And other sayings…. The phrase, one good turn deserves another, is ancient. Used since the 1400s and found in a book in 1546 by John Heywood, it can also be attributed to Aesop in the 500s B.C., through one of his stories. I’ve found lately that by being a good person, trying to help those…
Teaching
A Busy Week
It’s Friday again! How the heck did that happen? Time just moves too fast! Last week, we brought home a trailer load of boxes that had been in storage since our move to the cabin in 2022. We meant to get the totes out before now, but – as you know, life happens. When I…
New Monarch Activity Pack Available for Self-Study
If you’ve followed my blog for any time, you’ll know that I’ve been an active monarch conservationist for the last 25 years. Over that time, I’ve taught hundreds of community members and thousands of school-aged children about the Monarch Butterfly, their life cycle, habitat, and migration. For me, trends in monarch conservation have come and…
Earth Day & Poetry Month
Today is Earth Day. I pulled out some of my environmental lessons and am working to put them together so I can post them to Teachers Pay Teachers. One idea I had in 2020 was to make a self-study activity card pack on the monarch butterfly for classroom use. Lately, it’s been on my mind…
National Poetry Month: Day 8
I started this morning reviewing some blog articles I wrote in 2012, 2013, and 2014 for a website I made for my elementary after-school garden club students and parents. Reading my own words brought back many fond memories of the years I led this group I founded in 2004. It ended in 2017, but then…
Poetry Friday: I Am From Poems
What Are Your Plans For National Poetry Month? It will be difficult to exceed the release of an indie-published book I had last year. Last week, I read a post from Mary Lee Hahn about her plans for National Poetry Month. She was considering different forms of poetry to focus on during April. Over the years, I’ve realized it…
Poetry Friday: Some Poetry Returning
Happy Poetry Friday! Our host for this week’s round-up is Tanita on her blog, Fiction, instead of Lies. For links to more poetry, be sure to visit her page. Many of you know I’ve been staying with my Dad in his home in Brockport New York for the last two-plus weeks. Last week, while I…
Poetry Friday: A Mixed Bag
Wow! The end of July and the beginning of August have been busy. We had lots of visitors in July. Two different couples came up for two different weekends mid-month and before that, our boys were here for the Fourth of July holiday. Near the end of the month, we hopped in the car with…
Poetry Friday: Library Poetry, Poets, and July Visits
Although I do buy books regularly, I am also a frequent visitor to the library. At the end of June, I borrowed a stack of books from our tiny local library branch. I was in search of a few classics to offer to read along with my overseas tutee. There, I came up short. Her…
National Poetry Month Day 12: Tip #10 on Indie Publishing
They say the hardest part of self-publishing a book is the marketing. But, truthfully, any publishing contract negotiation these days will ask you how YOU plan to market your book. So, either way, if you publish, you are responsible for marketing your book, at least partially. Marketing is hard. I have an Etsy shop and…





