A Cool Site by Richard Byrne

I have to share a great site I was introduced to recently. The site is called Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne. He provides numerous articles every day to assist teachers. One article I was interested in was titled 5 Good Places for Kids to Learn About the News In this article, Richard provides five sites to help teachers of all levels teach current events to their students. Being a middle school history teacher, I am often searching for easier methods of getting my students involved in the world around them. I especially liked the CNN Student News site to get the students involved in current events.

This is a TED Video I watched on great leaders

I found this TED Talk video about great leaders. I found it interesting because people always wonder what characteristics make a great leader. Many people point to Michael Jordan, George Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr. as great leaders, but what makes them great? According to Simon Sinek, everybody is born with the ability to lead, but the best leaders all have a common characteristic. They don't worry about what they are doing or why they do it, but rather why they do it. All the great leaders think and act from the inside out. I felt Simon had some great points as to what makes a great leader.

Me in 12 Pictures

This is me in 12 Pictures.  

I am a husband, father, brother, teacher, and a coach.

This is my lovely wife Teri who I have been married to for twenty wonderful years.

This is our oldest son, Jared, who was a State Powerlifting Champion at 181 Pounds in 2012!!!       And set a new State Record in the Deadlift!!

Our boys Jared and Brady playing together for Bellevue East!  My favorite year was the year they played together.  

Our son, Dawson, singing in his Show Choir concert.  

Our daughter Madison posing with mom.

The entire family getting along!!  It doesn't always happen.

My lovely mother and my siblings.

Mission School!!  My second family!!

And finally...my favorite sports teams!!!

The Nebraska Cornhuskers!

The Boston Celtics!

The Kansas City Chiefs!

The Kansas City Royals!

Where to begin...

Hi!  My name is Steve Pelzer and I currently teach at Mission Middle School in Bellevue, Nebraska.  I began my career teaching Special Education at Logan Middle School in 1992.  After two years at Logan, I moved over to Mission where I have taught Special Education and History (along with a year of Science, and English) over the last 19 years.  I also coach Football, Boys' and Girls' Basketball, and Track at Mission.  A little background on myself...I grew up in Bellevue and attended Betz Elementary, Mission Junior High, and graduated from Bellevue East High School in 1987.  I graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with my B.S. in Social Sciences in 1991 and again from UNO with my M.S. in Behavior Disorders in 1995.  My wife, Teri, and I have been happily married for 20 years and have four wonderful children, Jared (19), Brady (17), Dawson (13), and Madison (11).

When it comes to technology, I have used numerous programs over the years.  I am more used to a PC, but have become more comfortable with a MAC over the last year.  In class, I like to use different technologies such as YouTube, Clickers, Powerpoint, Prezi, etc.

I am starting a Blog to try and connect more with my students.  I want to establish a site where students can review information covered in class, learn more about a certain topic, have access to worksheets, and be able to interact with myself and fellow students.