Teaching Life

After dropping my daughter off at the University of Vermont, in Burlington, for debate camp, twenty years ago (yikes) I went exploring campuses for a return to school for a…

I was thinking about my professional mentors, raucous Sadie Schwartz and clever Dee Hicks. Choctaw School,operated from 1871 to 1946 Throughout my spiritual search, Miss Lola and Miss Gertrude loved on…

I wanted to make my last year teaching a cause for celebration. Here is one of them: QEI, QEII, and Freddie Mercury! (Thank you J.K. & K.S) 2 weeks later,…

Four years ago August, I traipsed into my dear head-of-middle school’s office to let him know that I had decided this would be my last year and I wanted to…

 “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”—George Santayana  I am in Whitwell TN as you read this (edited) article from The Tennessean,dated 7 months ago  The Tennessean Feb 10…

Below: The day after Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.CHANGE THE LAW Consider donating: https://www.sandyhookpromise.org

Quotations from: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teacher-shortages-leaving-school-education Teachers are exhausted. Please let them know how much you appreciate how hard they are working. Nationwide, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 5.4% of educational services jobs…

“As a state, we shouldn’t be forcing teachers to crawl around on an ice rink to get the money they need to fund their classrooms.”    --Loren Paul, president of…

Classic winners you may have forgotten. Faves from 20 years of teaching middle school English. Babbitt, Tuck EverlastingBalliett, Chasing Vermeer Cooper, King of ShadowsCreech, Walk Two Moons (Newbery Award)Curtis, Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 (Newbery Honor)Draper, Out of…