Category: Teaching and Education

If This Is True, Then I Should Be the King of Brainstorming

I've written more than a few posts about some of my embarrassing moments (I have so many to choose from): Lobster Man Strikes Again Another One of Life’s Embarrassing Moments Embarrassing Stories – A Wonderful Way to Get to Know One Another? Another Benefit of Sharing Embarrassing Moments Add One More to Life’s Embarrassing Moments Well, That Was Embarrassing… The … Continue reading If This Is True, Then I Should Be the King of Brainstorming →

Music Monday: College Marching Bands – Fails and Perfection

The routines that college marching bands use are often quite intricate, and even the slighest misstep could throw everything off. So it's no surprise that at some point there is going to be a collision of some sort. Here are a few such fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpiINv1WeBg   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHHe9grrOCs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlZRlDxJ4t0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1FnHcMDBlU Fortunately, such failures seem to be … Continue reading Music Monday: College Marching Bands – Fails and Perfection →

Thank Goodness for Technology, but…

After we had our first videoconference call with a doctor today, it struck me how important a role technology has played in the pandemic. Here is a list of tasks that I used to do in person and then in a blink of an eye they were all being done online: teach go to church … Continue reading Thank Goodness for Technology, but… →

Villanova’s Wonderful Virtual Graduation

It was, no doubt, a strange way to end four years of college for this year's graduates. With formal commencement exercises canceled, Villanova put on a virtual graduation ceremony. And it was wonderful. Here are some screenshots of the ceremony which was broadcast live yesterday afternoon. The top photo is of our President, Father Peter … Continue reading Villanova’s Wonderful Virtual Graduation →

Thank You, Villanova

It is a challenging time for higher education, with most schools having closed their campuses this Spring and switched to an online teaching format. In addition, many schools have canceled all on-campus events for this summer. And there is tremendous uncertainty as to what will happen come the Fall semester. My employer, Villanova University, has … Continue reading Thank You, Villanova →

Well, That Was Humbling…

I generally consider myself relatively tech-savvy; I try to keep up with the latest systems, developments, tools, and gadgets, I try new technologies when they come along, and I feel I pick up new technologies fairly quickly. But as it turns out, when it comes to digital technologies, I'm in the worst stage of competence … Continue reading Well, That Was Humbling… →

This Was One of the Coolest Toys I Had as a Kid

This post was inspired by fellow blogger Michael Kuch, who asked his readers today to respond to a series of questions as a way to get to know each other. One of the questions was "Your Favorite Toy as a Child". My kneejerk response was "Matchbox" toy cars, probably influenced by Michael's answer of Hot … Continue reading This Was One of the Coolest Toys I Had as a Kid →

Everything in My Life Has Led to This Moment

Steve Jobs famously said in his Stanford graduation speech: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let … Continue reading Everything in My Life Has Led to This Moment →

Did Seth Godin Just Pen the Perfect College Admissions Letter? Stockbrokers Take Note…

In one of Seth's posts this week, he notes that if your job is one of detecting and selecting, for example, college admissions or stock picking, the data shows that while it’s possible to be worse than average at such tasks, it’s almost impossible to do consistently better than the average. To believe you're doing … Continue reading Did Seth Godin Just Pen the Perfect College Admissions Letter? Stockbrokers Take Note… →

Seeing Signs of Hope While Out for a Drive

Today, my wife, son, and I went for about a two-hour car ride, never venturing more than five miles from our house. The purpose of the trip was for my wife to drop off schoolwork for her preschool students. A fellow teacher had put together a driving route, using Mapquest, that configured the best route … Continue reading Seeing Signs of Hope While Out for a Drive →