Your Best Work
Today I evaluate whether or not students attempted “their best work.” It’s part of their participation grade. Did they do their best? Did they work with excellence? How does one evaluate this, anyway? As I think carefully about each student, I realize that my rubric differs from some teachers. It’s not just that students arrived […]
The Licking Kind
I love reading what I was doing on this same day several years ago. It’s a benefit of daily blogging (for those of you still wondering why anyone would blog!). On this same day in 2010, I learned something great that I had forgotten. Here it is, and you can read it below, too. Sometimes […]
A Lesson from a Young Fern
My friend calls me over to where we are gardening, and she points out something extraordinary. Through last season’s ground leaves, new ferns grow. I take a picture of this particular growth strategy. It’s amazing; this unfurling of the fern leaf–the scroll that slowly, slowly, unrolls–happens in order to protect the fronds. The structure itself […]
The Best Way to Make Stained-Glass Cookies (Jolly Rancher Cookies) as Tested by Our Kitchen
Instead of cupcakes this year, my daughter asks for Jolly Rancher Cookies for her birthday class treat. Stained Glass Cookies We tried several different ways to make these delicious and beautiful cookies, and we’d like to report our technique. Every other way we tried resulted in a big mess, but finally, we figured out what […]
As You Are
I tend to fictionalization myself into a character who prays as she should, who behaves as she should, and who conforms her desires and thoughts as she should. After all these years of Christian living, I realize I still create a false self at times because I have a picture in my mind of the […]
I Might Even Wear My Jean Jacket
Tonight, I’ll attend my 6th (maybe 7th, I’ve lost count), S.L.A.M Fair at the elementary school down the street. This Science, Literature, Art, and Music (SLAM) event brings us all so much joy. This is my fancy Friday night: elementary school experiments and performances, pizza, and ice-cream. I’ve actually texted friends to make sure they’ll […]
“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
Today I find novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing. He eventually summarizes all of his wisdom in eight little words:If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.You might ask, “Well, what should it sound like, then?” It should sound like your voice. It should sound like an actual person talking. When this happens, […]
4 Things to Pray for Your Life
When I read Colossians 1:9-14 today, I remember exactly how to pray for myself and others. I pray what Paul prayed: “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will<span class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(S)”> through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,10 so that you may live […]
This Will Not Last (and This is Wonderful)
Two years ago, it was glorious. The Weeping Cherry bloomed in full. That bloom is what I’ve waited for all year. It’s here now! This moment! Today! Sadly, the blooms explode on the very day the forecast calls for wind and rain. In fact, the rain falls even now. We’re going to lose these blooms. […]
Hovering Over the Mess
I read a great prayer today in which the author talks about inviting the Holy Spirit to hover over the mess and chaos of the day and to begin exerting the creative, organizing, miraculous power of God. In Genesis 1, I read how the earth was “formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of […]