How many times did I get irritated today because I had to wipe water off the back of my phone after setting it down on the sink…
Before I finally just dried off the ledge?
(Hint: TOO many!)
The Pattern We Miss
It made me laugh at myself. Why keep...
Near my kitchen, I keep two easy-to-grab baskets.
One holds a hammer, screwdriver, nails, and screws. I rarely use it, but when I do, it’s for something obvious, like hanging a whiteboard in my office, putting up a picture, or fixing a stubborn shel...
Last year, while facilitating a session with middle school teachers, I referred to a small group as “you guys.”
If you’re from the Philadelphia region, you know this word isn’t gendered in everyday use. It’s a common way to address a group of people...
When my son, Jared, was in second grade, I came home from work to find him sitting on the couch. His head was down, his arms folded across his lap, and he looked upset.
“Jared, what’s going on?” I asked.
He sighed and said, “I had a really bad day ...
There’s a small sea creature called the sea squirt that begins life with a brain.
As a larva, it swims freely through the ocean, exploring and searching for the right spot to anchor. Once it finds that spot (a rock, a dock, or a coral surface ), eve...
My middle son took Organic Chemistry (Orgo) 1 and 2 last year at Villanova. He’s a civil engineering major, but he loves chemistry, and he’s worked in the chemistry lab on campus for the past two years.
He got a C in Orgo 1 and a D+ in Orgo 2.
When...
It was February 2020. A dear friend and I had just settled into our seats on a New York City subway to see a Broadway show. Across from us sat a man, alone in the center of a nearly empty row. He was hunched over, his gaze fixed on the grimy floor be...
I just watched the newest Karate Kid: Legends, and it instantly transported me back to my childhood.
I couldn’t help but remember when the original Karate Kid came out. Daniel LaRusso moved to Reseda, California, from Newark, New Jersey, while I onl...
“How the patterns we create shape the way we grow”
When I was in college, summer breaks often meant working alongside my father, a landscaper. My brothers, sister, and mom placed bets on how long I’d last - manual labor, scorching heat, long pants, ...
When I taught 11th-grade U.S. history, one of the classes was deep in a primary‑source analysis about the Harlem Renaissance.
Halfway through, I could feel the room tilting. Two groups were quietly shutting down, one was off‑task, and tension was ri...
When the Common Core literacy standards were first introduced, my immediate reaction was: No way.
I became a social studies teacher for a reason. I didn’t want to teach grammar. I didn’t want to focus on writing mechanics. That was for the ELA teach...
As the testing season approaches, I partnered with the amazing @Jenny_Orr on a mini-project to help students recognize when they need a brain break.
- Jen is an experienced elementary teacher and author of Demystifying Discussion and co-author of We...
