The Size of the Problem
Students come in with baggage from their week. Ok, sometimes from their lives. Some of them are overwhelmed, some guilty, others defiant. Occasionally they get in a preemptive strike. Here's one…
Vintage PA: Leaving People Better Than You Found Them
It's easy to teach when everything is going well, when families support each other, when children are perfectly behaved, when students are healthy. It's a lot tougher when parents are…
PA Shorts: Time Is Time & Some Cats
"Time is time. You understand it? We have to be first to the_______" A tour guide said this multiple times each day while we were in his charge and it has…
The Positives of Near Misses
Have you ever been motivated by losing a job, a race, a competition, or another opportunity? When you lost out, did you miss by only a little or a lot?…
Leaving People Better Than You Found Them
It's easy to teach when everything is going well, when families support each other, when children are perfectly behaved, when students are healthy. It's a lot tougher when parents are…
Vintage PA: A Personal Lesson in Promise
The following is a portion of a speech I gave several years ago at the local kick off for the National Veterans Creative Arts Competition. I was asked to speak, to those…
PA Shorts: Did I Do Good?
I have been doing some judging for various evaluation programs this spring. I love hearing the students. Mostly they are proud of their accomplishments but a little nervous too. I…
A Little Perspective
Now that March Madness has come to an end, it's officially recital/evaluation season. Our EAC recital is tomorrow evening. With that comes inevitable worry wart nerves and the polar opposite:…