Some of my current middle school students have been checking out this blog and asking for a new post so here is a little gift for them. Music has always been an important part of my life- moving, inspirational, cathartic. As I get older my taste has widened but my...
Over the years I've discovered that I'm a bit of a "peak freak" who likes to be up in the highest place to have a look around. I was fortunate to be selected for this Zero G flight for teachers. https://youtu.be/yTZPo37BFc0 Gliding over the waterfalls of Hana on Maui inspired...
In preparation for the challenge I've accepted to raise my game as an educator, I invested in this online course offered by OneSchool. In addition to joining a cohort of teachers making similar transitions, I was able to learn from instructor Peter Gow in ways that will benefit me and...
Anticipation builds for 2019 Summer Science at Sea in Alaska. In Vancouver before the cruise, Steve Spangler entertains and orients us. Views of Vancouver from the cruise ship. Stanley Park Lion's Gate Bridge Alaskan naturalist John Scheerens in the first of several fascinating lectures. Relaxing and beautiful late night sunsets....
Back in February right after the teacher strike, the LA Weekly ran a profile on teachers that included me. I wanted to share here the full answers I gave to the prompts. In bold is what got printed, in italics is what was edited. Garry Joseph: In his 15th year...
For everyone who ever wanted to know MUCH more about my Fulbright project in India, here are the presentations I submitted. Originally these were narrated and put to video, but I had to downgrade them to static power points. If you read the notes for each slide, you can see...
My attention span is already so fractured by the internet, and there are so many things I am interested in and want to learn. Many of them are more compelling than the things I really HAVE to do. The only way for me to work at the quality level I...
Recently I took my Fulbright friends Lalit and Alka visiting from India on a whirlwind 12 hour tour of Los Angeles. Here was our day: We started out at Philz in Santa Monica to get out coffee charge. From there we head out to the Santa Monica pier to enjoy...
I’m proud to have participated in the Los Angeles teachers strike last week. There are so many public education issues that now have their veneer of silence peeled off: immoral class sizes, absurd teaching conditions, and most importantly the stealthy moves to privatize and profit from the education public sector....
Been wanting to see this film since I heard the buzz about it screening earlier this year at Sundance. It is a documentary about students who enter the Intel sponsored ISEF, International Science and Engineering Fair. I was drawn to the film due to my interest in science fairs and...
What’s new in educational VR? Not that much in the classroom practical sense. Unless your school has an insane budget there’s still no way for a group of students to experience VR the way it’s meant to be. For parents with the means, a VR headset and computer can provide...
Like most new year's resolutions, my drive to write several times a week dissolved in the more pressing concerns of survival. I've survived the scrapes and battles of this most difficult school year, and have now granted myself several weeks to take inventory, sleep in, prepare for more war, and...
Over the three day weekend I made a trip to downtown LA to check something out from the library and have a look around the arts district that seems to have so much buzz. The LA Central Library is a beautiful complex, a restored old temple to books attached to...