I’m a planner, especially when it comes to Back-to-School season. This lady prepares early. So, I planned my first day of school outfit several weeks in advance. As one does. However, one year I did not account for Restaurant Week. If your city doesn’t have…
I’ve taught a lot of organizationally-challenged kids, but Tommy* takes the cake. He had no form of organization that I could see. He asked for a pencil each and every class period. Oh, and he also needed a piece of paper to take notes. He…
When I was in school, it never occurred to me to personalize my supplies. The only personalized thing I ever had was my paper bag book covers. Yes, that was a thing. Other than that, I had the same yellow pencils, green scissors, and binders…
I was ready to head back for my senior year of college, when it finally happened. My backpack broke. This had been my backpack for all of high school and the first 3 years of college. It had held textbooks, notebooks, gym uniforms, and so…
My first day of teaching was also my students’ first day of high school. (Yay for teaching all 9th graders!) I’m not sure who was more scared. As I nervously sweated through my clothes (TMI?), I realized my students were all terrified. Huge eyes, nervous…
Every summer break I had great plans. I was going to work out every day, paint my condo, read all those teaching books I meant to read, travel to new places, plan the first month of the school year. Oh yeah, and sleep. When summer…
I recently had a question pop into my head about my great-grandmother’s confectionary (a sweets and food store) that she ran a century ago in rural Idaho. Did the store have a name?? I’ve never heard anyone in the family refer to it by a…
A few years ago, I visited Niagara Falls with friends. On the Canadian side, I spotted a small history museum and convinced my friends to go in with me. It blew our minds – even my friends who aren’t into history – and made me…
Is there anything better than summer vacation? Long days, warm nights, and nothing to do. I always loved summer break . . . for the first 6 weeks or so. And then boredom started to kick in. I had already read all my books, tried…
My one-year-old daughter is nicknamed the “Destroyer of Books.” She puts everything, including books, in her mouth. And proceeds to gum them to death. As a life-long book worm, this is incredibly painful to me. I wouldn’t even highlight my own college textbooks because I…