I will always be grateful to my 4th grade teacher, Ms. Kathleen Crouch, for many reasons. It was in her class that I started to identify as a writer, for one thing. It was in her class that I started to think beyond myself to the outer world and all it can be. It was … Read more
My teaching has me on the road frequently. I have discovered several things in the years that I have been traveling to share my work with school communities: I am a magnet for snow days and fire drills, I will always be packed with clothing for the wrong weather, I sleep well on good mattresses, … Read more
On Facebook the other day, another teaching artist friend commented on how cool it was to walk through the halls of the school where she is in residency as she heard the kids say to each other, “There’s the artist.” She said she felt a little like a rock star. I know that feeling so … Read more
Here are my current opening lines to a new class as I introduce myself: “Let me make this very simple for you. Words are power. The more words you know and can use, define, understand, the more power you will have as a human being. Hear me when I say this. The more language you … Read more
Just a quick addition to the blog from this morning: remember this – 17 teachers and aides, a whole grade level in an all-day in-service means the expense of an equal number of substitutes for the day. Plus all the prep those teachers did so they could attend. No small feat! And what an administrator … Read more
In my decade of active teaching artistry, I have learned to only be “so” prepped for walking in the front door of a school, as well as to be prepped for at least two options, no matter what. Countless times I have a concept of what I want my theme or process to be for … Read more
Just a quick post tonight. All day with 6th graders, three different lesson plans for three different phases of the project, dependent on how many times I have met with certain teachers and their classes. And because I am the Queen of Snow Days and Fire Drills, of course, a fire drill in the 90 … Read more
How to inspire people to love language? How to instill a keen and honest interest in writing, telling their stories, reading a book when it is not a regular practice? That is the work that I am engaged in, starting with children early in their careers as learners, then with students already disengaging from the … Read more
I have been at this work for more than 10 years and this week has some of the most delightful and some of the most distressing moments I have ever encountered as a teaching artist. How is it that this happens? This school year, I estimate that I will be teaching approximately 1,800 students by … Read more
This is the initial blog of my train of thought. I will be sharing elements of my work as a teaching artist focused on poetry, particularly poetry in the classroom, grades K-12; however, I also teach adult education so there may be stories from there as well. Thanks for joining me on this excursion. I … Read more