I am getting stressed just by writing this blog and posting it!

Since 1989, I have been teaching high school music.  High school.  Teenagers (I call them “Young adults” but I get admonished (which stresses me out), “they’re children, Mr. Everts”) and their midlife crisis parents.  Twenty-seven consecutive years.  Wanna talk about stress?  Teenagers?  Midlife crisis parents?  Yes… that is stressful and just think … high school […]

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Thank God Failure was an Option for Thomas Edison!

Again, the purpose / focus of my blog is:  EDUCATION & FAMILY.  Being a fifty-year-old Caucasian man; happily married to Diana (since March 30, 1991); Christian; personally conservative (do my best to work with folks who are liberal; DO NOT BELIEVE / SUPPORT THEOCRACY OR RELIGIOUS DOGMA RUNNING OUR GOVERNMENT); a musician; high school music teacher

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ALL SORTS OF BULLYING

As a high school music teacher, I have experienced numerous in-services in regards to what I believe our “societal issues.”  Racism. Drugs. Sex. Genderism. Bullying.  And following every in-service that deals with “societal issues” I raise the question:  WHY?  Why did I sit through this in-service?  How did it make me a better teacher and even possibly,

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Miss the point of praise

“Hey, nice job Fred.” So, in the music, we return to that FRED-VICTORY – measure D. Guess what happens?  Following that well placed-outstanding example of POSITIVE REINFORCEMNT, Fred performs measure D worse! Fred just received PRAISE for performing this difficult part in the music correctly. “Fred, what happened? I just gave you POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT; something us teachers are supposed to do and you

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Thank you Olivia!!

Today (January 7, 2016; FIRST FULL DAY FOLLOWING MY FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY), I was taking my long walk around the Lafayette Reservoir with my twenty-one-year-old son, PJ.  He leaves on Sunday to go back to college.  It is a beautiful reservoir that has a wonderful three-mile path. I love that area. I also love walking and

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