

As for planning, it’s the vain of my existence.  “Backwards Planning” has not been easy this first week.  Setting goals and objectives have been tough.  But the nice thing about this year is that I have 4 preps.

English is easy for me, now. History is a breeze. 8th grade Lit is now easy because I have schedule made up for it and 9th grade Lit seems to be a day by day situation.  Each day I have no idea what to do.

This should be a good year with new stories.  I should have some soon…