Yesterday was National Women’s Day so I was thinking about the influential women in the world and especially the ones who write YA books. There was one who came to mind as she was a trailblazer in this genre and is having a resurgence of popularity just now. Judy Blume was one of the first …
Tag Archives: education
The Intangibles of Teaching
I went for a massage this morning (self-care is important, people) and as I was checking out, this m an was telling the receptionist about how his teachers influenced his life. About how he was a “bad kid” but they still supported him and how he didn’t really realize it until later how much his …
Literature for a change…
Part of the reason I started writing here was to discuss literature and books, especially for young adults and middle grade readers. However, I’ve gotten away from that, having been inundated with the politics of teaching. I have read a couple of really good YA books recently and while they don’t seem similar on the …
Another One
I was saddened this morning when I heard of yet another school shooting. This one was in CA. Really, when will enough be enough? I was a senior in high school when the Columbine shooting happened and that was 20 years ago and nothing’s changed. In fact, things have gotten worse. There have been so …
Sick Day
As soon as I see a text from daycare I know. “Your child has a fever. Please come pick her up.” And I do, of course. It was only an hour earlier than usual, but I got there as fast as I could. This morning, both girls did not feel well so I made the …
There is value in “teaching novels.”
I have to address something my principal said at a recent staff meeting. He was going on about how when his son only read novels in English and learned about interpreting them, then he wasn’t prepared for college. I have to disagree with this. First of all, this is how I learned English and most …
The Other Side of the Table (Part 1)
At this point in time, I’ve been a Special Education teacher longer than I’ve been a parent. So when my husband and I decided to have our daughters, who were premature, evaluated for early intervention, I was pretty sure I understood what would happen. What I didn’t realize was how weird it would be to …
Collaboration
This week I attended a Professional Development (PD) workshop on co-teaching. Contrary to popular belief, teachers who don’t work in the summer sometimes spend their time trying to improve their practice for the upcoming year. So with this in mind, I attended this workshop. Now…I will have to say I was disappointed. While the presenters …
A New Beginning
The more things change, the more they stay the same. A cliche maybe, but cliches definitely have truth embedded in them. After an extended hiatus from blogging in which I had a difficult pregnancy and became a twin mom, I feel compelled to re-visit my musings about literature, education and life in the New York …
Meditations on Literature and Literacy...Continued 