Author Archives: Tara Sullivan
Wednesday Writing: I love my editor
Those of you who know me know that my second edits were due back to my editor on the 6th… and that I flew to Ireland on the 7th. Needless to say, I was a wee bit stressed towards the … Continue reading
Posted in My Crazy Life, Writing
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Monday Media: Bravely done!
I went to see Disney/Pixar’s latest, “Brave,” and I wanted to take a quick minute to highlight why I thought it was a great kid’s movie, emphasis on the “kid.” The heroine is a redhead. Automatic awesomeness. Enough said. . … Continue reading
Posted in Media
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Thursday Travel: Go, Dog. Go!
This past weekend, my husband and I went into Boston to see the tall ships that are arriving to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812 and just be a fantastic feature of the Fourth of July. It … Continue reading
Posted in My Crazy Life, Travel
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Tuesday Teaching: Standardized Testing Around the World
As a teacher I am frequently part of conversations about the benefits and drawbacks of standardized testing. I was fascinated to find two short movies from the New York Times telling the story of college entrance exams (standardized tests that … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching, Travel
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Monday Media: Authorship in Journalism
This past Saturday, NPR ran a story on This American Life, creatively titled “Forgive Us Our Press Passes,” about a journalism company, Journatic, that outsources local news reporting. That’s right: they outsource local reporting to places like the Philippines where journalism is … Continue reading
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Friday Feature: Lara Kalwinski
This week: my quirky, quippy lawyer friend, Lara Kalwinski, talking about her work in both Indiana and India. So Lara, what are you doing for work right now? I am the Vice President of Legacy Foundation – the community foundation … Continue reading
Posted in Interesting People, Travel
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Wednesday Writing: My New Author Photo!
My latest adventure in being a debut author: getting a professional picture taken to serve as my official “author photo.” The idea of having to do this completely terrified me (ask my poor husband who had to put up with … Continue reading
Posted in My Crazy Life, Writing
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Monday Media: High-Low Fiction
The problem: A terrifying percent of high-schoolers can’t read. (77% of 8th graders read below grade level in CA.) The solution? Write books for teens at a 3rd-grade level. The LA Times reported that Saddleback Educational Publishing is launching a … Continue reading
Posted in Language Learning, Media, Teaching, Writing
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Friday Feature: Laura McNulty
This week I’m interviewing Laura McNulty, who I met when she graciously agreed to come talk to my Spanish for Health Careers class about her work with Health Horizons International. So Laura, where are you and what are you doing … Continue reading
Posted in Interesting People, Travel
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Thursday Travel: Requiem for the “Ray Dan”s
So I dropped my favorite pair of sunglasses today and they shattered. Though this makes me quite sad, they have served me well for almost a year (much longer than sunglasses usually survive me) and thus are deserving of a … Continue reading
Posted in My Crazy Life, Tanzania, Travel
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Wednesday Writing: Marketing Jitters
A few weeks ago Jenny Lawson was on NPR talking about how, while writing is easy, up-keeping her media presence sends her into panic attacks. As this is my first attempt at blogging, it amused and comforted me to know other … Continue reading
Tuesday Teaching: Editing Essays
As I grade the final essays for my Spanish 2 class this evening, I am remembering how awful assigning peer-edited essays used to be. It seemed I had only two options: Have students “peer edit” each other’s essays and get … Continue reading
Posted in Language Learning, Teaching
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Monday Media: You are Not Special
This past weekend, David McCullough spoke at the Wellesley High School Graduation, delivering the key message that, well, you are not special. “Think about this, even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion, that means there … Continue reading
Posted in Interesting People, Media, Teaching
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Friday Feature: Monica Paulson Priebe
This week: fabulous friend and international activist Dr. Monica Paulson Priebe! And, oh yeah, it’s her birthday tomorrow too! (I swear that is not my selection criteria for this column!) Hi Monica, what are you up to these days? Hi Tara. … Continue reading
Posted in Interesting People, Teaching, Travel
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Wednesday Writing: Secondary Characters
My current stage in the writing process: a second round of full-book edits before we head into copy editing. While the first round was mostly about plot and Habo’s development, this round, most of my editor’s comments focus on the … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
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Tara Sullivan 