Author Archives: Nick

Just turn the controller around

I took my 6 year old to the dentist last week.  As soon as he walked in the waiting room, I could tell that he was far more excited than he should be at the dentist – no offense to dentists.  His eyes got wide and he marched directly across the room to a videoContinue reading “Just turn the controller around”

Pay Attention, Daddy

My 3 year old is teaching me to pay attention.  His method of instruction is not modeling.  In fact, he’s not the most attentive kid most of the time.  When he wants your attention though, he demands all of it.  Yesterday it started with a simple, “Daddy, look at this.” He was building something outContinue reading “Pay Attention, Daddy”

2013 Year In Review

Yesterday marked the beginning of a new term and a whole new group of students for me.  I started off the day by showing Google’s 2013 year in review.  This is a 90 second compilation of some of the greatest moments from 2013.  Some are momentous (same-sex marriage, the appointment of a new pope, theContinue reading “2013 Year In Review”

A Birthday Date at the Coolest Playground in the World

For our kids’ birthdays, Morgan and I always give them a special date with us (just us – no brothers or sisters).  Bracken turned 6 this month and for his special date, we took him to what I now consider the coolest playground in the world.  I’m not exaggerating.  It’s called The Berkeley Adventure PlaygroundContinue reading “A Birthday Date at the Coolest Playground in the World”

Cardboard Creativity

After being inspired by watching Caine’s Arcade, some of the people at my son’s coop preschool decided to have a cardboard carnival.  So they’ve planned, and cut, and taped, and built for over a month.  On Saturday, the day finally arrived.  It was inspirational.  Preschoolers and their older siblings took ownership of the carnival games. Continue reading “Cardboard Creativity”

It’s good to be loved by your neighbor

My neighbor (who also happens to be my father-in-law) made my day twice yesterday.  When I stopped by my house between school and back to school night, I saw that our lawn (which I have been neglecting for the last 2+ weeks) had been mowed.  This is no small feat, as we’ve got a bigContinue reading “It’s good to be loved by your neighbor”

You can do that!

This was a welcome speech given to freshmen at Georgia Tech this week.  I’m considering doing something similar for back to school night on Monday.  Instead of “changing the world and building an Iron Man suit,” I might crescendo with “Do you want to check your student’s grades and missing assignments?  You’re at Del Oro…Continue reading “You can do that!”

A student showed me Quizlet

In the intro to technology class that I teach, students are introduced to a slew of new vocabulary.  Over the course of a 9 week quarter, students learn 200 tech-related vocab terms.  They take a quiz on a subsection of these terms each week and their final at the end of the course includes allContinue reading “A student showed me Quizlet”

Here’s what happened this summer

Today marks the end of my first summer as a teacher.  It was a fantastic and full summer.  Not that you asked, but here are some of the highlights: Del Oro’s Graduation made national news so we had to do it again a few days later.  It turned out to be a good experience forContinue reading “Here’s what happened this summer”