Small Stones: Day 17

Small Stones: January 17

Philosophically speaking
toddlers are like little yogis
dressed in sweatpants.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There are no Answers in Teaching

I'm currently teaching two English classes and what I've learned so far about myself and my students has little to do with commas or sentence fragments.  In many ways, I am driven to teach more than writing skills, I am interested in showing my students a sliver of topics or ideas that they may not have been exposed to yet. Last Friday I gave my students 5 minutes to respond to a writing prompt.  I asked my students what they were afraid of and their answers varied greatly.  When they turned their papers in I couldn't help but read them right away.  At the start of the semester I was frustrated by their lack of motivation, their refusal to speak in class and their blank faces.  But, after  getting to know them a bit, I realize that their silence isn't always due to lack of preparation.  Sometimes my students are silent because they have much scarier and stressful things going on in their lives besides my English class. I have one student who is ext...
Read more

I choose to love my life...because it really is wonderful! (Thirties: Part 2)

Image
While drying my hair this morning, I felt hopeful for the day to come.  The sun was bright, birds were singing outside the window and I had just returned from a family vacation in Northern Michigan.  The mere seconds I basked in optimism for the day were thwarted by my own negative thinking.  I began to wonder: "Why would I love my life? I have a low-paying job that forces me to not only work full-time during the day but also at night, I'm a few pounds overweight, the apartment is messy, I don't have enough money and I haven't figured a damn thing out yet! What is there to love?" As soon as I caught myself in the downward spiral of negative thinking I re-routed myself back onto the optimism highway.  I was feeling inspired, damn it! Most of what I harbored on above is true, but what is wrong is my viewpoint, my own outlook on life.  Yes, I have a low-paying job and have to work multiple gigs to make ends meet but I am teaching, a vocation that feels right to...
Read more

Where Have All the Cupcakes Gone?

Do you remeber Paula Cole's song, "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" I've replaced her cowboys with a craving for cupcakes. Where have all the cupcakes gone? I used to live four blocks away from a cupcake bakery in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. On a daily basis I walked by the storefront and was greeted with cupcakes that looked like a piece of art. I am in Metro-Detroit now and can't find any cupcake stores. Help!
Read more