My thoughts
about Teaching

I started with chalk . . . now I sell PDFs

I started teaching with a chalkboard and a box of handwritten lesson plans.No internet. No projectors. No digital anything.

Just chalk, paper, and a room full of students.

Then Everything Changed. Over the years, I watched classrooms transform: Chalkboards became whiteboards. Whiteboards became Smartboards. Paper became PDFs. And along the way, teaching extended beyond the classroom walls.

The Biggest Shift Wasn’t Technology It was accessibility.Teachers today don’t have to start from scratch the way many of us did.

You can:

• Download a lesson in minutes

• Customize materials instantly

• Access ideas from teachers across the world

That’s powerful.

From Chalkboards to Digital Downloads: My Teaching Evolution

Most teaching trends don’t last—but great teaching does

What 40 Years in the Classroom Taught Me About What Actually Works

After 40 years in the classroom, I’ve seen just about every teaching trend come and go. Open classrooms. Scripted curriculum. Overhead projectors. Smartboards. Digital everything.

And here’s the truth no one really tells you: The best teaching strategies never actually change. What works now is what worked 30 years ago—just packaged differently.

The Trends Fade—The Core Stays. I remember being told (more than once) that the new pmath would “revolutionize learning.” Sometimes a new program helped. Often, it didn’t last.

But the things that always worked?

• Clear expectations

• Strong relationships

• Engaging, meaningful content

• Giving students a reason to care

No app or platform replaces those.

“Simple” Often Wins If a lesson is clear, purposeful, and engaging—you’re already winning. Students don’t need perfect.They need connection and clarity.