Sometimes, even though I have been a grownup for many years now, I balk at doing my chores just like I did when I was twelve.

My temper tantrums look a little different than they did when I was twelve, just as my adolescent temper tantrums looked different than the ones I threw when I was two. But they still show up.

I feel suddenly tired. I crave sweets. I look for something to distract me. I whine, even if there’s no one around to hear me whine. Sometimes, the whining takes place in my head.

Read More

A mentor I once worked with required her clients to come with questions.

She wasn't the person to go to when you needed to talk things out. She didn't want to hear the ideas, the works-in-progress, or the emotional processing, and she definitely didn't want to hear the whining.

Instead, you showed up with a distinct, discrete question. If you didn't offer a question and instead launched into a bunch of context and backstory, you would be politely interrupted and asked to formulate a question.

Read More

I like to be on the move whenever possible.

I have a very hard time sitting still. I prefer to take meetings by phone while out for a walk, weeding the garden, or folding laundry. I do the same when listening to lectures. It actually helps my concentration.

But naturally, it's not always feasible to work and learn this way, especially in the age of Zoom.

Read More

I don’t know if Savage Steve Holland’s Better Off Dead, starring a teenage John Cusack, qualifies as a cult classic, but it’s one of my favorite ‘80s movies.

In one memorable scene (featuring the late, great Vincent Schiavelli as the geometry teacher), Lane Meyer, played by Cusack, experiences that nightmare scenario of being unwittingly unprepared for class.

Read More

It’s a pretty standard assignment: You read a chapter and then answer questions about it.

Most of the time, you won’t remember what you read well enough to discuss it if you read it only once. You have to take notes and refer to them. You might need to read the chapter, or parts of it, more than once.

Yet my students resist this reality. They attempt to answer the questions off the top of their head, as though the knowledge is already in their long-term memory. This results in all kinds of weird, off-the-mark responses that leave me scratching my head in confusion until I realize what the problem is.

Read More