A Thanksgiving Conversation That Stayed With Me We had a full house over Thanksgiving week—an open house where everyone finally got to meet Rosebud, our one-year-old granddaughter, along with her parents, Scott and Leigh, who hadn’t been back since her birth. Then Thanksgiving dinner, which in our home always seems to swell beyond the number […]
Teacher Voices II: What Teachers Are Saying This Year Read More »
The Stillness Before the Doorbell Rings We’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, and most of the family will be here. It’s exciting… and a lot. Kel loves the preparation — the lists, the cleaning, the organizing, the quiet satisfaction of making the house ready for people we love. Me? I pitch in, but I’ve never
A Thanksgiving Pause: Rest, Renewal, and the Quiet Work of Gratitude Read More »
The Drive West Kelli and I drove to Pittsburgh the other weekend to see our granddaughter, Rosebud, on her first birthday. The drive out and back was filled with the beauty of autumn—trees lit up in yellows, oranges, and reds, whole hillsides shimmering in the afternoon sun. The soft hum of the tires underneath us
Turning Inward: The Spiritual Wake-Up Call of Midlife and Beyond Read More »
Series: This post is part of Policy in the Classroom. See the full series → ☕️ Read my new book: Beyond the Grade Short, practical reflections for real classrooms—stories, psychology, and what actually helps. Read on Amazon I was recently interviewed for an article for the DSEA. The interviewer, David White, was very skilled in
Beyond Compliance: Finding Your Quiet Center in a Policy-Driven World Read More »
Kelli and I are both members of the Delaware State Education Association Retired local. As members, we recently attended the Appoquinimink Food Service Union social — a lively event full of conversation and support for their contract negotiations. While there, I overheard someone mention a growing worry about young men and their mental health. That
When Young Men Fall Silent: What Teachers Can Learn from Their Struggle Read More »
Series: This post is part of Policy in the Classroom. See the full series → One Halloween years ago, my students were cutting out paper bats for the psychology club bulletin board. The room smelled faintly of construction paper and pumpkin-spice candles someone had snuck in. It was one of those rare fall afternoons when
The Hidden Curriculum of Policy: What Students Learn in the Shadows Read More »
The Voice That Fades October has a way of holding mirrors up to us. The leaves are turning, the evenings grow earlier, and every store seems filled with masks and costumes. Kelli and I drive past a church on our way to service each Sunday. Every year, the local high school football team unloads hundreds
Beyond Burnout: How Spiritual Practices Can Restore a Teacher’s Authentic Voice Read More »
The Other Night at Five Below The other night, Kelli and I took our niece, Ava, and two of her friends to Five Below so they could pick out some Halloween pajamas. I was struck by the sheer number of costumes lining the aisles—masks and makeup for every possible identity a child could imagine.
The Masks We Wear: What Teachers Hide Behind the Smile Read More »
Series: This post is part of Policy in the Classroom. See the full series → Two Lessons, Years Apart One afternoon at Delaware Technical Community College, I sat across from a colleague in our shared office, papers spread everywhere. We were filling out end-of-semester reports — the kind that tried to translate our teaching into
The Metrics of Trust: How Teacher Evaluation Reshaped the Classroom Read More »
A Meeting Between Worlds The other day, Kelli and I were out and about and happened upon an Applebee’s dressed up for fall. I noticed a couple of older folks—older than me (!)—sitting and chatting in a booth by the window. It got me thinking about all the times I’ve met with younger teachers over
Archetypes in the Classroom: What the Sage and the Novitiate Can Teach Us About Teaching Read More »
