December 9, 2011
Recently while teaching my education major students how to write a lesson plan, I randomly chose the topic of HEROES. In order to motivate them, I opened my demonstration lesson with the question, “What is a hero?” As we brainstormed answers we mostly agreed a hero is someone who is brave in terrifying situations and is willing to sacrifice their own life or well being for a greater cause or for the needs of another. I then asked, “Can you name some of your heroes?” …
December 2, 2011
Naming a child is an enormous responsibility that is fascinating and sometimes difficult. When I (Cammy) was unexpectedly expecting our second child and we found out it was a girl, all of a sudden my usually silent husband had more than one strong opinion on what we would call this miracle baby. In fact, he had a list of criteria so long, I said, “Why don’t you name your daughter?” So he did. It was a pure joy for him to consider and choose the…
November 24, 2011
The phrase, “Silence is golden” is probably better known than the adage, “Speech is silver, silence is golden.” I recently came across a student who was given the assignment to write on the less familiar quote and she asked for help on Facebook. Some of the responses that were intended to help the student jump start her assignment were comical to me. One person suggested to write the assignment on the advice that it is better to keep quiet than to speak your mind. Another said…
November 19, 2011
If you were living in the Philadelphia area during the 1980’s, then you might remember the Action News publicity phrase, “There goes that Action News van again!” The ad was a big hit among Philadelphians and a great assurance that any news in the making would be covered by Action News. Fender benders, approaching storms, robberies, and grand openings….if it were newsworthy, the Action News van was there! It even became a bit comical because people visiting or vacationing in Philadelphia, almost couldn’t…
November 13, 2011
Even though those of us in the Northeast have already had a taste of winter, the calendar reminds us that it is only November and the next big event will involve going “over the river and through the woods” to have Thanksgiving at Grandma’s house. We are also reminded by the commercials on television for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Now, I’ve never been to New York City for that particular parade but I’ve watched bits and pieces of it on TV as the house fills…
November 4, 2011
It was a small thing really – a temporary glitch in some wiring that prevented my oven from preheating. The problem? I had three beautiful loaves of homemade bread sitting on the counter ready to bake. It’s a shame that my hot reaction couldn’t heat up my oven. But that’s not really true. The shameful thing was my hot reaction.
Sometimes life is truly complicated but sometimes our choices are staggeringly simple. We can react (which I did) or respond.
Everyone…
October 28, 2011
One of the most fascinating courses I took in college was Child Psychology in which every topic, lecture, and class was highly interesting and motivating. It didn’t matter that the lecture hall was clear across the campus. I always made the trek with a song in my step. However, on exam days I changed my tune to a dirge because the test contained only multiple choice questions with choices ranging from A to P. Each question required wading through several options of “more A than M”…
October 21, 2011
When I was a new teacher, earning a salary that was slightly above poverty level, I had attended a professional development conference with several hundred educators. One evening, a group of students from area schools performed a dramatic presentation for our enjoyment. I can’t recall the actual drama, but I do remember enjoying it, that an offering was taken for their expenses, and that I sat in the very back of the huge auditorium. That gave me plenty of time to think through the fact that…
October 14, 2011
“It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know.” This popular saying transcends business deals. Interpersonal connections are often the key to success in the entertainment industry, in the sports arena, and sometimes even on the playground. With every imaginable piece of information available at our googling fingertips, we now live in an age that places great value on WHAT and WHO we know. So what should we know? Who should we know? How much trivia should fill our heads and how many…
October 6, 2011
I recently read a book that recounted the wedding vows of the main characters. When the bride was faced with the question, “Do you promise to love, honor, and obey this man all the days of your life?” she replied, “Yes, Yes, and that all depends.” I laughed as I read those words because if we are completely honest, we will all admit the word “obey” causes us to grimace or shudder, or at the very least, clench our teeth a little tighter.
What is…
Recently while teaching my education major students how to write a lesson plan, I randomly chose the topic of HEROES. In order to motivate them, I opened my demonstration lesson with the question, “What is a hero?” As we brainstormed answers we mostly agreed a hero is someone who is brave in terrifying situations and is willing to sacrifice their own life or well being for a greater cause or for the needs of another. I then asked, “Can you name some of your heroes?” …
