….the kind of September…. When I was a teacher. Try to remember the late August days that used to bring me anxiety, excitement, joy, a sense of purpose, lost sleep and far too many credit car...
Dear fellow American adults, I submit the following for your edification, enlightenment and possible humbling mortification. I used to teach fifth grade. The kids in my class were all about ten y...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/dear-american-adults/
One of the things I loved best about teaching was knowing that I touched the lives of children, that I meant something important to some of them. After teaching for such a long time, I have had t...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/touching-our-lives/
I keep thinking about the idea of teachers carrying guns. When the Newtown massacre happened, I was teaching fifth grade. Immediately after the horror of that day, the NRA and dozens of political...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/if-i-carried-a-gun/
I retired from teaching almost two years ago. It wasn’t exactly a planned retirement. In fact, the decision came in mid May of my last year. It came after my evaluating administrator made it...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/what-i-miss-every-day/
Last week I taught a summer class in Improvisational Theater. The kids ranged in age from 7 to 9. It was a hoot, let me tell you. I had 9 students, divided between my morning and afternoon classe...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/quintessentially-american/
Oh, holy Lord……. I remember that when I was teaching it often felt as if I spent 10 hours planning for 4 hours of teaching. I remember feeling that the morning was like being on the runway. G...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/a-teacher-at-night/
I wrote this short story three years ago. I posted it then, and I felt better. So I’m going to post it again tonight. I’m doing it because I was on Facebook and Twitter. And I am disgus...
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2016/06/12/for-orlando-and-aurora-and-newtown-and-littleton/
At the end of every school year, my class puts on a play. They cut up huge cardboard boxes to make sets, they create the costumes out of old scraps and outgrown clothes. They create the script....
https://momshieb.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/lets-put-on-a-show/
Ah, field trips! Those wonderful carefree days of no actual school work. Parents often think of those days as “days off” for teachers. To which teachers respond, “Bwahahahahahahaha!” No...