After An Educator's Journey

Out of the classroom & into the universe

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Once upon a time, I taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. Now I’m retired and working on new ventures.
I taught second, third and fourth graders. Teaching was my passion and joy for 30 years. And it didn’t hurt that they called me “mom” sometimes.

Category: Braindroppings

  • Defining “Good” and “Bad” Teaching

    Since when does a nationally recognized newspaper purport expertise on what makes an effective teacher? Since this morning, April 19, 2011 when the Boston Globe published an uncredited editorial entitled: Ed Commissioner’s Plan for Teacher Evaluation Gets It Right. Apparently all that is necessary for teacher evaluations is some evidence of the following: Effective teachers routinely…

  • Braindropping

    We all have them, those puzzling dreams that we can remember in the morning. Well, I just woke up to a nasty alarm after spending pillow time with a rather puzzling one. My mind can be a scary place. I’m not sure what I was doing, but it seemed to be some kind of math…

  • Homeless children and faces of poverty

    In case you missed it, here is a link to Scott Pelley’s outstanding and heartbreaking story about the effects of homelessness on our children. As a teacher in a high poverty urban public school, I know what he is reporting is true. At least two of my students began the year in hotels; in previous…

  • The Vilification of a Once Respected Profession

    Is there anyone else who is sick of being told they are a money-sucking, taxpayer-draining leech?  The amount of misinformation that pops up in comments on newspaper websites, in the press in general, in conversation is head-shaking to me. After reading Joanna Weiss’s op-ed column in today’s Globe, I decided it would be worth sending…

  • Hello, Noah

    I realize that this reference to a classic Bill Cosby routine makes me one big, giant fossil, but I can’t resist making a connection after this week. First of all, is should we all be building arks here in New England? Around my house we have 7 foot snowbanks created after the nonstop deluge of…

  • Snow Days # 6 and #7

    I may have been born in Buffalo, but I hate snow. Hate it and despise it. Since January 3 when we resumed school after the holiday break, we have had 7 snow days. On January 3, our end of school date was June 10. As of this morning, it is June 21. I don’t fault…

  • More faces, more poverty

    First of all, I want to be clear that I understand poverty crosses over into many, many lives.  I live in an affluent town. A town with a food pantry that is routinely emptied.  People in this town are foreclosed upon, bankrupt, lose homes to tax liens. But what I know is the environment in…

  • Faces of Poverty

    If you look, if you don’t avert your eyes, you can see the effects of poverty and trauma on a person. One of “my” parents happened to come to the classroom this week so I could confirm she was indeed the parent of one of my students. This was so that the student could be…

  • It’s the Vocabulary, Part 2

    I marvel at the quickness with which second language learners pick up on the structure of English. Most of my kids give new constructs a try without too much fear of seeming like they don’t know what they’re doing.  As an aside — and as an Italian/French language” studier”, I wish I could be more…

  • There is nothing like a snow day!

    Okay, while I don’t like to have to make them up, we needed this snow day. Every school year needs one.  And this one is a lollapolloza. The weather dudes predicted it way in advance. And while no one believed them (the last 2 snowstorms were duds), they stuck to their forecasts. Our current superintendent…