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It was really fun to go back into the classroom this past spring after a couple of years away.
Not only was it a Covid-era triumph to be face to face with a group of young people again, it was an opportunity to flex my leadership chops and see how they were functioning. Could I still create a container that would allow each person in the room to feel safe contributing, be heard, and learn?
And could I do it in such a way that I wasn’t totally drained at the end of the day?
Read MoreI have trouble writing fiction, and I discovered a key reason when I attempted to do NaNoWriMo: I don’t like to make bad things happen to my characters.
I don’t want to break their hearts. I don’t even want to inconvenience them.
I mean, Dorothy Gale goes to all of that trouble to get to the Wizard of Oz only to discover that she had the power to get back to Kansas the whole time.
Read MoreLast week, I experienced one of the most important events of my entire year.
It was the annual Recognition Ceremony for The Little Middle School, where we share praise for each other, present awards, and reflect on how we’ve grown and changed.
The event was only seventy-five minutes long, but it required much preparation. Award recipients had to be chosen, certificates and programs printed, and gifts purchased.
Read MoreMany years ago, I was in the habit of working from about 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day, plus 9:00 to 3:00 on Saturdays.
Each morning, I began by answering emails and phone calls for the music school, and then I taught music lessons until the evening.
This was doable — I was young.
Read MoreI keep thinking back to a perfect day last October.
I woke up in a boutique hotel room just off of Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. after having spent a lovely weekend with my family (including my littlest nephew). The city was a bit on edge because the Astros had taken the lead over the Nationals the night before in Game 5 of the World Series, which I had watched in between bites of cake and ice cream the night before in a common area of the hotel (along with getting a little work done).
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