During a New Year sermon, the pastor asked ushers to pass baskets of stars. Each star had a word on it that was to be our focus for the year. I was singing alto in the chancel choir, which…
“To avoid cultural appropriation, music educators need to take the time to explore the source culture and approach the traditions of others in a respectful manner…” writes Karen Howard, professor of music at University of St. Thomas. The issue…
It seems that each year, more archeological evidence emerges concerning the first years of the Plymouth settlement in the 1620s. It’s now agreed that the three-day 1621 harvest served as a diplomatic event and included many more Native…
BACKGROUND In 2016, while on Spring Break from teaching at a high school in Switzerland, I visited friends in Spain. They took me to a café where I met a few British expats. In the course of the conversation, one…
NEW BOOK RELEASE “We had no water - just a cistern, no bathroom - just an outside three-holer, no telephone, no electricity and just a black iron stove in the kitchen which used coal and wood, but life was wonderful.…
Military Brats, U.S. Life-Saving Service, Mayflower “I should have been a university professor,” shares Rebecca Locklear. “I thoroughly enjoy research.” Even without the university status, the pandemic 2021 year closes with quite a bit of research complete with Rebecca publishing…
On the blog post titled Motivating Students, I mentioned a group of second graders that came into my reading room on the first day of school. All of these boys were known to be difficult. As they shoved their way…
An incident while working at an international school One day, I was sent an email from my international school administration that informed me that the next day I was required to travel an hour to the…
Two years ago, I attended a graduation, two baby showers, a wedding, and many birthday celebrations. I had a great time finding gifts and cards that suited each person, and admit, it was an expense. But what I…
My mind keeps returning to those in Texas who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a effort to get warm this past February. Relatives hold the electric company, city, and police responsible – and I agree there should be…
A couple of years ago, after finishing a day of speaking and selling my books at a conference, a woman I had met that day came up to me with a surprise gift. It was the book, What a Wonderful…
At my last writing workshop for adults, I began by sharing four issues students (grades 6-12) have when writing academic papers and a few things I do to address those concerns. Perhaps some of these ideas will help with your…