A Doll Comes To Visit

You are a fifth-grade girl who comes home from school to find a doll on your front porch. The doll looks like you, is dressed like you, and there is something about the eyes. Who left it? Why is it here? And what makes this doll so special?

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With a Little Help From My Friend

Jim Jenkins is an ace detective who solves the most difficult crimes. Yet he always works alone. Or does he?

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The Boy Who Could Wiggle His Ears

Learning how to wiggle your ears is really hard. But you can do it if you keep trying. And if you learn to keep trying, no problem is too big. So if you can wiggle your ears, you can do anything!

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One Day in Dance Class

Being a substitute teacher has given me the chance to see how others teach.  One of my favorite memories was escorting a special-needs student to his dance class.  He was taking dance as an enrichment and they were working him into one of their routines.  Of course, he really stood out in a room full

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New Word Alert

In a earlier post, I had asked if English had enough words.  This week I found a new word that has been newly invented.  What do you call people who are more than friends?   How about framily?  That’s combining friends and family. I found this in the April 2015 issue of Runner’s World magazine

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A Double Definition of Courage

Have you ever heard of Juli Windsor?  She finished her first Boston Marathon in 2014.  And she’s three feet nine inches tall. She and a friend a little bit taller, John Young, were in the in the 2013 Boston Marathon.  You know, the year of the bombing, and they were halted a half mile short

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How High School Has Changed

Today I got another reminder of how high school has changed since I was a student. This morning some students came into my classroom selling the school’s news magazine. I had a couple extra dollars, so I bought one. The cover story is “Let’s Talk About Sex.” Other major articles are “Being Gay in High

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What Not To Do With Ice Cream

One benefit of substitute teaching is I can follow students throughout their academic careers.  I saw a young lady with anger-management issues successfully complete high school. Students I first met as fifth graders are now finishing eighth grade.  It’s a very rewarding feeling.  On the other hand… I especially remember one young man I worked

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I Wonder What It’s Like to be Rich

I see Forbes magazine has published its billionaires list again.  http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/ What would it be like to have that much money?  I have no idea myself.  But twice in my life I’ve gotten a glimpse of wealthy lifestyles.  It’s like some careless person has left the door ajar, and I got to peek inside. The first

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