I received a “care package” in the mail this week. I didn’t know how much I needed it. Care packages are best received when something is not normal in your life. Examples include times when you are away from loved ones, you are going through a difficult time, you are recovering from a physical or […]
November 2, 2024
I guess I’m not a very good sports fan. I was not one of the two million fans screaming and cheering on the streets of LA as the Dodger World Series victory parade drove through town yesterday. I was not part of the packed Dodger Stadium that gave a thundering welcome to the Dodgers at […]
October 19, 2024
I have spent over thirty years in educational leadership roles. I enjoyed so many aspects of all of my jobs. I loved the hard work, strategic planning, supporting teachers and staff, communicating with parents and garnering their support, developing collegial relationships, and so much more. And the longer that I worked in leadership positions, the […]
October 5, 2024
One of the greatest aspects of retirement is that, for the most part, I don’t really have to do anything that I don’t want to do. I don’t have to go to work. I don’t have to write these blog posts. No one is telling me how to spend my days. I can wake up […]
March 12, 2023
I turn 61 years old this week. Hopefully, I am both older and wiser. I recently heard wisdom described as lessons you have learned in your life once you shed the associated emotion. I like that. A friend shared an article that Jon Gordon wrote when he turned 52, in which he shared 52 lessons […]
September 15, 2023
I always appreciate my friend Mikke for his humor, fantasy football banter, and his sense of adventure. But way more than that, I appreciate him because he is a very wise man who has listened and helped me to be my best on numerous occasions. He now serves as an executive coach, and he has […]
May 4, 2022
Gravity feels a little more forceful today. Back in my high school physics class, Father Fred taught us that gravity pulls us down at a rate of 9.8 meters per second squared. Today feels like a double-digit day. It’s harder to do just about everything. You see, today would have been my son Sean’s 29th […]
Michael Easter
2021
Read: 2024
Non-Fiction, Reading Now, Spirtuality
After I wrote my blog post on doing something that sucks everyday, my sister-in-law Libby recommended that I read this book. It was an outstanding recommendation. Michael Easter does a wonderful job of telling the story of a highly challenging hunting trip to Alaska, weaving in research on how we 21st century humans have it […]
Marie Kondo
2011
Read: 2018
Education/Leadership, Non-Fiction, Reading Now
I was listening to an architect who specialized in building new schools talk about what classrooms should be. One of his pet peeves was all of the nonsensical and nonpurposeful clutter that occupies many classrooms. He thought that every classroom should contain only those items which are useful for teaching and learning or inspirational for […]
David Allen
2001
Read: 2011
Non-Fiction, Reading Now
When I started teaching at age 22, with just two large classes in a high powered high school, I had great ideas. About 10% of my great ideas turned out to be pretty good lesson plans. But behind all of the ideas, there was a jumble. I struggled to keep up with all of the […]
Patrick M. Lencione
2016
Read: 2024
Education/Leadership, Non-Fiction, Reading Now
One of my favorite parts of my career in public education is the teams that I have been fortunate to be a part of. I wrote a post on my love of teams back in 2020, celebrating teams that included: History classes that I taught New teachers (and eventually veteran ones too) at San Lorenzo […]
