Not only did Judge John T. Broderick visit our school yesterday to share his personal story regarding Mental Illness, he brought along the newly appointed NH Supreme Court Justice Robert Lynn. Two NH supreme court judges in one room in front of bleachers full of listening teenagers was pretty awesome. For nearly an hour, Judge… Continue reading Learning the Signs of Mental Illness
This morning, in front of my first period English class, one of my female students innocently asks if I was wearing a new shirt. “Sure am,” and I’m thinking she will tell me she likes it. And she does tell me, but not immediately. Instead she casually points out, “You still have the M sticker… Continue reading Dearest March: Please Send April
The snow fell steadily. Plows made loud noises around us. Yet, amid the noise, amid the shuffle of life, 70-something middle and high school students standing in a circle held 7 minutes of silence and then shared bios of the people who were lost in Parkland, Florida during a school shooting. This was a non-sanctioned,… Continue reading Why We Walked Out Today…
Today is International Women’s Day 2018, and I felt compelled to write something. Anything. However, nothing inspired me because, since Parkland happened, my brain has been cycling in this school safety- gun violence- rut. I couldn’t think of a specific person or angle or clever hook that would suck in my audience with a positive… Continue reading Channeling Mother Teresa for Character and Barbara Washburn for Adventure on This International Women’s Day 2018
Dear President Trump, If I wanted to carry a gun, pistol, rifle, firearm of any kind, I would have joined a different profession. I would have pursued a military career or that of a policeman, security guard, or secret service agent. I could have been many things, but I chose to be a teacher. The… Continue reading President Trump: This is What I Will be Armed With in my Classroom
My dad won’t be pleased that I’m writing about him, but as he gave the Veterans Day Speech at the school where I am an English teacher and his grandchildren are students, he doesn’t have much of a choice. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the Lin-Wood School community does Veterans Day… Continue reading Honoring Veterans Today and Every Day
I’ve been reading a lot of powerful “Me Too” moments which have gone viral since this weekend in reaction to the sexual harassment claims against Harvey Weinstein himself and the Harvey Weinsteins of the world. I almost chose not to share my own three “Me Too” moments based on an interesting article by the… Continue reading “Me Too” Memories
Hard to imagine our ancestors thinking, “How dare we give women the right to vote? Hard to imagine brains who were shocked and awed by this appalling concept. Hard to imagine there was a time when people fought hard to prevent women from voting. Not just a few people either– the majority of folks in… Continue reading August 26, 1920: Giving Women the Right to Vote? How Dare you!
So, as a teacher in a small town, I generally tread carefully with social media, trying to model for my high school students the power of words– when to use our strongest language and when we should just listen. This is one of those times when helping our kiddos to articulate what makes them… Continue reading Thinking of You, Charlottesville, With Both Hope and Humanity
Our kids believe we have today off from school and work due to what they’ve been calling “Memory Day” which is not entirely inaccurate. Memory is very close to memorial only without the heaviness of life loss. Memorial Day is when we pause, reflect, and remember those whose lives have been sacrificed so that we… Continue reading Honoring “Memory Day”
Heather Ehrman Krill: The "Write" Kind of Coach 