"Be the Echo" - Abraham Alarcon's Blog

'Tis the season to wait. People wait. Some are good at it. Some are not. I am not. Is it a skill? Are there any strategies that can be taught to acquire how to wait?  I don't know but what I do know is what I do when I wait.  I do the laundry in my home. Living in the city we do not have a washer/dryer in our apartment so I take our clothes to a laundromat. While I sit and wait for the clothes I write my blog, finish teacher evaluations, or prepare lessons for my religious education class. I write.  Traveling in the city can be stressful especially this time of year. The hustle and bustle of everday life is amplified with holiday shopping. The cars, buses, and trucks congest streets and main thouroughfares; it can get very hectic. You could sit in traffic for a long time. This kind of waiting drives me nuts. If I don't have my wife or a friend to talk to I play uplifting music or begin making phone calls. Waiting in traffic. Ugh!  S...

I can always count on a pair of old brown shoes I have.  They go well with my khakis and blue or white shirts.  My favorite navy blue suit is also a great match with these shoes.  What makes them so special is the soft leather and deep brown classic professional look.  Despite costing me $175 when I purchased them, I can't seem to get rid of them.  I've changed the sole only once in 8 years! Putting them on after summer vacation ... that's right when school is not in session it means administrators can wear shorts and sneakers ... I started thinking about how educators tend to stay with what they know.  The safe.  The secure.  The same old "tricks of the trade" or the same instructional strategies. How difficult is it for us educators to get rid of something?  If its a book, a tool, a piece of furniture or perhaps a way of thinking or doing.  We don't like throwing things away.  It's not in our nature. I guess the...

Biking in New York City has become very popular today. With the increase of bike lanes, new CitiBike locations, and the safety advocacy of groups like Transportation Alternatives, biking in NYC is a wonderful experience. In case you are riding and you hear from behind, "On your left!" That means a biker is approaching and will pass you on your left side. Many are not used to this mode of communication because we are looking forward. Others respond better to bells and dings as alerts. The "on your left" signal is a considerate and safety protocol for biking. Smart and safe bikers will use it. Those who reciprocate with a "Thank you" or "Okay" understand and do appreciate the effort. Its smart biking like managing speed and other safety measures. What signals do teachers use in their classrooms to communicate what's coming next for students? How might they inform students their expectations? How can they he...

When I told my mother I was going to be a teacher she exclaimed,   "Ay Dios! Voy a quedarme pobre por el resto de mi vida!" Translation:  Oh God!  I will be poor for the rest of my life!     I was not surprised at her reaction to my news.  I have cousins in the profession in my mother's native country of Ecuador.  From her point of view teachers are not respected because they are poorly paid.  The average salary of a novice teacher in Ecuador today ranges from $300 - $500 dollars a month.  You can make more if you teach English and work in a private school.  Surely, my mother's sentiments originated from having seen family members struggle and did not want the same for me. The notion that the teaching profession must be filled with attractive money and salaries to lure the best talent won't work.  No incentive program with deep pockets can instill that innate desire for service, that passion to learn from and with ...