Teaching Teens in the 21st

Good Morning, Baltimore! This year we are tackling some huge shows with our drama program. I have my moments where I have no idea what I was thinking, but then I remember. I have been blessed with the largest group of students I've ever had the privilege of directing and working with, and the talent level is off the charts! This fall, we did "A Midsummer Night's Midterm", a spin-off on the Bard's famous comedy, with all of the Shakespearean language still present, but shortened and narrated by four high school students studying for a midterm. This summer I thought, this will be fun and easy, it'll be a breeze! Fast forward to October, and I'm enlisting the help of friends to create a magical fairyland, because there is just something inside of me that will not allow a middle school production to look like what people might imagine a typical middle school production should look like. Hundreds of dollars, pounds of tulle, tons of glitter, and forty strin

As I begin prepping to purge my closet of all unnecessary items (a biannual tradition here in Casa del Blanco), I wonder what really are the "must-haves" as a teacher? I know it's very different for elementary school teachers, who more than likely come home splattered with this or that, or those who teach specials or exploratory classes, so what about specifically middle and high school teachers? I would love to be the type of person who has a "ten" piece closet, but since I live in reality, and frequently daydream about turning the extra bedroom into a giant walk-in closet, I'm going to check myself, lest I wreck myself. At the beginning of the year I said to myself, "You are going to wear every single item  in your closet." Ha. That so did not happen. The school year started, the stress came on, and with that, the laziness kicked in big time. I think I've been rotating the same five or six outfits, throwing in a casual Friday and a spir

Let's play a game...how much stuff can Mrs. White pack into a quarter without going insane? Hi everyone :) This past quarter has been the craziest time I think ever in my teaching career. As someone who thrives on insanity, that is saying something. I hope everyone has been doing well, and I am back (for now) to share some of the things we have been doing in my classroom! Oh, what's new with me? Not much...just directing middle schoolers tackling a Shakespearean play The cast of "A Midsummer Night's Midterm" , trying to get a new sound system for our stage, building sets and costumes and whatever else pops up (including the sound system shorting out 5 minutes before our last show), NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo 2K14 , starting a new venture in theatre with some friends, prepping for my evaluation, teaching, auditioning for a mini-theatre adventure, cleaning my house, battling mice, teaching, working on curriculum writing with other LA teachers, hosting Thank