ACTELA’s college teacher of the year, Shoudong Feng, said the above quote at this year’s Arkansas Curriculum Conference, which I spent all of today and yesterday at. After feeling like the world is falling for the past two weeks, these two days have given me the ability to breathe again. Less guilt, more inspiration, more…

I am trying to get my internship log completed by the October 28th deadline. The only problem is October 28th ended 14 minutes ago and my log is empty because I didn’t do any of the 34 required activities. I started to complete one, just now, called a “Demographic Narrative.” Relative to my last post,…

There are four responsibilities: 1) teach sixth grade, 2) plan professional development for 21 first year teachers (and begin to plan summer training for 35 new first year teachers), 3) complete three grad classes this semester, including an internship, and 4) train for a half marathon in a month, full marathon in February. There is…

This morning I lived the life I might have 10 months from now. I woke up just a mile from downtown little rock, in SoMa. Pulled on my running shoes and brushed my teeth. Started out. Feet pounded the first mile to the Marriott, former Peabody, then turned right toward the Clinton Center. Smiled at…

Shoeless. Walmart mom pants hiked up past the belly button, khaki, with suspenders over a boys’ 14-16 blue button down church shirt. Women’s navy tank top turned vest, a straw fedora whose Budwiser embroidery was removed with force 12 hours previous. Barefoot. Beside: all the same, but with less material and red checks instead of…

I woke up this morning knowing I had slept deep and well all six hours. After tracking my sleep patterns for the first three week of school, I’ve learned that for me, five hours of sleep is just as good as eight. It feels good to not feel guilty for not sleeping enough anymore. At…

For the first time today my voice was shrill as I walked my second class back to my room from the library. I had already removed talking students and consolidated them as a first warning, but they would not let up. Eventually I told a student he had a D-Hall. It’s the first negative consequence…

My friends! My loves! My strangers! The planning has begun, the program is back. Welcome to the Second Annual Dear Successful Stranger project. This week I had a number of my new students and a parent ask me about the pen-pal program. They cannot wait to get started! Improvements from last year: After a number of…

When I came home from my run tonight I was poised at the kitchen counter, spreading peanut butter and jelly on a tiny tortilla for dinner, when I dropped my phone. This is a pretty usual occurrence, at minimum four times a day. When I did this I almost giggled– the Spiderman App is available…

There is a difference between reading about laughter and doing it. I am a practical person. I thrive in structure, am honest and blunt to a fault, fill my life with lists and calendars. When we looked at a handout in our last grad seminar, one that had one column for “Manager” and another for…