"A word after a word after a word is power." - Margaret Atwood
Back to School: 2020 Edition
Usually, the close of a long summer brings teachers sleepless nights, planning binges, renewed excitement, re-structured lesson plans, and anxiety filled dreams about showing up to school to a class full of students who have gone full anarchy on you and your plans. This year, however, it's a bit different, isn't it? Now, those anxiety-filled… Continue reading Back to School: 2020 Edition
A Tale of Two Coopers
Dr. Christian Cooper, a Harvard-educated law-abiding citizen and senior biomedical editor, has a bird-watching hobby and a penchant for encouraging others to abide by leash laws. Amy Cooper is the head of insurance investment solutions at the Global Investment Firm Franklin Templeton, and presumably, she is well-versed in risk assessment. She got this one dead… Continue reading A Tale of Two Coopers
How to Live Like an Introvert
These are strange times. For the first time in my lifetime, people around the world are being told en masse to stay at home, be socially distant, and avoid crowded or confined public and private spaces. For someone like me, while the anxiety of uncertainty looms large, living in a state of semi-isolation is not… Continue reading How to Live Like an Introvert
That Time I Went Batshit Crazy on My Kid
He was seven, give or take. I came home from work to find that he and the neighbor had just spray painted my parents' patio with bright red and black spray paint. Words like "cool" and "Pokemon" now littered what was, to be honest, a pretty sad space to begin with. It was spring, I… Continue reading That Time I Went Batshit Crazy on My Kid
Just Another Day in the USA
As I sit here writing this, my daughter is safe. She texted me at 5:58 PM to let me know and apologized because she had been in class when I had texted her earlier in the day. I didn't know what she was talking about, but then again, I did. Of course I did. As… Continue reading Just Another Day in the USA
A Very Short Story About a Toaster Oven
If I had to choose one small appliance that has stood out for my entire life, it would have to be the toaster oven. There have been many in my life, and though each has its own legacy, one in particular stands out for me. One year at Christmastime, Dad bought a brand new toaster… Continue reading A Very Short Story About a Toaster Oven
Let’s Play a Game That’s Not Really a Game
You've seen all those "Let's Play a Game" posts - the Internet's version of "Have You Ever?" They ask you to look at various statements about your past deeds (or misdeeds, as it were) and assign yourself a score. What would the #metoo version look like? I wondered. So let's play. All are welcome. Calculate… Continue reading Let’s Play a Game That’s Not Really a Game
Stop Telling Kids to be Nicer to Bullies
Today's headline was this. And I just can't. I can't perpetuate the myth that people who shoot innocent children in schools do so because they were bullied. I can't accept that somehow a mass murderer deserves my sympathy as much as or more than the victims and their families. I can't tell my children or… Continue reading Stop Telling Kids to be Nicer to Bullies
North Carolina Legislators, Please Note
Today is the first day of your short session. It was adjourned, as I have read it, within 30 minutes of its call to order. This, with approximately 20,000 North Carolina teachers on your doorstep. We expect more from our lawmakers, just as we expect more from our students. As educators, we are responsible for… Continue reading North Carolina Legislators, Please Note
To My Mom, Who is Far Away, On Mother’s Day
I wish I could be with you on Mother's Day, but as it works sometimes, time and distance are not with us this weekend. From my living room eleven hours away, I am thinking of you in your home of the past year and a half, a home we never intended. No one ever does.… Continue reading To My Mom, Who is Far Away, On Mother’s Day
