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This is underwear

Elysha sent me this photo yesterday with a message that read: “Taking the liberty of throwing these away, honey.” I want to go on the record as saying that: It took me a moment to identify this photo as underwear. I swear that my underwear did not look like that when it entered the washing…

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Storytelling in the Classroom

This week I was featured in Thom Gibson’s podcast “Storytelling in the Classroom” along with friend and storyteller Jeni Bonaldo. I discuss the ways I integrate storytelling into my school day, and both Jeni and podcast host Thom Gibson tell stories to their students, and I offer a critique of both. You can listen to…

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Life!

Hope springs eternal! After the tragic death of our crocuses last week at the hands of the little girl next door, Charlie discovered a single crocus emerging from the earth yesterday afternoon in the same spot as last week’s floral massacre. It appears that she didn’t kill them all. At least one more was waiting…

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I lost The Moth GrandSLAM on Tuesday night. This is how I feel about losing.

On Tuesday night, I competed in a Moth GrandSLAM at the Cutler Majestic in Boston. It was my 25th GrandSLAM championship since 2011, but no matter how many of these championships I compete in, the GrandSLAM never gets old for me. It’s my favorite storytelling show by far. I told what I thought might be…

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My students are ruining my chances at greatness

A 2017 study found that working near people who are good at their job makes you more effective at yours. Sitting within 25 feet of a high performer at work improved a given worker’s performance by 15 percent, while sitting within 25 feet of a low performer hurt their performance by 30 percent.  Role models, it…

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Spring! Then murder.

Spring has sprung! Every March this tiny patch of crocuses bloom in our front yard. It’s the first sign that winter is finally in the rearview mirror and warm and sunny days are ahead.  On Sunday the crocuses finally appeared. Tiny, purple and orange bursts of life from an otherwise cold, lifeless ground. We were…

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Speak Up Storytelling: Ted Zablotsky

On episode #42 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Elysha Dicks and I talk storytelling! In our followup segment, we read a heartwarming email from a listener about Homework for Life and our new favorite review from a listener. In our Homework for Life segment, we talk about how storyworthy moments can often be identified by…

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Why you should not complain about the common core

Occasionally I will meet an adult who has somehow been convinced that America’s “common core” curriculum is rubbish. They look at the way that their child is solving a math problem, fail to comprehend the method or rationale that their child is using, and therefore assume it’s stupid. It’s more than likely that the adult…

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Physics and philosophy at bedtime

Before bed last night , Charlie, age 6 asks: “When the Big Bang reverses and the universe compresses into a tiny dot again and then we have another Big Bang, will we all eventually get born again like this time, or will it be different?” “That’s a big question,” Elysha said. I wanted to say,…

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Adults here sucked

A youth hockey game in Canada between the Kitchener Jr. Rangers Red and the Cambridge Hawks Red in October of last year ended in a score of 41-0. This means that the Kitchener team scored more than a goal per minute. The coach of Kitchener stated that once the game got out of hand, he…

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