36 Days – Practice How You Play
Every so often, I revisit this video of Gustavo Dudamel leading an orchestra. The intensity with which he leads the professional musicians is an inspiration and example for how much focus we can bring to our work.
64 Days – Language Study
One of the most fun challenges of travel abroad is the different languages that you encounter. For every country I travel to, I do some language study – if nothing else – so I have the ability to order food and exchange greetings in the local language. Nothing will help you to see the world …
Oneness
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen teacher, died today at age 95. His teachings have been influential in my life for many years, from first seeing his mindful walking practice in Los Angeles, to visiting the temple where he trained in Vietnam, to reading the the latest work inspired by his teachings, “Happy Teachers Change the …
A Day in the Life
Some days are busier than others, today was pretty busy. Here is what I’ve done so far: 4:00 AM – Wake up. I set an alarm for five, but rarely sleep-in until the alarm wakes me up. A quick cup of coffee. 4:30 – Out for a run. My phone said 35 degrees Fahrenheit, but …
Soccer is History
When I was at Temple University I taught a class called the Global History of Soccer. It was mostly a class on globalization, a world history class, that focused on how one can see history through soccer. Students liked the course and it was a great primer for the 2018 World Cup. I still use …
Walking the Tōkaidō
This fall I started a virtual journey with teachers all around the world. We recorded our walks, runs, and steps and charted our progress on the 318 mile walk across Japan’s famous Tōkaidō, from Tokyo to Kyoto. The Tōkaidō was the Eastern Sea Route that millions of merchants, pilgrims, and travelers walked. We looked at art, …
Slavery and the Underground Railroad
In my US history class we are watching the film Harriet which brings up a lot of questions about slavery and the Underground Railroad. I had a couple great podcasts on the subject that remain relevant supplements to the heartbreaking story of people who fought hard for their freedom from slavery. You can hear my …
Learning by Listening
Learning a language? Prepping for travel? Just interested in checking out different cultures? A great resource that I use in the classroom is radio.garden which lets you select and listen to radio stations all over the world using a global map. What do you hear? Some observations student have made in the past include the …
Teaching the First Opium War
Growing up, I was a huge fan of James Clavell’s novel Tai-Pan. Although the novel might be a little outdated today, it serves as an excellent fictional introduction to the British perspective of the Opium Wars. When I teach the Opium Wars now, I use the Opium Wars essay written for MIT’s Visualizing Cultures series. …