Category: Writing/Teaching
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Testing – the stress kids must endure – April 3, 2019
After 22 years of teaching, I’ve never seen our kids tested so much in my life. I feel for them as I proctor a test and watch as they read for hours, answering and analyzing their choices. They squirm in their seats, stare at the ceiling, and fidget with their pencil just to break the…
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The biggest lesson – March 30, 2019
I thought that when I first started teaching, it would be the job that I’d want forever. I felt the inspiration I was going to give, and the lessons I was going to teach were going to mean something. Students would remember me for the lessons they learned and still remember me years after for…
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Restorative Justice in Schools: Urban Essentials 101 – August 2, 2016
Restorative Justice in Schools: Urban Essentials 101 Among the vast changes in California schools, one of the changes includes the need for restorative measures before suspension and expulsion can take place. In the California Department of Education’s Code 48900.5, it states that: “A pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, may be suspended for any…
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Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – Book Review – July 23, 2016m
The novel, Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money, by Robert T. Kiyosaki is not the typical read. It is a combination of personal account along with vast information that would make any middle to low income earner cringe. The middle to low income earner cringes, because he realizes this…
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an Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski – Book Review – July 23, 2016
In one of the early passages of this novel, an Invisible Thread, written by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski, Laurie explains the idea of the “Invisible Thread” and her relationship with an eleven year-old boy named Maurice: “I believe there was a strong unseen connection that pulled me back to Maurice. It’s something I call…
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A Man Called Ove- Book Review – June 26, 2016
One of the most interesting and heartfelt novels I have ever read is a novel called, A Man Called Ove, written by Fredrik Backman. The novel was published in English in 2013 and was a number one bestseller in his homeland of Sweden (Simon and Schuster.com). Although I read this novel at the end of…
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The end of the year for teachers – May 30, 2016
We’ve all seen the posts on Facebook. The posts about teachers ready for the summer –the pictures of crusty-eyed cats comparing us to just how tired teachers are this time of year or the videos of young children bursting gleefully through the doors of their campus, scattering this way and that way just to escape.…
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And the page turns….October 13, 2015
The package arrived and in eagerness, I asked my boy to help me open the box. I was anxious to see the contents of my first novel. I had seen it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Others had already started reading and responding to the story with positive reviews. But, I wanted the moment to…
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On Becoming An Author – September 25, 2015
A dream is about to come true. I am going to be an author. For the longest time, I have waited for this moment. I have accumulated stories, poems, ideas, in the hopes that someday I would take the next step and actually do something with these projects. In between being…
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The trials of beginning a new school year – September 13, 2015
The third week in August, I began a new school year. Normally, I’m pumped and ready to go, but this year, something was different. I had spent the summer completing my novel, Always Connected, and finalizing the edits of what seemed to be endless errors I had missed in the process of proofreading. I was tired…
"It's a Beautiful Life"- Genevieve Galvan Frenes 