When my students and I were in week 5 of digital learning during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had already established a good routine, where some students would log on a little early, and we would chat about the last few days and how we were all getting through. Then, at the … Continue reading The Dangers of Transactional Academics
Ch. 4: Education
Once Upon A Time: Remembering Helen Kubik
Many of us, when we approached the age of reading for ourselves, selected books that offered larger-than-life stories with fairy-tale endings to somehow make our lives a little more fantastic. For those of us who went to Pine Grove Elementary in the 1970s, we lived that fantastic fairy tale, with open-space classrooms, a large reading … Continue reading Once Upon A Time: Remembering Helen Kubik
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Our Authentic Show Must Go On
This weekend, I was enthralled by a blog post shared by Mark Willen ("Sexual Assault: When Real Life and Fiction Collide"), who was pondering how his published works hold up in the #MeToo era. As a result of Mark's post, which was weighing heavily on my mind today, I decided to ask a few writers/teachers about … Continue reading Our Authentic Show Must Go On
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Model Teaching: Empowerment Through Multi-Faceted Instruction
I've been teaching for a long time -- long enough to see the spin of the pedagogical cycle of strategies come full circle. What I have learned along the way is that there are some practices that work better than others when it comes to teaching writing. In 2009, the National Council of Teachers of … Continue reading Model Teaching: Empowerment Through Multi-Faceted Instruction
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Why We Fear Creativity, And How To Let Go
I have been in this cafe for a little over an hour, writing in my Daybook to the ambient sounds of chatter, the clanging of dishes, all blended with the meditative, hollow sounds of Deuter playing his bamboo flute. On these pages, I have written about singular moments I experienced decades ago along the marshy … Continue reading Why We Fear Creativity, And How To Let Go
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On Authenticity and Taking Things Personally
If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear. I've been having some rather candid conversations with fellow writers and non-writers in Towson and around town about the importance of authentic writing, both in polished pieces that we submit for publication … Continue reading On Authenticity and Taking Things Personally
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Challenger: 73 Seconds Define 30 Years
Dateline – Tuesday, 28 January 1986. 11:35 a.m. I’m upstairs in my bedroom, cramming the last of my new textbooks in my bag, grabbing a few extra pens and my journal, and checking my look in the mirror: clean-shaven, every single hair gelled in place, and wearing a white oxford with a blue Hugo Boss … Continue reading Challenger: 73 Seconds Define 30 Years
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The Child At My Door
It was a late November night, And I was just about done. The stacks of papers that I needed to grade Had, in some small way, dwindled down to none. I lifted the stained red cup from my desk And finished the cold coffee poured hours before; I reached for the lamp signed by students … Continue reading The Child At My Door
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To My Graduating Seniors of 2015
Earlier today, I had my final class with my seniors. This was the third of three groups that I have had to say goodbye to in as many days. Very sad to say farewell to some very fine individuals; I have been with many of them for 2, 3, and even 4 years. Before the … Continue reading To My Graduating Seniors of 2015
The Baltimore Writer 
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