In an uncommon turn of events I’m going all artsy-craftsy on you.
Once in awhile I visit a local pottery painting studio and make a simple design with simple colors and try not to be too perfectionistic about it.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Learning to Swallow
Did you know babies are born with an instinct that involves thrusting the tongue forward in order to latch on to a nipple? And did you know that at about 8 months of age, these infants gradually find a better way to swallow, one that retires action at the tip of the tongue in favor of action at the back of the tongue?
I never got that memo.
News to Me
I had no clue I am a tongue thruster. Nobody ever told me. Not my pediatrician, not my dentist, not my first orthodontist when I was a teenager. Even my mom was surprised when I told her recently. Continue reading Learning to Swallow
Commencement
Last week I got be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2017 at the school where I teach.
Even though the audience was smaller than the adoption agency groups I usually present to, I got about ten thousand times more nervous this time. The people in the audience here know me. Afterwards, some in the audience will still see me, even after the mic drop.
photo credit: SweetiePhoto.com
Another reason for my high anxiety was that I’d taken on a new class this school year: Public Speaking. I’d just taught my students everything I know about the subject, and they would be primed to figure out where I was succeeding (eye contact! confidence! preparation!) and where I was falling short (ummmmms, y’knows, boring).
Facts Are Now in Your Hand Even if Not Your Head
Public Speaking & Debate was requested by my social studies students a year ago as an extension of discussions we hold at the end of each year’s History classes in a current events unit. The teens enjoy delving, dialoging, debating. They wanted an entire course on it.
So this year I created a class for them. Only it turned into so much more than just about giving speeches and debating.