"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...