Dear Students, When you came into class sad about your games, trips, matches, activities being cancelled, I could relate. And I did. I told you that, my senior year, 9/11 happened, and it forever changed the way the world functioned.… Read more ›
DISCLAIMER: These are NOT meant to replace medical equipment. If you are making masks that are meant to take the place of medical-grade personal protective equipment, you’re going to need a different tutorial, of which there are plenty on the… Read more ›
It has been over a year since I’ve been here. I spent the better part of a decade working to cultivate this site. I wrote some damn good pieces here – and elsewhere – in that decade. I did some… Read more ›
Last night, students at Joliet Central – the high school where I work – held the first annual Showcase for Peace: Joliet students creatively expressing their stance on gun violence. We had students submit poetry, essays, stories, songs, artwork, and… Read more ›
Most of you all have been around here for a while, so you already know about my side business and venture to provide a yearly, $1,000 scholarship for a girl in need at the school where I teach. But I… Read more ›
I am a woman and I study and teach literature. Until relatively recently in my life, this has seemed a pretty normal, womanly thing to do. Not only am I a teacher – a typically female profession – but I… Read more ›
Last week, as I was getting my hair cut, the stylist next to me was cutting the hair of a middle-aged man and was saying, “I don’t know, though. We have to listen to these kids. It seems like they’re… Read more ›
Ever since the Parkland shooting, I have been feeling progressively worse. I’m not really sure how to describe it, but it started with a feeling like someone was standing on my chest. Then, it was almost like a balloon had… Read more ›
It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very… Read more ›
I am a teacher. So is my husband. It probably won’t surprise you that, between the two of us, we’ve been through three actual lockdowns. Not drills. Actual, bonafide, real-life, doors-locked, no-one-knows-what-is-going-on, saying-goodbyes-just-in-case lockdowns. One for Tim at his previous school.… Read more ›
I’m over at Teaching Tolerance talking about ways teachers can talk about the recent sexual harassment allegations saturating the media: If the conversation about sexual harassment and assault doesn’t come up organically, there are a number of ways to incorporate… Read more ›
When I saw the protesters in Texas dressed like Handmaids protesting restrictive abortion laws, I knew I had a new life goal. I mean, think about it. This protest marries literally every single one of my interests. Books. Feminism. Protesting. Politics.… Read more ›
If you’ve followed me for any length of time here, you know that I love sewing and knitting. You might even remember my ill-advised last attempt at opening an Etsy shop… I think I figured out what was wrong with… Read more ›
I have a body. For the most part, I like this body. When I want it to dance, it dances. When I want it to pick up my child, it picks up my child. When I want it to breathe… Read more ›
I was driving to work this morning, listening to WBEZ (like I do most days), trying not to cry (like I do most days). But my ears perked up when I heard something about a school in Joliet. Now, I… Read more ›
I’m so close, you guys! I’m loving this challenge, and it is really helping me hone in on my personal style, as well as where the holes are in my handmade wardrobe where I need to make some pieces to… Read more ›
Well, week 2 of this challenge got a little more difficult. I repeated things more (but, to be fair, I do that with my ready-to-wear clothes, too, when I know I’m not going to see the same people…) and, as… Read more ›
For those of you who don’t know, Me Made May is a challenge where, throughout the entire month of May, crafters challenge themselves to wear their handmade clothes each day throughout the month. At this time last year, I was… Read more ›
In my last post about the March for Science, I wrote about all of the things we’ve been doing to use less waste in our house. Let’s recap: … buying your clothes secondhand (or making them!), washing your clothes appropriately… Read more ›
I’m no scientist. I have scientist genes somewhere in there, and I find science fascinating; heck, I’ll even go out of my way to encourage young girls into STEM fields, but I’m a humanities girl through-and-through. However, science is not only vital; to me, it is inextricably linked with the search for (and consequent recent denial of) truth.
So I marched as a science ally, if you will. We packed up Emily, grabbed a parking spot on SpotHero, donned our Pussyhats, and went. Read more ›