Where does my racial story begin? At my own birth?At the first moments I can remember?The very first time I noticed people were different? Or with Parents andGrandparents,With the many ways they interacted withWithoutAboveOthers who were different?(All while they tried hardSo very hardTo become the not-different themselves) How can I evenStartTo explain my own upbringingContinue reading “Sunday Sitdown #2: And So It Begins”
Tag Archives: writing
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”
Why I’m in the Living Room
watching the British Bake Showand not in the family roomwatching TVat the end of a long dayright by my husbandis because after enough timestanding on my feetrubbing my eyestaking a breathshaking my head as Istare at the world about me I have decidedthat I am donewatchingfictional shows about the real world
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”
Offerings: Slice of Life Tuesday
Today, I bring you a bouquet of wonderfulness, plucked by my own hands from the bounty around me, gathered with care and bound with a length of twine I found in my kitchen drawer…
On Finding a Writing Community
Sometimes my lessons are OK, but no great shakes. Sometimes they crash and burn – sometimes sadly and softly, others in a great fiery blaze of glory. But sometimes. Sometimes I have an idea for a lesson that’s a GREAT ONE. And it WORKS. I’ve been trying to be deliberate this year about writing workshopContinue reading “On Finding a Writing Community”
Little Folks, Big Ideas
My third graders have been delving into philosophy, of all things. Because if little minds deserve ANYTHING, it’s the ability to wrestle with BIG ideas. I’ve been using resources from The Prindle Institute to support our work. Our questions lately have focused on: what is alive? what is real? After an AMAZING webinar with myContinue reading “Little Folks, Big Ideas”
A Thing of Wonder
Today I saw an owl. It glided over and lit in my next-door neighbor’s tree just as I was returning from a walk at dusk. There it sat, easily a foot tall and several inches across. It was a thing of wonder. It sat long enough for me to walk through the front door ofContinue reading “A Thing of Wonder”
On College Education
Well. Looks like I’m stepping back up on to my soapbox. What’s got me so fired up this time? My college son called me to chat about one of his professors. Things have gotten so bad that students banded together and complained to university higher-ups, so much so that the department issued its course evaluationContinue reading “On College Education”
Teacher Life, Exhibit P
Scene: Indiana Dunes State Park. I’m hiking with my husband. It’s a cool, crisp early autumn day, the wind is at our backs, and we have the place to ourselves. The only sounds in my ears are the crashing of waves, the crush of hiking boots on sand, and the echo of my thoughts. It’sContinue reading “Teacher Life, Exhibit P”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 