You know how they say you should “write what you know”? That’s what I’ve done. After 37 years in the classroom, I’ve written a book about life as a classroom teacher.

I’m excited to be working with Dawn Hogue at Water’s Edge Press.on this project!

The book is tentatively scheduled to drop on Oct. 6. In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from the story “Ray Spaulding.”

I was in the teacher workroom pulling my lunch out of the refrigerator when Ray Spaulding walked in.
“They’re trying to make me quit,” he grumbled as he plopped down in a chair and waited for his turn at the microwave.
“What’s that, Ray?” I asked.
“That new assistant principal, Blumen. She was supposed to observe my class and evaluate me today. I had everything ready.
Kids were going to show their projects on that—whaddayacallit?—Powerball?”
“PowerPoint.”
“Yeah, PowerPoint. Supposed to share examples of geometry in the real world. Used to be good enough to make a poster, but now everything has to be on the computer.”
We had grown used to hearing Ray say that education died when they stopped using slide rules.
“Ray, that sounds like a good way to use the technology in your classroom. What’s the problem?”
“Oh, she rescheduled. Wants to come in next week instead.”
“So … can you show the PowerPoints then?”
“No, this week is the end of the grading period, and I need to record those scores. She’ll come in next week and want to see the kids using the computers, but we’re starting a new unit on figuring volume and area. The only time I was going to use the laptops was for the projects this week. She’s gonna mark me down, and it’s not my fault. She’s the one who rescheduled. If they’d just let me teach it my way … I know my way works.”
Ray’s way included a blackboard—not a whiteboard—and chalk in rainbow colors. His classroom was littered with props that he used in the lessons. Or used to. …