When I started college, I was shocked by what my fellow freshmen were unable to do – laundry, making their beds, making a simple meal, and the list went on. Some of them were having a LOT of problems handling the adult portion of their …
Have you ever seen the movie The Princess Bride? The book starts with a grandfather reading a book aloud to his grandson. The grandson is less than excited in the beginning, but gets more and more into the book as the plot progresses. By the …
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 …
A few years ago, one of my history students asked, “What was life like before the iPhone, Ms. P?“ As much as that question made me feel REAL old, I could see her point. My students’ lives have been completely taken over by cell phones. …
I remember coming home from the hospital with our first child. She was so sweet and tiny and helpless. My husband and I got home and looked at each other, thinking, “Well, what do we do now? We had just figured out there was no …
So, I hate to run. Hate it. But a while back I had friends who loved to run together. So, I decided to start running, too. Peer pressure, yo. via GIPHY But I knew that I couldn’t just start running (literally out my door) without …
“How can I get Jake to do his homework?” If I had a dollar for every time a parent asked me this question during my teaching career, I wouldn’t be working anymore. No joke. Homework battles were the biggest problems facing most of my parents. …
An e-mail arrived from my mom titled “Your Last First Day of School.” It was my senior year of college and I was about to head off to the first day of classes. But I would leave a few minutes late and wiping my eyes. …
Looking back on my teen summers, my memories are . . . pretty hazy. All right, I don’t remember much except when we left home for a vacation. Other than that, they all blend. I believe I spent my time going to friends’ houses, reading, …
My first year of teaching was exhausting. Literally and figuratively. There were multiple times when I took a nap Friday afternoon and woke up the next morning. But I survived my first year and was proud of what I had done. Yet, when I started …