Don Pogreba is a current writer and retired teacher of English, Social Studies and Debate, and a loyal, if often sad, fan of the San Diego Padres and Portland Timbers. When he is not traveling, he is working on his classroom web site or dreaming about another adventure.
Marin Headlands Lighthouse on the road from Salinas Palace of Fine Arts Muir Woods Timshel Japanese Tea Gardens, Golden Gate Park Chinatown Alcatraz AT&T Park Golden Gate Alcatraz Golden Gate Bridge Alcatraz AT&T Park Rocinante, from Travels with Charley Golden Gate The Mission Chinatown Light Moray Eel Chinatown Chinatown...
Banff was an incredible journey to the first place that made me wonder if Glacier National Park was the most beautiful spot in the world, which is saying something.
Molly Malone Statue in Dublin Guinness Tour Joyce Museum Cliffs of Mohr Christchurch Cathedral Hurling National Semifinal Cliffs of Mohr Wicklow Way St. Stephen’s Green Statue Christchurch Cathedral James Joyce First Guinness Dublin Street Famine Memorial Statue in Dublin Blarney Castle Dublin Castle
Among my favorite texts to teach every year in AP Literature is Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which never fails to move me—and even occasionally has the same impact on teenagers who seem a bit more jaded than I am. I’ve had students weep in the last few moments of the play while we read it aloud, when Willy, the protagonist of the...
Monday Morning Mental Mix is a collection of articles I stumbled across during the preceding week, not necessarily articles written or published in the past seven days. It will generally be an eclectic collection of items that made it into my Diigo feed or onto Instapaper. If you have any great articles to share, please feel free to send...
It makes sense that an Orwellian proposal would involve some delightful double speak to accompany it. As Whitefish High School considers a proposal to conduct drug tests on all students involved in extra-curricular activities, the proposal’s defenders don’t want you to get the wrong idea: it’s not a violation of rights...
Roy Brown says he wants to adequately fund Montana schools…sometime. Not, of course, when he served in the Legislature, nor when his Party adopted an extremist agenda about education during the last Legislative session, nor during a time of large surpluses in state budgets. In fact, rather than advocate for more school funding, he...
Not all of my students intend to go to college. Many of them believe that college would be a waste of time and money, hope to work in fields that do not require an advanced degree, or simply don’t enjoy education. These students would (and have) told me that high schools should not be so focused on preparing people for college...
Last week, in a post about education and poverty, I took a pretty critical look at Ruby Payne, a popular, if misguided, advocate for ‘middle class values’–whatever those are. It turns out that I’m not alone in my criticism. Lee Enterprise’s Jodi Rave offered a critical look in the Gazette today: And while...