I know that English teachers love words. I love words, but I also love numbers. I’m not talking about math (though I love math, too); I’m talking about the Conventions of Composition website that offers self-help for grammar. My primary goal in assigning students to write essays is to help them learn to write better….
“Why”…Wednesdays
40. Why I Got Duped
I’ve been debating writing this post, but Google Analytics (which I check daily) assures me that most days, nobody looks at my website. If past performance is an indicator of future results, maybe two people will read this post. Ever. All this to say, I’m thinking of my blog as a private journal, a safe…
39. Why Everything Should Sparkle
If you look straight at my eyes, you might have to shut your eyes because of the glare. If you look straight at my shoes, you’ll think I’m wearing a big version of shoes made for a three-year-old kid. I’m fine with both of these. In the past few years, I’ve embraced my love of…
38. Why to Consider Boarding School
I copied this photo from the Hotchkiss website. If you’re thinking thinking, “It can’t be that pretty at the school where she works,” you’d be wrong. It is this beautiful, except in the fall, when it’s even more beautiful as the leaves turn vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange. But the beauty of the…
37. Why I Like Rubrics
You may notice that I put a much larger photo on this week’s post than I usually do. (Of course, that assumes you’ve ever looked at the website before…which Google Analytics tell me you haven’t, but I’m an optimist, so I’m writing to thousands of future website visitors.) I enlarged the photo so that you…
36. Why I Remember
iconic image of the street in NYC Photo Credit I can’t write a post on September 11, 2019 that doesn’t harken to September 11, 2001. I wasn’t in NYC that day. Nobody in my family worked in the Towers or as police or firefighters in NYC. One could say that I wasn’t directly affected by…
35. Why I Eat Candy
CANDY HOUSES Some people make gingerbread houses for the festive holiday spirit. My younger daughter and I make them for the delicious candy. As you can see from the photo above, I really load on the candy and I eat the whole thing. I’m writing this post a week after I told you (Anybody out there…
34. Why I Exercise a Lot
I LIKE TO GET MY ENDORPHINS ON I was never the best athlete growing up, but I like the way it feels to stay active. I played on the basketball team in high school, swam for the team in college, and play defense on my old-lady team now. Additionally, I’ve completed a few sprint triathlons…
33. Why and How Aspiring and Emerging Writers Should Think about PR
(Photo Credit: Ken Miyamoto’s 15 Ways to Stop Writer’s Block) Starting a career as a writer isn’t what it once was. Back in the day, if a person wanted to write a book, she would write a book, find an agent, get a publisher, see her book in print, and then get loads of letters…
32. Why I Remember Birthdays
Two days ago, I turned fifty. Last week, I started my celebrations when my whole family was in town. My sister drove in from Brooklyn. My mother flew in from Chicago. My aunt and uncle came up from Scarsdale. (Unfortunately, my father and stepmother and in-laws couldn’t come.) With about forty people, I enjoyed a…