How

I had a migraine yesterday, and I came back to work shaky and tired, so when a kid this morning murmurred, “I hate her,” because I wouldn’t let her turn off the air conditioning and roast us all in our own juices, I murmurred to myself, “I hate you more.” Not so she could hear me or anything. Just under my breath, in the style of someone wildly immature or completely insane. I don’t hate her as a general rule. I just hated her in that particular moment.

Eating Your Words

There is a difference between kissing and talking about kissing. There is a difference between dating and marriage (apparently). And there is a difference between reading and memorizing, which is actually what I’m considering here. I took my students to a writing workshop last week, and one presenter explained the importance of memorizing poems. That […]

Scenes from the Chemistry Lab

D and I often experiment in the chemistry lab together. I have a student teacher right now, so I have the luxury of pulling out my most egregious troublemakers (like D) to give them my full attention. The chemistry lab is usually unoccupied, and right across the hall from my classroom, so that’s where exiles retreat to. […]

The Student Massage

I needed massages when I became a teacher. If you sit at a desk and type all day, you don’t need massages. You like them, your eyes roll up in your head, but you don’t need them. You need a massage if part of your job is telling people the same thing 6-100 times a […]