Author Archives: chrisryanwrites

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About chrisryanwrites

I tell fast-paced stories with humor and heart. My fiction work is available on amazon.com. Here, I’ll write about the sources for those stories from what I read, watch, listen to, and observe to my experiences as a former award-winning journalist, high school teacher, actor, and producer.

How Much Sleep is Bad Parenting?

Somehow, I’m in a band. Haven’t played bass in over 20 years, but here it is. All originals. Amusing lyrics. Loose rock’n’roll, though that term sounds so dated. And yesterday we recorded seven songs in two hours, 11 a.m. to … Continue reading

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NY Times film critics vs. the super-heroes!

New York Times film critics Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott tag-teamed summer super-hero movies as the lead story in the paper’s July 1st Sunday Arts and Leisure section, ripping into the genre with accusations of corporate manipulation, sexism, and … Continue reading

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Joe Paterno from a distance

Joe Paterno died today. The official cause is cancer, but even from the significant distance of someone who never set foot on the Penn State campus, never played college football, high school football, or anything but street ball (pretty badly, … Continue reading

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Humbling Humiliation: The Path to Parental Wisdom

A work friend recently posted a Facebook freak out regarding parenting. She claimed to have no parental instincts, zero parenting skills. Of course, her friends and family swooped in with support, compliments, and encouragement, but very few seemed to address … Continue reading

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Mayans Didn’t Doom Us

I was chasing Away the fuzz of last night’s New Year’s Eve revelry with my preferred dose of caffeine this morning while checking Facebook, and I found myself “liking” twenty, then thirty, then forty positive wishes and optimistic musings share … Continue reading

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XBox Boyz: Is Virtual Hanging Out Better?

So it was last Friday night, my wife and I were going to a former student’s grad school graduation party, and our twin boys, 15, were staying home for the night. In my day, this often meant instant party as … Continue reading

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Kim Kardashian

What bothers me most about Kim Kardashian and her 72 days of marriage is that she believes she tried. Recently, she and her family were on a Barbara Walters special and it was like she had survived some significant ordeal. … Continue reading

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#edscape … Missed it!

So my son’s high school hosted a conference this weekend called edscape, featuring technology and the use of social media in the classroom. And I missed it. As a high school teacher, I have been trying to update my knowledge … Continue reading

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No Filter Required: Classroom Tempers in the Digital Age

A petite student called me an “asshole” in class the other day. Dropped the “F” bomb, invited me to write her up, and stormed out of my class when I informed her that leaving was an option. This got me … Continue reading

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Hello world!

Teaching is like being a parent, parenting always involves teaching, and when you do both, the lines blur. This blog will explore issues in the classrooom, and at home that come up when I try to be fair but functional … Continue reading

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