In the midst of world wide adversity, my Vanda orchid has managed to bloom 3 times this year! 3 times! It started blooming again at the end of November and is still vibrant today! I kicked off 2020 with a post about this special plant and how important orchids are to me, as well as […]
Monthly Archives: December 2020
Reflecting on this year, especially the past 9 months of being homebound thanks to COVID, there has been one constant throughout which has been key to my well being: walking the dogs. We live in a condo (way up on the third floor) without a yard, which means the dogs have to get outside to […]
Part of my Why I Teach series. I taught at Chicago’s Harper High School for 6 years. While I was there, only 6% of my students were reading at grade level and the school was consecutively listed as one of the bottom 3 high schools within the 60 or so high schools that were a […]
An update of one of my favorite posts. I’ve been extremely lucky. While the past few years have definitely been challenging ones, the bulk of my 50 52 years have been filled with lots of magic and adventure. I know a number of people who hide their age, but I’m of the mindset that I […]
One of the most enduring pieces of advice that former Recovery On Water Programs Director Devlin gave me was the idea that you embrace the trials and tribulations, the struggles, the hardships, the challenges in one’s life, so that when things get difficult the next time, you know you have persevered through the bad stuff […]
Wishing all much health, hope, love and happiness throughout this most unique of holiday seasons–and in the new year!
This evening, the Chicago Teachers Union hosted an emergency tele-town hall meeting for its 20,000 plus membership. The current Chicago Public Schools plan is to have schools begin to reopen in January, with a small group of Pre-K and Cluster students returning in person January 11th and their teachers (and support staff) returning the week […]
For the past number of years, Chicago Public Schools has collaborated with Google to present a summer tech bootcamp called Googlepalooza (named after the big summer concert festival that is now housed in Chicago, Lollapalooza) where teachers are able to attend a variety of sessions to learn various tech skills and tricks to help prepare […]
Really missing Zoey this week… From 6 years ago: Our baby girl Zoey died on Monday, December 15, 2014. She almost made it to 2015. So close. It was a privilege to have been a part of her journey and to have been her mom. We adopted her when she was three years old, a […]
During this pandemic, I’ve definitely watched more movies–and really engaging series–at home than read books. So many options with cable/DirectTV, Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix, helping many of us cope. I love movies and movies are very intertwined with all my memories. Of growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, of college and of Peace […]
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