I fell in love with Transcendental literature during my junior year of high school. Instantly, upon reading the writings of Emerson and Thoreau, it was like I had found my people. Their words spoke to me. I was moved by their belief that we’re all part and parcel of a greater whole. I studied them…
teacher talk
In Vacant Or In Pensive Mood
We’re not really yard-y people around here. We like things low maintenance. I suspect that if it weren’t cost-prohibitive to have artificial grass installed we would’ve done it already so that there wouldn’t even be a need to mow the yard. I have places where I could grow flowers if I could grow flowers. I…
Public Shaming: It has to stop
This trend of shaming people for wrongdoings both perceived and actual has to stop. Yesterday, Jezebel published an article about teenagers who used racist language on Twitter after the election. The article listed these teenagers’ names, the cities and states where they live, their schools, even some of their accolades and college plans. All of…
May His Memory Be Eternal
It was my second Mother’s Day. After putting Joshua to bed, I checked my phone and saw a message that changed my life. “Have you heard about __________?” No, no I hadn’t heard the news. So I did what any teacher does. I looked him up on Facebook. The posts on his wall painted the…
(Not) Back to school
It feels like the entire world went back to school today. (Around here, students and teachers have been back for a month and are about to have their first week break thanks to a modified year-round school calendar. Totally awesome until the summer.) Except not me. I didn’t go back to school. Right now, I’m…