Category: The Moments of Impact

  • Guest Blogger: Letter to Millennials

    As a college writing teacher, I have the pleasure of helping my students discover their writing voice and their passions in life. Every once and a while I will read an essay that I need to post on my blog because it lines up with my goals, which is to help people find their own healthy…

  • The Problem with Choice

    I know too many people who are not educators (and some who are) that are in favor of the choice movement in education. The biggest reason people want choice is to improve the education for their own children and then create competition so that other schools will be forced to improve or shut down. Unfortunately,…

  • The Top 12 Global Teacher Blogger Discussion: November 2016

    How do you as teachers support children who are confused or frightened by events going on in their world? As a parent, I had to calm my son down before he went to bed Tuesday night and when he woke up Wednesday morning. His “I’m scared, Mom” was difficult for me to hear because I…

  • “Captain Trout” by Guest Blogger: Matthew Ferri

    This is one of my favorite personal narratives from a talented student. One of the literary essays we read in College Composition is “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell. Matthew read that and remembered a similar event that has stuck with him. Here is his poignant story: Just about a year short of being a…

  • YouTube, Armor, and Winning the War

    As some of you know, Ian has a YouTube channel (link). He’s been making and uploading videos since he was 7 years old. I have been monitoring his site. I get an email whenever someone comments on his videos, and then I delete and report anyone who makes a nasty comment. He’s been called names…

  • Guest Blogger: The Sober Route

    As a college writing teacher, I have the pleasure of helping my students  discover their writing voice and their passions in life. Every once and a while I will read an essay that I need to post on my blog because it lines up with my goals, which is to help people find their own healthy path…

  • The Philanthropic Experience: A Student’s Perspective

    One of my current college composition student wrote a personal narrative essay that beautifully illustrates one of my ideas to reform education ( ). This is what I proposed in that post: The Philanthropic Experience For those students who don’t want to continue their formal education but aren’t ready to go out into the world…

  • Friday Writing Challenge: My first kiss and first love

    Writing Prompt: Your first love and first kiss; if separate, discuss both My first kiss: The sun was shining through the branches and leaves. His face was luminous and shadowy at the same time. Our faces were already close. The makeshift fort had just enough room for our young bodies to sit facing each other, our…

  • Radio Interview: Inside Education with Sid Glassner

    If you missed my radio interview on Inside Education with Sid Glassner, here is the link: http://www.girardatlarge.com/2016/01/inside-education-author-introduces-the-uncommon-core/  

  • Friday Writing Challenge: Tattoos

    Writing Prompt #2: What tattoos do you have, or what tattoos would you get, and why? July 31, 2013: I’m sitting on a table watching Bryan artistically carve my children’s names into my ankle. The pain is so intense that I’m screaming out obscenities–words that explode out of my mouth even as my clenched teeth try…