Archive for June 2017
My home state’s stupidly misspelled word, and some confusion about misspelling related to pornography
As a writer, teacher, and geography nerd, I was so excited about this map of America’s most misspelled words Then I saw my home state of Connecticut’s most misspelled word (according to Google Trends): Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious So stupid. Every other state (except for West Virginia) gets an actual word that we use in everyday life, and…
Read MoreI wish my students would accuse me of a war crime
Graduate this kid immediately.
Read More17 rules I break
Last month, I wrote about my philosophy of rule breaking: If someone is breaking a rule, and the breaking of that rule hurts no one, always leave the rule breaker alone. Leave them be. Don’t rat them out. Don’t wish them ill will of any kind. I also wrote about an afternoon spent teaching some…
Read MoreCompound interest to applied learning
I’m a proponent of incrementalism: Exceptionally small changes, reproduced over time, yield enormous results. Find a way to utilize five minutes of otherwise wasted time every day, and over time, the results will be extraordinary. But not only will those five minutes accumulate quickly – amounting to more than 30 hours (MORE THAN A DAY)…
Read MoreMy children’s personal ten commandments are beautiful, heart wrenching, and completely applicable.
My kids were studying the Ten Commandments at Hebrew School this week. As part of the lesson, they were then asked to come up with some commandments of their own. My daughter’s commandments are beautiful. Much better than the Bible’s ten commandments, which waste the first three on God’s obsession with being the best and…
Read MoreRachel Platten has it all wrong when it comes to truth and faith, and I have no idea why.
Rachel Platten’s “Stand By You” is a lovely song that my kids enjoy quite a bit, but there’s a pair of lyrics in the song that trouble me deeply and should trouble you, too: Oh, truth, I guess truth is what you believe inAnd faith, I think faith is helping to reason Let’s just…
Read MoreChange happens slowly, methodically, and daily. Most people refuse to accept this.
This is a perfect metaphor for change. Watch this video. When I work with people on affecting change in their lives – whether it’s my fifth grade students or the adults who hire me to help them achieve a goal – the struggle is often to make them understand how small, incremental changes over time…
Read MoreIncreased degree of difficulty is not appreciated
Writing a novel is hard enough. I really don’t need this added nonsense.
Read MoreDidn’t exist in 2005
Twelve years ago, the world was without these 15 technologies. It was truly a different world not that long ago. iPhoneiPadKindleYouTubeUberPodcastsAirbnbAndroidGoogle MapsSpotifyMobile weather applicationsInstagramSlackSpotifyEvernoteSnapchatNestOculus
Read MoreRIP Uncle Harry
My great Uncle Harry passed away this week. Yes, his name was Harry Dicks. Not even Harold Dicks. Straight up Harry. Growing up, I lived next door to Uncle Harry. He lived with his brother, my grandfather, on a sprawling piece of land that served as my childhood adventure land. Land that my father and…
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