I think that my major role as an educator is to invite joy. I have always thought this from the beginning of my career over forty years ago. Maybe it’s because I started teaching in a nursery school. You can’t help to be joyful when teaching two, three, and four-year-old children. They actually exude joie de vivre and happily invite adults into their world. It’s a great place to dwell.
Category: Education
Much Loved: Stuffed Animals & Their People
Mark Nixon's Much Loved is in the inspiration for this post, which features my most treasured stuffed animals.
Kitchen Literacy: Luck of the Irish
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! For years, I would bake Irish soda bread and read leprechaun stories with my young students. There is nothing like the smell of fresh-baked bread while listening to fanciful tales.Â
Consider the Pomegranate
Then my mom introduced me to the pomegranate, which we called a Chinese apple back then. Pomegranates were actually native to Iran and Northern India. They were so exotic to me.Â
March Snow
I was hoping to escape spring snow this year. This year, I desperately need spring to come early. I am through with gray, cold, and drudge.Â
What Girls are Made of – Part 2
In each poem, I want to create a snapshot of childhood and how girls navigate in the world. I’m going to take time to think back on what was important to me back then.
What Little Girls are Made of
When I walk down the corridors, I am greeted by a variety of girls, ages three to eleven. They wear colorful leggings, light-up sneakers, unicorn headbands, wild curls and long twisted braids. They come in all shapes, shades, and sizes. And they are the hope we need in this world, especially right now.
Writing to Entertain
It's Wednesday, time for Kindergarten writing workshop. I have a hop in my step as I walk down the hall towards the Kindergarten classroom. I open the door, and the teacher rushes over to tell me that she desperately needs my help.
Problem Solver
Problem solver. That is who I am. That is who I am at the core of my being, of my soul. I’m not sure if that’s because I faced daunting problems in my childhood that I felt compelled to fix.Â
Fly Like a Bird
March is on the verge of bestowing full green upon the world. I can hear it in the birds that perch above my feeder, bright flashes of blue and red, wonderful displays of white-tipped browns and grays.Â
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 