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…
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…
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…
These days, when getting on a plane, I greet the people squished up next to me, but then get out a book and read. I can talk nonstop so this is really a test for me. That said, one time…
This essay is HUGELY interesting! A friend of mine works for an outdoor education organization that arranges wilderness backpacking adventures for students. I asked if he would write about his experiences being a wilderness instructor in the era of COVID19.…
What do you think of Kenya and their solution to cancel K-12 school for the 2020-2021 school year? For the U.S. this is a hypothetical question since cancelling K-12 school will never happen. I suspect the main reason would be…
Right now, parents are making difficult school choices based on COVID-19. A number of moms contacted me to say they will keep their kids at home. The question they have is this: Should they stay connected with…
I remember singing a choral piece with these words: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Today, hearts are troubled and sad, and fear is real. On top of that, people are trying to…
Corona Virus Days: Questions about educating at home and learning “life skills” (March 17, 2020) Some issues have come up with children being home. Question: One parent expressed concern that their child would lose out with less school, or even…
I was recently asked to talk about a “shining teacher moment.” Hmmm. Shining moments happen when students combine talent, focus, and a desire to perform well in order to produce amazing “history with music-drama-dance” productions. This is a shining moment:…
You walk into your 6th grade music class on the first day of school and all students are sitting with their arms crossed. Or more likely, they are texting each other. Maybe your 7th grade English class exclaims as a…