I struggle to be present. When I’m exercising, I plan my writing time. When I’m writing, I worry about what’s lurking in my email. When I check email, I’m trying to figure out how I can answer 80 messages and find time to blog. Ugh! Writing haiku helps me to connect to the present moment....Read More

I love walking in my crazy university neighborhood, because I find such interesting items (and overhear great conversations). Lately, I have been taking photos of the most fun items I discover. In my work with Dream Keepers, a writing group I created for kids and teens in Milwaukee, we regularly use visual writing prompts—and these photos...Read More

If you want to find happiness, find gratitude. —Steve Maraboli This past month I’ve spent three afternoons at two city libraries teaching children to write gratitude letters. We’ve used lots of paper as we’ve mind-mapped gratitude. Between all three sessions, the children have written almost 50 thank you cards. It’s such great fun to watch...Read More

In September, I wrote about my work with Dream Keepers and the six-word memoir. This month, we’ve been back at the library writing six-word scary stories. Here’s how it works. We began by creating a chart with three columns: setting, character, situation. The students brainstorm ideas for the chart, which I fill in. Here’s what...Read More