Welcome to my new blog! I hope to use this space to explore and report on some of my new ventures into teaching methodologies. Thus the title of my blog has to do with daring to try new things and to push my boundaries of comfort in an effort to become a better teacher and help my students become better learners.
I’ve learned so much from so many blogs across the web, both from the host-posts and from the post comments, and I encourage anyone who happens across my blog on the web to leave comments for me as well.
I teach high school Latin and will be starting my 5th year of teaching in the fall. I’m always looking for new ways to show the relevance of a millenia-old culture and language to kids of today. This includes incorporating technology into the classroom in appropriate ways.
This fall I plan to introduce both Standards-Based Grading into my classes as well as making some forays into Flipped Teaching. I must admit that I stand in awe of some of the people I’ve encountered on the web who are using these tools, people such as Dan Myers, Kelly O’Shea, Shawn Cornally, Ramsey Musallam. There are dozens more I could name. Seeing the love, care, effort and personal time & money that so many teachers put into helping their students learn better, always gets me angry when I hear others tearing down teachers, saying how lazy teachers are or incompetent or how it would be best for students to have a video-producer who has never taught a class replace the relationships these teachers build with their kids on a daily basis.
There are some amazing teachers out there with great ideas. If I can incorporate even a small portion of their ideas and practices, I will be on my way to becoming a better teacher and learning assistant to my students.
Quia Non Audemus 