Mike Matthews

My thoughts after 63 years on this planet on family, public education, cooking, and life.


LATEST POST

Random Thoughts and Songs of Summer

Summer officially begins on Friday, June 20 at 7:42 PM PDT. Kind of odd to have summer start in the evening, right? But astronomers don’t give a hoot about Pacific Daylight Time. All they care about are the facts – as seen from Earth, the Sun will be directly over the 23.5-degree latitude line – […]

Discover Latest Post

RECENT

Seeking Messengers of Hope

May 24, 2025

One of my favorite stories to read to my children was Frederick, by Leo Leonni. It’s a super simple story with great illustrations about a family of field mice preparing for the winter. All of them work their long tails off collecting food for the winter, except Frederick. All he does is stare out into space. […]


A Golden Graduation

May 11, 2025

Well, I said I wouldn’t cry during Dawson’s graduation. Actually, I said I probably wouldn’t. And . . . I totally failed. Oh well. I loved it all. He did it. Cheered on in-person by his mom and dad, his brother and sister-in-law, and his wonderful girlfriend, while his grandparents watched online and cheered from […]




BOOKSHELF

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again

Johann Hari 2022
Read: 2023
Education/Leadership, Non-Fiction, Reading Now

My friend Jenn loaned me this book. That means I read it as a paperback, instead of Kindle-ing it. I read less than 10% of my books in hard copy. This was a perfect one to choose to be part of that 10%. This is a book about why we are distracted, and the forces […]

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

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 […]

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Richard Kiyosaki 2000
Read: 2010 or before
Non-Fiction, Reading Now, Recommended for Young Adults

It’s been on the best seller list since it came out. It’s corny and very simply written. But as a parent and an educator, there’s not better book to give you the big picture of money. We educators don’t think about money. We think about how overwhelming our job is, how wonderful it is to […]

Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life … and Maybe the World

Admiral William H. McRaven 2017
Read: 2021
Education/Leadership, Non-Fiction, Reading Now

I’ll get to the title of the book later. This is written about the trials and travails of life. It’s about how life can kick you in the teeth, whether or not you deserve it. He writes about Naval SEAL training and the strength you need to get through that. SEAL training prepares our young […]


PrincipalChef.com Highlights


Subscribe To My Newsletter


Thanks for your interest in getting updates on my blog posts! I send out a brief newsletter every two weeks or so. I hope you enjoy.

- Mike Matthews
* indicates required