Yesterday, a student asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her application to Harvard. At the end of her note, she asked for "constructive feedback" on how she could grow. This is my reply to her request, and I'm sharing it in hopes that it might reach the eyes of other high school [...]
Read: it’s your civic duty. I have never before felt this more clearly or more urgently. All summer I’ve been teaching students about the necessity of reading critically and evaluating sources with greater awareness and discernment. This is a new idea for many students and I’m aware that it can strike them as [...]
Teaching is really the best game in town if you ask me because it stimulates learning - by which I mean, my own! I faced an interesting challenge this morning and meeting it was fun and fascinating. One of my students asked me to translate a tale collected over Christmas 1930 by the Irish writer [...]
Welcome into my back garden for a chat about some of my favorite pens, notebooks, and inks - and a somewhat mystical notion of how these tools conspire with us to create art and lives we love.
One reason we keep a journal - because in doing so we see what our life really is. I spied this entry from a month ago and it brought me straight back into the pleasure of a late spring snow, pleasurable as a spontaneous and unexpected meeting before a farewell. In case you can’t read [...]
If you've ever heard yourself say, "Why bother?" when it comes to making your art, you're not alone. Here are some thoughts on Futility, the fifth and final installment in my "Creative Hurts and How to Heal Them" series (and if you're interested, the others cover: Rejection, Criticism, Mistakes, and Comparison). I truly hope this [...]
Welcome back for the final week of our Poetry Celebration! In today's video, you'll hear some delightful poems from our community of poets (including a visit from our first young poet, Declan); you'll hear poems from Ted Kooser, former US Poet Laureate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a true son of the Midwest; [...]
In today's video, you'll hear some question poems from our wonderful community of poets; you'll hear poems from Tracy K Smith, former US Poet Laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize; you’ll hear a little bit about Grace and Zsuzsanna, who founded and run Jumping Fox Design; I offer you a Spark and a Dare [...]
Welcome back for the third week of our Poetry Celebration! In today's video, you'll hear some poems from our wonderful community of poets; you'll hear poems from Wes McNair, former Maine Poet Laureate and a teacher who has inspired me a great deal; you’ll be invited to send your questions to Grace and Zsuzsanna, the [...]
Welcome back for the second week of our Poetry Celebration! In today's video, you'll hear some poems from the wonderful treasure trove I received from all of you this week; you'll "meet" prolific English poet and former Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy; you'll get another peek into my Jumping Fox Design journal (and a look [...]
