I’ve just completed a 33-year teaching career at the secondary level, and even though that makes me old, I’ve also acquired some wisdom.  I am especially good at being able to keep kids awake during class, except for one school board member’s child, but that was back in 1986. And he worked nights at a grocery store, so....

I’ve taught AP Computer science, mathematics from 7th grade general math to high school trig. I’ve tutored in pre-calc, stats and logic. I know my multiplication facts through the 12’s. I’ve taught ESL, I’ve edited untold high school English papers (by “untold” I mean I can’t tell you because of confidentiality concerns). I know the difference between “your” and “you’re” and “their,” “there” and “they’re.” I make extensive use of “quotation marks,” especially with the first two fingers from each hand in a hooky fashion while I’m teaching.

I’m a big believer in multiple intelligences, multimodal instructional delivery, instructional differentiation, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Charlotte Danielson’s framework for teaching, Piaget’s theory of development (pronounced pee-uh-JAY), and I incorporate auditory, visual and kinesthetic tactics and strategies in the classroom, but most importantly, I believe in the creative and restorative powers of caffeine, especially in the form of a large McCafe cup of coffee.

I believe that college is a good thing and that you should go there.

(Grammar police: I know I didn’t need “that” in the previous sentence, but this is written in a conversational tone, so talk to the hand because the wrist ain’t listening.)

The main thing that will keep you out of the college or university of your choice is a poor ACT (American College Testing) score. Even if you get really good grades in your “high school,” with a class rank of 2 and a GPA of 4.13, most decent “schools” (colleges are called “schools” once you are out of high school. “To what school are you going now?” “I’m at UW Madison, but I’m thinking of transferring to a school out East.”) require a composite ACT score in the upper-20s. A 30 or higher will really expand your choices and make your parents sweat, because you will then qualify for the “expensive” schools, like Northwestern ($51,000 per year). An ACT composite score of 19 will get you into the community college of your choice. A high school diploma and an ACT score of 12 will get you into the Marines, where you can spend four or six years getting your stuff together and THEN go to college.