East vs. West Berlin: Contrasts and Challenges After the Wall Fell Even though the Berlin Wall was open, the situation in East Berlin was still extremely tense. Shortly after the Berlin Wall was opened, I visited friends in East Berlin for an extended weekend,...
The Day the Berlin Wall Fell: Memories from 30 Years Ago I was working as an interpreter and translator in Cologne, West Germany, when the Berlin Wall came down 30 years ago. On November 9, 1989, I was waiting at a stoplight, two blocks from my apartment. Suddenly,...
Navigating Art School Preparation: Top 10 Tips for Students and Parents If you have an art student (or you are one), then I know why you are here. Perhaps you are getting a little nervous or confused as you look at the future of your budding art student. You may be...
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the...
Filmmaking with a Global Vision In the middle of the spring semester, usually in April, I teach my filmmaking classes from somewhere outside of the U.S. Last spring it was from Thailand. This year Holland. I've taught my online classes from Turkey, Spain, Finland, and...
Research shows that educators consider travel a priority to raise students’ cultural awareness, and they believe that it has a positive impact on students’ lives. As an educator, but also as one who has traveled, I bring you my first-hand perspective of the benefits....
Unlocking Opportunities: The Transformative Power of Libraries In some of my high school level classes, I require the use of outside sources during paper composition, and students often seem baffled when I require at least one source to be a book source. They ask,...
Now that I am approaching my mid-50s, I find myself in a strange situation. I have become an experienced homeschooler and an experienced educator. In a blink of an eye, I have become a homeschool parent who has graduated three students as well as a teacher of hundreds...
Isolation limits accomplishment. Most people would agree that it would be silly to learn how to use a turn signal on your vehicle without learning how to drive-- just as it would be silly to learn every comma rule but miss out on how to put words together to form...
Guidelines for Supporting Your Online Learning Student How Much Help Should I Give My Online Student? You have signed your child up for an online class. You’re both excited. Visions of outsourcing and having less items on your ever-growing “to do” list begin to...
Unlocking the World: 3 Compelling Reasons to Embrace Geography You’ve probably all seen videos like this one where a reporter stops people on the street and asks them geography questions. Often the person responding shows a sad lack of even basic knowledge about the...
5 Key Habits for Success in Online Classes After more than seven years of teaching live online Spanish classes, I have come up with a list of good habits that students should employ in order to optimize their chances of success in a live online environment. ...
