Slice of Life Tuesday: At the Edge

This post is part of the weekly Slice of Life challenge from Two Writing Teachers. Check them out! Next week I return to school, and I’ve been trying to articulate my feelings about it. I’m squished between a lot of emotions, and I thought this poem might reflect some of those thoughts… At the Edge of School,Continue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: At the Edge”

Slice of Life 2021 Day 4: Kid Wisdom

Today marks Day 4 of the Slice of Life challenge. Join me as I work to write every day in March – and maybe beyond! As I alluded to in yesterday’s post, I used my own writing as a mentor text for my fourth graders. The goal is to use student writing as the literatureContinue reading “Slice of Life 2021 Day 4: Kid Wisdom”

Slice of Life 2021 Day 3: Story Has Her Say

Today marks the third day of March, the third day of the Slice of Life blogging challenge. I’ve committed to write each and every day during the month of March and – who knows? – maybe even longer. Join me! This entry was inspired by the conversation I had with my students this week after sharing aContinue reading “Slice of Life 2021 Day 3: Story Has Her Say”

Slice of Life 2021 Day 1: Looking

Today marks the first day of March, the first day of the Slice of Life blogging challenge. I’ve committed to write each and every day during the month of March and – who knows? – maybe even longer. Join me! A commitment to writing each and every day. Am I looking forward to it? DownContinue reading “Slice of Life 2021 Day 1: Looking”

Sunday Sit-Down #6: Duped

Each Sunday, I’m working my way through my experiences with race. I’ll share stories and memories from throughout my life. I know I’ll encounter moments of growth that I wish I could relive. I’ll also have to think back on choices that I wish I could remake. Come join me each week. I’ve been thinkingContinue reading “Sunday Sit-Down #6: Duped”

Sunday Sitdown #5: First Lesson

Mrs. Williams was a great first-grade teacher. She was kind, cheerful and honest.She always encouraged us with phrases like, “You’re cookin’ with gas!”She regaled us with stories of her little girl.She used Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies as prizes when she REALLY wanted to motivate us.Heck, she put up with ME as a first grader.Continue reading “Sunday Sitdown #5: First Lesson”

Swinging For The Fences

I’m not going to lie. This year, I have had some SPECTACULAR fails in the classroom. And I mean, not just the oh-man-this-is-tricky-how-am-I-going-to-figure-a-different-way-of-teaching-this-to-the-kids fail. That’s just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, cost-of-doing-business, everyday type of fail. No. I’m talking about the holy-cow-this-lesson-is-crashing-and-burning-and-I-have-absolutely-no-way-of-backing-out-of-this-and-no-way-to-figure-out-in-the-moment-how-to-make-it-better-and-why-did-I-even-bother-getting-out-of-bed-today fail. I’ve thought a lot about these fails. They haunt me. In the moment, failuresContinue reading “Swinging For The Fences”