How do you choose to respond? Imagine getting up way before the crack of dawn, chilled to the bone and being surrounded by foul smelling fish…doesn’t quite sound like a recipe for inspiration. But through the story of a business leader in need of help and a fishmonger who provides Read more…
It can never hurt to ask. When the first birthday of the Amidon Planet Podcast was approaching I knew that I wanted to ask Gloria Ladson-Billings (President of the National Academy of Education and Professor Emeritus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison) to be a guest. She has influenced my teaching, Read more…
What do you do with the mad you feel? The above quote is a line from one of the many songs that Mr. Roger’s wrote for his television program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. At the same time the words are very simple but offer a way to understand that a person Read more…
How do you define yourself? What tribes are you in? The featured book for this episode of the Amidon Planet Podcast is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, which is the first time a novel has been featured in the podcast. The inspiration for this Read more…
Blessed with a problem. Sounds like a weird statement, but I once heard author and leadership guru, John Maxwell, talk about the tragic nature of not having any problems. He said if you did not have any problems then you were not a candidate for a miracle. He then called Read more…
Who does this belong to? This is a common question in my house. Trying to find the owner of a shoe, a book, a bag, a spill, a mess, even a task. If I can find the owner, I can determine who is responsible for making whatever it is better. Read more…
What do you do when you are not working? The answer is resting. But how do you rest? Are you resting enough? Could you rest better? The answers to these questions and more questions that you probably have never considered are in this book Rest: Why You Get More Done Read more…
Helping without Hurting Is helping always helpful? I thought the answer was “yes”. Why wouldn’t it be? But then I had an encounter where I told a student how to do a problem, but then just a few seconds later his hand shot right back up into the air, looking Read more…
Mind Your Moments How powerful is a moment? Can you make a moment powerful? Throughout my life I can think of a handful of moments that have led to drastic changes in my life, my relationships, my teaching. I think of these “defining moments” as historical markers where something significant Read more…
What is your relationship status with mathematics? A productive way for me to think about how best to teach mathematics is to consider facilitating a relationship between a student and mathematics. What are things that I can do to improve the relationship? And how can I avoid damaging the relationship Read more…