It all started when someone found two small holes through the industrial glass in the door between the hallway and the stairwell. I worked in an old building, so everything was well constructed. The building had withstood a hundred years of children, so there was the normal wear and tear, but rarely was there damage... Continue Reading →
Twenty-seven and the raccoon
Yes, I said raccoon. Now, I am not talking about the time we had a lockdown because there was a bear in the (heavily populated and very urban city) neighborhood, because that bear was clearly lost and I felt for it, but the time we evacuated the building because of a HUGE raccoon. One morning... Continue Reading →
Twenty-six and the phone call
My phone rang one night at about 9:00. I didn't recognize the number, but it was local to the city, so I answered in case it was the parent or guardian of a student. It wasn't a parent, though; it was a student. Twenty-six sounded frantic. She told me that she and her mother had... Continue Reading →
Twenty-five years of teaching
There are thousands of students who will never make it into this blog. Not because they were not memorable, but because there are only 180 days in a school year and so I have had to carefully select which stories I share. Sometimes I don't share things because it makes someone identifiable, sometimes I don't... Continue Reading →
Twenty-four students in my class
Twenty-four is a slightly different kind of memory. It isn't about a single child or a pair of friends, or even a trio of friends. Twenty-four is the number of children enrolled in my first period class. Why does that matter? It matters because they taught the class by themselves one morning. I had a... Continue Reading →
Twenty-two and Twenty-three and my roof
It had snowed, again. That winter the snow was so intense the snow flowed over the driveway wall and down into the front yard but it had snowed so heavily so many times that the children next door had made a slide from my driveway down to my front yard, a full story below it,... Continue Reading →
Twenty-one grows up
Twenty-one was in first grade when we met. He was, to say the least, a rambunctious child. He also hated school. A lot. He would regularly scream and throw things. He would also run out of the classroom at least once a week. The worst part was that I was a first year teacher, so... Continue Reading →
Twenty and the friendship
Twenty was a student who I learned from as an adult. She became friends with two other girls in her middle school years and stayed friends with them through their adult lives. They are now in their 30s and have children and careers, but they are still friends. I don't know why I find it... Continue Reading →
Nineteen wanted to wash his hair
So second block rolls around on a random day in the middle of the week and I get everyone settled in and give them directions for our Interim Assessment (think of it like a test for multiple sections of related curriculum). We have been virtual all year, so none of that happens the way it... Continue Reading →
Eighteen and snow
When Eighteen joined my classroom he was newly arrived from Puerto Rico. He was a skinny little eighth grader who was all knees and elbows, he spoke limited English and always looked like he was waiting for something to happen. I thought he was absolutely adorable but then winter came and I have never seen... Continue Reading →
180 Days of Teaching 