Hello! I’m now posting regularly on my Substack, Good Character. I’d love for you to join me there. In the future, I may choose to post new content on this site again, or to dual-post my newsletters. But for now, Good Character is the best place to find me on a regular basis. See you […]
You Can Be A Book Flirt, Too
If you were to ask pretty much anyone I know to describe me, I’d bet the word “Reader” would be in their top ten list. But as much as I’m committed to the act of reading, I’m never, ever in a committed relationship with a single book. I’m a book flirt. I read multiple books […]
This Is The Life Of A Music Teacher
I experienced an odd dichotomy this week. The administration at my school district (where I work as an elementary band teacher; also my children’s district) is taking a hard look at our widely acclaimed, award-winning music program and making changes. I won’t go into specifics, but I spent much of my week preparing for meetings, […]
Empathy Is Both The Problem And The Solution
As most of you gathered from my last post— and newsletter subscribers have been getting even more content on this– I’m been having a tough winter. I’m burned out, occasionally anxious, often depressed. I’m still functioning, but struggling. Why? Well, because I’m a public school teacher and a mother of two young children, both of […]
My Dumb Anxious Brain
My dumb anxious brain wakes me at 4AM worrying about the schedule for a school event that will take place three weeks from now. I tell my brain to go back to sleep. Instead, it drafts an email to the person in charge of the event, wanting details. I tell my brain that I do […]
Look How Far We’ve Come
Here in New York, winter drags on. It’s always cold. It’s usually dark (yes, even during the day– we’ve had very little sun, just a gray haze). The routine is always the same. This year, it hasn’t even been broken up by snow; we’ve had only one snow day. In midwinter, everyone in school goes […]