Not being in a classroom on the first day of school since 1975 has been a textbook meditative exploration of riding the flow of emotions. In meditation, we learn to ride our emotions as they arise in our practice and our life as a series of waves.
Tag: teaching
The Vote to End The Strike Comes Today
But if you want total transparency, I am disgusted that this elected group of people led by an out-of-touch superintendent played chicken with our classrooms and the education of the students we serve, many of whom are already notably behind their peers due to COVID and the negative impact of digital learning in an environment where technology is often unavailable and unreliable.
This Teacher Is On Strike IRL (But Not On The Blog)
Why are we striking? The superintendent and board will have you believe it's over our pay. The 1000% unvarnished truth is that our 103 school building district in the heart of Columbus, Ohio, has been poorly managed and even more poorly maintained over the years (I have been here since 2001), and we are requiring the superintendent spend some of the $400 million dollars she was allocated from the federal government from COVID funds (ESSA funds) to do some of these tasks:
Friday Followup
So much to do, say, tell you about, over these last 48 hours, but to be honest, I am too emotionally drained to form much of a narrative with all the important details. I didn't want to let the day go by, however, without stating that I am absolutely finished teaching.
Dismissal
And when that final dismissal bell rings
two roads diverge at The Wood1
and I
take the one less traveled by...
Memorial Day Monday
So wild to think back to my first few years and how I craved having my own classroom, after two years spent subbing, and two years spent teaching in a janitor's closet. Yes, I had a janitor's closet for my first two years teaching high school, with 10-12 high school kids trying to fit in a room the size of a household bathroom because...
Saturday Snippet
I've been immersed in the experience of being a student on Zoom instead of the teacher, and learning that it is possible for beautiful things to happen there despite the digital divide. With the right teacher and the right energy, my assumptions about online learning have dissolved. Makes me wonder what other assumptions need further investigation against the truth of the matter.
Sunday Reflections
What I do know is that as each day passes, I feel lighter and more human. That's enough for me right now. It's been decades since I've felt this human. I kinda like it.
This Final Friday
I may have started teaching in 1995, but I have never known what it feels like to not have August be my New Year's Eve and the first week of June having a holiday-like vibe. I've had bits of dreams of what it would be like to enjoy a gorgeous, chilly autumn morning outside of the cinder block school walls, or...
Monday Musing
Why is patience one of the hardest human states to cultivate? Why is it so easy to disrupt?
Sunday Reflections
As you can see, I'm not yet back in the flow of a daily post, but I'll keep working on it. There's something to the habitual practice of writing even a short blog post each day that has an alchemical reaction to making me more aware of the moment-to-moment spaces in life, so it's a place I like to be. In the meantime, this week has been interesting...
Sunday Reflections
Hello, friends. It's been some time, hasn't it? Today is a gorgeous, warm, mid-spring day here in Ohio, the kind we spend the rest of the year either wishing for or looking back upon. I've spent the weekend dog sitting for a colleague, which reminded me of...
Thursday Thanks
Feeling good about your life, but not expressing a heartfelt 'thank you' is like wrapping a gift for someone but never giving it to them--Chip Conley
Thursday Thought: Letters Matter
Dear Football Gods, Please may I have a touchdown? Amen.
Wednesday’s Words
I know this sounds a little extra fluffy, but we're not in a world of reading, writing, and arithmetic being enough. We have students who've not been taught to be humans, and being a good reader does not make you a functional, successful, and relatable human. I don't have the answers, but I can work with what I have.
Words by Beth 