Books… Friday Flick: Book Pusher 11 Feb 201113 Feb 2011 Nancy Pearl is my new book pusher. Every library and every writer needs a Nancy. This inspires me to check out all 1,800 of her favorite picks. It might take…
Academic Writing… Why Do I Have to Take this Class Anyway? 10 Feb 201112 Feb 2011 I haven't studied math since high school. I excelled in it. I took all four years of accelerated classes, keeping college majoring options open. Then I tested out of college…
Baby Boomers… How to Stop Time 9 Feb 20119 Feb 2011 A student who's juggling unemployment stress and family crises (while still getting his schoolwork done) asked, "Can you just tell me how to stop time?" The same day, my son…
Fact-Checking… Carbon Dating for Books 8 Feb 20118 Feb 2011 You could always date a movie by the women's hair and make-up. You can date a book by the technology. Recently I've been teaching with a fifth edition textbook. That's…
Academic Writing… New Messages on Texting 7 Feb 20118 Feb 2011 Could texting be good for literacy? Some early and brief studies are suggesting that it might not hurt as much as you fear. Students who spell well in general can…
Creativity… Did I Miss Anything? 5 Feb 20114 Feb 2011 When Billy Collins was the United States Poet Laureate, he encouraged schools to read a poem a day: no analysis, no writing assignments, only the pure nourishment of experiencing a…
Advertising… Friday Flick: A Darth Vader Short 4 Feb 20114 Feb 2011 Here's to the power of story! A company couldn't pay me for space on my blog, yet I'll spread this ad for nothing more than the smile it gave me,…
Academic Writing… How to Get that Easy A 3 Feb 20113 Feb 2011 Show up. Show up on time, every time. Stay the whole time. Read the instructions. Listen to instructions. Try common sense. Be sober. Care for your health. Choose to learn.…
Completion… Day is done 2 Feb 2011 Day is done, gone the sun, from the lakes from the hills from the sky. All is well. Safely rest. God is nigh. That version of Taps is one of…
Commitment… The Whoosh of Completion 1 Feb 201131 Jan 2011 I have many favorite sounds: the cry of a healthy baby, my sons singing Boys II Men's "A Song for Mama," the ka-ching of an old-fashioned cash register, the purr…
Brain… Education Knows No Boundaries 31 Jan 201130 Jan 2011 For the first five years of my formal education, Louisiana was the setting. Halfway through second grade, I was assigned to a new school, courtesy of the United States Supreme…
Endurance… Caught in a Sequence? 29 Jan 201129 Jan 2011 Sometimes there's something you want to say, but you can't figure out where to start. Or you plan to write--right after you toss in the laundry--right after you check the…