180: Writing

The third book in the Freshman Dorm series, Freshman Guys, should have come with some sort of prologue with a message to young girls everywhere: These are the guys you will meet in college. Choose wisely. Just saying.  Would 5th grade me have listened? Probably not. I was probably thinking Steven was mysterious. I hope I was thinking that Christopher was a jerk. Likely, living through the…

Remembering Octavia Butler who would’ve been 79 years old yesterday.I first read her work in my freshman year of college in Intro to African-American Literature. It was the first English class I took in college, and I was excited to sign up for it as the student who once complained that all we read were white male authors in AP English, only for the next day my teacher to slap a copy of Toni…

Happy Father’s Day to one of my favorite literary fathers, Atticus Finch.Another Instagrammer posted the question who is your favorite literary father, and as someone who has taught 9th grade English and To Kill a Mockingbird more times than I can count, I thought of Atticus (we won’t talk about Go Set a Watchman).When I first read TKAM in high school, I didn’t think too much about Atticus as a…

I read this book every summer. I love the story of Caitlin and Vix’s friendship, I get caught up in the romances, even though I know how it’s going to end, I even love all the family drama.Now I just need the Midwest to get warm again because I don’t feel right reading it unless the sun is out and it’s at least 80 degrees.What’s your favorite summer read?

When you’re 11 or 12, firmly in that “tween” category, and middle school is on the horizon, it’s easy to get lost imagining who you might be. New school. New people. People from other elementary schools. It’s a world that TV shows and movies promise will be filled with drama and adventure, sometimes pain, but you take a deep breath and tell yourself that maybe you’ll be one of those few that…

Are you spending your summer at the It’s Okay to Cry Corral with Daria and Mr. O’Neil?

Is it okay for a teacher to post this? Happy June!

It was 1991, and we were the 5th-grade girls in Mrs. Shaw’s 5th/6th-grade classroom. We were in a gifted and talented program, the kind of classrooms popular in the 1980s and 90s where the supposed best and brightest were corralled into a classroom and pushed in all things creative and academic. We were smart girls. We got good grades. We did our work.But I also think we had a bit of a reputation…

The current process…There’s so much that I want to write, but when you’re missing someone you lost, the winter months are the longest. A very good friend once sent me the song “Long December”on a particularly rough day, and I always listen to it knowing that yes, the next few weeks will be hard, but just like that first rough year, I’ll get through it.So when the words won’t come, I push out 250…

Sometimes we all need a little reminder from Emma Woodhouse.

“There are a lot of mediocre men out there.”  This is what I said to a former student who is now a co-worker when discussing some of the interesting men we have encountered in the education world, particularly some of those in leadership.  I quickly countered my statement with of course, there are mediocre women in education too, and while I don’t always agree with everything he does, I respect…

This summer, determined to read the book before the series, I read We’ll Always Have Summer, the third and final book in the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and the basis for season three. I am also caught up with the series so far, and my thoughts about the two are taking over my brain, so I have to put them here to get them out.  We’ll Always Have Summer is the weakest of the three books. In…

This summer, determined to read the book before the series, I read We’ll Always Have Summer, the third and final book in the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and the basis for season three. I am also caught up with the series so far, and my thoughts about the two are taking over my brain, so I have to put them here to get them out.  We’ll Always Have Summer is the weakest of the three books. In…

I was eight years old, surrounded by Barbies and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I sat on the floor of my grandparents’ living room on a warm summer night as a familiar sound played through the television speakers.  “From coast to coast, and around the world, it’s time to Praise the Lord.” 10:00 pm. Time for Praise the Lord, the flagship show on the Trinity Broadcast Network. Paul Crouch, the…

Happy birthday to the fabulous Tim Gunn!My older daughter loves Project Runway, and I told her, you know, Christian Siriano was once a Project Runway contestant and he won. She immediately wanted to watch his season and we finished season 4 last night. And a young Tim Gunn fan was made!I always love how he showed compassion for the designers and asked questions to make them think critically about…