Essays 1-20

Once in a while, somebody creates something that’s really good – so good that people like it even when that somebody isn’t around any more. Then it’s called a classic. Some classics start to seem sacred; you aren’t supposed to change a word, note, or stroke of it. You’ve got to keep it exactly the…

Children have a variety of ways to tell us that they don’t think they’re able to do what we think they’re able to do. Some come right out and tell us. That makes our job easier. But some pout, and obsess on issues that may have nothing to do with the real problem. Some get…

Throughout most of my life, I’ve had a reputation, real or imagined, accurate or inaccurate, for being impractical. And I have made some decisions that would have been made better if I’d taken more details into account. Recently, I’ve noticed that people have begun to ask me for practical advice, and I’ve been surprised to…

I was talking with Meredith, a student teacher who has been working with the fourth grade class in which I volunteer. At a certain point in our conversation, she said, “I have a lot to learn.” I answered, “You’ve already learned the most important thing.” With a baffled look on her face, she asked, “What’s…

When I was in elementary school, one of my favorite activities was show and tell. Things happened to me. I did things. I got stuff. But when I got to school, I had to let the teacher know whether I was going to buy lunch. Boring. Then I had to do a worksheet or something….

A friend of mine once took issue with the statement, “Nobody said life would be easy.” She distinctly remembers getting the impression that it would. Maybe adults don’t come right out and tell children that life is going to be easy, but they aren’t always completely honest about how hard it can be, and some…