It is early in the school year, and I have been thinking about what exactly I am trying to accomplish during these first few weeks. Honestly, we aren’t learning all that much ASL yet. We are learning some, obviously. Names. Classroom language. Fingerspelling. The beginnings of communication. But there is something else happening before theyContinue reading “The Practice of Coming Back”
Category Archives: Teaching Reflections
What Does It Actually Mean to Care About a Student? (…and why do I care, anyway?)
I care about my students. That’s an easy thing for a teacher to say…and I hear teachers say it all the time. In fact, I say it all the time. But what does that actually mean? What does it mean to care about someone else’s child …or 30 of them? I don’t think caring aboutContinue reading “What Does It Actually Mean to Care About a Student? (…and why do I care, anyway?)”
Little Lessons Everywhere
Last week we had 4 days as Labor Day kept us home. Headed into week three – which is our first full week of classes, and it promises to be an exhausting one with back to school night on Tuesday and the Coastal BTSN at Totem Middle School. Prepping to send out the newsletter –Continue reading “Little Lessons Everywhere”
The road ahead
Before we look down the road at the 2024/2025 school year, we look out the window. Kurt’s (father in law) stained glass window caught the early morning sunshine with my shower mist in the air. A lovely way to start Sunday. Chuck is out walking the dogs at the beach, and I look forward toContinue reading “The road ahead”
annnnd…action!
Ready or not, here we go again… Just about 4 years ago (September 2020 – yep…the ol’ “just get ’em through the year year) I wrote a blog post I called THE INDISPUTABLE JOY OF PREPARING which is a theme I seem to keep cycling back to. Do I ever get to where I’m going?Continue reading “annnnd…action!”
This blog post is an assignment for my MA program.
Reflection on being supervised At the end of February 2020, I got a sore throat…then a fever…then a raspy cough that left me feeling like I had broken ribs…but…the show must go on. (By the way, while this was mere weeks before the Pandemic shut our school (and our nation) down, I tested and discoveredContinue reading “This blog post is an assignment for my MA program.”
The Indisputable Joy of Preparing
Before heading off to Namibia for my 2.5 year stint in the Peace Corps, my mom and I sat and chuckled over life’s funny little things. I don’t know the origin, but it was at about that time that we heard the saying “Some day, you’re gonna wake up dead!” From that one conversation evolvedContinue reading “The Indisputable Joy of Preparing”
100 days
A fun milestone in the school year is 100 days in. My school is starting September 8th and if I’ve counted right that puts us at about Friday, February 12th. The dead of Winter…or the promise of Spring lingers over mid February like indecision over a moot point because for forever, Winter has given wayContinue reading “100 days”
Knocking on a bolted door
21 August, 2020 Knowing is almost always better than not knowing and I’m about to report a bunch of punches and setback, but I’ll do what I always do best…pivot, side-step, recoil, conjure and get creative to respond to the situation at hand. I shouldn’t be this hard. It should be this hard, but itContinue reading “Knocking on a bolted door”
Learning is why. 