“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—” On January 7th, I received an e-mail from Teach for America informing me that…
read more »Tomorrow, this time, I will be on my way to Memphis. I will be completely done with my first year of law school and completely free for five beautiful summer days in a city that still, inexplicably yet somehow predictably, has my heart. I think it might have something to do with the idea behind…
read more »After I was no longer their teacher, I became friends with many of my students on facebook. Sometimes I’m dismayed by the things they post (and hope they have privacy settings or something), though I’m pretty quiet unless there’s a status or a photo that I particularly like. I wish them happy birthday, send them…
read more »After over half a year in Philadelphia, I returned to Memphis over my spring break last week, and it was such a thrill. It was the first time – since moving away – that I could call myself a visitor to Memphis. I was only in the city for one full day, and much of…
read more »My former life and current life overlapped a few weekends ago at the LEARN Conference. The first breakout panel I attended, on teacher evaluation systems, resonated with me, especially having been affected by the new Teacher Effectiveness Initiative in my time in Memphis. A panelist brought up the need to study the evaluation systems and…
read more »I just finished watching Schindler’s List, and found it timely since in the past few weeks I have finally posted my pictures from my time abroad this past summer. I visited Berlin, Germany and Poland with my parents, and set foot onto the tumultuous ground of the Berlin Wall and Auschwitz. Today, while recognizing my…
read more »As of today at 2:30 p.m., I have officially made it to Christmas Break. I don’t want to use the word “survived,” but to be honest, after basically babysitting 120 7th/8th graders during an all day Christmas party (read: behavior management nightmare), that is how I feel. I’m starting this now because almost everyday my…
read more »Three years ago yesterday, I was accepted to Teach For America in Memphis. I’ll never forget the euphoric relief I felt when I finally checked my e-mail that evening. I’d had the back-up plan of law school, but let’s be honest, who wants to use a back-up plan? I remember where I was (the empty…
read more »I greatly dislike grades. While they are often a motivator for my students, I don’t think they are an accurate representation of what my kids know. Their grades more accurately show what they’ve turned in instead of what they’ve learned. I want students to be able to show off what they’ve learned, not just complete…
read more »Halloween. Sixth period. The two girls had been arguing for weeks now and were regularly distracting Ole Miss’ class with their hollers. On this day though, all it took was a flying piece of paper. One girl gets out of her seat and takes her jacket off. I know what is coming. So I stand…
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