This past week was Fall Break at my school, which meant no classes for the week. Usually, it's a week I use to get caught up on things at school such as grading and prepping for upcoming classes. But I was able to take care of most of that before the week began, so that … Continue reading It Was Like Being a Little Kid Again
Seth Godin had a short but inspirational post today: A simple substitute might change a habit. Instead of a snack, brush your teeth. Instead of a nap, go for a walk. Instead of a nasty tweet or cutting remark, write it down in a private notebook. Instead of the elevator, take the stairs. Instead of … Continue reading Instead Of…
Many high schoolers, and their parents, are often looking for ways to boost their SAT scores. The hope is that a higher score will increase their probability of getting into their school of choice. One popular approach is to hire an SAT tutor; someone who will work one on one with the student to improve … Continue reading Want to Boost Your Kid’s SAT Scores? Don’t Hire an SAT Tutor, Hire a Swimming Coach Instead
This post is inspired by the most recent Dan Ariely column in the Wall Street Journal. Here is one of the emails he received: Dear Dan, My partner and I decided to do a DIY renovation of our kitchen cabinets. We spent many hours at the store discussing options and reviewing our sketches, then struggled … Continue reading My Blog and the Ikea Effect
I just finished teaching my final class of the summer today, and grades have been turned in. That means it's time to start reading. For whatever reason, I don't get much personal reading done during a semester, so I really look forward to the summer when I can make up for lost time. I'm currently … Continue reading Let the Summer Reading Begin!
Last week, Brad Osbourne, the poet laureate of WordPress at commonsensiblyspeaking, shared a style of poetry known as a Diamante poem, as part of his weekly Whittled Words series. Here is the format of such a poem: A diamante poem is a 7-line poem that looks like a diamond. It can be used to describe … Continue reading Am I As Creative as a Kindergarten Student?
I remember when our oldest son was around 10 years old how much he enjoyed the Choose Your Own adventures series of books. Here's a description from Wikipedia: Choose Your Own Adventure, or Secret Path Books is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of … Continue reading Choose Your Own Adventure
One of the benefits of being around college students all the time is that I have a better chance of being up-to-date on pop culture. And today's class was a perfect example. I had asked students to go into their Zoom breakout rooms and to come up with a list of people or companies who … Continue reading My College Students Keep Me Young…
Researchers at One Poll, polled 6,000 adults in UK, US, Singapore, and Australia to determine all the little things that bring joy. The researchers came up with a list of the top 50 responses for each country; here are the top 10, by country. UK Top 50 Simple Pleasures 1. Feeling of sun on your … Continue reading Life’s Simple Pleasures – What Are Yours?
Lara Zielin, an author and life coach, has created a method of journaling she calls “Author Your Life,” where people think about themselves as characters in a story of their making. Author Your Life is a way to write about the life you want to have as if it’s already occurring. Zielin has developed five … Continue reading The HAPPE Method of Journaling
Borden's Blather 