My niece, Ava, is graduated from eighth grade, and the other day she had her eighth-grade dance. Before the dance, a group of the kids gathered at the park for pictures. They were dressed up, laughing, posing, teasing one another a little, and standing in that strange and wonderful space between childhood and whatever […]
When Time Belongs to You Again Read More »
There is a particular kind of quiet that arrives after the school year ends, and if you have spent any time in a classroom, you probably know it well. It is not exactly silence. It is more like the sudden absence of all the sounds your body had been organizing itself around for
When Summer Begins, the Body Still Remembers the School Year Read More »
Kelli and I still enjoy going to happy hours with former teachers and colleagues. There is something comfortable about those gatherings — the easy laughter, the familiar stories, the way old connections seem to pick up right where they left off. And, as usually happens when teachers get together, the conversation eventually turns back to
The Strange Mix of Exhaustion and Gratitude in May Read More »
Kelli and I are spending a little time at our place in Florida right now, catching our breath after the usual busyness of home—yes, still busy, even in retirement. The weather has been one of those gentle Florida stretches: sunny skies, the temperature settling comfortably in the mid-70s, just warm enough to make a walk
The Quiet Accounting Teachers Do in May Read More »
This past weekend Kelli and I made the five-hour drive to Pittsburgh to visit her son Scott, his wife Leigh, and most importantly, one of our granddaughters, Rosebud. It was the kind of visit that leaves your heart full in quiet ways. We spent long stretches simply being together — playing, talking, and watching
When Enough Is Actually Enough Read More »
The other night Kelli and I had the chance to attend the Mount Pleasant High School production of Mamma Mia. It was one of those evenings that leaves you smiling long after the curtain falls. The energy in the room was contagious—students singing, dancing, and clearly enjoying every minute of it. By the time the
What Teachers Need to Receive Read More »
The Difference Between Burnout and Being Worn There’s a particular kind of light that arrives in March. It doesn’t announce itself. It simply lingers a little longer in the morning and stays a little later in the evening. It slips through classroom windows and stretches across student desks as if to say, We’re still
What Reawakens in March Read More »
The air on the pool deck at states always feels different. Thicker somehow. Chlorine and adrenaline mixed together. The sharp echo of whistles. The hollow slap of wet feet on tile. The metallic hum of the starting system. For forty years, that soundscape has meant one thing to me: responsibility. This year
Between Care and Overreach Read More »
I’m retiring again. Kelli and I have been coaching swimming and diving since 1987. That’s a long time to measure winters by practice schedules, bus rides, and the echo of whistles off tiled walls. This is our final season. Truly final this time. Every year, just before the state meet, we take the
When the Year Feels Long Read More »
There are books you write because you have something to say. And there are books you write because something has been quietly forming in you for years, and eventually you realize it needs language. The Inner Classroom belongs to the second kind. After decades in the classroom — teaching psychology, sociology, economics,
Why I Wrote The Inner Classroom Read More »
