All Kinds of Learning Adventures
My answer to the question "What are we doing today?"
The home/work life balance is easier to manage when your workplace feels like home. This picture of ISL's MS building was snapped as I left school on this beautiful evening. In many ways, ISL saved my teaching career. Just a few years ago, I was drowning in a stifling work environment that was about as opposite… Continue reading Home
Kindle (verb): to light a fire; to inspire. This candle in my room is for Mr. Hiskes; my AP English teacher and the originator of my weekly Word Wednesday assignment (where my students teach each other vocabulary instead of me.) Only, he had a real candle and mine is fake.... But thanks to him, my love for… Continue reading Kindle
My picture today is of a different stack of books: every single one of my Norton anthologies from college. Like silent sentinels, they have been in my classroom every single year. In Michigan, teachers are required to have a Bachelor's and minor in order to be certified in a subject. So, these anthologies represent my… Continue reading Norton Anthologies
Today's teaching picture: Even though I haven't taught some of these novels in years, I still like to keep them around--like they're old friends. I've learned that you don't really know a book until you've taught it. When you spend that much time with a book, you find that it develops a personality and evolves… Continue reading You don’t really know a book until you’ve taught it.
October is a notoriously difficult time for me. So, this month, I want to focus on the small things that I love about teaching and on the people who have shaped my career in different ways. This year, I am blessed with first period planning. It was as if the stars aligned, because I… Continue reading October Reflection Challenge
Years ago, I wanted to write my AP English essay about Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but didn't have a copy of the book. My teacher gave me his copy by crossing out his name and writing mine. Even though it has fallen apart into two, that book remains on my shelf as a cherished possession.… Continue reading The Gift of Reading
I was out to dinner last night with my husband, and we were talking about when teaching "clicks." Somehow, somewhere along the way, teaching became second nature. Of course, I've known since I was 12 that I wanted to teach--and every experience as a volunteer or intern, along with the quality secondary education program at… Continue reading The Sweet Spot
One of the most exciting moments that a teacher can witness is watching a student fall in love with literature. Not the puppy love of a student reading popular novels like Twilight or even The Hunger Games, which are easily consumed and digested. The teenage obsession over vampires, werewolves and attractive young actors is a short-lived phase.… Continue reading Falling in Love
How things change. Due to a number of circumstances and opportunities, I find myself at yet another crossroads. Don't ask me how I managed to be at my fourth school in three years. It's actually much less crazy than it sounds. But here I am about to start on Monday with a new-to-me classroom of… Continue reading Crossroads (again).
And so it begins. Although it doesn't quite feel like fall yet here in Central Florida, now that the school year is underway, it might as well start cooling down. Even so, in my second-floor classroom, the bright sunshine is a welcome presence as students file in and sit down to begin the bell work posted… Continue reading Fall 2012: First post.
All Kinds of Learning Adventures 