Tag Archives: teaching

My First Major Publication

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A few weeks ago I mentioned that earlier this year I had my first essay published in an actual book, which was kind of a cool experience. The book is entitled The Pressures of Teaching and it can be bought in stores, although chances are better online. You can even preview a copy of it, although my chapter is not available in the preview.

What is even kind of cooler, however, is that the publisher, Kaplan, will be running an ebook promotion, beginning Tuesday, January 4. So anyone with a Nook, Kindle, iPad, or eReader can download a copy free for a limited time. I am sure that it will even work on an iTouch or computer with a proper ebook app, although all of the details are not yet available.

I should mention that I already got paid for my contribution and receive no additional compensation or royalties from the publisher for sales of the book. However, I would be delighted to hear what people think of the work.

Lastly, in another promotional effort the editor, Maureen Picard Robins, has begun a blog with the same title. As luck would have it, the first post she wrote references my essay, which also is pretty cool.

So, if you get a chance, download it on Tuesday and have a read. As I mentioned, I would love to hear what you think.

Reflecting on the Rebuild

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I have to say that having a few days to tinker and rebuild fritzwinkle.com has been a bit of a joy. It has been something that I have been wanting to do for sometime.

Over the summer, I conceived of making a big switch and redoing the whole thing, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I got busy doing other things and, for the first time in awhile, just trying to enjoy some of the summer free from work. Of course, I did get myself involved in somethings that took up some time too.

Unfortunately, I had made some miscalculations with the domain name, which rendered everything offline for a bit. That forced me to have to go into a waiting mode, until that got itself worked out. I also have a tendency to get myself quite wrapped up in various projects and classes while teaching full time, as well. This has always made maintaining the site a challenge.

On the plus side, I have been riding a little bit of a website development wave. From tuning things with the various sites I have been using with students, as well as developing the new sites for both the Massachusetts Writing Project and Boston Writing Project. These autumn activities made for a quicker transition once I had everything ready. Plus, I had a lot more knowledge and understanding at the forefront of my mind since I was using it more regularly. This made it kind of fun and it didn’t take forever, which best of all.

Photo: Fall Kids

Fall Kids at Play

Now, as always, I just hope I can keep things updated and fresh, which has always been a challenge.

Still Waiting

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Much to Ali’s chagrin our newest member is still in utero. Of course, it is now about as active as it might be on the outside, which leaves my poor wife feeling as though the baby is trying to make break for it out the side of her abdomen or perhaps through her belly button. Still, not even the hint of a contraction, though I suspect that labor will begin within a week or so.

Here are some updated pics of the little nugget though. You can see part of the face in this close-up, a nose and mouth.

Nugget's mouth 35 weeks

We have been trying to prepare Hadley for the arrival of her new sibling, but we are pretty sure she doesn’t get it completely just yet. She is, however, very fond of patting Ali’s belly and saying, “Baby Nunnet.”

Hugging Nugget Rainy Golfer

In the interim, summer has finally arrived in Massachusetts. The days of rain for the most part have given way to a string of lovely sunny days. Hadley and Ali have had multiple chances to head to the local beach and enjoy the sand and lake. Additionally, we all walked downtown for Hadley’s first foray into the children’s wading pool, which Hadley eventually began to enjoy.

Staying Cool Adidas Outfit

New Shades Uck Hands

I have been working way too much, especially in Ali’s eyes. Yet, with a new class to plan and a revamping of another, in addition to all the sideline projects, I have been logging a lot of computer time. Only recently have I been earnestly getting some of the household projects going. However, I am beginning to make some progress on all fronts, which is good all around.

Building Sand Castles

More news to come for sure