This is my original blog. I haven’t updated for years. I keep it as a reminder of the journey. 

Please see Broke Teacher for education and Poser Homestead for chickens, recipes, and dead zucchini. 

Houseguests

Excerpt from a conversation with a friend:  You're right--how much more we'll do for anyone else but not ourselves. That is the essence of the truth. Have you identified your demons? Really called them out by name? I know mine. I still have to fight them, but I...

Crumpled Paper Airplanes. On Taking My Own Advice

We are making paper airplanes, Declan and I. Listen to the sound of crumpling and fits. "I CAN'T DO THIS!!!" "Sure you can. Let me show you....you just crease it right here..." Two seconds of effort. Crumple. Toss, Yell. "AHHHH! THIS IS STUPID!!!" "Listen, buddy, be...

Think Ahead or Die: Chess Education in Grade K (Chess: Part 1)

  Chess Story One:  Playing Chess with the Boy We are playing chess. Declan and I. I started playing at about five. Never mastered it, because I don't think several moves head. I'm too social. I'd rather talk. In chess, you must think several moves ahead--devise a...

All Toilet Paper Is Created Equal–Why I Avoid the Faculty Bathroom

I don’t like the faculty bathroom.  It may be a strange topic, but when I have to go to the bathroom, I use the regular student bathroom at the end of the hall. I have a key to the faculty bathroom--it's a prized possession in my school--my colleague still doesn’t...

Be Brief. Be Seated–The Art of Shutting Up.

Geoff Talbot's blog, Seven Sentences , was the first thing I read today.   His goal--inspiring the world daily in just seven sentences. Brilliant. I am the opposite of "seven sentences." I'm "seven million sentences."  I look at what I wrote and say, "Holy crap!...

Just Getting Comfortable

I recently spoke with a new blogger. I was honored. First, that anyone would want my opinion, and second, that she liked my blog.  This woman is going to be a superstar. Her material is great, yet she kept apologizing. "Well, I'm new. I don't know much." As I...

A Formal Apology to Henri Matisse

I was looking at a picture of bamboo. I love bamboo. I have spent so many hours painting it. In my sumi-e practice, I have painted a million bamboo plants. In the beginning, I thought this was insane repetition. In Western schools you don't sit and write the letter...

Valentine’s Day in High Schools (and from my days as a loser)

If you teach, parent, or ever went to school, you should appreciate what an event Valentine's Day is in schools. It's that one day where we see red when we're not angry. Where kids exchange cards, and there is so much sugar that it would make Milton Hershey cry. From...

Cool People Have Business Cards–Not Teachers

There. I've done it. I've ordered business cards.  I promised my partner in crime, a person we'll call "Shawn," because that is his name, that I would leave the ranks of losers and get them made. We were at our Educator-Entrepreneur meetup last night. The crowd is...

Be a Simple Man

I was running the other day—disobeying myself since I'm taking a short hiatus from running, but I promised myself “just a quick mile.” Of course it's never quick or a mile. Somewhere around mile five a song kicked in.  Not even sure how it made my playlist, because...

Good Yogi, Bad Yogi

I'm tying myself in knots again. It's fun. After my yoga retreat, I tried to practice yoga daily, then lost focus--I forgot the moves.  So, I started watching yoga videos. I started with Claudia's video. Claudia gives such good instructions for beginners, and...