Birthday Probability Problem
What? Actually, that is the title of one of the hundreds of "YouTube-styled" short courses designed and delivered by Sal Khan on his highly-acclaimed Khan Academy site (www.khanacademy.org). Please go there! It's brilliant. It's seriously breathtaking! With a keen understanding ...

Drama for Schools
"Drama for Schools" ...nope, not that bad kind of drama we read about and shudder. This blog is about a program named “Drama for Schools” that was created and is championed by a powerful team from The University of Texas ...

Wonder in Chile
Last night I watched in awe as the first of the trapped miners emerged from the underground world in which he and fellow miners had survived for 69 days. That moment was overwhelmingly emotional, filled with wonder, humanity, national pride, ...

Designing, Refreshing, Renewing
We’ve all faced a time when we needed to either fill a room or change a room. Whether it was a new home or apartment or simply a need to refresh and renew, some space needed help! For a confident ...

Comfort
Comfort Books, Comfort Food, Comfort Furniture A couple months ago, NPR ran a story about “comfort books.” The commentator described these as books that just made you feel good. For this particular reporter, books in that category were books from ...

"Boxers, Briefs and Books"*
*Important disclaimer: That is not my title! That is the title of an "Op-Ed" piece written by best-selling author John Grisham last Sunday (9/5/10) for the New York Times. Read it (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/opinion/06Grisham.html). It is a wonderful and instructive piece of ...

The First Week
For many students, today is the last day of the first week of school! New routines have been put in place. Apprehensive (or excited) kindergartners have found their way to their room. “Old timers” have opened the first chapter in ...

Pay Attention
During the past couple of weeks I have been in lots of meetings, out with friends and at several meals in restaurants. Sometime in the middle of almost every one of those occasions, someone looked down and went into the ...

Music
My mother loved to play the piano. In spite of few lessons, she was really quite good. Through all my growing years, the sound of her playing filled our home. We all knew the music she loved -- it was ...

200 Years of Experience
In May, Melvin and I drove to Beeville to host a “Thank You Retirement Lunch.” This celebration was for an associate who had worked for Lacks for 43 years! It was a special moment and a special lunch. Somewhere in ...