Another school year is coming to an end. My last day of work is June 30th. 22 more sleeps. I have so much to reflect on as I think about my 35th year in education. I had to learn quickly and create new ways of teaching online. I am proud that I dove in ready… Read more

As part of my cancer recovery, I made a commitment to myself to be more present in my life and to focus on what really matters to me. For years, I have been neglecting my physical and emotional health. I have been prioritizing work over friends and family. I lost years of my life worrying… Read more

I haven’t written a blog post in two weeks. In fact, I haven’t written much of anything in two weeks. And, I’ve just started to recover from a reading slump. Although I recently finished Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner, I struggled to get started and to keep reading. And, earlier this week, when I picked… Read more

I have written about this before. Teaching online: the hard days. Well, today was a hard day. I literally sat for 7 hours. I skipped lunch. No water. No bathroom break. Nothing. No one to blame, but myself. Still trying to do everything humanly possible and more to engage my students even as I recognize… Read more

Lately I’ve been reading lots of tweets and posts from teachers about a new kind tired. That overwhelms. And, lately, I’ve been feeling it, too. It seeps through my body at the end of the day even though it wasn’t there minutes before. It’s the kind of tired that I usually experience at the beginning… Read more

Some days are worse than others. Despair comes suddenly; the world is just too much to bare. This day. Cross posted to the Two Writing Teachers Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge. Read more

I wrote this poem in preparation for Writing Workshop class with my students tomorrow. The template I will offer my students is slightly different from this one (a big thank you to Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski from her poetry Google Slides Deck to build community in the classroom. Elisa. Resourceful, goofy, nerdy. Partner of Gino; mother… Read more

In one more day another Spring Break will be in the books. Monday night I will be setting three alarms – yep, three! – so that I can wake up at a reasonable hour. On Tuesday I will joyfully welcome students back even if I can’t see their faces behind their Google Meet squares. Even… Read more

Today, I’m writing a bop. This is a 3-stanza poem. Stanza #1 is six lines long and presents a problem. Stanza #2 is eight lines long and explores or expands on the problem. Stanza #3 is six lines long and presents the solution or shows the failed attempt at a resolution. Each stanza is followed… Read more

Wow! I can’t believe today is the last day of this year’s Slice of Life Challenge. I have sliced every day and commented on the posts of slicers. My writing evolved in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. My #OLW for 2021 is evolve. Most of this month’s slices were about changing and growing. My #OLW… Read more