The day after I called the suicide hotline for the first time, I went skiing for thirteen hours. I’m ok, now. Really. That call was more a request for resources than a life-threatening situation*. But it was definitely a worrisome low point. I’d already been to the emergency room twice in the past six … Continue reading The Crucial Joy of Playing Outside
Trip Report: Saturday on the Couch
Saturday, 1/13/2018 Trip Report: My Couch (southern segment) Weather: 70 degrees, low humidity, 100% chance of ungraded essays. I planned for today’s trip by checking the weather forecast carefully throughout yesterday evening and then not setting my alarm for this morning. Awakening at a slovenly 7am, I quickly loaded my gear onto the coffee table … Continue reading Trip Report: Saturday on the Couch
Monsters of Snowsport Modernity
* Landing in my inbox like a piano dropped from thirty stories, an e-mail from Blister Gear Review recently announced a horrifying development in ski technology: * “DPS Phantom and the End of Ski Wax.” * Apparently “Phantom” is a ski base coating that only needs to be applied once. Ever. The author blithely, and … Continue reading Monsters of Snowsport Modernity
Empathy and Time Management
Compelled to watch a time-management TED talk at a meeting recently, I had the opportunity to reflect on the overlap between the speaker’s perspective and some issues I’ve been struggling with in the classroom this autumn, in particular our culture's seemingly diminishing capacity to engage in empathetic understanding and how best to encourage that understanding … Continue reading Empathy and Time Management
Some Thoughts on Charlottesville and the History Teacher
This is just a quick reflection as I prepare for the new school year by thinking about lessons, students, and the rage that would drive a man barely out of his teens to step on a gas pedal with enough deliberate force to kill and wound other humans. It’s difficult to overstate how important it … Continue reading Some Thoughts on Charlottesville and the History Teacher
On Being an Outsider
I was asked to contribute a little talk to a school assembly on the theme of being an outsider, so this is what I said: One late-summer Saturday when I was about twenty-two years old, I found myself standing at the checkout counter of a grocery store in rural Missouri, feeling very suddenly and … Continue reading On Being an Outsider
Becoming Better Together: Re-Thinking The Faculty In-Service
Photo Credit The academic summer vacation is a long, tranquil mix of relaxation and productivity. Murder mysteries vie for attention with monographs, time with family alternates with professional development, and the active badgers the contemplative to get up and out, exploring and doing. Active, we’re nagged by a feeling of intellectual irresponsibility, while contemplative hours … Continue reading Becoming Better Together: Re-Thinking The Faculty In-Service
