Month: April 2014

This weekend, I began reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I didn’t begin reading it for myself.  Generally, unless something relates directly to my own research, I don’t “read for myself” anymore.  I decided to read it because: a) I had just finished reading Raising Cain:Protecting the Emotional […]

Literacy is a gift and a privilege. When I talk about literacy, particularly with my students, I present a broad and critical view that encompasses “reading the word and the world” (Freire & Macedo, 1987), a view of literacy that connects us as readers, writers and interlocutors with a given text (be it written, spoken, […]

Last night, I had the opportunity to hear a lecture by Dr. Michael Apple and Jesse Hagopian on thinking critically about educational reform movements. Actually, it was less of a lecture and more of a call to action. As a teacher educator, scholar and human being committed to social change and social justice, it made me […]

It’s not my typical Monday on campus. Generally, Mondays are a long day of meetings (valuable, but not my favorite part of my job), followed by office hours (where I’m usually sitting on my own) and then, finally, teaching, which, of course, is always the highlight of my week, but makes for a draining 14-hours […]

I’m a results-oriented person.  I confess that I used to be a “grade monger” (i.e. a student who did everything she could to get 100% or over in a class including begging for extra credit) and that I still have a measure of satisfaction when I feel successful in reaching a goal–whether it’s having a […]

I am a thinker, a pontificator, even, but I’m also a pragmatist.  Sometimes I find myself overwhelmed by all there is to do and the stress starts making me sick.  That’s when I roll up my sleeves, make a cup of tea, and get started.  All of the sudden, the nausea disappears and sometimes, I […]

I’ve been in an extended period of inquiry lately regarding my professional identity (who am I kidding, this has been at least a 14-year journey in various iterations) and I’ve come to realize that as much as I struggle with how these different parts of myself get expressed, there are certain commitments that are at […]

I had a great a-ha moment last night.  I had just finished an awesome session on extended writing in the content area classroom where students creatively engaged in writing RAFTs including some great political speeches from the likes of Bob Dole & Vladimir Lenin; some great coaching dialogues around tennis & solving one-variable algebraic equations […]

I had a wonderful student in my office for office hours today who reminded me of myself when she said that she just wanted to get it right the first time and not make mistakes that caused her to have to revise all the time.  She was overwhelmed with managing 4 courses & a full […]

There’s been a lot going on lately and even more coming up in the next few weeks. Much of it is good & almost all of it is self-created so I don’t feel like I should complain, but at the same time, I find myself sometimes, often, at this point in the semester wondering why […]