Hello Friends… …And there goes the 2012-13 school year, and with it another graduating class. They have their whole lives ahead of them now. Careers. Love. Friendships. Mortgages. Wrong choices and not-so wrong ones. Really wrong choices. A potentially endless horizon of possibilities. And they’ll be successful too… most of them, anyway. As long as…
Hello Beautiful People, Two of my most favorite students are graduating on Friday. And by kids, I mean students. Because really, when it comes to good teaching, aren’t they all our kids? To my Graduates… I hope that I have taught you to recognize that we all have a story to tell, and that some of…
Hiya Kids, Once upon a time I helped set the back of a classroom on fire. It’s true. We had a sub that day. She left in tears. Another time I somehow managed to gain early access to a dozen frogs meant for dissection, and cut off the majority of their amphibious fingers so that…
Hello Beautiful People, Today was one of those days when I wanted to pull my hair out while teaching… …a day that gave me more grey hair than I care to admit… …a day that made me…strongly dislike being in the classroom. And you know what got me through? The Mana Mantra. I heard about…
Hello Beautiful People, Today was not a good day. In fact, today was a no good very bad day. Actually, today…sucked. Today was a day that cannot be put into words. Today was a day that hurts your insides. It hurts your heart. It hurts your bones. It hurts your soul. Today I buried a…
Hey Everyone! Four years ago I sent an email to my admissions counselor at Clarke College (now University) in Dubuque, Iowa, informing him that after several weeks of thinking, praying, and leafing through my college acceptance letters and brochures, I had decided that I wanted to attend his school. A week later, he sent me…
Hello Beautiful People, I went to go teach my class today, and walked into a somber classroom. A good friend of one of my students had died from a heroin overdose. She was what, nineteen? And yet…I’m not surprised anymore. And that makes my heart a little bit. Aw hell, it breaks my heart a lot…
Hello Beautiful People, Exactly two weeks ago I was in a technical rehearsal for YAWP. The Young Artists and Writers Project (or YAWP, formerly the Young American Writers Project) created by Stony Brook Southampton’s MFA in Creative Writing and Literature Program is an outstanding program committed to mentoring middle and high school students in the development of…
Hello Beautiful People, I was teaching the film The Hunger Games, and I heard an “OMG” from one of my students. Now, they’re not supposed to have their phones in class, but I indulged in the exclamation. “What’s wrong?” I said. “There was a bomb/explosion on the finish line of the Boston Marathon,” she replied. My…
Hello Beautiful People, I loved Big Fish the book. I adored Big Fish the movie. Big Fish on Broadway…well, that’s taking it to another level. There’s only two songs that have been released to the ears of the public, and so far, I’m in love. In. Love. The movie had magic, and spark, and heart, and…