First, thank you to Mrs. Felicia Hamilton and Mrs. Sally Nicoll for their 3rd grade “Struggle Time” poster which I observed while my big kids were up sharing read alouds during Read Across America Week in early March. Some of my sophomores were planning to help me to recreate a HS version when the Coronavirus… Continue reading In “Struggle Times” of COVID-19
Hello World, I’m a teacher without a classroom, which made me cry packing up yesterday. It’s not the first time I’ve cried this week, and likely won’t be the last, now a homeschooling mom of a third and fourth grader trying to teach high school English remotely. Earlier in the week, a male friend, not… Continue reading Letter from Just One Teacher in Just One Place
When you are 8 and supposedly have the “oldest parents in the third grade,” you argue that at 16 you won’t have to share a car with your sibling like your parents did with their siblings because, well, your parents are old enough that they will be in a nursing home by the time you… Continue reading When You Have the Oldest Parents in the Third Grade…
This February marks two years since Emerson Gronk Snowy Krill joined our family as perhaps the best yellow lab service dog to walk the earth. When he first arrived, we were worried we might be too much for him as a collective force of nature. However, his shell shock eventually wore away and he likely… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog, February 4, 2020: “A different kind of love story”
I’m not clairvoyant; nor am I a fortune teller, magician, or prophet of biblical proportions; however, chances are pretty good that 2020 will be a year of joy and sadness, hope and disappointment, sickness and health, miracle and tragedy, conflict and peace.Mostly though, 2020 will be as real as real gets for us all– those… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog, January 10, 2020: “Trying to See 2020”
A friend sent me an article about a woman who had lost both her arms below the elbows and her legs below her knees. As interesting and powerful as the story was, as empowering as the woman clearly is in her day to day life, I wondered why this friend had sent me this piece… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog, January 9, 2020: “Let’s Face It…”
Merry Christmas Eve! Up until this morning, I was feeling very solid about being ready for this merriest of vacation weeks. We had survived the last week of school before vacation, skied at the mountain, caught up with old friends, finished all the wrapping, worked out some crafts, baked some cookies, watched our children play… Continue reading Just When I Thought We Had Christmas All Wrapped Up…
I can’t remember the circumstances surrounding our dinner conversation the other night, but at some point, I told my husband that his information wasn’t accurate. It was not shared with an accusing or angry or even sarcastic tone–just objective observation. However, our son became very defensive of his dad, and said, “Mom, that’s not fair,… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog: “International Day of Persons with Disabilities,” December 11, 2019
Dear Greta, You asked your Elf on the Shelf Snowball for a gift from the heart…with your heart being so big at 8.5 years old, this will be an enormous undertaking. You seemed very happy with your cozy, fleece Christmas blanket the morning before you kicked that older boy, not your brother, in the… Continue reading Gifts from the Heart: Body Belongings, Elves, and Tooth Fairy Criminals
When we reflect on our blessings this year, at a time when people and places around us are suffering unparalleled grief, loss and tragedy, it’s important to think about the connections that remain in humanity. The other day while walking the dog, I found myself getting irrationally angry about people littering in front of the… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog: “Thanksgiving, Kindness, Second Helpings, and Helpers,” November 26, 2019
Heather Ehrman Krill: The "Write" Kind of Coach 