Who would have thought that after 35 years in education I would be teaching online? How can I manage all of the moving parts, including the squares on the screen as children move in and out of the Google Meet? How can I get to know the student who hides behind his camera and never… Read more

Earlier this month, I co-led a Conversation to Build Capacity, titled: Building Community in Digital Spaces with Garry Smolyansky, @gar_small, for @TheMentoree. There were seven of us in the conversation and during the one hour session we started to build a community of adult learners on Zoom. How did that happen, you ask? I think… Read more

I used to think that online school was a terrible idea. Now I know that the right combination of patience and the ability to be flexible in the moment can make it work for the teacher and students. But you know what? Being patient and flexible with situations gone amok is not any different from… Read more

This is the year that I will practice patience. First of all, and for the record, I am not a patient person. Although I don’t mind waiting in lines or for a table at a restaurant, I do hate having to wait for my doctor to call with test results. I’m not a patient person.… Read more

There are days when I start writing and I’m not sure where it’s going to take me. Today is one of those days. There are days when I write in the morning and it’s early evening before I can get back to my writing. Today is one of those days. There are says when life… Read more

I am a member of the #Time2Write online writing workshop started by Jen Laffin at TeachWrite. We meet on Zoom at four designated times during the week. I try to participate in as many of the sessions as I can. Sometimes I can only make it once or twice. Knowing that I can log in… Read more

The days are starting to get cooler, but it’s not winter yet. The days are inching towards September. August is over and done with. It’s time for a new school year, but nothing will be the same. My grade level team was in the school building this weekend, but I stayed home to read, write… Read more

What follows are images and a list of some of the books I read this summer or currently reading. In addition to the books listed above, this summer I also read Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis, City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, Start with Joy… Read more

On Sunday, my husband and I spent most of the day cleaning and purging unwanted “stuff”. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate over time. I was going to say “junk”, but it wasn’t junk when we acquired a lot of these things. It was what we needed or thought we needed at the time.… Read more

  My 15-year-old son, who has been visiting his sisters in the U.S., called me yesterday. Our conversation went something like this: I don’t feel well. I’ve had it! he said. What do you mean? The mom in me started to worry. What was going on? Was he feeling sick? Did he have a fight with… Read more