Thought Experiment: Cancer, Marching, and a President’s Signature

I’m sharing this story in response to the inauguration and in response to how quickly President Trump has acted to gut the ACA. I’m also sharing it in response to how it felt to march today with my family, and to tell our piece of the story behind this photo with the world. The photo was […]

Lesson Plan Featuring Poems by Jeet Thayil

I don’t have a classroom, so I borrow Philo’s. This group of students are all preparing to be certified English teachers in India. In India, high school ends at 10th grade, and students who continue their education go to colleges which are two year programs with majors. Pope John Paul II Teacher’s College is a public school (we’d […]

Postcard from India: Hot, Hotter, and Hottest

Raj, my autorickshaw driver, or my automan as everyone here calls him, drops me off at the front of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The guard is perplexed by me. Standing in the midst of a group of tourists and pilgrims checking their shoes across the street, I look strange holding out my letter of invitation. […]

Tips for Applying for the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching

Dear Fellow Teachers, You have one month to apply for a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching. The deadline for the 2016-2017 program is November 4th. My advice to all of you: get going on it. Last October, I was thinking about applying. After so many years in the same classroom, some research and travel time seemed like […]