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.
Category: Nothing in Particular
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The weather has been unseasonably warm for the last several days. Yesterday was no exception. Even though yesterday was the City of Lights Parade and Holiday Stroll here in Lowell, no one seemed to mind that temperatures were in the 60s — people were dressed in flipflops and shorts while waiting for their moment with Santa. When…
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Today marks my materal grandfather’s birthday. His name was Palmer Chester Flournoy and he was born in 1889 in Albany, New York. When he was still a baby, his father, a railroad conductor, was killed in a tragic railway accident. My great-grandmother moved her family – my grandfather and his older sister, back to Stanbery,…
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I hope to hit Masters + 60 next year — which is the highest achievable salary lane for me. It is also preparation for retirement. As of today in Massachusetts, my retirement will be calculated on the last 3 years salary averaged together. I “plan” to work 4 after this year, and with no new…
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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…
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We’ve read the book, we’ve done the project with our kids (honest truth: not one of the 25 got a single Flat back!). This week my class has been hosting my niece’s Flat Stanley. And we are having a blast. Sorry, can’t post pictures of kids, but trust me on this. Working on multiplication riddles?…
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I’ve been confronted with my age ta couple of times this weekend. It was not an altogether pleasant trip down memory lane. Woodstock Then and Now was on the History Channel last night. In the summer of 1969, I was a junior, about to be senior, in high school. A couple of my classmates went…
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For anyone who knows me personally, you know my story. Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and started my treatment. For 20 years I’ve tried to be brave, and mostly calm when it comes to my annual foray in to “does she or doesn’t she?” However this week’s visit for a mammogram…
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Being school vacation week, I spent some of my down time on genealogical pursuits. Unraveling family mysteries is nothing short of breath-taking when (and if) those mysteries are unraveled. This week, there were no grand discoveries, however, just more questions. This week, I had hoped to pin down my great-great-grandmother, Sophronia’s death date and burial.…
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I’ve been using Lindamood Bell as an intervention with my struggling 3rd grade readers. They are getting the labelling and the production – lip poppers, tongue coolers, scrapers and we’ve been working on the Vowel Circle. After nailing CVC and CVCe (that’s short vowel and magic e words to the unintitated), I was feeling pretty…
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“What are your goals for retirement?” This is a question I dread mostly because I’m in denial that I’m ever going to want to retire. However, moving across yet another annual milestone and watching as one after another of my colleagues readies to leave teaching, it’s a question I no longer have the luxury of…
After An Educator's Journey 