Do you constantly judge yourself, compare your life to someone else’s, engage in harsh self-talk? Unfortunately, I do.

It’s not that I am unhappy with my life because I am blessed beyond measure. I am married to my high school sweetheart, and he loves me more than I love myself. Our children have found their soul mates and have created beautiful families, and my grandchildren are my heart. Then what’s the problem?

Women by nature are nurturers, but often we forget to nurture ourselves. I am an emotional person, and wear my heart on my sleeve. I like to think I am patient and compassionate with my students and colleagues, family and friends, yet I don’t bestow the same grace on myself. I have a conversation with a friend or read something online or hear things on TV, and right away I begin with the “I should or I should haves.” I always find a way to turn random thoughts into negative ones directed at myself.

This week as I did my 5-4-3-2-1 week in review my #1 (one goal for the week) was to take better care of myself and move more. The past year has had me stuck, and now is the time to get unstuck. Being part of this Slice of Life writing challenge is helping my writing life to start to grow, but even here I compare my writing to others; I look at others’ comments and think I have nothing better than that to say. Ridiculous right? So this week I am going to focus on self-awareness instead of self-judgment and exercise patience and compassion on myself. Wish me luck!

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org. #SOL21

Today is one year since we got the call that school would be closing for two weeks. I left school early that day for a doctor’s appointment and an appointment to be fingerprinted for my summer teaching job; the job that never happened. We all know what happened next – two weeks became four – four became until the end of the school year. Who would have thought the world would change on a dime?

So many times I thought to myself, I can’t do this much longer. Some days I still think that, but I go on because I have no other choice. Like everyone else, I mourned the loss of a “normal” life, but that was small in comparison to those who were mourning the loss of family and friends. I prayed for the safety of my family and thanked God each day they remained safe.

I have been a fan of Dr. Wayne Dyer for many many years. I wonder what he would have thought about the pandemic, what sage advice he would give his followers on public television? His quote at the top of this post has been with me for years and has often encouraged me to stop and try to change the way I look at things. That has been difficult this past year, but I have tried.

I went from looking:

• at being “stuck” at home to being thankful I had a roof over my head
• at not being able to go to a restaurant to being more appreciative of my chef husband
• at having nothing to do to seeing an opportunity to tackle things on my “to do” list
• at taking my family for granted to making the most of video chats and Facetime

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I could have never imagined the world would look as it does today, but I am going to try and continue to change the way I look at things and hope that next year when I look back some of the lessons I learned during COVID will still be with me.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org. #SOL21

Today was a sunroof and sunglasses kind of day. My drive home from work was glorious! I ditched my jacket when I got to the car, and put on my sunglasses; I opened the sunroof, cranked up the radio, and let the cool breeze wash over me like a much needed elixir. Sixty four sensational degrees of sunshine.

Sights on the way home served as a hopeful tonic and helped elevate my mood. There were bicycles at every turn of a corner; riders from senior citizens to elementary school-aged kids were feeling the wind in their faces. Parents on street corners waiting for the arrival of the bus were without the jackets and coats needed the past several weeks.

I saw toddlers and siblings running and skipping on the sidewalks while the tiniest among them were happily being pushed in strollers. Neighbors emerged from their homes and were talking across driveways while kids played catch. What a wonderful way to end my school day.

I know that Mother Nature can be fickle especially here in southeast Pennsylvania. We may not have seen the last of the snow for the season, but I am going to relish this preview of Spring. It is good for my soul.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org. #SOL21

Today was tough. I left the house, and it was 34 degrees; when I left school it was 64 degrees. What’s so bad about that you’re wondering? When you are prone to migraines and sinus issues the sudden rise in the barometric pressure wreaks havoc in your head. During my first period prep, I stood up from my chair and felt so dizzy. I was hoping it was a one and done, but unfortuanately dizzy stayed with me all day and brought along its friend the sinus pressure headache. I took some sinus meds and willed dizzy and headache to pipe down. Like most children I know, they behaved themselves for as long as they could only to return to their bothersome ways, They thought they were going to ruin my day, but I got the last laugh.

After school I was checking my personal email and was pleasantly surprised. I attended a professional development day on Saturday via Zoom at my local Writing Project, PAWLP. Besides it being a wonderful morning of learning, I won a raffle prize – four books and a t-shirt. The only catch was that the books needed to be picked up at WCU which is about 45 minutes from my house. Lucky for me, Lynne Dorfman (a PAWLP colleague) volunteered her services, along with her husband, Ralph to drive out to West Chester, pick up the books, and deliver them to me. I had completely forgotten all about it until I saw the email from Lynne today informing me that she and Ralph would be dropping the books off this evening. What a nice surprise after the unpleasant surprise visit from dizzy and headache. I can’t wait to get these books into the hands of my students. Thanks, Lynne and Ralph!

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org.

Tomorrow is the day that grades will close.
Are all assignments in – only heaven knows.

My eyes are crossing, my head starts to spin
Checking and rechecking to see if everything’s in.

Some of the students are always on time
Others I have to hunt down like they’ve committed a crime.

I am a patient person; that much is true,
But could you PLEASE turn your assignments in when they are due?

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org.

This is a prayer for all of the people who have been on my mind today.

~ for those who are still suffering with Covid-19 – those who havve lost family and friends, who are still recovering, who live with long-term effects – physically, mentally, financially, spiritually. emotionally.

~ for my students who are struggling to to keep on top of their assignments, who are anxious, lost, or depressed, some of whom have too many responsibilites for a 13-year-old.

~ for my kids and grandkids whose hugs and kisses I miss more than anything else in the world.

~ for teachers who are working so hard this year, who are trying to balance work, life, and self-care. who are stuggling to keep juggling everything without dropping the ball on anything.

May each of you, of us, find what brings your peace this week.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org.

By the time Saturday rolls around I am ready to do nothing, or at least just what is necessary. During this very unusual school year, I have been working extra hard to make use of my time to get as much schoolwork done as I can each weekday, so I don’t have to bring much home on the weekends. Teachers know though there is no such thing as no schoolwork on the weekends.

Last night I remembered that I had signed up for PD through my Writing Project site – PAWLP. I was feeling so tired, and the thoughts of getting up and showered and ready for a 9:00 Zoom meeting did not excite me. However,, I am not a quiter. When I make a committment, I follow through unless there is an important reason I can’t. I am so glad that I didn’t skip out on the event.

Today’s theme was Decolonizing the Classroom, and the keynote speaker was Tiana Silvas. Tiana’s presentation was very thought-provoking and left me with many questions to consider as I take a critical look at my teaching practices. She spoke about the importance of multiple perspectives, the barriers facing teachers who have been teaching from a white-centered perspective, and call to critically think about our Euro-centric practices.

I also attended a breakout session entitled, Building Your Bookshelf facilitated by Dana Kramaroff and Alison Green-Meyers. They shared five picture books with us that can be paired with other readings to help students better understand the worlds of people who are different from themselves. The books were beautifully written and illustrated, and are now on my shopping wishlist. To top off the morning, I won books as a raffle prize, and another writing project colleague offered to pick them up for me at the university and deliver them to my home! What a wonderful way to “work” on the weekend.

But Saturday really has become a day for me to recoup physically from the grueling work week. I do manage to do a few things around the house, but if things don’t get done, I don’t beat myself up. So to that end, after I finished my PD, I ran one errand, spoke to my daughter via video chat, had lunch, and took a LONG nap. All in all, I think I employed my time well, so now it is off to read. Hope you had a wonderful Saturday.

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely a creature of habit. Take my commute to and from school each day and my choice of radio stations. On the way to school I listen to WRTI 90.1 which plays Classical music by day and Jazz music by night. My commute is accompanied by a mix of Renaissance, Baroque, Classical tunes with gentle commentary by the host.

In the afternoon, my station of choice is WHYY 90.9 which airs NPR (National Public Radio). Depending on the time I leave school, I either listen to Fresh Air hosted by Terry Gross or All Things Considered. These programs help me catch up on what is new and interesting. When I’ve had a rough day, or if I am out running occasional errands I turn up B101 which plays 80s and beyond – oldies by today’s standards!

After noticing my radio choices I began taking a look at the rest of my day and started noticing many of my other habitual behaviors. From my morning routine of showering, dressing, and eating breakfast to what I do as soon as I walk in the door after school, my life is a series of movements which do not require that much thought. I think it has gotten more pronounced since COVID.

This week I think I will try and change things up a bit. I don’t know how successful I will be, but I can’t change if I don’t try. Are you a creature of habit?

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org

This morning I felt tired, sleep deprived tired, but thanks to my 7th graders, that feeling didn’t last long.

At the start of the week, my ELA classes began working on a writing piece as part of the wrap-up to our reading of Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry. They respond to three prompts and found text evidence to support their responses. Next, they choose a prompt for their essay and created a rough outline of how they wanted to organize their writing. Yesterday they began writing.

Today was an indepedent work day, and boy did they work. They were writing more than I have seen them write all year, and I felt energized. One by one students came to me with their questions about thesis statements, topic sentences, paragraph breaks and more. What was the most exciting thing was that students were bringing their work back to show me their changes, some more than once.

This year has been tough on all of us in Room 208 with all the COVID protocols and some days focusing on work is the last thing anyone is able to do, but today my little corner of the world felt almost “normal.”

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.com.