Teacher Appreciation Week

I have been in schools every day this week and am headed to one soon. Sometimes I’m an author presenter and sometimes I’m a substitute teacher. Having taught for many years, it never gets easier and it never gets less rewarding. Here’s to all my...

An ant in an army of ants

It’s not easy to stand out and get noticed unless you are willing to rob a bank and get caught on the surveillance camera. Then you can become an overnight sensation. If you’re looking for a slightly more positive way to be recognized, it takes  talent,...

Kids and Cancer

We don’t like to hear those two words in the same sentence. Monday I visited a school in my home town in Iowa. I did my usual presentations-first to a lively group of 3-6 year olds, then to grades 2-4 and finally 5-6th graders. I shared my author journey, did...

Why I Like Kids…and their teachers

Maurice Sendak–Kids don’t know about best sellers. It’s why I like them. Liking kids isn’t very hard is it? They are cute, sweet, new, innocent, lovable, loud, ornery, mean, snotty, brats… WHOA there! What happened to the liking kids part...

Drop Everything and Read!

When I taught first grade, I gave my students 15-20 minutes of DEAR time every day. DEAR stood for Drop Everything and Read. I’ve heard this time when students sit and read called many things: SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), DIRT (Daily Independent Reading...