My car was often - too often - the last one standing in the parking lot at the end of the day.
#31 – PLEASE . . .
. . . tell me when you use the last tissue. Or when you notice the tissue box is empty - even if you don't need a tissue yet or may never need one all year. . . . stop using your sleeve. . . . or snorting the stuff back into your nostrils. The sights and sounds are making me just a little bit sick.
#30 – Project Time
Games project, 2019. There is nothing quite like the magic that happens in a middle-school language arts classroom when the word "project" finds its way out of a teacher's mouth. Whatever learning has been taking place, or not, can finally be used - or not - in creating some creative representation of that particular unit … Continue reading #30 – Project Time
#29 – V Day
I'm wearing pink today - I can't help it. More than 20 years of Valentine's Day in schools is pretty ingrained in me. I've done all sorts of activities in the classroom over the years - the best being the start of a sonnet-writing unit many years ago - until the curriculum was so overloaded … Continue reading #29 – V Day
#28 – Almost Spring
Every year, with the first spring sports flier I spotted, my heart began to flutter. Joy! No, I didn’t particularly care about the sports themselves starting up, per se, although baseball is the only team sport I really enjoy. The happiness came from the fact that somewhere in the not too far future, it would … Continue reading #28 – Almost Spring
#27 – Souper Bowl
This is an area that caused me all sorts of sadness through my years of teaching. For no matter how much I and my fellow educators tried to instill in our students the good vibes of giving in order to care for others - whether through donations of money, items, or time - the collections we held every couple of months always seemed less important, and emptier, than they should have been.
#26 – Parent-Teacher
There they sit in the hallway, side by side, the first two chairs placed in the precious silence before parent-teacher conferences begin. Meanwhile, inside our rooms, we are eating a quick lunch or snack, checking our mail, checking in on children or parents,* arranging the conference spaces we have created, and doing a myriad other … Continue reading #26 – Parent-Teacher
#25: Back
It is the rare individual who happily goes back to the life of early wakeups and daily activities after a long weekend, not to mention a long break. But it feels much worse in education. On January 2nd, when teachers, feeling this way, are faced with students, feeling this way, the results are not pretty. … Continue reading #25: Back
#24 – Polar Bears
A very long time ago, I received a little bag of something I’d never seen before as a holiday gift. They looked like raisin clusters, but these were covered in white chocolate instead. Some information came with them, I believe - something about being a family recipe called Polar Bears. I tucked them away until … Continue reading #24 – Polar Bears
#23 – Change in Plans
Over the years, I taught this lesson - creating a timeline of events and emotions in preparation for writing a literary essay - many, many different ways. I've made a change in plans - in this case, how I am putting my blog out there. But this isn't surprising for anyone who teaches, because there … Continue reading #23 – Change in Plans
