“Dashing and daring, courageous and caring, faithful and friendly with stories to share!”
No, this is not about me. It’s the opening line from the theme song to the 1980s cartoon Disney’s Gummi Bears. I still find myself humming it from time to time and wondering if I could be as daring, caring, and friendly as Gruffi, Tummi, Zummi, and the rest of the gang.
I try.
This blog is part of that effort. Sharing ideas about teaching is still a little scary. I’m not an expert. I’m a teacher who enjoys thinking carefully about instruction, building things that support student learning, and reflecting on what works (and what doesn’t). This space exists so I can think out loud, share ideas, and learn from others along the way.
I’m especially interested in how complex skills can be broken into smaller, more visible pieces for students – and how systems, tools, and thoughtful design can support that work. Many of the posts here grow directly out of my classroom, sometimes polished, sometimes still a bit messy.
I’m not here to say, “Do this. It’s awesome. I’m a rock star teacher.” My goal is reflection, conversation, and growth. If you try something I’ve shared, I’d love to hear how you adapted it. If you’ve done something better, I’d love to learn from you.
I’ll also occasionally reflect on my teaching practice more broadly, and from time to time I’ll write about a book I’ve been reading. There’s no grand plan behind that – I just enjoy reading, and I find the act of writing clarifying.
So, thank you for making it this far down the page. It’s been a bit of a journey, hasn’t it?
I’ve heard it said that it takes a village to develop a great teacher. I appreciate that you are going to be one of the village people.
-Michael
Michael K. Milton: Musings on History & Education (mostly) 
Awesome! What about the history blog did you hate? I’ve been doing that gig for this year–split personality–class blog not attached to me per se but holding class materials which I tweet out and point. Good stuff. And I’m trying to get through the Hitchhiker’s Guide now… not winning yet.
The blog title I felt was a bit…presumptuous. “Milton’s World” as if the world were mine and everyone else was just in it.
I don’t actually use a blog with my students, I use edmodo which is a really neat student management system.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is probably the greatest and wittiest series that I have read. While I imagine that it may not be for everyone, I cannot imagine who it might not be for.
You know, I’m going to try it again. Give it the old college try. Perhaps I have been too distracted to focus properly… I think it’s a great title–especially approaching it w humility:) We all have our little bubble of world, real, imagined, or a combo of both probably in my case… I’d use it!
I just got computers this year–I didn’t want to go crazy like a kid who just got candy. I had planned my system to be totally workable for outside the classroom as well as if I should suddenly wake up and find technology in my room. I use a blog, twitter, and Learni.st So far, I get compliments like “Wow, this doesn’t suck (sic).” That, when properly translated from high school to English means, “Golly, thanks for taking the time to care that I’m interested in your lesson by providing me with a ton of multimedia primary source material aligned to the standards disguising the learning as fun.”