Josh Stumpenhorst – Josh Stumpenhorst

Moments

Posted on April 14, 2018April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

As teachers, we are tasked with teaching content and helping kids grow into productive and successful citizens. We are given a set of content standards we must cover and a battery of assessments to determine if we have succeeded in doing so. Our evaluations are based on how we plan and deliver our lessons as […]

The Belt Buckle

Posted on April 12, 2018April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

Have you ever said, “I will never do that.”? Well, this time last year, I said those exact words to my father after he finished a 50-mile trail run. He had done a few 50K runs (31 miles) and that was his first 50 miler. While I was impressed with my dad and his accomplishment, […]

Lessons From the Run

Posted on March 12, 2018April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

On January 1st, 2012 I took on a challenge to run at least one mile every day for a whole year. On January 9th, 2012 I ended my streak due to an injury. I took two days off and started back up on January 12th, 2012 and have not missed a day since. My run […]

Lessons from the Library Makerspace

Posted on February 11, 2018April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

As I continue to evolve in my role as a Junior High Librarian and Learning Commons Director, I want to constantly reflect on my practice. One thing I get a lot of feedback on is the work we are doing in our Maker Lab. In some cases, I have received criticism about some of the […]

Stop Teaching Kids to Read

Posted on June 28, 2017April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

For 13 years I taught Language Arts to junior high students. I had a list of reading standards that I needed to teach on a yearly basis. I had to make sure kids knew the theme, perspective, conflict, author’s purpose, create beautiful plots lines, and many other standards. During that time we read lots of […]

What Effective Admin Do

Posted on March 12, 2017April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

Administrators are the leaders in schools and in some buildings have been rebranded as lead learners, program directors, chief storytellers or some other trendy term. Now, some of these leaders are leading in title only but not through their actions. They wield their authority in a dictatorial manner which does little to help the teachers […]

Increasing Test Scores

Posted on March 3, 2017April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

Anyone who works in education knows the institution’s obsession with data. What I mean is school districts are always worried about their data. Are the test scores high enough? Are the students making adequate growth? How many kids do we have in the exceeds category or in the needs improvement category? What do these numbers […]

Reflections From The Library

Posted on February 10, 2017April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

As I am in the home stretch of my first year as a junior high librarian, I thought it a good time to reflect a bit. One of my focus areas this year has been literacy growth. Part of that is have an environment and culture within the library space that is welcoming and engaging […]

Presidential Reading List

Posted on January 20, 2017April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

As our new president takes the oath of office and assumes the role of Commander in Chief and leader of the free world, I felt as though I would take some time to offer him some advice. It is well known our former president, Barack Obama, was an avid reader and a lover of knowledge […]

Student Driven Change

Posted on November 22, 2016April 15, 2018 by Josh Stumpenhorst

I love trying new things or changing up the way I do things at school. Whether I look back at my years in the classroom or in my new role in the library, I am always on the move and trying different and new things. My goal is to always make the experience for the […]