Blog – Page 26 – Josh Stumpenhorst

Teacher’s Job Description

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

Job Description Title: Teacher Education Required: College degree and teaching certificate that will need to be renewed on a regular basis. Must also be willing to work towards master’s degree or higher level course work. Duties: As a teacher you will be required at any given time to do the follow: Wipe noses of crying […]

Google Docs 101

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

Many folks have been sharing lately their love of Google Docs which is a free collaborative workspace available through Google. Here is a brief tutorial that I came up with primarily for those that have never used this tool before. I am know there are more advanced features, but this should get some of the […]

What Motivates You?

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

As educators we are not in the profession for the money. NFL players that are currently holding out for a better deal will make more in yearly bonuses than most teachers will make in a career. I have followed Daniel Pink’s work on motivation and what actually causes people to work hard and achieve more. […]

My Follow Forever

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

Many of you saw and contributed to my google doc/spreadsheet with “Who To Follow” on twitter. I was blown away by the response and it truly shows the power of social media and crowd sourcing. With that in mind, I wanted to point out that this list is public and therefore editable by anyone. I […]

Class Update 2 – It’s About the Learning…

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

“It’s about the learning, not about the grades.” That was a statement that was shared with me by one of my students this past week. I was meeting with two girls in my class that had recently finished reading Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass. They scheduled a “meeting” with me […]

Class Update Number 1

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

A few weeks ago I wrote about my venture to hand over the learning decisions in my classroom to my students. I promised I would provide an update so here is my first update. At this point in time, students have determined their syllabus and learning activities based on the Language Arts standards required by […]

The Lego Classroom

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

My wife and sons are on spring break this week and spent their first day off traveling to Lego Land. While there, they met with a master builder, which sounds like an amazing job, and built various Lego “things”. I spent three hours that night building “Lego things” with my sons on the floor of […]

Brain Breaks

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

For a few years now we have had a physical education teacher, Nadine Stanley, speaking to our staff about what she calls “Brain Breaks”. In her presentation she shared the following information about the positives of these short bursts of physical activity in a classroom: Exercise leads to the release of: Endorphins – mood regulator […]

Are You Listening?

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

When a student doesn’t have their homework in class, do you realize it is because they were up all night taking care of their siblings because their parents were at work? If a student refuses to look you in the eye when they talk to you, do you realize it is because it is a […]

Kid’s Say The Darndest Things!

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Josh Stumpenhorst

This is not going to be the most enlightening post I have ever written so feel free to stop reading now if you are looking for an educational epiphany. I am going to play the role of Bill Cosby on my own version of “Kids Say the Darndest Things” and try to make a pathetically […]