Four years ago, we adopted Jasmine, a retired racing greyhound. We knew we wanted a dog that was lower energy, more introverted, and less likely to bark. We had done our research ahead of time and we knew she would be a good choice for…
It’s supposed to snow this week, which reminds me of a moment four years ago when it snowed. We were from Phoenix, which meant our children had spent their lives experiencing the two seasons of blazingly hot and nice. The only thing that changed color…
This year, I decided my mantra would be “Be More Greyhound.” This was my reminder to rest and to play and to find joys in things like walks. It was a reminder that I have the permission to be an introvert. For the last month,…
Happy Star Wars Day! Here’s a reflection about Yoda, teaching, and the deeply human element of being a teacher. Why Yoda Was a Bad Teacher A Fixed Mindset: Yoda took one look at Anakin Skywalker and determined that he had no future. He believed that…
When I was a first-year teacher, my team leader Nancy gave me this heaping box of classroom supplies. On the top, she placed a notecard with the words New Teacher Card. On the back of the notecard, she wrote a note explaining that I could play this…
Professor McGonagall isn’t very nice. But that’s actually what makes her so great. Confused? Let me explain. Being nice is about being pleasant and agreeable. Minerva McGonagall isn’t like that. She’s firm to a fault — like the way she refuses to let Harry go…
At first glance, it would seem that Hagrid has all the makings of a great teacher. He is willing to take creative risks. He has a deep and passionate knowledge of his content area. And most importantly, he cares about his students. But unfortunately, content…
Warning: this post may contain spoilers. If you haven’t read the books, go do that now and then come back to this post later. Let’s just put it out there. Hogwarts is probably a terrible place to send your kids. It’s dangerous, and I’m not…
Imagine you are building a self-driving car. Chances are you’ll look for a team of engineers who can figure out how to make each part work fluidly in an interconnected manner. You’d look for software engineers and mechanical engineers and experts in user interface (UI) and…
William Chamberlain is one of my favorite teachers on Twitter. He is bold, humble, relentless, and unabashedly curious. The other day he tweeted this out, so, as a joke, Philip Cummings and I both turned these into “inspirational” quote images for tweets. As I think…
I’m a professor and a maker. Sometimes I make things. Sometimes I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both.
