AsianAmericanStudies – Balasbas Says

5 years of teaching 9/24/22

Prologue:This isn’t some sort of five-year recap. Or things I learned over the first four years of teaching. Maybe I’ll write something about that in another post. Instead, I’m realizing what they mean when you hit year 5. Year 5 — is the average year a teacher burns out. Now that I’m here, I getContinue reading “5 years of teaching 9/24/22”

Classroom Upgrade

Prologue: When I got hired, my site had just gone through WASC and a part of the expectations were PLCs or Professional Learning Communities. I’m not sure why, but they said it was “…imperative that the site explore [PLCs]”. I wasn’t here before WASC, but it could be that the site was not growing asContinue reading “Classroom Upgrade”

I created three videos a week for 31 weeks

Prologue: To be honest, I wrote my frustrations during Summer 2021 somewhere. Probably in a draft I never posted. That or the pandemic is just blurring together. I ended the 2020-2021 SY doing all this crazy tech stuff. I earned a level 1 Nearpod Educator certificate. I got promoted to the head of the EnglishContinue reading “I created three videos a week for 31 weeks “

Breakthrough San Francisco

I started my career in education with a non-profit organization known as Breakthrough. This nationwide organization believes that all young people should have access to quality education and a clear path to college. They provide support for students from 5th-12th grade. And the location I joined was at the SF Day School, just down theContinue reading “Breakthrough San Francisco”

It’s been a long week

Prologue: I only intended to write once this week. And make a post about it. But this week was hell. I know there has been worse. Especially in January. But I think there was so much going on. I think this reflected the epitome of what normalizing work within a pandemic is like. It’s aContinue reading “It’s been a long week”

10 Guiding Precepts

Prologue: I’m here revisiting an old draft. Like many of the things I write, they got lost or never shared. Whether that’s because of my own insecurity or it remains locked away in my notes, a journal, or the drafts. It’s been over two years since I started this space. I think it’s become lessContinue reading “10 Guiding Precepts”