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”
Tag Archives: #sol20
#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”
#SOL20 Day 14: The Dog Days of…March?
I love standing in the school hallways at arrival and dismissal time. It’s like a barometer that gives me readings of a different kind of atmosphere. Yesterday, as the bell rang for our half day early dismissal, the kiddos were released from classes, backpacks full of materials, heads full of instructions. Some even stopped toContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 14: The Dog Days of…March?”
#SOL20: Find Your Cozy Place And…
Like many teachers across the country, I am eyeball deep in preparations for our district to go online with our learning. Like many teachers, I’m putting an immense amount of time and energy into thinking about how I will preserve the relationships I have with my kiddos while I maintain adequate “social distancing.” What’s soContinue reading “#SOL20: Find Your Cozy Place And…”
#SOL20 Day 12: Taking a Moment
It seems as though there are fewer and fewer places to hide from the spectre of Coronavirus. Even those of us who set out on a conversation trying to discuss something, anything other than the impending wave, there is no escaping the momentum of what surrounds us. And so, in the midst of swimming, paddling,Continue reading “#SOL20 Day 12: Taking a Moment”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 