Courage… Happy Birthday, Reverend Jupiter Hammon! 17 Oct 201117 Oct 2011 Happy 300th birthday to Jupiter Hammon, believed to be the first published African-American author, who even gave fatherly advice to Phillis Wheatley: I pray the living God may be, …
Books… “The Power of Your Past” 13 Oct 201113 Oct 2011 The week of my birthday, I won a book! (The Berrett-Kohler newsletter I've recommended to you has a challenge, and I entered.) And because I was in transition, stepping from…
Write for Life Journal Update 19 Aug 201113 Jun 2025 It's always a joy to meet former students and learn they're doing well. Recently I ran into one I remembered fondly. She told me she'd always struggled in my class--she…
College… What’s Your Style? 30 Jul 201115 Apr 2012 This one is for those of you who already write in complete, yet not inexhaustible sentences, and wonder whether you have any style. Of course, you do--just as you have…
Write for Life Patterns of Development 20 Jul 2011 The rhetorical patterns of development can be handy even beyond school writing. We tend to emphasize our favorites: always telling a story or defining or comparing. What new perspective could…
Caring… Hamlet in Prison 12 Jul 201111 Jul 2011 Jack Hitt's hour-long report for This American Life on Hamlet performed by prisoners, originally broadcast in 2002, has inspired me all week with its deep insights about Hamlet and encouragement for…
Business… How to Succeed in American Business 11 Jul 2011 Teaching in a multicultural environment often includes overtly explaining American business culture and helping students practice that language. For starters, there's the direct eye contact, the body language, the smiling,…
Caring… Friday Flick: Music with Shining Eyes 8 Jul 201110 Jul 2011 If you've never loved classical music before, give Ben Zander twenty-one minutes to change your heart. If you've loved it already, share this with someone who could use a little…
Books… A Newsletter Worth Reading 7 Jul 2011 One e-mail newsletter I actually read is BK Communiqué from Berrett-Koehler Publishers. They publish engaging nonfiction, and their newsletters not only promote their own releases, they usually include interesting publishing…
Blogging… Most Beautiful Words 5 Jul 20114 Jul 2011 A reposting of a list of 100 Most Beautiful Words in the English Language has me wondering what my own favorites would be. For example, bucolic doesn't make my list. Its meaning, in a…
Blogging… Publishing as Independence 4 Jul 201116 May 2017 "Are you published?" It's the first question an industry outsider will ask, while a fellow writer will get to it eventually, however tactfully. "So tell me about your work!" But…
Blogging… Thanks, I Needed That! 2 Jul 20112 Jul 2011 WordPress showcased "10 Prolific Post a Day/Week Participants," and I'm one of them! Shall I tell you what this meant to me? I realized today how burned out I've become…
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