Dear Readers- Another season of Advent anticipation is drawing to a close. Tonight, my family and I sang "Silent Night" to candlelight and filed out into the frosty air planning for the celebration of Christmas tomorrow. As I put the finishing touches on the kids' stockings and get the last gifts wrapped and under the… Continue reading Merry Christmas
Image courtesy of Kevin Woblick via Unsplash.com An Advent Count-Down with Free Fiction! December is here with the flurry of activity that the holiday season brings. Coming on the tail end of a hectic year, the frantic pace of the season leaves me longing for a chance to sit for a few moments, to just… Continue reading Introducing the Advent Calendar Story Train
My husband and I set up this little display in our new school. Students and visitors were encouraged to add "stars" with the names of veterans they'd like to recognize. We were pleased to see that due to high participation we'll probably need to make the board bigger next year. November in the United States… Continue reading Where Does Thankfulness Fit on the Calendar?
"Wild Bill" Donovan- there's a link to a fascinating podcast about his life at the end of this post. First, Some Personal Stuff My last principal encouraged me to take the Clifton Strengthsfinder test. Essentially, it's an online standardized that claims to be able to pinpoint one's personality strengths by analyzing their answers to a… Continue reading A Life Update and a Story of Spies
While moving across the country has meant many changes for the Clares, one really lovely perk is living close enough to visit family. My kids have only visited my great-grandpa's old house once, years ago. I'm excited to take them there again for a quick stop during the waning days of this summer. Who knows… Continue reading Behind Great-Grandpa’s Walls
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash WHEW. Well, I've been absent for a bit! As I mentioned back in March, my husband and I accepted new teaching jobs for the upcoming school year. The positions are in the state of Wisconsin, so the last several months have been spent preparing for a move. This involved cleaning out our home… Continue reading Eight Things I Learned From Moving My Family Across the Country
Not every international conflict leads to destruction and violence. Our American Stories is featuring me in a 10-minute talk on a time when the U.S. and Britain almost went to war over a pig, but diplomacy triumphed. If you're interested in giving it a listen, here's the link! If you're interested in the story but… Continue reading How (and Why) We Almost Went to War Over a Pig
My three children are voracious readers. While I love seeing their excitement as they immerse themselves in imaginary adventures and mysteries, the speed with which they read makes it hard to keep them in fresh books! That’s one reason why I was fascinated when my friend, author Jonathon Mast, told me about his plan to… Continue reading Publishing a Series through Kickstarter- a Guest Post by Jonathon Mast
As my family and I prepare to move across the country this summer, we've started making our "must visit" list. What places do we need to explore again while we have the chance? This museum is a definite maybe—it was always a favorite and might be even better now that the kids have had four… Continue reading Exploring the Naval Undersea Museum
This post's timing is perfect as I'm heading off to my Spring Teacher's Conference today! Author, blogger, and tech teacher Jacqui Murray was kind enough to ask me to stop by her site and talk a bit about my experiences teaching in "Covid World" over the last few years. Below is the link if you'd… Continue reading Coping with COVID in the Classroom —
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