ELA (English - Language Arts) teachers universally dream of a single phrase sprouting, unbidden, from the mouths of their students. “CAN WE KEEP READING?” If it’s not a universal dream, it’s at least one of mine. Anyway, this week, I heard the elusive phrase. I have certainly heard it before, but generally because I was using…

Friends, a major event of my teaching career occurred this week. I discovered a chalk board eraser. To you, this may seem small.  But since a child stole mine in February of last year, I have used a combination of old raggedy towels and wet wipes to clean my chalkboard on a daily basis.  When…

Here is the good news. Nine weeks remain in the second quarter of the 2012-2013 school year. Of those nine weeks, seven are being cropped by district professional development, external professional development, and one free standing personal day. There are five weeks before Thanksgiving (thanks Southwest Airlines, my flight is, “just around the corner,” indeed).…

Bonjour October. We knew you would come. In the yearly voyage of the earth around the sun, October had to come. October, for those of you who don’t know, is a funny little month, full of parent-teacher conferences, report cards, and sugar crazed adolescents. And sleepy, sleepy teachers. Between the most recent state visit (my…

[NB: This excerpt was inspired by a brilliant conversation I had in the midst of a highly charged baseball game tonight.  More soon on The Octobers, as they have well and truly arrived.] Remember the kid who always wore a hoodie to school?  And not just a regular sweatshirt – she wore the same hoodie…

  Dear Terminal 2, Thou art a muse. But really, why have more people not written odes to your inspirational qualities?  The entrancing qualities of the flickering fluorescents, the gentle odor of old Starbucks grounds, the peaceful murmur of waiting Midwesterners… With such conditions, and with my propensity for travel in the past five-going-on-six years,…

I don’t quite know what to do with myself. It’s 7:06 PM on Sunday night. (Hell night.  Sing it, teacher friends.) It is way too early to attempt sleep, even with a friendly sleep aid.  I have done all of the work that I can reasonably do (I’m more or less planned through the end…

One. Almost five weeks ago, right before the children returned from their frolicsome summers, I managed to fall down, hurt myself, and end up at urgent care with a cute little foot boot (“post-operative shoe”).  I ended up back at urgent care this week (with renewed foot pain) to learn that I really had a…

Oh, hello friends. 1 year ago today, I was sitting on the curb outside of my gym, misting as I talked to my parents on the phone.  It was my first TFtear, my first TFmeltdown. A precious, precious memory. Two weeks into the 2011-2012 school year, I was already at my wits end, a charming…

[disclaimer part 1: I wrote this on Saturday.  Today is Tuesday.  There have been children for 2 days.  More on that when there is more on that.]   Things I lost track of this week: -Number of times people expressed shock and amazement about my glorious and voluntary return to room 374 -Approximately 2,000,000 different…