Talking Hands Talking Feet Blog
Inspired Education Songs In Motion

Here follows a true tale which further opens up the question of leadership for our time. It takes place in a very unique circumstance. But the dynamics are universal. It could be a classroom, a school, a family, a tribe, a nation…any community. This story offers a helpful magnifying glass on a subject that [...]

Continue reading “The White Fortress And The Mud Thatch Hut” »

To engender respect in young people is to grow respect in the world. All relationships can only benefit by the mindful presence of respect. It begins, as is true of so many things, with you! Respect in oneself to oneself.
Respect is to love something for what it is!

It is allowing someone or something [...]

Continue reading “Respect” »

Language is one of the beautiful mysteries at the core of human life. Words not only help us to communicate, they also help us to connect - to connect to the vast reservoir of human ideas, knowledge, feelings, emotions, perceptions etc. It’s huge!
Words are like food, in a way. They contain protein, carbohydrates, sugars, [...]

Continue reading “Together Too” »

Together we make a brighter light
Together we can shine
Together we can find our rhythm and rhyme

Teachers of all walks and ways, as you prepare to enter the classroom for a whole new school year, try on this perception for awhile and see what new perspective it may give you.
Ready? Here it goes…
There is [...]

Continue reading “Together” »

Here we are, human beings, one of two genders, genetically loaded, born somewhere on Earth into one of the kaleidoscopic expressions of human culture… its language, history, collective psyche, art… and before we know it, we’ve been pre-conditioned by all these influences - including of course, one of the most dominant influences of all [...]

Continue reading “Begin as Beginners” »

“How can I help my kids ‘switch on’ to learning?”
“How does one promote creative, enthusiastic, inquisitive learners in a public school setting?”
“Most of us see our students for one school year and that’s it, they move on. How can we expect to make a lasting difference in their lives within such an artificial and [...]

Continue reading “The Wonder of Wonder” »

There is a quality, a presence, an attitude; it engenders a kind of magnified understanding and sensitivity; it is a rare quality in our world by and large and yet it speaks to the heart of nearly every human being; it has inspired great acts and great art throughout history; it is the mother [...]

Continue reading “Fostering Humanity” »

Way, way back in the Summer of 1979, I was adventuring through Anchorage, Alaska after living for many moons in a tiny Athabaskan village 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It was early in the morning and the city was just waking up. I was trying to catch a ride to the [...]

Continue reading “Defying the Big Box” »

Dragons of the East and West have captivated the imaginations of children for centuries. World folklore from Middle Ages Europe to Ancient Cathay abounds in dragon tales, from the terrifying to the sublime.
In the West, dragons were most often portrayed as the malevolent scourge of peasants and kings, only to be coaxed by a [...]

Continue reading “Ode to the Dragon” »

In a cultural climate of worry and stress to do with money, money, money; when folks are seriously concerned with their financial stability, job security, health, children’s tuitions, mortgage etc., there is a tendency in us to inadvertently contribute and further inflame the problem by our reactions to it.
These reactions involve an all too [...]

Continue reading “Spirit of Generosity” »