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The Big Fresh February 10, 2018 Again and Again

Repetition is the mother of skill. Anthony Robbins If you’re a teacher, you’ll relate to this experience: If you teach a lesson or unit two times, you get twice as...

The Big Fresh February 3, 2018 When Your Car Is Your Teacher

It is what you don’t expect . . . that most needs looking for. Neal Stephenson My husband Dave was happily driving our new car home from the dealership. We...

The Big Fresh January 27, 2018 Rosie’s Bucket List

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have...

The Big Fresh January 20, 2018 Thriving Artists

I just wanted to do something important.                                    Norman Rockwell If you ever are in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, treat yourself and take an hour to visit the Norman...

The Big Fresh January 13, 2018: Teaching and Belonging

What we know matters but who we are matters more.                                                                                 Brene Brown This fall I heard the amazing Brene Brown speak on the concept of belonging. It was only...

The Big Fresh January 6, 2018 How’s Your Stamina?

Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal.                                                                                    Elbert Hubbard...

The Big Fresh December 16, 2017 Making Time for Joy

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.                                                                                                Andy Warhol I always look forward to Monday mornings. That’s the day I treat myself...

The Big Fresh December 10, 2017 The Kid Teaches You

Let the child be the scriptwriter, the director and the actor in his own play. Magda Gerber Ruth was a participant in a writing retreat I was hosting at a...

The Big Fresh December 3, 2017 The Perfect Space

We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us. Winston Churchill When the realtor took me into the house almost two decades ago, I knew it was meant to...

The Big Fresh November 18, 2017 Grounded

I wish you a craft you can never learn — but can keep learning as long as you live. Don Murray The older you are, the more the quick passage...

The Big Fresh November 11, 2017 What’s Your Hashtag?

Never underestimate the power of a tweet. Germany Kent To say I am a little addicted to Twitter is an understatement. I might even have three Twitter accounts. Yep, I...

The Big Fresh November 4, 2017 Neighborhood Library

The library is like a candy store where everything is free.                                                             Jamie Ford I hear a quiet knock on my back door and rush to open it. Thirteen-year-old Abigail...

The Big Fresh October 28, 2017 Blind Spots

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. Helen Keller I remember a painful visit I made to a classroom some years ago. The first-grade...

The Big Fresh October 21, 2017 Cheese Emergency

Life is great. Cheese makes it better. Avery Aames On a getaway with my sister in the Berkshires, I walked by a gourmet cheese shop in Great Barrington. It was...

The Big Fresh October 14, 2017 More Heart, Less Head

I don’t have to take a trip around the world or be on a yacht in the Mediterranean to have happiness. I can find it in the little things, like...

The Big Fresh October 7, 2017 Tell Me Everything

Time is generally the best doctor. Ovid A few years ago, my son and I were in the walk-in clinic for who-knows-what ailment, and both of us were waiting for...

The Big Fresh September 30, 2017 This Class

If you see something beautiful in someone, speak it. Ruthie Lindsey Before the students even walked through the door of my classroom, I had heard about this class. They were...

The Big Fresh September 23, 2017 Plain Vanilla

The cars we drive say a lot about us.                                                               Alexandra Paul This spring I did something for the first time. I traded in a car before it was ready...

The Big Fresh September 16, 2017 What Rules?

I love rules and I love following them, unless that rule is stupid. Anna Kendrick I once knew a group of young adult guys who banded together to rent a...

The Big Fresh September 9, 2017 The Penny Project

Just look at us, all of us, quietly doing our thing and trying to matter. The earnestness is inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal Amy Krouse...

The Big Fresh September 2, 2017 Reading the Room

 The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.                                                                                           Peter F. Drucker A few months ago, I attended a job-related conference in California.  Eager to keep up...