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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Last week, I “unfrogged” a piece of knitting. (In knitting, when you “frog” something, it means you set it aside for an indeterminate amount of time, aka, you abandon it for a little while, or for a long while, or forever!) It was the June Top, a silk tank top by PetiteKnit, a knitwear designer…
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In May, a post on the TWT blog caught my eye, as it started by quoting a teacher, Julie Diamond, from her book, Kindergarten: A Teacher, Her Students, and a Year of Learning. Wait a second, I thought. Julie Diamond? Could it be that Julie Diamond? Sure enough, when I googled the book and the…
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In my last eight years of teaching, I’ve seen more and more children with anxiety: about tests, about friendships, about anything. This has been heartbreaking, as I understand what it feels like—I struggle with significant anxiety myself—and I hate to think about my students going through that so young. For a long time now, I…
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Today it rained. It wasn’t a passing storm like the ones typical of Miami in the wet season, but a full-day downpour, gray and dreary. The streets flooded as they tend to do in this city. Our shoes got wet, as did the pup’s paws. The umbrellas are open and drying in the tub. It…
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S has been extra affectionate these last few weeks of school, and even more so in these final days. “I can’t believe I’m graduating,” she says, sidling up next to me and laying her head on my shoulder. “You mean, ‘I can’t believe I graduated,’” I reply, reminding her through verb conjugation that graduation was…
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It’s my fifth year teaching fifth grade, and my third year teaching Writer’s Workshop to fifth graders. Last fall, I was excited to attend an online session with Hareem A Khan and Eric Hand for their new Graphic Novels unit for Grades 4-6. I was blown away by the work they did and immediately pre-ordered…
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“Ms. Amy!” N calls during indoor recess. I’m sitting at my desk, working on our literacy power standards document. She’s in the mini-atelier of our class with some of her classmates, listening to music and drawing. “We forgot to give you this!” She hands me a big sheet of paper: “I love it!!” I exclaim…
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Today, my empathy got the best of me. I was distracted all day by thoughts of Kim and her father, my heart reaching out to them in Boynton Beach, sending strength and resilience. Wishing I could squeeze her hand and make her smile like she has made me on my lowest days. The children were…
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Tension building. Students leaning forward from their seats or the rug. Shocked, grinning faces. Squeals and screams. “Shh, stop, you guys! Let her keep reading!!” That was how today’s read aloud session went. It was almost exactly a month ago that we said “Take Two” and sat down with Ana to rethink interactive read aloud…
Writing With Abandon 