High School Books You Should (re)Read

High School Books You Should (re)Read

One of the most common responses I get when I tell people I was a high school English teacher is “I didn’t actually read anything in high school” usually followed by “and nothing’s changed.” And then they laugh, as if that’s something unique.

The thing is, is that writing about Ataxia every week gets kind of depressing. And when I need to distract myself, I read. Or write. In this case, both.

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Top Teaching Tips

Top Teaching Tips

Since this is the first September in 25 years that I’m not excitedly going back to school, I’d love to instead share some teaching tips for anyone out there who’s brave enough to be educating teenagers for a living. 

To prove that other teachers should read this, let me throw some credentials at you: I taught high school English for eight years (all grade levels, plus A.P. Literature), have a Masters in Literacy, and three NYS teaching certifications. And, I mean, if you want to put a “teaching with a disability” label on this, I did this all with a chronic illness. So, there you go.

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Goin’ Down the Country: Road Trip #2, Pt I

Goin’ Down the Country: Road Trip #2, Pt I

After taking a road trip, it’s impossible to get in your car and not want to just go. To head to a different state. To explore. To see something new. Knowing you don’t need a ticket, or reservations, or plans… You could just go.

Except that being an adult sort of gets in your way.

So, my husband & I suffocated a whole year before my glorious two-week Spring Break came and we took off again! Having conquered the West, our next goal was to head as far south we could: Key West.

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