teach.run.pray.

Well, tomorrow is Monday and sh*ts getting real. However, I'm looking forward to waking up at 5:15 a.m. and going to work because I get to change the world one kid at a time Monday through Friday. Now, I didn't leave work Friday afternoon feeling this way-so let's backtrack. Friday started as any other day. I hugged each student as they walked through the door. I was excited to teach my curriculum for the day. I couldn't wait to do my read aloud because I knew how pumped up the kids have been about this book ( The Thief of Always by Clive Barker - if you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend you doing so-adult or child-it's amazing). This book has stirred up some incredibly deep class discussions, and the kids have been blowing me away with their insight. It has just been so much fun. Then, there was a data meeting during planning. A lot of the data being discussed I had already seen but from a different perspective-from a growth perspective, not a mastery per...

Most weeks, I put in approximately 50 hours of work into my job. Those 50 hours are completed in the school building, in other words, that's how many hours I spend at my workplace versus home. It does not include the hours I spend at home grading papers, writing lesson plans, searching for engaging ideas, or prepping classroom props for room transformations or fun activities. Now, throw a graduate-level class on top of that and maintaining a healthy marriage and social life. I stay pretty busy, and at times, it all gets very overwhelming, so I need ways to decompress. About 10 years ago, I took up running as a way to challenge myself. In turn, running turned into a major stress relieving activity for me, and I fell in love with the runner's high. I became addicted to the freedom and euphoria a hard sweaty run left me with. However, the past few weeks, I've had moments where I made every excuse in the book to not run. I avoided it. The desire was lacking. So, I skipped my ...

Earlier this week, my students were working away at their desks, and I was near my classroom window grabbing papers from a tray on my back counter. As I stood there turning all the papers in the same direction, in my peripheral vision, I noticed a flash of movement pass by the window. Instantly, my heart dropped. I stopped turning papers, and I slowly turned my head toward the window as my heart pounded in my chest. With a hellacious gasp of relief, I realized the flash was a small branch with dead leaves blowing by. Then, my mind went on a crazy adventure.  What if that flash had been a crazy person? What if I had looked and seen an ill-intended person pointing a gun at me? Would I have been able to get those 16 innocent lives safely out of the classroom? Would I have been calm enough to think rationally? Would I have been brave enough to put my life on the line for them? For the first time in nine years of teaching, I felt afraid. For the first time in nine years of teac...

A few weeks ago, I was lying on my right side  in bed . The front of my body was facing the front window of our bedroom. The front window of our bedroom is on the front of the house. We live on the corner, so from our bedroom window, we can see the house across the street and several houses on the street that runs perpendicular. I was having trouble falling asleep and through our blackout curtains, I eyeballed a blinking halo of light. The blinking halo was coming from a neighbor's porch. For close to a year or longer, we have occasionally talked about the annoyance of this blinking porch light. Why the neighbor doesn't fix it or change out the lightbulb, I have no clue. However, on this particular night, I found comfort in that blinking halo and not an ounce of annoyance. See, this flickering light suddenly comforted me. I no longer thought of it as something the neighbor needed to do something about. I saw it as a sign or affirmation of where I was - home. I could be...

As a teacher, for me, my biggest successes are the connections I make with my students. Not test scores. Not grades. Not reading levels. Connections.  And, for those who have read nearly all my posts, you know I have a soft heart for the hard to love ones, and I probably always will. However, I will hold kids accountable, and I will have them take responsibility for their actions. I will do my part in teaching them how to right their wrongs and how to learn from their mistakes. I will do my part in teaching them how to be mindful and thoughtful with their choices. And, I will always treat them with dignity and respect. After all, kids are human, and like us adult humans, I've learned they appreciate transparency as well.  Let me tell you a story about a boy. He's in trouble a good bit. He has a bad attitude. So, automatically, I'm drawn to him, and I wanted to connect with him. The problem was I didn't know how, and one day, when I didn't even mean to, I connect...

Monday, as we all know, was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I was fortunate enough to be off work that day and took a few moments to reflect. As I scrolled social media, there was one quote all about love which I saw frequently. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. It's a great statement. I love it. I love the message it sends. After all, I am definitely a lover. However, I took it upon myself to do a little reading of my own. And, there were several quotes that stood out to me more-especially considering the state the world is in right now. I'll start with the following two. One of which, I did see on social media. Brenee Brown posted it on her Instagram account. There comes a time when silence is betrayal. The other: In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Notice in both quotes he speaks of silence and its magnitude. I'm guilty of being sile...

When you look at our home as a passerby, you will notice a yard full of fallen leaves, dead flowers and trees as winter has sucked the life out of them. As you drive by our home, you'll notice two second-floor windows trimmed in brown when the rest of our windows are trimmed in white. From the sidewalk, you'll look into our home through glass panes caked with dog slobber, and chances are you'll hear loud barking while dogs stare you down through the crack of a window between our front door and piano. The piano chords will echo their bark. At first glance, you'll notice an unmotorized dented and dingy white garage door. You may even think, "Man, are they ever going to blow those leaves, paint the window trim, or clean those windows?" Some may even think, "That house makes our neighborhood look unkempt." While others may think, "With a little TLC, that could be a nice house." And, this is what I have to say to the judgmental eyes that scowl o...