handwritten on October 19, 2019
You have to love those beautiful fall weekend where the weather is cool and those leaves sprinkle the ground like confetti. Even better is when you get to gather with family and listen to jazz. Something about jazz and autumn mix so well together. It's this sense of trying to make small sections of time slow down long enough to catch that last leaf hanging on the tree or that last chord struck on the piano. And when you are listening to jazz (if you have ever) you notice that time does seem to slow-and even seconds slower than the normal day make a lot of difference.
If you don't know or have not heard of Joey Alexander. He is what I consider probably one of the most profound and...
handwritten on October 18, 2019
I do have the greatest parents in the world. Talk about spreading whimsy. They have been an example of whimsy before I even knew whimsy existed from arts and crafts and hours painting on the deck and the piano recitals and jam sessions in the basement. They truly combined their talents to teach us what it means to love the world and find our place within it spread our own love.
I went to an annual research dinner with my husband as part of the program he used to attend when in medical school at Pitt. And I always find the people there are so incredible and just lovely humans. I ran into an old friend of my husband but also a student who worked with my dad during her years attending Medical...
handwritten on October 17, 2019
There are many schools around the United States that tend to celebrate the October month in different ways. When I was a kid growing up we spent time getting ourselves changed and putting on our costumes within the classroom and then we paraded around the school. For whatever reason, I was never super keen on the idea. I don't think I ever disliked but I also didn't love dressing up. And then there were the cliques of girls who all decided to be the same thing or matching things like big babies with diapers and binkies. I remember one year in fifth grade every girl happened to be a baby, and I was simply a witch. I thought to myself Sheesh did I miss the memo. But then again, I was never...
handwritten on October 15, 2019
I have to chuckle a bit because for whatever reason, in our education system, we have gotten away from the art of storytelling. We expect students to analyze nine thousand pieces of literature, but I think that task is sometimes so daunting that the love of the actual art of a story is not even recognized. Being "read to" as a child was what sparked my love of reading and writing and literature at a pretty young age. I'll never forget sitting at a beach house and my mother beginning the first Harry Potter book (and we were just mesmorized by the magic.) We may have pronounced every name wrong before the movie came out, the magic was there and the want to transform our life into a Hogwart's...
handwritten on October 14, 2019
As a teacher, I think we are often stuck in this age old debacle of .."should students be given incentives." And I must say, I think intrinsic motivation is much more important, but I think sometimes, when we are young, that intrinisic motivation because it is just develping and passion only starting to spread, a little tangible motivator can help us think about the whimsy that does occur with love and working hard and doing what is right. And I think "incentives" aren't necessarily programming "rewards." If done correctly, the incentive should be a reminder that small gifts are beautiful, that life should not be taken for granted and that every day is a new day. That's the hope I want the...
