Writing With Abandon
Reflections and ramblings about life as an educator, writer, reader, knitter, and over-thinker. Trying to do the writing only I can do.
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This summer, at the Quoddy Institute, one of the other teachers (I think it was Cheri!) mentioned that she and her 5th graders always start the year reading Ralph Fletcher’s Flying Solo, a book about a class of 6th graders and what happens when one day, neither the teacher nor his substitute show up. She…
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This is my second presidential election season as a 5th grade teacher and third since I started teaching. I can still remember that morning in 2016. I took the train uptown to Washington Heights, heart hurting for the third graders I would greet in my classroom. The train was so quiet. New York felt gray…
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This year, my ninth year as a lead classroom teacher, is the year I want to tackle reading. My first few years in the classroom, I focused on dual language learning, math, and classroom management. Then, project based learning followed by writer’s workshop. Every year I’ve held off on reading. I’ve dabbled in it, I’ve…
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There’s something about teaching Writer’s Workshop that I feel oddly possessive about. It was something I grasped tightly to after meeting Ana, moving to Miami, and starting to work at KLA. It helped me through a tough couple of years in my personal life. It was something that I had control over, and which brought…
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It’s 5:30am and I’ve already been up for an hour. I’ve been struggling with morning insomnia for a few months now — waking up around 4 or 5 to pee, and unable to quiet my brain enough to fall back asleep. I have a notebook beside my bed to help me dump these thoughts, the…
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Because writing partners show up for one another! My brain is FRIED. What a week! Back to school, finding an apartment, applying for said apartment, booking movers, booking the elevator for move-out, awaiting final approval from the association, finishing my sweater, filing for divorce, organizing the classroom, thinking about first day and first six weeks…
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In Miami, especially in my neighborhood, you can see autonomous delivery robots everywhere. I’ve almost been run off the sidewalk by one before! On my block in particular, we often see the robots stopped on the corner, blinking their red heart eyes as they tentatively make to cross the street. Once, we saw one at…
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What is it about inspiring stories that make one tear up? I think all of us in the tea room were welling up as we listened to the stories the docents told of Eleanor Roosevelt’s childhood, dedication to human rights, and fierce independence and bravery. This afternoon, on our second day at the Quoddy Writing…
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Last Wednesday, I visited Julie upstate. We’re hoping to make it an annual thing. Her house is one of the most beautiful homes I know — filled with colorful, eclectic artwork, yet simple, modern, open, and bright. Their deck looks out onto their huge field, where the two German Shepherds enjoy running. It’s the perfect…
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It’s Tuesday, slice of life day, but I’m feeling uninspired. I’ve just gotten back after an afternoon at Sojo Spa Club with a close friend, where we hopped from hot tub to hot tub and sauna to sauna, stepping into the cold plunge waterfall whenever we got too hot. And New York is hot right…
Writing With Abandon 