Essay questions aren’t questions. Teachers and parents, have you noticed? Written in the imperative instead of the interrogative. Demanding that “your student” compare/contrast, describe, or analyze texts instead of asking. For example: In an extended constructed response, analyze how the author of “The Scarlet Ibis” created the protagonist’s voice through diction, imagery, and … Continue reading Questions, Prompts, Responses, and Answers
I be-bopped my way onto this blogging dance party sans prearranged playlist. It satisfied a whim, and now I’m sitting in my kitchen, like a replacement DJ freshly hired to spin at a wedding reception thirty minutes pre commencement, scratching my head idealess. This blog was a summertime idle moment split second decision labored … Continue reading Why I’m Writing
Please shares the same letters as asleep. English language happenstance? As if. For decades, bedraggled parents, chronic pain sufferers, and distraught teachers have recognized the desperation created by arranging the two anagrammed words in the same sentence. Please be asleep, Little Thing. Please let me fall asleep, Stabbing Vibration Terrorizing My Left Armpit. … Continue reading Asleep Please
As a reader, I hate reading two books at once. Am I alone? In college, I switched my major to English junior year and had a measly nine credit hours towards my new course of study. Did I still graduate on time? Yes. How did I do it? Take nothing but English literature courses … Continue reading Reading Two Books at Once
After the first day of school each August, I can remember my students’ first names. I teach 80-plus students annually; twentyish in each block, rotated to a different teacher after 75 minutes. While students play an icebreaker the last 20 minutes on day one, I match their names to their faces--one minute per student to … Continue reading Super Vague Book Titles
The nickname Little Thing was born much in the same way that I’m sure your Little Things’ nicknames happened. Randomness. When she was a toddler, I would sing to her: Little Thing/ dah nuh nuh nuh nuh/ You make my heart sing/ duh nuh nuh nuh/ You make everything groooooveeeey/ Little Thing, I think I … Continue reading Chicken Head
Just like I don’t like strawberries dipped in chocolate, apples mixed in with chicken salad, or pineapple coupled with shrimp from the grill, there are certain types of books that I find more palatable than others. No longer am I the college coed or secondary school student struggling through the rigid cannon-esque syllabus of my … Continue reading Not My Jams
Call me selfish, but I decided to do something for me this year. Give myself a little me time. Every day. Just like my Little Thing asks for Quiet Time every day, this mama deserves some, too. Every day. You might take your me time in the form of luxuriating in a bubble bath … Continue reading Thirty Seven More to Go
