Tag Archives: teaching

If Something Had My Name on It

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

If something carried my name, I wouldn’t want it to be just a building or a street people pass without noticing. If it means anything, it ought to connect to something useful, lasting—or at least something properly aged. Continue reading →

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What Makes Me Laugh? Usually the Things Nobody Planned

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

A great sitcom, a classic comedy, sharp stand-up, and the occasional perfectly timed line from real life all have one thing in common: the best laughter usually arrives when nobody is forcing it. Continue reading →

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Teaching in the Digital Age

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Technology has made teaching faster, broader, and in many ways more efficient—but it has also introduced distractions, new demands, and challenges that teachers from earlier generations never had to navigate. Continue reading →

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Hidden Talents (Including One That May Be Slightly Questionable)

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Some skills show up immediately. Others stay hidden until life gives them a reason to appear—and sometimes they’re stranger than expected. Continue reading →

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The Teachers Who Built Me

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Some teachers taught subjects. Others taught discipline, trust, creativity, faith, or endurance. Looking back, the most honest answer is that it took several people — each arriving at the right time — to help shape who I became. Continue reading →

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Three Compliments I Still Carry

Posted on March 18, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Some compliments fade almost as soon as they’re spoken. Others stay with you for decades because they arrived when you needed them most. Continue reading →

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The Last Thing I Learned

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

WordPress asks another one of its famously broad daily questions: “What’s the last thing you learned?” The answers range from classroom revelations to a television installation and a 1970s automotive scandal. Continue reading →

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The Question I Pretend Not to Hear

Posted on March 6, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

In my classroom every request has to include one simple word: please. Without it, I pretend not to hear the question. But there’s one request students ask more than any other — and it always leads to the same series of terrible puns. Continue reading →

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The Job I Almost Didn’t Get

Posted on March 5, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

After two years of substitute teaching, failed interviews, and near misses, I almost gave up on becoming a teacher. Looking back now, those disappointments weren’t failures at all—they were the closed doors that guided me to the place I was meant to be. Continue reading →

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Standing at the Crossroads

Posted on March 4, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

When I imagine the opening line of my autobiography, it begins at a crossroads between two lives: the fast-paced world of journalism and the quieter but deeply meaningful world of faith, teaching, and writing. Looking back, I realize those paths were never really separate. Continue reading →

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