personal
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Old Lady Studies Japanese
The other day, someone I don’t know well wrote me a short message in Japanese. He’s not Japanese, and I don’t know how he knew that I can read simple words in hiragana (“ありがとうございます” = “Thank you.”). The delight I felt over this tiny connection turned my day around. Last week, my Japanese teacher asked Continue reading
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The First Days of School: Then and Now
Today is the beginning of the new school year for me and my colleagues, and many of you will be getting back into the saddle in the next couple of weeks. As I prepare, my thoughts have returned to three of my past posts that still seem timely. The first is called “Mean ‘Til Hallowe’een: Continue reading
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What Swimming Taught Me About Teaching
It’s good for a teacher to be a student once in a while. I learn this lesson over and over as I pursue my MEd. I have encountered all sorts of challenges I’d forgotten about, like worrying about grades and managing my time in order to get readings done and papers written. I’ve had to Continue reading
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The Five Best Podcasts in the World
Because I’m an English teacher, I rarely read anything I don’t have to. During the semester, my novels collect dust on the coffee table, my Kindle lies abandoned in my schoolbag, and the weekend newspapers sit coiled uncomfortably in their rubber bands until I toss them in the recycling bin. Once my final grading is Continue reading
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Top 10 Posts of 2010
For your reading and catch-up pleasure, I have once again compiled a “year’s top posts” list. These posts are “top” in that they got the most hits; in some cases this may have been because of timing, a well-chosen keyword, or fluke, but in some cases I think it’s because they truly were the best Continue reading
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My Top 10 Books of 2010
I encourage you all to make your own lists, either in the comments below or on your own blog (please post the link in the comments) because of course I don’t already have enough unread books in my house. Note: These books were not necessarily published in 2010, but they were part of my 2010 Continue reading
a visit from the goon squad, amy ignatow, books, brian k vaughan, cathleen schine, david nicholls, graphic novels, jeannette walls, jennifer egan, jonathan franzen, literature, memoirs, ms hempel chronicles, novels, personal, reading, sarah shun-lien bynum, society, tana french, the glass castle, the imperfectionists, the likeness, the popularity papers, the three weissmanns of westport, tom rachman, y the last man, young adult fiction -
What Does Learning Look Like?
My “personal narrative” class is going great. We started by reading Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, and they seemed to like it. A lot. Most of them did the reading and participated actively in the group work, and after a little talk to them about “what to do if you HAVEN’T done the reading and Continue reading
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RIP Mister Cat
You may have wondered about my avatar. You’re right: it’s not me. It’s the delightful Mister Cat, who, unfortunately, left us last week for the kitty beyond. He was an excellent, orange, fuzzy friend to all who knew him, and I wanted to pay tribute to him for serving as my blog face for the Continue reading
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Ten Wonderful Things, Part Eight: Blogging
The eighth of ten things I loved about this past term. #8: Blogging Some days, I teach because I blog. When I began this blog in 2007, I was seriously considering giving up teaching. It was just too hard. Then Vila H. convinced me that I needed to start blogging about something. Teaching is the 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 