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.
The year was 2014, and everybody was finally equal. I’ve been a teacher for fourteen years, thirteen in the Helena School District, and I’ve never been more nervous about my future as an educator. In the time I’ve spent as a teacher, I’ve endured some principals with dubious qualifications, a vacuum where a curriculum should have been...
Mount Rushmore Needles Highway Badlands National Park Badlands Mining Museum in Lead, SD Lead, South Dakota Sunflowers Badlands Overlook Badlands Wall Drug Patriotic Devil’s Tower Sunflowers in the Badlands Devil’s Tower Tatanka, Story of the Bison Lonely Tree Sunflower in the Badlands Custer State Park Badlands Buffalo Black...
This was the trip of the open road, no itinerary, and free discovery. Renting a camper from Happy Camper and Iceland’s liberal laws about open camping meant I could drive where I wanted and sleep when and wherever I felt tired. Some of the best moments of this trip were entirely unplanned, like unexpectedly arriving at the...
Chinatown Light Chinatown Moray Eel Golden Gate San Francisco Overview Chinatown Vesuvio Cafe Lighthouse on the road from Salinas Golden Gate Alcatraz Alcatraz Palace of Fine Arts Little Italy/Chinatown Border Golden Gate Bridge Japanese Tea Gardens, Golden Gate Park AT&T Park AT&T Park Rocinante, from Travels with Charley...
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.
Hurling National Semifinal Wicklow Way James Joyce Christchurch Cathedral Blarney Castle Dublin Street Molly Malone Statue in Dublin Guinness Tour Cliffs of Mohr St. Stephen’s Green Statue Christchurch Cathedral First Guinness Dublin Castle Joyce Museum Famine Memorial Statue in Dublin Cliffs of Mohr
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...