Courage Doesn't Always Roar: A Teacher's Quest to Be Better Each Day

I've never met a Kathleen I didn't like. There is a special Kathleen I know who has a generous nature, a hearty laugh, the ability to find the greatest children's books I've never heard of. She's good at crafts, from all those Girls Scout days. She taught me how to use a glue gun. She knows her way around an iPad and pushed me to learn new types of technology. She is a gifted teacher, the one the kids will always remember, will think about when asked to name their favorite teacher. She was a treasured colleague who brought light and innovation. We are no longer Kathleens across the hall, but friendship has never really been about geography. Last year, Kathleen gave me a box of quotes. Each one is a gift to me, as she has been a gift to me, too. Tonight, I pulled out the quotes and these are the ones that spoke to my heart: "Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes  that would make all the difference." -Mignon...

During summers at the Long Island Writing Project, each day began as predictably as a sunrise, with "shared reading." That meant one of the participants or facilitators would bring in a text to read aloud to the group.  The texts could be anything- a picture book, poem, article, excerpt from a novel...whatever the reader selected.  The group would listen and then as the last word was spoken, pens would be picked up and start dancing across notebook pages, the words lingering in the air as inspiration arrived. There was one shared reading that always seemed to be chosen to open up the Summer Invitational Institute.  It was a chapter from a memoir, The Moon and I, by Betsy Byars.  The chapter was entitled, "Miss Harriet's Room." In this chapter, a young Betsy describes how she always wanted Miss Harriet to be her first teacher after witnessing her older sibling delight in being Miss Harriet's student. When the first day of school arrived for Betsy, the ch...

In my quest to add more "HAPPY" to my days, today I did something I've never done before: I got a curly cut!  Those of you with curly hair know the struggle is real.  Having curly hair is very challenging and in the end, you need to decide if you will embrace the curl or fight it. Since I am not very skilled at styling hair and very short on time in the mornings, I cannot straighten my hair so have been doing my best to style my curly hair.  I noticed a curly haired colleague at work has been looking especially bouncy and her curls have been beautiful! She shared her secret- she goes to a salon that specializes in curly hair! As a New Year's "HAPPY" present to myself, I made an appointment and today was my "curly cut " as they call it at Curl Revolution.  The stylist cut my hair when it was dry! (Shocking!) She hydrated my curls, dried my hair under a big dome dryer, applied styling products, dried my hair with the dome dryer and a diffuser, a...

Today was my first day back in the classroom after missing some time at work when my grandmother passed away, and then, of course, the holiday break. What a treat to find the room so neat and organized, thanks to a wonderful substitute teacher who took the time to leave things just so. I found papers scrolled up with a red ribbon on the corner of the desk. Opening it, I saw that it was a letter from two of my colleagues, a second grade teacher and a fourth grade teacher. Their classes collaborated for a "Big Buddy/Little Buddy" Random Acts of Kindness project.  The students wrote letters of appreciation to former teachers.  Under their letter, I found two letter from former students of mine. One even included an acrostic poem with my rather long last name! Reading their sweet messages was so heartwarming and was a beautiful way to start my 2016 at school. What a kind and lovely idea my colleagues had! December is a very hectic month in our school, as report c...

"You should be a writer," she says, hugging me through the tears as we stand outside the church on a crisp December Monday morning.  She was my Grandma's neighbor for many years and the daughter of one of her best friends, who passed away on another December day a few years ago.  Moments earlier, I had bowed by the altar near my Grandmother's casket, climbed the steps, paper in hand. I adjusted the microphone and saw the faces of my family and some friends who made the journey.  It was not a packed church. There was silence. And I began, with a composure that must have been a gift of courage from above, as I am rarely composed in the face of such sadness.  It was a special honor to write about my Grandma, to honor the beautiful life she led and the love she gave to so many.  To write something and then to stand in church and read it to the family and friends gathered.  It was one small kindness I could give back to her after a lifetime of kindnesses...

"Thank you for being a friend, Travel down the road and back again. Your heart is true,  You're a pal and a confidante." -"Golden Girls" theme song When I was a little girl, my sister, Christine, and I would sometimes sleep over our grandparent's house.  We called it staying at the "hotel" and it was a treat! Often we would first go out for Chinese food (I would drink too much tea and eat too many noodles with duck sauce- my favorite!) and then go back to Grandma and Grandy's cozy "hotel." We would change into pajamas and Grandy would open the bed tucked away in the sofa in the den.  Then Grandma would put fresh smelling sheets on the bed and at 9:00, we would watch "Golden Girls" together.  My childhood is filled with memories of my grandparents- their porch in the summer, Christmas Eves around their sparkling tree, Sunday dinners, and celebrations of all kinds. Being picked up from half-days of school by...

It's a black cloud kind of night. My beloved Grandmother is facing some health challenges.  At almost 90, nothing is to be taken lightly.  It is the horrific anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook. All of those precious lives gone in an instant. Grief so unimaginable. Country singer Joey Feek, who is dying of Stage 4 cervical cancer, attempts to play and teach sign language to her baby with Down Syndrome. The pictures make me cry. Sadness envelopes me tonight. Such a sad Slice of Life, but I guess the truth is, some slices are just sad. Some slices cannot be sweetened by platitudes and promises of brighter mornings. I won't stay here for long, in this place of darkness, but tonight I reside.  Tonight I am angry about a world where a child is dropped off at school and gunned down moments later.  Tonight I'm gutted by the unfairness of a new mother to a child with special needs dying of cancer. Why some lives are cut short. Tonight I'm wor...

I first met Miss Molly Mouse when my son, Alex, was 4 months old.  Play Hooray, a group that provides entertainment for children through birthday parties and other venues, was running some sessions for babies at my local library.  I was anxious to get out and meet other moms and provide stimulation for my 4 month old.  He wasn't as interested in being stimulated. I still remember "Dancing Queen" blasting, maracas shaking, and Alex sleeping away in my lap.   The star of Play Hooray, however, is the puppet Molly Mouse.  Molly has skirts for every holiday and season and she lives in a box that resembles the Dunkin' Donuts munchkin box.  We discovered that an elderly mother of the Play Hooray entertainers hand sews all of Molly's skirts!  When my daughter, Megan, was born, I knew Molly Mouse would be in her future.  I was back to work, so my mom would take Megan to her Play Hooray class.  Here is Megan, a couple of years ago, enjoyin...

This month, my book club read T he Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. It was a book that inspired a great discussion and confessions about our cluttered, messy ways.  The author advises you to only keep items that spark joy. She invites you to almost personalize your relationship to your items, like thanking your shoes for their hard work when you put them away each day! When something isn't useful anymore or doesn't spark joy, she suggests you thank the object for its role in your life and then discard/donate it. Some things were hard to imagine doing, like emptying the contents of your handbag each day and putting every book you own on the floor to decide if it sparks joy or not. (Um, not doing that.) I am a person with a lot of stuff and a person who holds onto a lot of stuff.  I somehow wonder how I would ever change these jaded ways for good, but Marie Kondo swears if you use her method, you would ...

It might say something about my nature that as a little girl, I would start the Christmas countdown sometime in late October.  Cutting strips of red and green construction paper, I would create a humongously long Advent chain, weeks before Advent was even set to start.  A blue link at the top meant Christmas Eve and the final link, the yellow one, meant Christmas day.  Every night, I would tear off another link, knowing I was a little bit closer to the magic of Christmas. So when did I start dreading the Christmas season? There, I said it.  I know, there are entire songs and movies and plays written about grumps like me who aren't in the holiday spirit. It's ironic that as a kid, Christmas couldn't come fast enough, but as a grown-up, I am resentful of how it is has invaded the fall. Sirius has been playing holidays songs while I still had Halloween candy in a pumpkin and when I had some time to shop on Veterans Day, I was serenaded by "White Christmas". ...