“The Wave” is back — this time it’s not a high school experiment — The One America wave was posted all over Twitter this Sunday after the former president spoke at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio. The pictures that evening were posted by disgusted reporters who realized that the attendees were told to raise their right hand (only) and put up one finger. It…

“I would surely be fired if I taught the material I was so committed to teach”…aka: the truth — UPDATE TO STORY: Many readers are confused by the title’s premise that I would indeed be fired. Truth be told, I never for a moment thought my colleagues were correct — cynical, but wrong. Over 700 views and 450+ reads later, I have had some of the most gratifying and…

And what can be done? — As a veteran of 32 high school campaigns, I have ‘Teacher Dreams.’ I am told that a great many teachers have similar ‘dreams’. Usually, I am back in a classroom or at a high school event like a pep rally floating in strange, surreal dreams. I find myself trying to…

Historians often remind us (because we clearly need reminding) that once there was ‘A Greatest Generation.’ The men and woman of all races and creeds took to the South Pacific Seas, the Normandy Beaches and the White Cliffs of Dover to dismantle murderous regimes. But there was so much more…

Complaining will damage your brain! — The man lifts himself up from his wheelchair. His legs are dead weight, like lifting a fence post. He shimmies over to the weight machine that he will use to build strength in his already prodigious arms and shoulders. This is his routine. I sit down next to him on…

Two programs about loving your neighbor as yourself. — I remember the moment the 16-year-old boy stepped out of my classroom with sweat dripping from his forehead to his nose. He was not the victim of too much PE, unable to cool down fast enough. Not on your life — or his. He had taken a nose dive in…

The Diary of a Self-Published Author — Hello. I was born in 1955… which means that I am 67 years young. I started self-publishing my novels at 54. For 32 years, I was a high school teacher. That was ACT I. I loved teaching — I still love making a cameo appearance in another teacher’s classroom. ACT…

What hypocrites Boomers have become! — It’s taken me a few weeks to process the reaction to the music that was on display at both the Grammys and the Super Bowl Halftime Show. As I witnessed firsthand and read on Facebook, the unofficial home for Baby Boomers, I could not help but feel that people in…

We can handle the truth! My late friend Chris Saunders, a brilliant TV journalist, once explained the mantra of local news: “If It Bleeds It Leads!” However, I am afraid if he was alive today, he would not limit that expression to regional news outlets. Each morning the “headline news”…