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Taking Pictures with Words
In my driveway before the drive began The roads were 100% snow covered in some areas, and I had precious cargo in the van with me–students on the way to a quiz bowl meet. There were dozens of...
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Do We Learn Most of All By Our Mistakes?
I’m a pretty good cook. People say so, anyway. Do I have a natural aptitude for cooking? Maybe. Did I have good teachers? Perhaps. But, most of all, I was allowed to be curious and learn from my...
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My Namesake
Class of 2012 Today was graduation day at our school. What a wonderful day! This group was the first seventh grade class I had six years ago. They will be missed! At one of the parties I got to tour a...
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Chief Learner
One of my favorite education quotes is “The teacher is the chief learner in the classroom” by Donald Graves. I heard a remnant of another quote by him recently, so I was searching for it. It is about...
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“Last Page, Lost Friend” Reading Quotes & The Reading Zone
Great Writers on Reading “When I am reading a book, whether wise or silly, it seems to me to be alive and talking to me. Sometimes I read a book with pleasure, and detest the author. It is easy enough...
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Happy Constitution Day and Why I’m a Liberal
Alert: I don’t typically write about politics or religion, so I’m forewarning you. Turn back while you can… Subscription image from iClipArt for Schools in Iowa For close to 40 years, I have been...
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My Brother
In Loving Memory Richard B. Reed June 16, 1943 – November 13, 2012 On Tuesday evening this week, my healthy, exuberant, funny, life-loving brother died unexpectedly of a heart attack. It was a surprise...
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Blurring the Lines Between Author and Audience
When I first started teaching, I typed my students’ stories on an Apple IIE computer and printed them on a dot-matrix printer. I used the book-binding machine in the office to make books for our...
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Before and After Research
Because we were going to see him speak, seventh graders researched Philip Gans, Holocaust and concentration camp survivor. These two pictures tell the story of my small group of seventh graders. I...
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New Chapter
I am a lifelong learner. I’m always saying, “I learn something new every day.” This summer has been no exception. However, I only wrote one blog post here this summer. That’s unusual. Typically in...
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Creative and Authentic – That’s What Parents Save
I’m moving soon. We are on the countdown, and it’s now 12 days to moving day. This is a move of prodigious proportions. We have sold our house and furniture. We are going through all our additional...
View ArticleJesus and Donald
Donald Trump says quite often that he is Presbyterian. Presbyterians, for centuries, have been followers of Jesus Christ. Here are just a handful of quotes from Jesus and Trump. I can’t help but notice...
View ArticleThe Good and Bad of Writing Every Day in March #sol17 Day 1
The good thing about writing every day in March is that I will remember how to use my blog. The bad thing about writing every day in March is that I will forget and neglect many other things in life....
View ArticleShift This Book Review
Thanks to Joy Kirr for a book that outlines her growth as a teacher over the last six years. I was privileged to meet her on Twitter in 2012. I have learned a lot about her shifts in education through...
View ArticleTime for Family and Home, Not Just School
I had an amazing summer. We have a two-month break from school, and for the whole time I was settled into my small desert island nest. You can’t drive more than an hour in one direction here before you...
View ArticlePiling Metaphors
Piles… The story of my life. It seems I’ve lived with them for an eternity. School papers, ministry details, family matters. Piles everywhere. Are they a metaphor for a busy mind? My busy mind? Are...
View ArticleTeacher Rewards
I have rarely regretted going into education; it is the hardest and best profession there is. It is a job full of creative opportunities, rich relationships and camaraderie, and surprises. Today I was...
View ArticleBook Covers No Explanation Explanation
I took a challenge from Jill Canillas Daley (@jcd118) to post seven book covers, one a day for seven days. No explanation, no reviews. I accepted a challenge to post covers of seven (good) books that...
View ArticleSilent No More
Her name was Gwen and she was 8 years old, a year younger than me. She knew exactly what she was doing when she snatched that wallet from the ground, ripped out the few dollars, and dropped the...
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