Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Where Today’s Students Get Their News
Some thoughts from the front lines of teaching — You may have heard of Channel One News, the daily TV broadcast that is seen in by about 5 million students in upper elementary schools, middle schools and high schools across the country. It appears in many of the schools where I’ve taught on dedicated television
It’s Not Easy Being a Teacher
This week I started a nine-day job as a high school social studies teacher. It’s bringing back all the memories of my student-teaching days, like the administrative problems I had. Normally as a substitute, I teach one, maybe two days and leave a report on everything that happened. Now I have to deal with the
How History is Really Written
For the next two weeks I’m filling in for a high school social studies teacher. I originally wanted to teach social studies, so I’m having a lot of fun during this time, although I have to keep reminding myself they’re typical high school students and not a history nerd like me. Remember Winston Churchill’s quote,
Origins of the Easter Bunny
With Easter being a religious holiday, how did we end up with a rabbit delivering colored eggs as one of our most cherished customs? One explanation has been provided by Time magazine. From Time’s website — The exact origins of the Easter bunny are clouded in mystery. One theory is that the symbol of the
Last Night I Saved a Fairy
Last night I saw the musical Peter Pan at Wright State University. It was based on the play by Sir James M. Barrie with all the traditional details — a colored light representing Tinker Bell, the role of Peter played by a young lady, and the audience clapping to save Tinker Bell after she drinks the
Turning a Negative Into a Positive — A Visit to the Emergency Room
I guess we all do stupid things. Fortunately, it’s been awhile for me. In fact, this episode happened several years ago. I wrote about it then to convince myself I was turning a negative into a positive. At least about as positive as an emergency-room visit can get. And I’ll repeat it here in the hope
What’s a Pencil Without an Eraser?
What would we ever do without erasers, especially when they’re on the ends of pencils? I recently ran across this little tidbit, courtesy of our friends at The Writer’s Almanac — “On this day [March 30] in 1858, Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia patented the first pencil to have an attached eraser. The eraser-tipped pencil is still
Where Did April Fools’ Day Come From?
Happy April 1st! How did we get such a date on our calendar? According to the book An Uncommon History of Common Things by Bethanne Patrick and John Thompson (National Geographic, 2009, pp 52-53) — “Theories on the origin of April Fools’ Day abound, but the mostly likely takes it back to 16th century France.
“…but the greatest of these is Charity.”
I’m sure you’re familiar with the Bible verse “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 in the King James Version) I don’t know what you think of Bill Gates, but personally I’m in awe of his charitable work. (BTW, check out his Facebook page.
Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?
We take for granted many details in our daily lives. For example, why do clocks run clockwise? This is especially puzzling when so many other things, like baseball bases and horse races, run in the opposite direction. The book Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? and Other Imponderables by David Feldman (Harper & Row, 1988) gives