Little Lessons Learned Along the Way: Life as a Student, Teacher, Wife, Mom, and New Dog Owner

I am on a high.  A natural, nerdy high, that is.   I just completed a workshop about how to help struggling readers.  As a former classroom teacher of fifth and third graders, learning about the mechanics of how to read has been a long journey for me.  When someone suggested this topic, I was slightly hesitant, wondering what insights I had to offer.  I know I am a literacy coach, but, again, my experience is in the upper grades.  But - I am a nerd.  I love to learn.  I have spent a considerable amount of time learning about the Science of Reading and TCRWP strategies to teach early reading skills.  I have been working  on learning about the instructional gaps that are holding our students back and making plans for filling in those gaps - considering regular years, not just this Covid year.   I was lucky enough to have some money set aside that I was able to use to purchase supplemental materials that I talked about in the pre...

29 Days of writing!  This is a record for me.  I am excited that I have blogged every day and done my three comments.  I really have learned so much from reading the other blogs and from the comments on my blog. It’s funny - some days I have a topic in mind and the writing comes easily.  Other days, I have no idea and have to sit and figure something out.  Bonus points if I figure out a topic for the next day that I actually write down!  Sometimes I am thinking I will go one way and then the writing takes a turn.  For the better or worse, I have no idea.   As a writing teacher, these are all of the ideas I have been discussing with my kids.  It’s funny to watch them in real life in real time, and now I feel like I have a better foundation to hold a discussion about the writing process.   Will I still write every day starting April 1st?  Probably not.  But I really want to keep up a writing habit on a regular basis....

In January 2020 my family was in a Las Vegas mall when we heard gunshots at a store 200 feet in front of us. The boys were separated from us, on the way to the bathroom. Scott and I ran like all the other terrified customers, while desperately calling and texting them to see where they were and if they were ok. We ran into a store closing its doors and hunkered down in the back.  We found out the boys’ location - safe outside the mall, and the brave and selfless manager of the store led us through the back hallways to the boys. We darted from doorway to doorway, listening for more gunshots.  At one point she put us in a service elevator and two men jumped in with us. Scared, but utterly determined to get back to our kids, we rode the elevator with the two men who were obviously terrified as well.  We ran out of the mall and grabbed the boys. I held them for a full minute while I sobbed uncontrollably.  The worst moment of my life followed by the best.  We were l...

At our school another teacher and I started a group for staff members to attend and talk about stress, emotions, and ways to nurture themselves.  We share our frustrations and share our strategies.  So we were talking about what to do when we are excessively frustrated with a student.  My mind flashed back to 18 years ago when I had “Ben” in fifth grade.  Ben was quiet and high energy.  He was a super sweet kid, and I enjoyed having him in my class.  Ben had ADHD and his parents had decided to medicate him.  Now Ben had decided that there were days that he didn’t want to take his medication and had devised clever strategies to get rid of the pill and not alert his mother. On his medication, his focus was better and motor activity less.  Off his medication, his focus was very low and his motor activity was very high.  Let’s just say there was lots of running on those days.  Lots.  So one day was super tough.  He had ditched his ...

My 16 year-old son is a planner.   When he was young, he loved to decide which activities would take place at family parties.  I vividly remember the “Minute to Win It” party - strapping a tissue box filled with ping pong balls to my uncle’s back to see if he could shake them out in a minute.  He did.  I remember the following year playing wiffleball with the grandparents on the front lawn.  It was fun to tag my dad out. Every Christmas he most looked forward to buying us gifts at the Holiday Gift Shop at school.  I kid you not when I say that was his favorite day of the school year.  Days before he would have a list of whom he was buying for.  When he came home, the list had little check marks and Luke was carrying a bag full of beautifully wrapped, chosen-with-love presents.   Last night he popped downstairs and handed me a list.  Since he is a junior in high school, he has been thinking long and hard about college.  The...

One of my husband’s favorite Luke (16 year-old) stories involves a metal pot.  One day Scott was cooking dinner, and I heard, “What the heck?”  When I got there, I saw this:   The boys, then 8 years old and 11 years old were called to the kitchen.  With a smile on his face, my husband said, “What happened?”   Luke piped up, “The handle came off when I was making mac and cheese.  I fixed it!” Big grin on his face.  He had done it all by himself without asking for any help.  Scott thanked him for taking care of the pot, and the boys were dismissed. Nine years later, that pot handle is still upside down.  Not to make fun of Luke, but because it put a smile on Scott’s face.  It still does put a smile on his face.  Instead of leaving broken pieces of whatever for Dad, someone took initiative and fixed it.  And Scott appreciated that, even if the fix was slightly off.  Lesson learned:  People often appreciate your effo...