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. High school. ThereContinue reading “Sunday Sitdown #7: Taking a Look Around”
Tag Archives: elementary teaching
Slice of Life Tuesday: Another Little Word
When writing my “One Little Word” post for the new year, I knew the word I chose, gather, would not last me through the year. In fact, it was my hope that this one little word would soon slough its skin to reveal the word underneath. The other day, I was at school. It wasContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Another Little Word”
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”
Slice of Life Tuesday: Lessons from the Chocolate Stash
Upstairs, at one of my two schools, in the copy room, there sits a green plastic basket under a sticker on the wall that reads, “Chocolate doesn’t ask silly questions. Chocolate UNDERSTANDS.” There are a few of us who tend to be the chocolate fairies of this particular basket. For my part, I like toContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Lessons from the Chocolate Stash”
Slice of Life: Pre-Emptive Gratitude
We don’t have a snow day today, and I’m about as happy as a wet cat. Something deep within me ached for a day back at home, even if it still involved a full day of classes and meetings. The thought of getting up early, bundling up, clearing off the car, of navigating barely passableContinue reading “Slice of Life: Pre-Emptive Gratitude”
A Teacher’s Guide to Inauguration in 36 Easy Steps
or, Reflections from the Evening of January 19, 2021: How to Manage to Stay Afloat for the Next Eighteen Hours and Hold up the Walls of the World While it Watches, Waits, Breathless Pull yourself away from noise. Pet your dog. If you don’t have a dog, pretend to have a dog. Drink something warm.Continue reading “A Teacher’s Guide to Inauguration in 36 Easy Steps”
Sunday Sitdown #1: Here I Go
I’m a member of my school district’s newfound committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.* For our last meeting, we were asked to compose a racial autobiography, to craft a reckoning of our experiences with race and identity. (Check out the Pacific Educational Group to learn about their work!) There were a LOT of questions. AndContinue reading “Sunday Sitdown #1: Here I Go”
One Little Word…For Now
I’ve been a member of the Slice of Life writing community for nine months now. It’s been a source of inspiration, support and validation as I work to become braver in my writing. As time goes on, I learn more about the rituals and traditions that “slicers” have. Most recently, I learned that each NewContinue reading “One Little Word…For Now”
Slice of Life Tuesday: Missing Dreams
Today for the weekly Slice of Life challenge I knew I had a poem to write, but wanted to experiment with language and form. I came to a modified version of a triversen, a William Carlos Williams-created form consisting of six tercets: 18 lines in 6 stanzas. I’m still tweaking and working and thinking, butContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Missing Dreams”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 