One year, my mom was late to school supply shopping and all the “cool” lunch bags were gone. My school year was ruined and I would clearly not make any new friends with a lame lunch bag. (You can read my tween drama in that, …
You have to leave the house in . . . 10 minutes. Oh jeez. As you swallow breakfast whole, you realize that you need to bring something for lunch. Um, maybe a sandwich. Where is the mustard? Are there chips in the pantry? Are those …
The fall of my senior year of college was the definition of hectic. I attended school full-time, worked part-time, gave school tours for the Admissions Office, was the president of a service fraternity on campus, and spent several hours a week observing in a local …
If you’re like me, you’re constantly watching your news feed for information on your school’s plan for the 2020-21 school year. Possibly all remote, maybe hybrid, perhaps in-person full-time? But that seems to change by the hour. (In the 2 days that I wrote this …
Each and every summer I have a Back to School anxiety dream. While each year is slightly different, they are all variations on the same theme. It’s the first day of school and I’m not prepared. Some years, I’m a student and I miss the …
I discovered the joy of audiobooks as an adult. I had a 45-minute commute to my first teaching job. While I love the radio, it got old fast. But my mom had purchased the first few Harry Potter books (on cassette) and offered them to …
Even though I live in Colorado, I am not the most outdoorsy of people. Most of my summers growing up were spent in my air-conditioned house, reading. Each year, I managed to work my way through the library’s summer reading list. I’m no longer a teen …
I’ve always loved to bake; other people love to eat those baked goods. My senior year of high school, I decided to make a small business out of it. Each and every day, I baked and wrapped cookies to sell the next day at school. …
As a social studies teacher, I had MANY difficult conversations with my teen students, including race and racism. My brown and black students already knew what I was talking about because they and their families lived it. I was teaching race and racism to the …
I ❤️ high school juniors. I’ve taught 8-12 grade, but 11th grade is my jam. Juniors are close enough to the end that they are serious about school, but far enough from finishing that they stay focused. But junior year can be stressful. For many …