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Latest Blog Posts
Word Spotlight #119: Malus
In a Latin class today, we talked about the word for bad, malus. From malus, English gets all kinds of bad words. No. Not that kind of bad words. The following English words trace their origins back to malus: Malice – the desire to do evil Malicious – intending to...
Word of the Day #118: Aestivate
I didn't post all summer. Maybe I should start calling this the "infrequent word of the day". Anyway, now that school is back in I'm back. One of my favorite words is estivate, also spelled aestivate. To estivate is to sleep during the summer because it's too hot...
Tip of the Week #295: How to Stop Losing your Keys
I used to lose my keys all the time. I can be a bit scatterbrained. Then, I started attaching my keys to lanyards. Honestly, I still lose my keys. But, not nearly as often as I used to. If you are having trouble keeping up with your keys, try attaching a bright...
Tip of the Week #294: How to Find the History of a Word
Etymology is the study of the history of words. It also happens to be a passion of mine. In fact, a few summers ago, Compass Classroom and I created a rather ridiculous etymology show called Word up. When you look up a word in a dictionary, you get its definition....
Tip of the Week #293: Don’t pay for Rental Car Damage (that you did not cause).
Years ago, I learned this tip the hard way. If you ever rent a car, take a video of the vehicle before you drive it off the lot. I didn't. And, I ended up paying for a scratch I don't think I put on the car. Before you drive off with the rental car, open the...
Tip of the Week #292: In over my Head
This is not really a tip. This week, I am here to ask for some help. Several years ago, I read a book called Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement. I recommend it. In the book, the author mentions the average age of a new...
Tip of the Week #291: Free Filtered Water while on the Road
Here's a tip my wife taught me. If you are staying in a hotel in the U.S. and you want filtered, purified water, but don't feel like paying for bottled water, take a water bottle to the hotel gym. You will almost always find free filtered water in the gym. ...
Tip of the Week #290: How to Learn Latin Quickly
I have been teaching Latin for almost three decades. People often ask me, “If I want to learn Latin, how should I do it? To quote Hades’ minions in the movie Hercules, “If. If is good.” The truth is, you do not have to learn Latin. Do not let people bully you...
Tip of the Week #289: How to Become a Better Writer… in five minutes
If you are my age, you may remember Dilbert and his pointy-haired boss. Seventeen years ago, the author of the comic strip, Scott Adams, taught us how to become better writers. He did it, brilliantly, using only two hundred and sixty-four words. Here is what he said:...
Tip of the Week #288: How to use the passive voice to cut people some slack
Writers of grammar books tell us to avoid the passive voice. Instead of writing, "The last piece of cake was eaten", we should write "She ate the last piece of cake." I agree, and I tell my students to do the same. Learn to write in the active voice. But, as Alan...
Diagramming Henle Latin: First Year Latin – Chapter Two
If you have ever worked your way through the Henle Latin series, by Robert Henle, you know the author asks students to diagram sentences. The series was published around seventy years ago. Back then, kids new how to diagram. Schools still taught the skill. These...
Visual Latin and the Latin Endings: Lesson 23, Relative and Interrogative Pronouns
In Visual Latin, we learned all of Latin grammar. The complicated Latin endings often overwhelm students. For this reason, I filmed a series of videos. In these videos, I show students exactly how to use the complicated Latin charts I created to explain the...
First Year Latin by Robert Henle: Chapter One, Diagramming the Genitive Case
This summer (2024), I am working my way through First Year Latin by Robert Henle. I am showing students how to parse and diagram sentences from each chapter. This is the third video from chapter one: https://vimeo.com/982713695
Diagramming Direct Objects
If you have ever worked your way through the Henle Latin series, by Robert Henle, you know the author asks students to diagram sentences. The series was published around seventy years ago. Back then, kids new how to diagram. Schools still taught the skill. These...
How to Set and Hit your Goals: Free Series
During the month of July (2024) Compass Classroom and I are offering a series of free Webinars on Goal Setting. Find out more right here: https://compassclassroom.com/shop/product/setting-goals-live-summer-2024/ To register for the next webinar, simply click here:...
