education
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How To Be a Teenage Girl
If you haven’t yet discovered Tavi Gevinson and her webzine Rookie, it’s time you did. If you know any teenage girls, you need to send them a link to Rookie, because every teenage girl needs to think about the stuff Tavi Gevison and her writers think about. In her original editor’s letter, Tavi explains that… Continue reading
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Too Many Books
The Husband and I are moving soon. The other night, we invited a mover over to give us a quote. He looked around and said, “It’s going to cost you a fortune. You have too many books.” I know what some of you are thinking. Never! Sacrilege! No such thing! These were not my responses.… Continue reading
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What’s In a Name?
What do your students call you? Would you rather they called you something else? A couple of years ago, a reader named “Viceroy” left this baffling comment on a post that had nothing to do with his observation. I notice that your students, who appear to be 17 & 18 years old, are required to… Continue reading
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Things They Should Teach In School
The Husband and I have just finalized a deal to purchase a house. (To read about one of the more dramatic adventures of our search, go here.) In the process, we’ve had to do all sorts of things that we’ve never had to do before. We didn’t have the faintest clue how to tackle some… Continue reading
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A Spring Blog Break
Dear readers: thank you so much for your loyalty! I have done my best to sustain my blogging through the chaos of the recent weeks and months, but I find myself in need of a brief break. I will take a two-week hiatus to get my personal and professional affairs in order, and will return… Continue reading
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Demoralization vs. Burnout
Are you burnt out? Or are you demoralized? A recent article (passed on to me by a colleague) fits nicely with my series on teacher burnout that wrapped up last week: sometimes what we call burnout is actually demoralization. The difference is in the cause. I have been lucky enough to work mostly in contexts… Continue reading
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Bad Teacher
Is it possible for a bad person to be a good teacher? The Husband and I have been on an adventure. We have been looking for a condo for the last couple of months – mortgage pre-approvals! Real estate agents! Notaries and house inspectors! We feel like grownups – and two weeks ago, we found… Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 7: Write a Blog
This is the final post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. In the summer of 2007, my burnout reached its peak. I’d taken some steps to deal with it (and you can check out the links below to read… Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 6: Meditate
This is the seventh post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. I have a confession to make. I’m a bad meditator. Meditation is incredibly boring. Everything in me resists doing it, and I can avoid it for months. If… Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 5: Get More Training
This is the sixth post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. One advantage of being a teacher is that it’s easy to keep learning, and learning, and learning. I got my education degree years ago, specializing in Teaching English… Continue reading
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 