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Running Shoes, Silly String, and the Cosmic Connections of Time

I laced up my shoes and fell into a large crowd assembling before the starting line. We were all there to run the SpeakUp 5k for the Cameron Gallagher Foundation. I never met Cameron, and I will not detail her life here on this post, but I know of her because in the terrible days after … Continue reading Running Shoes, Silly String, and the Cosmic Connections of Time

What I Learned from a Clucking Pig

Imagine this: a class with no teacher. Does it foretell a new era of learning and teaching or does it begin the descent into The Educational Apocalypse? I’m not aware of a school without any teachers, but recently, I visited a school that has redefined the role of one. This school program belonged to the New … Continue reading What I Learned from a Clucking Pig

A New Year’s Resolution that Might Actually Work

We are now exactly 11 days into 2017, and for some of us that delicious opportunity to change, to improve, to realize a long dormant potential has… already vanished. Our enthusiasm for setting new goals has met the reality of our old habits. Some may persevere to February, a tiny few beyond. I admire so … Continue reading A New Year’s Resolution that Might Actually Work

A Few Thoughts on Veterans’ Day

On this day, I always don’t know what to do. People email me or text or say “Thank you for your service.” I’ve never understood how I should respond – “You’re welcome” seems arrogant. “I really didn’t do much” seems to discount their gratitude. “Thank you for your kind words” is all I can really … Continue reading A Few Thoughts on Veterans’ Day

America’s Greatest Export and Import

TToday, the world waits… This post, however, is about something other than an election that makes the United States a great country. A friend of mine, Butch Sarma, asked me speak in his graduate business class at Virginia Commonwealth University. After 15 years in the classroom myself, I had little concern about teaching a lesson. … Continue reading America’s Greatest Export and Import

A Glimpse of Your Children’s Future Education (and Yours, too)

Last month, I finished my last course to earn a Master of Science in Education degree from Purdue University. For 19 months, I did what most students do: I attended class, I wrote papers, I offered comments and replied to my peers during class discussion, I asked questions of my professors. I made great friends. … Continue reading A Glimpse of Your Children’s Future Education (and Yours, too)