The Presidential elections in the United States are an exciting, yet contentious time. Every four years on the first Tuesday held after the first Monday in the month of November, American voters go to the polls. For months before the actual election, debates, primaries, and caucuses are held to introduce the people to the candidates who intend to run for the highest office in the United States.

Eventually, each political party decides on its official nominee. Though people can run as third-party or write-in candidates, the Presidential debates have almost always been between the Republican and Democratic nominees (the only exception to this being in 1992 when Ross Perot garnered high enough polling numbers to be invited).

There was a time when the projector was cutting-edge technology, putting to shame chalkboards all over the country as chalk sticks turned to powder in the grooves of the wooden frames from disuse.

Now, new technology is coming at an ever-increasing rate, and it’s not just about exposing kids to new tools but using the best technology available to help them learn.

Losing a parent is a rite of passage that most adults pass through, a time of reflection and change and for the majority of us it thankfully happens when we are mature and have our own families, but for one in seven Americans that loss will be experienced before they turn 20 years old. This startling statistic makes it a very real probability that during the course of your teaching career a student in your class will face the unimaginable.

I guess I have some strong opinions when it comes to teaching.  I hate it when teachers only expect students to identify literary elements without explaining how they work, I think that smartphones are ruining teenagers, and I despise plot summaries.

Good writers know that writing is a process.  It takes many steps to create a good final draft.

What is the writing process?

According to Burning Glass Technologies, one in every three skills listed in job ads is a baseline skill. Baseline skills are transferable to any job; in other words the soft skills. In a Career Builder survey 77% of employers surveyed said they were seeking candidates with soft skills.