About a week ago, I put this picture on Instagram. The caption is simple: Choose the joy. That is what my mom always said. This picture was taken while I was laughing with a dear friend as we sat across the table from a man dying from a horrible cancer with a terrible prognosis. And…
Category: Teaching
Somewhere Between
Somewhere between the first anniversary of your death and the second anniversary of celebrating your birthday without you – I have moved into a better space. The astonishment of feeling guilty for not missing you is not something for which I had prepared, nor was the feeling of overwhelming nostalgia for you as I sat…
Four Your Favorite Number
Undiscovered I: The streets are blocked Just like my mind Uncomfortable and hot I search for a cool drink And all I hear are the echoes of your voice At the card table Searching for the Marfa lights In your bedroom Nature swoons to remember you The wind across the desert The butterflies and birds…
for the innocent
the full moon eclipsed by a cloudy night finds its way to my core where moments are treasured like lucky pennies to be given away in dreams where the wind blows impressions of a softness on a difficult day to remind me that Spring returns where meditations trace my beginnings to a river, diverged that…
For the Love of Shoes
I have said that I love shoes, as recently as this week. I always joke with my students that I like their shoes and ask if we can trade. They always say no, until I asked Derek. He said yes, and he was serious. I kicked off my shoes and he his. They were a…
I CHOOSE LOVE
In the vastness of the universe, I believe that two emotions are at play: Love and fear. In my life, I have experienced the magnitude of both, the vastness, the depths, the highs, the isolation, the comradery. There was a time when I knew that love existed, but I did not believe in it. That…
BLACK & WHITE NUMBERS
(If you click on the graph then it will enlarge and is easier to read) When I saw these numbers my heart sank, tears welled in my eyes, and I felt sick. I wanted to go home and barricade myself from their significance. I wished I hadn’t looked because they only confirmed what I already…
THE REBIRTH OF GRIEF
In June of 1992, my life changed forever. My previous date of a life altering event was when my father passed away in February of 1980. At the age of 15, between my sophomore and junior year of high school, I attended a summer camp called Anytown, USA. Anytown, USA was sponsored by the National…
THE INNOVATION DILEMMA
Webster defines “innovation” as a new idea, device, or method. I am back for my thirteenth year in education and my third as a Special Education teacher in an elementary setting. Our administration has asked us to spear head an “innovation challenge” where we are to look towards new ways of improving student learning….
TEACHING FOR THE MONEY
As tomorrow starts another beginning to another school year, I can’t help but reflect on how I ended up in the teaching profession. The following phrase has been repeated multiple times over the years in the different school districts that I have worked, “No one teaches for the money.” Or something like that is phrased…
THE 12 STEPS: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EDUCATORS
I found this recently. It is something I created while in graduate school. I think it is amazing that there are recurring themes of social justice that interest and excite me. The 12 Steps: Recommendations for Educators 1. We admitted that our cultural background is not always “right” or “normal.” 2. We became aware that…
arlisann 