My mom and I were chatting about parenting during today’s “shelter in place” order. She remarked on how, with four children, there’s no way she would have been able to keep two of my siblings at home. I couldn’t disagree. My oldest sister and my brother were never the compliant type growing up. But myContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 24: Built For This”
Tag Archives: gifted education
#SOL20 Day 23: Weight of the World
This slice is part 1 of I’m not sure how many. I know my protagonist has some things to figure out, and I need time with her to decide what that’s going to be. But I’m especially grateful to Fran Haley at lit bits and pieces for providing me with the inspiration to get goingContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 23: Weight of the World”
#SOL20 Day 22: Story's Return
(continuation from SOL day 3) Snow in March:Of course, she laughedAs she gazed out over the – “HEY! What do you think you’re doing?” She felt her ears redden, felt all of her body weight condense and harden into a ball at the pit of her stomach, felt her face prickle. She did not needContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 22: Story's Return”
#SOL20, Day 21: Teen Parenting, Exhibit Q
Yes, it it true that I like a picked-up house. Yes, it is true that clutter produces within me an actual physical response. Yet. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING breaks the resolve of a mother determined to leave that box from Tuesday night’s 1 am pizza order on the table until a certain 16-year-old decides he’sContinue reading “#SOL20, Day 21: Teen Parenting, Exhibit Q”
#SOL20 Day 20: Does Anyone Else Feel
Does anyone else feel, she wondered, Like a washcloth wrung within an inch of its life? Like a running shoe, its insole black with sweat and impact? Like the sponge that’s done one too many hand-washings? Like that garbage bag after someone stuffed that one. Last. Thing. In? Like the couch cushion, enduring flop afterContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 20: Does Anyone Else Feel”
#SOL20 Day 19: Shades of Silence
She sad amid the silence, and between the breath and stillness around her, she realized That there are so very many shades of silence: The tight, cold waiting to see what that noise in the night was, The prickle-eared awareness of what children are up to on the opposite end of the house, The suddenContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 19: Shades of Silence”
#SOL20 Day 18: What Today Has Brought
My district has gone to day 2 of e-learning, and I challenged my kids this morning to post more of themselves and how they were doing. And they did NOT disappoint. My students post the sweetest pep talks I’ve ever seen. They’ve shared playtimes with their dogs, ideas for group story activities, forts they’ve builtContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 18: What Today Has Brought”
#SOL20 Day 17: To My Loveys
note: I’ve decided to begin each day with a “pep talk” to my kids. I had a different video shot for tomorrow, but this is the one I’m now deciding to go with… Hi Friends! We’ve made it past the first part of our e-learning experience. You’ve all logged in, logged on, and you’ve startedContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 17: To My Loveys”
#SOL20 Day 16: Not that I’m a Perfectionist
…but I have spent way too many hours combing through and over all of the e-learning resources that I’m posting for my groups. I want for their experience to be smooth. I want for them to understand what I’m asking them to do. I want them to DO it. And, most importantly, I hope thatContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 16: Not that I’m a Perfectionist”
#SOL20 Day 15: On Uncertainty
She sat, fingers poised above the keyboard, wanting to write – but before the words would come, she had to gather her thoughts from far reaches, And as she began to funnel words in, out, through, it occurred to her what a risk it was to begin to write: To face an empty space, aContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 15: On Uncertainty”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 