In the golden age of television, Saturday mornings held a special place in American culture. For generations of children, these precious weekend hours were filled with animated adventures, talking animals, and - perhaps without them even realizing it - valuable educational content. The evolution of educational programming within Saturday morning cartoons represents a fascinating intersection … Continue reading The Evolution of Educational Content in Saturday Morning Cartoons
Education
Educational Entertainment: The Success of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and Similar Shows
In the late 20th century, a wave of educational television shows captivated young audiences, making science cool and accessible. While shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy and Beakman's World became cultural phenomena in the 1990s, they were building on a foundation laid by earlier programs, most notably Mr. Wizard's World. This blog post explores … Continue reading Educational Entertainment: The Success of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and Similar Shows
Teacher Appreciation Week – Part I
This week is officially Teacher Appreciation Week. Why they save it for the end of the school year, I don't know. Maybe it's because they figure that teachers are reaching the ends of their rapidly fraying ropes trying to get their students through end of year testing. They've been putting up with these little angels … Continue reading Teacher Appreciation Week – Part I
In the Words of a Non-Parent
Today's blog post comes as an idea from my friend Jessica. She suggested that it would be interesting to hear parenting advice from someone who isn't a parent. With as much time as I've spent among families and working with kids, she felt that I could offer some unique insights into the art of raising … Continue reading In the Words of a Non-Parent
Southern Ocean
One day, as I was observing a second grade classroom, I spotted a map on the wall. Recently, the kids have been learning about the world map and geography during the social studies portion of their day. Everything on the map was mostly as I remember it. All the continents were in the same places. … Continue reading Southern Ocean
Stories From a Teacher
Title: Stories From a Teacher Author: Jonathan Flores Published: 2012 Some time ago, I saw something on Facebook about BookBub. It's a service that provides information about free and discounted ebooks that are available. This encouraged me to sign up. Since then, I've downloaded dozens of free books to my Kindle. Stories From a Teacher … Continue reading Stories From a Teacher
Why the Letter X Is Unnecessary
I've been working in elementary schools for a little over four years now. During those years, I've spent a lot of my time in kindergarten. This has allowed me to reflect on our alphabet. Not that I haven't spent time thinking about my ABC's from time to time. After all, I do enjoy to write … Continue reading Why the Letter X Is Unnecessary
10 Ways to Know I’m Old
If you've been following this blog for even a few days, you know that my birthday was this past Sunday. I continually attempt to trick myself into believing that I'm younger than I actually am. I do this by hanging out with a group of friends who are, on average, 10 years younger than me. … Continue reading 10 Ways to Know I’m Old
The Fugitive
One day last week, I woke up with the theme song from Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego stuck in my head. If you grew up around the same time as me, it probably just got stuck in your head, too. It's that song by the group Rockapella from the PBS game show that … Continue reading The Fugitive
When Pigs Fly
"I'll show 'em!" Hank shouted to himself as he violently pushed open the screen door and stormed out of the back of the house. The kid was angry, and in his anger he stomped his way across the yard, making his way to the barn. His father had just graciously reminded him that he had … Continue reading When Pigs Fly
The Confusing Middle 