Writing Teacher Contract

This is what works for me, and I think it will work for you: 1. I won’t read your first draft. I don’t ask anyone to read mine. As Aaron Neville would say, “Baby, my time is too expensive.” I’ll give you points for those first few paragraphs, and then send you off to write […]

The Humanity

I didn’t say this because I wasn’t sure I should. I’m a teacher, and I’m also a human being. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe. First I don’t sleep in my classroom… then this. People from the National Writing Project don’t ask me to be ashamed of spending time writing. They softened my […]

Poetry

I remember phrases from childhood travels, not images or events. Glass-bottomed boat. Lion Country Safari. Circus Circus. The musicality of the words meant more to me than the actual experiences. All I remember about the glass-bottomed boat was my incredulousness. How could a boat have a glass bottom? I pictured a little motorboat with a […]

Whodunnit

It doesn’t matter who you are until it matters a lot. It doesn’t matter who that guy is until he’s Barack Obama. I saw an exhibit of paintings of Shakespeare. Without Shakespeare, I don’t know that I would be three dimensional, or require food and water. I know a lot of people feel that way. […]