Thank you to Ms. Mustain’s fourth grade class who proved to be a wonderful audience for my speel on revision today. I am always so flattered when teachers ask me to share my humble experience with the students. Regardless of the format, revisions are terribly important, aren’t they? I don’t think kids will ever truly… Read more »
A big shout out to Ms. Brown’s second grade class in Round Rock, Texas. I was invited to present an experiment and interactive demonstration to the class last week about musical glasses. They have recently learned the basic science behind sound in general. Because of my recent Odyssey article and my book-in-progress about Benjamin Franklin’s… Read more »
If you are anything like me, the day after Obama’s inauguration just felt different. A little like a semi-arranged marriage might feel: anxious, nervous, excited, scared, hopeful. Blogs around the world have been popping with comments. Most agree that Obama’s speech was inspiring and that the new first family has already shown tremendous grace. There… Read more »
During their move last year, my in-laws generously gave us a dining room set that had once belonged to my husband’s beloved grandparents. It was/is not an antique, but the twenty-year old set is lovely and classic with the added sentimental attachment. Perfect for our breakfast room. So, we happily discharged the multi-purpose bumper pool… Read more »
Is it wrong to conduct experiments on your own kids? If so, I’m guilty. The eventual outcome of my risky test will either correlate with or disprove the common discussion about what boys will read. It comes up at every writing conference and workshop and on countless blogs. Boys won’t read books with a female… Read more »
A strange thing happened when the holidays arrived in my house. I mean besides the kids being home and the bank account being depleted by Christmas purchases. I unintentionally put aside my nonfiction obsession and picked up fiction books. Wow! Because my current writing projects are research-heavy nonfiction, I regularly pour over great nonfiction books… Read more »
I’ve been perusing some of my favorite blogs today. Naturally, being the second day of January, everyone is thinking of New Year’s resolutions. I am not one to make New Years’ resolutions. Something about that term puts far too much pressure on me and sets me up for failure. Like resolving to lose ten pounds… Read more »
Veterans’ DayElementary school assemblies can reduce me to tears. That was the case at this week’s veteran’s day celebration. 900 flag-holding kids gathered outside my son’s school to honor the hand full of veterans/grandparents in attendance. Naturally, the kids aren’t old enough yet to really ‘get it.’ We don’t live in a military town so… Read more »
Hello World. Thank you for stopping by my new blog. Let me introduce myself in an existential manner. You’ll get to know the many sides of me in future posts. I am a writer. That declaration pretty much sums up the way I think- the way I’ve always seen the world. I’m a born questioner…. Read more »