GRIN & BARE IT
Read (and subscribe to) Grin and Bare It, my daily blog on storytelling, productivity, current events, teaching, my family, and other musings.
I have been posting to this blog every day since 2005.
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Resolution update: June 2026
Every month, I record my progress toward my yearly goals to hold myself accountable and, occasionally, seek help and advice from readers willing to offer Read More
Pickle with a purpose
Here’s another gift given to me at my retirement party: A bag full of things I despise and don’t need. Pickles in so many forms. Read More
How to annoy a child
As an elementary school teacher for the past 27 years, I have learned a great deal about children. I have a wealth of knowledge and Read More
He knows me
Many of my former students attended my retirement party, including a boy named Ryo, whom I taught this year, Ryo came up to me with Read More
The Tyranny of the Ice Cream Truck
My latest humor column in Seasons magazine on The Tyranny of the Ice Cream Truck
Notes on my retirement posts
A few notes from my recent posts on my retirement party: Three people contacted me to express hope that my former school administration will read Read More
My parting advice for teachers
When George Washington left office after his second term, he delivered a speech filled with advice for the country. During my retirement speech on Saturday Read More
My retirement party — in short
Mark Twain famously had the opportunity to watch his own funeral and listen to the kinds of things people say about you after you’ve died. Read More
Three best words
I am never more impressed with someone than when I hear them say this simple, three-word sentence: “I don’t know.” It should be an easy Read More
My superpowers
I often told my students that my superhero name was Nachos Grande — the name of a lunch menu item that our cafeteria serves every Read More
7 questions to evaluate a religion
As a reluctant atheist, I am constantly examining, studying, and keeping a weather eye on religion in the hope that someday, I will find the Read More
What will I do now that I have retired from teaching?
For about a month. I have been asked by many, many people what I will be doing once I retire from teaching. The questions and Read More
Julia makes me cry
For more than a decade, I offered a challenge to my fifth-grade students: Write something that makes me cry. The contest was born from Sharon Read More
Important lessons not in the curriculum
It’s my final day as an elementary school teacher. After 27 years of standing in a classroom teaching second, third, and fifth-grade students, my career Read More
Never Have I Ever
Behold: an update on the things that many, if not most, people have done at some point in their lives that I have not. It’s Read More
“Pinkerton” should be a lesson to anyone trying to make something great
Weezer’s first album, “The Blue Album,” was a multi-platinum success. I liked it very much. The record industry expected their second album, “Pinkerton,” to perform Read More
Matthew Dicks’s 13 Principles of Effective Teaching
As my 27-year career as an elementary school teacher comes to an end, I offer this to all current and future teachers: The 13 principles Read More
Teaching writing well requires one important thing about all else
As my 27-year career as an elementary school teacher comes to an end, I offer this to all current and future teachers about writing instruction. Read More
See your story. Tell your story. Please.
I was speaking to an Uber driver on the way to my hotel. He asked what I was doing in Las Vegas, so I told Read More
That sentence
I was attempting to renew my vehicle registration online, but I eventually landed on a screen that said that renewal online was not possible. Then Read More
